The Constitutions: Unity in the Diversity of the Congregation of the Mission

The editorial
council of Vincentiana decided to dedicate an issue of the magazine to the new
Constitutions of the Congregation.

Vincentiana,
July-October/2000

The Constitutions: Unity in the Diviersity

of the Congregation of the Mission

By J. Ignacio Fernández
de Mendoza, C.M.

Vicar General

The present Constitutions, as Fr. Richard Mc
Cullen declared in his introductory letter to them, are the result of
“seventeen years of study, reflection, prayer and the deliberations of three
General Assemblies.” The General Assembly of 1980 formulated the definitive
text which, after submission to the Holy See for approbation and slight
modification in some places, was approved by a decree dated June 29, 1984. The
Superior General at that time, Fr. Richard McCullen promulgated them three
months later on September 27, 1984. From that moment on the present
constitutions have markedly affected the life of the Congregation. For three
decades they have been, and we hope they will continue to be in this new century,
an unambiguous point of reference for the missioners of the C.M.

The present
constitutions were written with three fundamental criteria in mind: fidelity to
Vatican Council II, to the Vincentian sources and to the signs of the times. For
a little less than twenty years all the provinces and local communities have
been accommodating their norms and life to the new constitutions. Furthermore,
the Congregation passes into the new millennium, guided by new Constitutions in
which we find a valid design for the identity of the Congregation in the present
moment.

The
Unity of the Congregation of the Mission

The present
constitutions have placed in the hands of the provinces, and thus of the
respective Visitors who animate them, a series of attributions greater in number
and specific weight than those which Visitors possessed in former times. An
eminent Missioner, knowledgeable about the history of the C.M. and its
successive organizational changes, affirmed during the eighties with a certain
sense of humor that the C.M. had become a federation of independent provinces.
This appreciation contained various ingredients: a description of the reality as
the aforementioned missioner interpreted it and a certain dosage of fear in the
face of the possible tendency towards dispersion.

It is evident
that the C.M. has given itself Constitutions that decentralize to no small
degree its own organization. The attributions of peripheral entities have been
broadened significantly in the new Constitutions. In this area the Congregation
has done no more than follow the lead of certain ecclesial guidelines laid down
by Vatican II and present day theological and pastoral thinking. There can be no
doubt that pendulum swings between the center and the periphery affect the
church as such and, consequently, the Congregation as well. But, given this, it
must be affirmed from the outset that fears of excessive dispersion and, in the
worst case, disintegration, lack any solid base. The text of the Constitutions
in themselves gives no validity to this fear, nor does the actual practice of
the Provinces as witnessed by their actions since the new Constitutions have
become law. The understanding the Missioners have of the Congregation as such,
the sense of a unified body and its juridical foundations, shared by almost all
the members of the Congregation, cover all areas of life in the Congregation. I
invite the reader to examine the Constitutions with me in order to take a closer
look at some, though not all, of the fundamental characteristics that refer to
the unity of the Congregation taken as a whole.

Unity
Around the Founder of the Mission

The first
sign of unity can be found in the constant referral in the Constitutions to the
founder of the Mission. There is frequent allusion to St. Vincent, a mixture of
respect, admiration and marked affection. The Constitutions call for fidelity to
the Founder (C 1), to the spiritual patrimony received from him (C 3,1), and to
the design of the particular spirituality put into effect by the Saint (C 5).
The Constitutions insist upon St. Vincent’s vision of apostolic life (C 10),
community life (C 19), his missionary understanding of the evangelical counsels
and the vows (C 28), prayer life (C 41), and, above all, the Vincentian charism
shared by those of us who make up the Congregation today.

