The Holy Year which we have been living for some weeks was defined by our Superior General as “A time of grace and joy”, which must be lived “in the light of theological hope” and “under the banner of the missionary program of Jesus” (Letter of November 17, 1999).

This is a strong provocation for the entire “Dehonian Family”, also in view of the three international meetings programmed for the current year: the S.C.J. General Conference on the theme “Economics and the Kingdom of God”, in the month of May; the international meeting of Young Lay Dehonians in Italy, being held in Rome in the month of August; and, also on an international level, the meeting of the Dehonian Family which will be held in Rome during October. It is certain that the issues of “DEHONIANA” presented during this year will not be able to overlook all of these important events.

For the moment we will restrict ourselves to presenting this First Number, dedicated almost entirely to the theme “Sharing the Dehonian Charism Among Religious and Lay People”, and to describing various life experiences lived by some individuals or groups in the perspective of the “Dehonian Family”.

This issue is introduced by an article on the figure and the spirituality, contemplative and incarnate, of our venerable Father Founder. It is an anonymous text which has been elaborated with particularly loving commitment and for several years it has been distributed at Saint Quentin near the tomb in which his body lies. It is almost as if this text endeavors to offer the reader an appreciation of the living image of Fr. Dehon, as well as an open invitation to receive the grace of his presence and his charism with gratitude and joy. This article is followed by a spiritual contribution on the theme “The Heart of Jesus, Our Peace and Reconciliation”: based on the discourse delivered by Pope John Paul II during his recent pilgrimage to various cities in Poland. It is a theme particularly dear to that “Dehonian” tradition which urges us all to be “prophets of love and servants of reconciliation”.

Following this there are several articles on the theme of the “laity”. These articles deal both with the laity in general as well as with the laity in the Church and in their relationship with the religious. Particular attention is paid to pointing out the problems and the methods of sharing charisms.

At this point one moves from the discourse on charisms in general to the specific problem which we, as S.C.J., encounter regarding our relationship with the laity and vice versa. We look then at the theme of sharing our charism and our mission with the laity. The first experiences in this field go back to the time of Fr. Dehon himself who together with the Congregation founded a Reparatory Association in order that his message of the love of the Heart of Jesus and its relative spirituality should be extended also to the diocesan clergy and to the laity. As this association became active in various countries it subsequently took on differing forms and, though each group conserved their own spiritual and organizational identity, as of 1990 they became increasingly aware of the charism they had inherited from Fr. Dehon. This led to their making the decision to also cultivate a more explicit relationship of communion between themselves and their S.C.J. Congregation, recognizing that all of them were within the framework of the “Dehonian Family”.

The situation which existed in those years is well known: there were differing traditions and experiences of sharing between Dehonian religious and the laity, both regarding groups of ex-students or small groups which had developed alongside a parish or alongside one of the works of the Congregation, as well as regarding initiatives on a deeper level (for example the secular institute of the Compagnia Missionaria a Bologna [Missionary Company of Bologna]). Now, animated by the theology of “Church communion” as expressed by the Council, these groups and movements have gained an ever increasing understanding of the need for a clearer and more visible “communion” between them and the “source” from which they have drawn the nourishment for their spiritual and apostolic life. This is what has led to the establishment of the so-called “Dehonian Family”.

Practically speaking, it is a question of the “communion of different vocations around a common charism”: the charism of Fr. Dehon.

We have, therefore, individual Christians or groups of Christians who, when meeting with the message and the witness of Fr. Dehon, discover that it contains the treasure of new horizons and new elan for their life of faith and charity. There are others who, for the same reason, live the surprise of feeling themselves called to a more total consecration to the Heart of Jesus and to the service of the Kingdom through the missionary, religious or priestly vocation. And, also in this context, there can be differences (from case to case) in the type of service which one feels capable of carrying out: apostolic prayer, bearing witness to or proclaiming the Gospel, or even voluntary work in which the most varied services are possible in order to ameliorate the life of the poor and the lowly. In fact, one can often find quite a different emphasis being made by one or another group, both with regard to spirituality (and the relative spiritual practices) and in the concrete objectives and commitments which have been chosen. However, the vinestock from which they derive is common to them all; and common to them all is also the charism which has inspired their choices.

A fairly typical example is the case of the US Province, where the entirety of the S.C.J. initiatives regarding sharing with the laity have led to the forming of the “Dehonian Affiliates Committee”. There are also different groups and programs for the various different sectors: The S.C.J. Lay Missionaries group, The S.C.J. Mission Education group, etc. All of these sectors are in communion with each other under the banner “S.C.J. Family Associates”. A great diversity is also to be found in Italy, where we have several groups of “Dehonian Laity”, “Family Agape”, the “Dehonian Auxiliaries”, the “Sint Unum” movement, etc. In addition to these there are, naturally, the true and proper institutes of consecrated life, both lay or religious.

The picture which emerges from these and also from other S.C.J. Provinces is therefore extremely varied, both in organizational forms and in concrete objectives. That is why a single organization is unthinkable, since it would end up by stultifying all originality.

In a Church which by definition is the “mystery of communion”, every ecclesiastical reality must be qualified as “communion”, whereas it is “relationships of communion” which must be cultivated between the various groups within the Church. But this means that every entity must be respected in its own identity; an identity which, however, must be understood and lived not as a reason for feelings of superiority or opposition but as different ways of doing things, which must leave all of them open to dialogue, to reciprocal acceptance and to the demands of charity. The organizational forms of the various organisms or groups are therefore very varied; but the spirit which animates them is common, and common and heartfelt to them all is the desire for dialogue, welcoming acceptance and all possible services to nurture the growth of charity in all.

Certainly Fr. Dehon's charism can be more easily understood and shared by lay people or by groups of lay people living near or collaborating directly with some work managed by Dehonian Religious. But, if this is the most frequent way of proposing and living the sharing of charism it must not isolate us, and of course it must not place “Dehonian” groups in comparable opposition with other groups present in the Church. Every Church group or movement must be lived with a heart that is open to the Catholicity of all, be they lay people, consecrated persons or priests. These groups must always be more prepared to “give” than to “receive”. And this expectation applies to everybody.

Seen in this light, the various groups which make up the “Dehonian Family” cannot be considered as “docile and ever- available collaborators” who support the communities or the works of the Congregation. What Fr. Panteghini had already commented on regarding the 1990 meeting in a letter directed to the “Dehonian Religious” can indeed also happen to the S.C.J. religious: “As has happened in many other Congregations”, he writes, “perhaps we also find the presence of lay people uncomfortable and find that it disturbs our peace and quiet and stimulates our laziness; it forces us to be more coherent. In this sense their presence is a blessing: we are provoked to take another look at our style of life, our way of performing the apostolate, our capacity for collaboration” (cf. Dehoniana, n. 79 (1991), p. VI).

It is a reflection which surprises us. Perhaps we will better understand the reason for this when we read the last articles of this issue collected in the feature “Some Experiences”. The contribution by U. Chiarello tells us of the experiences noted at a recent meeting of the Union of Superiors General. After these other more typical “Dehonian” experiences are reported and then “two testimonies”.

And to finish, as usual, there are some notes on the “Life of the Congregation”.