The 2007 Vocation-Mission week took place from the 2nd – 4th March in St Louise’s Provincial House, Madrid and its theme was: “You are my friends, you will be my witnesses.” The week was organised by Vincentian Cooperation for Development – Vincentian Missionary Action in Spain (COVIDE – AMVE) and JMV (Vincentian Marian Youth). COVIDE – AMVE is an NGO (Non-Governmental Organisation) created to facilitate and manage the financing of social projects on the Missions of the Vincentian Fathers and Daughters of Charity of Vincent de Paul. Fr. Manuel Ginete CM, the Father General’s delegate to the Vincentian Family, who gave two excellent conferences.
The first of these was entitled “The Vincentian Family in the world – a Missionary Family: Situations and challenges”. After sharing some of his experiences, Fr Manuel highlighted some facts about the Vincentian Family: This large, international missionary family, fostered by the spirit of St Vincent, which enjoys a wide network of collaboration and co-ordination with its own members as well as with other ecclesiastic and social groups with share in its mission. Finally he presented the challenges which globalisation, secularisation, the media and the tendency to individualism present to us as the Vincentian Family.
In his second conference, Fr Manuel shared some missionary experiences from a variety of countries. He also focused on the motivations for sharing mission together:- Mission is a work stemming from the love of God and the needs of people: It requires co-responsibility, In his writings Saint Vincent acknowledges the value of collaborating with others in the Church on behalf of the poor � In a shared mission the value and identity of each organisation is recognised and appreciated, but these identities should not become obstacles to the mission, A shared mission with shared projects; has to create new structures such as a co-ordinating group; which meets to communicate and share and decide what will happen. It is this group that determines the function of each branch of the Family by serving as a secretariat for communication
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