The affinity
of the provinces, local communities and individual confreres with our Holy
Founder gives a profound sense of unity to the Congregation that today is found
in numerous cultures and countries of the world. If, for example, someone were
to ask any Missionary to define himself personally, our imaginary missioner
would doubtlessly present himself as a Vincentian. And if, for example, our
curious questioner, following up his inquiries, were to ask what the word
Vincentian means, then our missioner no doubt would resort to a simple
presentation of the person of St. Vincent. The Founder of the Mission unifies in
his own person all the Missionaries of the Congregation. The Constitutions begin
by presenting the particular end of the Congregation that cannot be achieved
until all the members of the Congregation and the communities are faithful to St.
Vincent. The end of the Congregation which consists in following Jesus Christ,
Evangelizer of the Poor, and which was pointed out by St. Vincent from the very
beginning gives to the Missionaries of the Little Company a true and authentic
sense of a united family.

In summary,
the constant recourse in the Constitutions to St. Vincent and to the particular
end of the Congregation helps to recreate the unity of the Missionaries of the
Congregation in the following of its founder. His charism, invoked continually
in the text of the Constitutions and shared by the members of the Congregation
affords greater solidity to the Little Company than any other theological,
spiritual or juridical element.

Shared
Spirituality Nourishes Unity

The
Constitutions bring together with a certain conciseness and not a little breadth
the keys of Vincentian spirituality, a spirituality that is centered in the
following of Jesus Christ in the style and manner of St. Vincent. The
Constitutions begin their first page with the enunciation of a basic principle
that is central to Vincentian spirituality: the end of the Congregation consists
in following Jesus Christ, evangelizer of the poor. How does one achieve such an
end? The text of the Constitutions offers us a series of closely linked answers
that refer to certain key nuclei of Vincentian spirituality.

The
Missionary must put on the spirit of Jesus Christ (C 1,1), that is, he must
incarnate in his own life the great evangelical values, especially those which
are closely related to the particular end of the Congregation. Everything in the
spiritual life of the Missionary is centered on the end of the Congregation.
Relying on the impulse of God’s grace, the Missionary will try to be filled
with the sensitivity and attitudes of Christ (C 4); he will try to participate
in the Spirit of Christ just as St. Vincent proposes (C 5); he will try to fill
himself with the intimate personal attitudes of Christ in relation to the
Father, to the poor and to the providence of God (C 6). Missionaries will
cultivate with particular esteem the five characteristic virtues (C 7) which
occupy a privileged place in the spirituality of the Congregation.

Continuing
this series of brief declarations, the Constitutions go on to indicate another
key to the particular spirituality of the Congregation. The Congregation feels
called by God to evangelize (C 10). The announcing of Jesus Christ expresses the
nature of the Congregation—an announcing saturated with the love and
compassion of Christ for the poor (C 11). The evangelical counsels, for their
part, taken on by all Missionaries in imitation of Christ and for the sake of
the evangelization of the poor (C 28-39), give to Missionaries a particular
quality of spiritual life which is identical everywhere, thus contributing in no
small measure to the consolidation of the unity of the Congregation. The
Constitutions must necessarily contain a reference to a key element of Christian
and Vincentian spirituality: prayer. This is a basic source in the life of the
Vincentian missionary.

In summary,
Vincentian spirituality, hinted at in the Constitutions and made flesh in the
life of the Missionaries, is a decisive factor favoring the unity of the
Congregation. If, for example, a Missionary leaves his own house and moves to
another in the farthest reaches of the world, in a short time he would feel
identified with the confreres he finds there because all would live and act in
accordance with the Vincentian spirituality.

Participation
Favors Unity

The
Constitutions and Statutes affect all the missionaries of the Congregation.
Frequently we find in the texts of the Constitutions expressions like these:
“all”, “each and every”, “we”, “the missionaries”, “the
Congregation”, “the Provinces”, and a series of verbs in the plural to
indicate in that way that all the members of the Congregation, with no
exception, can and should feel involved and committed in the different––––
expressions of the life of the Congregation.

The present
Constitutions have opened channels along which the participation of the
missionaries flows. Consultation, provided for on many occasions and at varying
levels, makes possible and calls for participation. The same may be said of the
recourse to election in different cases as the Constitutions, Statutes and
Provincial Norms provide. At the present time, missionaries collaborate in a
significant way at the moment of drawing up the different community and
provincial projects and the pastoral plans in their different ministries. On the
other hand the Superior General and the Provincials frequently name commissions
for particular purposes. Normally these commissions open a process of
consultation in order to gather the opinions of the missionaries and, given
this, proceed to the formulation of a document or the carrying out of an
apostolic work. Many missionaries also participate in workshops, taking into
account their different works: missions, teaching, parish work, etc. Domestic,
provincial and general assemblies are based upon the open participation of all
the missionaries and communities. The meetings of local superiors at the
provincial level, and the Visitors’ meetings in the different geographic
areas, or at the level of the whole Congregation offer another platform for
participation

Throughout
the Constitutions certain concepts referring to the participation of the
missionaries are highly significant. In regard to obedience it says the whole
community should search out the will of God in a shared effort (C 37). The word
“corresponsibility”, a very symbolic expression, appears for the first time
in the Constitutions to show that in the Little Company responsibilities are
shared. One must not wait for the others to make decisions, but rather on many
occasions the active participation of everyone is called for. Another passage of
the Constitutions tells us it is the right and duty of everyone to collaborate
in the apostolic life and government of the Congregation (C 96).

In reference
to the possessions of the Congregation, the Constitutions call for the
responsibility of all at the moment of acquiring, administering or determining
the use of the temporal goods of the house and the province (C 149). Another
channel for participation concerns the information offered to the missionaries
about economic affairs at the different levels: general, provincial and house (S
103, 1).

In summary,
today participation is a real possibility, a right and a duty. The text of the
constitutions calls for participation to a greater degree and with greater
insistence than in past times. Participation of itself can spark the interest of
the missionaries in regard to everything that has to do with the life of the
Congregation; it increases unity and strengthens the sense of belonging. On the
other hand, taking shortcuts in the participative process engenders a lack of
interest and inhibition. In these cases the unity is more apparent than real.
The present Constitutions, attentive to the ecclesiology of communion and the
ethico-social value of participation, so highly regarded in advanced societies
today, have opened up areas of corressponsibilty for the missionaries in
everything concerning the life of the Congregation.

Vincentian
Formation Strengthens Unity

The purpose
of formation is to prepare missionaries to carry out with competence the mission
of the Congregation (C 77,1; S 40). This means, of course, an integral
formation: human, spiritual, intellectual, pastoral and specifically Vincentian.
With regard to the philosophical-theological formation of aspirants to the C.M.
we adhere to the laws of the church (C 78,3; S 45,2). On the other hand,
Vincentian formation for all missionaries, younger and adult candidates, is
carried out by the Congregation. The present Constitutions lay down fundamental
guidelines for the Internal Seminary (C 82-86), the Major Seminary (C 87-90),
the formation of Brothers (C 91-92) and continuing formation (C 81). In line
with the principles inserted in the Constitutions, two documents that appeared
later on have had positive effects on the formation of our candidates: the Ratio
Formationis for the Internal Seminary (1982) and the Ratio Formationis
Vincentianae for the Major Seminaries of the Congregation (1988). Thanks to the
Constitutions and these two documents, today the Vincentian formation of all our
candidates is virtually identical in all the provinces of the Congregation.
Because of this we can safely say that with regard to Vincentian formation the
unity of the Congregation has been strengthened.

Bear in mind
as well that present day Vincentian formation has received a strong stimulus,
coming in good measure from the numerous and frequently high quality
publications, as well as from the frequent study weeks and congresses. From the
time of the approbation of the Constitutions a whole series of means has helped
to foment the unity of the Congregation in the minds of the missionaries. Today
the seminarians, students and missionaries of the C.M. all speak the same
language because of Vincentian formation that is everywhere alike. It has come
to us through the Internal Seminary, through the basic course of studies, and
later on through ongoing formation.

Interprovincial
Collaboration Fosters the Unity of the Congregation

Collaboration
and mutual assistance are a sign of the unity of the Congregation. Of themselves
they express and at the same time fortify the already existing unity. The
Constitutions and Statutes in many places call for interprovincial collaboration
in the area of economic aid (C 152), personnel (S 3), the mission “ad
gentes” (S 5, 1-3), pastoral strategies (S 8), Internal Seminary (S 45, 1-2)
and mutual contacts between the candidates of the different provinces (S 47).

In the
present decade interprovincial collaboration has received a strong stimulus in
response to the call from the General Assemblies of 1992 and 1998. In accord
with the conclusions of both Assemblies new channels were opened and
interprovincial collaboration is taking place as a matter of course. This has
been consolidated in the areas of the missions “ad gentes” and of formation
in both the Internal and Major Seminaries. The number of interprovincial
novitiates grows daily, as does the movement of formators from one province to
another. Another area of collaboration is the growing participation of
missionaries from different places in interprovincial organisms, created for the
purpose of mutual aid: in missions, in formation and in the spiritual attention
to the Daughters of Charity.

National and
continental Visitors’ conferences meet regularly. The provinces that are
economically able to come to the aid of more needy provinces. Another means for
interprovincial collaboration has also begun by means of sistering arrangements
between two provinces. Pastoral services with and for the Daughters of Charity
and Vincentian lay groups in many areas are giving birth to close collaboration
between missionaries from different provinces.

In short, the
method of interchanging interprovincial information in use up to now using
newsletters and other publications will increase because of the ease which
modern means of communication offer, viz. e-mail and the internet.

Collaboration
is a manifestation of charity and makes clear the unity of the C.M. which, over
and above cultural differences and the uniqueness of each province, is one body.
In speaking of this topic, two extremes must be avoided. It is just as bad for
missionaries to close themselves off in the small world of their own province as
to try to make of all the provinces a shapeless mixture. Missionaries need their
own house which welcomes them, their own province, but without succumbing to the
danger of isolation. The collaboration, the interchanges and the interprovincial
assistance provided for by the Constitutions and the General Assemblies,
invigorate the unity in diversity of the C.M.

The
Superior General, Center of Unity and Coordination of the Provinces (C 102)

The
Constitutions and Statutes have drawn up with precision the mission and areas of
competence of the Superior General, at the service of the Congregation. With
clear allusion to our Founder and the subsequent historical succession, they
identify the Superior General as the “successor” and “continuer” of the
mission of St. Vincent (C 101). “Together with the whole Congregation” he
shall do everything possible so that “the charism of St. Vincent always stays
alive in the church.” (C 101). Therefore the Superior General has the primary
responsibility for the conservation, development and adaptation of the
Vincentian charism in the circumstances of a changing world.

Immediately
afterwards the Constitutions describe the Superior General as the “center of
unity and coordination of the provinces” (C 102). They also ask him to be the
“source of spiritual animation and apostolic activity” (C 102). Let these
citations serve to remind us of some basic points about the ministry of the
Superior General.

At the
beginning of the third millennium, the missionaries can be found in the service
of the poor and engaged in various activities in more than seventy countries.
This multiplicity of situations requires a visible center of unity who,
according to the Constitutions, can be none other than the Superior General.

Afterwards
the Constitutions and Statutes complete the previous affirmations with a new
attribute: the Superior General “governs all the provinces, houses and
individual members of the Congregation with ordinary power according to the
norms of universal law and of our own law” (C 103). This is one more service
the Congregation expects to receive from the successor of St. Vincent. His
authority to govern everything at the service of the Congregation is explicitly
recognized. Where a difficulty might arise is not in the recognition of his
authority, but rather in its restrictions and in the way of exercising it, since
the provincials also have attributes in the governance of their respective
provinces.

The
principles of government provided by the Constitutions for all who exercise
governing functions affect the Superior General as well as all missionaries in
positions of authority. They are to exercise that authority “having ever
before their eyes the example of the Good Shepherd who came not to be ministered
to, but to minister” (C 97,1), and remaining open “to dialogue with the
members” (C 97, 2). The purpose of this dialogue is to discern the will of
God, reach mature decisions and fruitfully serve the missionaries of the
Congregation.

In the
Constitutions, articles 107 and 124, and in the Statutes, articles 51 and 91 are
found the principal faculties of the Superior General, and even the manner in
which he should exercise them in the service of the Congregation. In practice
the Superior General carrys out the ministry prescribed for him in the
Constitutions in two complementary ways. In the first place, through spiritual
and Vincentian animation, fostering our charism and trying to augment the
missionary spirit of the Congregation. The Superior General’s other task is
administrative: assignments, permissions and approbation of Provincial Norms. In
carrying out his functions the Superior Genral makes use of ordinary means:
advice, written documentation and visits to the Provinces.

The figure of
the Superior General enjoys the affection, respect and veneration of the
missionaries of the C.M. In his person and what he represents the provinces and
houses of the C.M., spread throughout many countries of the world, are held
together. The Superior General is also recognized as the real and visible symbol
of the unity and universality of the Congregation. The Constitutional texts
which refer to the Superior General as the center of unity do nothing more than
put in written form a reality widely felt and recognized by the members of the
C.M.

The unity of
the Congregation is a gift from God. The task of all confreres is to preserve
and increase it. One enemy of this unity is the preference given by superiors,
whether Superior General or Provincial, to particular groups. The law of the
gospel recognizes only one preferential option, the one the one that draws us to
the poor, whether they be within or outside of the C.M. The poor are always
first.

Unity
in Diversity

The present
Constitutions were drawn up in the light of Vatican II. In a moment in which new
winds were blowing and a reaction against uniformist and centralizing tendencies
was in the air, certain values considered novel at that time enjoyed the
unconditional support of the majority of the confreres: participation,
corresponsibility, decentralization, dialogue and subsidiarity. In light of
this, the normative legislation of the C.M. gathers together these aspirations
and gives them written form in the Constitutions and Statutes.

More than a
few passages in the Constitutions, Statutes and the approved documents of the
last three General Assemblies place in the hands of the provinces and local
communities a considerable number of faculties. The C.M. has conferred upon
itself a somewhat decentralized organization in which, without lessening the
attributes of the Superior General over the entire Congregation, the provinces
have ample room for maneuvering. For the sake of brevity, we shall limit
ourselves to recalling a few articles in the Constitutions and Statutes that lay
down guidelines favoring the decentralization and autonomy of the provinces and
houses. In the Constitutions see the following passages: Art. 13 on the forms of
the apostolate; Art. 23 about the due autonomy of the local community; Art. 27
which speaks of the local community project; Art. 37 which calls for a spirit of
corresponsibility; Art. 83, 2 about the time for the Internal Seminary; Art.
124, requiring the appointment or confirmation of the Visitor; Art. 126 in which
the province decides whether or not to have an assistant Provincial; Art. 130, 2
on the naming of the local superior; Art. 143 on the Provincial Assembly; Art.
146 which determines who participates in the Provinial Assembly; and Art. 150 on
the ownership of material goods.

Article 98
speaks of the principle of subsidiarity in support of decentralization: “All
members, in accepting assignments given to them by the community, have the
authority necessary to carry them out. For this reason, those matters which can
be managed by individual members or lower levels of government should not be
referred to higher levels of government”. This principle favors the autonomy
of the provinces and houses. On the other hand, subsidiarity by itself does not
place in doubt the unity of government or allow for individualism.

The Statutes
repeatedly refer to the attributes which favor the autonomy of the provinces.
Let us recall some passages: Art. 9 refers to the approbation of norms governing
social action; Art. 17 speaks of the practical norms on poverty; Arts. 22,2 and
23 which allow the provinces to decide on some aspects about Good Purposes; Art.
26,4 on the suffrages for the deceased; Arts. 41-42 on formation; Art. 43 on the
location of the internal seminary; Art. 69, 2-3 on the way of electing the
Visitor; Art.74,2 protecting the right of the province to propose its own method
of naming provincial councilors; Art. 91 which deals with the value of the norms
emanating from the Provincial Assembly; Art. 97 which refers to the participants
in the Provincial Assembly.

Article 125
of the Constitutions and Article 69 of the Statutes bring together the principal
attributes of the Visitor with regard to the governance of the province. In
truth, these are many and of greater weight than those possessed by the Visitor
in times past in the Congregation.

Conclusion

From what has
been said it can be seen that the Constitutions protect the unity of the C.M. We
have alluded to the factors that protect: the end of the Congregation, indicated
by our Founder, which holds together the missionaries; Vincentian spirituality
shared by all the members of the Congregation; the participation of the
missionaries in the life of the C.M.; specifically Vincentian formation,
interprovincial collaboration and assistance and, finally, the figure of
theSuperior General as center of unity of the C.M.

But it is
also true the C.M. has given itself a more decentralized organization than in
past times. The art of governing will consist in combining the responsibilities
of the Superior General over the whole Congregation with the attributes of the
Visitors, provided for in the Constitutions, with regard to their own provinces.
It will also be a question of harmonizing the interventions of the Superior
General with the plans of the provinces. The organization of the Congregation,
at once unified and also decentralized and diversified, just as the
Constitutions confirm, should be considered the most adequate for the C.M. at
the present time.

During the
General Assembly of 1992 there were several voices in favor of granting greater
power to the Superior General. Behind these were a concern and a desire to
introduce small change in the fundalmental law of the C.M. for the sake of
greater missionary efficacy. That General Assembly did not judge it opportune to
introduce any change in the Constitutions. Nevertheless, it approved the
following postulate: “the Superior General at a time and in a way he deems
most fitting shoud promote a study in order to determine exactly his own power
and that of the Visitors to foster solidarity in missionary ministers” (Decree
1, AG/92). In fact, as a consequence of this decree, the Superior General
approved a document*
in which, without lessening the Constitutional and Statutory attributes of the
Visitors, reformulated the breadth of his own powers to call on the provinces to
participate in particular interprovincial missionary projects.

Bearing in
mind the globalization prevailing today and, especially, the needs of the
missions “ad gentes”, it should be considered opportune that the Superior
General give a greater stimulus to interprovincial collaboration with a view to
the mission of the C.M.

The vitality
of the Congregation will depend, among other things, on unity in diversity. The
unity, which is a good in itself, should not weaken the diversity or the degree
of autonomy that the Constitutions grant to the Provinces. These, for their
part, should not shut themselves off, going so far in the worst case, as to
break in practice their relation with the rest of the C.M. which is one body.
Openness to new horizons and breathing missionary air enrich the life of the
provinces. On the other hand, shortsightedness impedes the flow of stimuli and
breath each province can and should receive from the C.M.

The unity in
diversity of the C.M. works itself out within prescribed limits. Both values,
unity and diversity, remain firm if they find support in a structure that
protects them. This structure is the Constitutions and Statutes. Of course,
times change and the practical interpretation of the texts depends in large
measure on individuals and even groups. Therefore, it would be prudent to remain
in on guard in order to defend the unity of the C.M., and at the same time the
areas of autonomy provided by the present Constitutions. It would also be wise
to be alert so as to impede any step backwards to centralization and uniformity.
However, it should be considered normal to have a policy of keeping the doors
open to possible new interpretations, as seems most advantageous at a given
moment, that facilitate the harmony between the unity and the diversity of the
C.M., between the coordination of the apostolic life of the whole Congregation
and respect for the autonomy of the provinces, between the central government of
the C.M. and the provincial government.

(JOSEPH
V. CUMMINS, C.M., translator)

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