Fr. Virginio Bressanelli presented this theme, in broad lines and in the perspective of the Dehonian charism, during his opening address to the Conference. It was then taken up again, both as a "problem" and as a reflection and search for "alternative proposals": initially with brief contributions from individual "delegations" and with the relating of certain more significant experiences, and lastly with a reflection and a discussion starting from existing reality. This was followed by the elaboration of the "final message", presented in the form of a letter addressed to the entire "Dehonian Family" on the occasion of the Feast of the Sacred Heart of Jesus in the year 2000.

Now, rather than spending time on describing details and on telling you how the Conference developed, it has been considered more opportune to only present some of the "statements" from among the many presented for reflection at the assembly. To be precise: extracts from Fr Bressanelli's opening speech; almost the full text of the concluding message sent out to the entire Dehonian Family; the contribution by Bob Bossie relative to the area of USA and Canada; and an important testimony by Fr. Renato Maia de Altaide concerning the truly prophetic figure of Msgr. Helder Càmara: who, in the very area of Recife, succeeded in opening new paths "for those who thirst for freedom".

P.S. In his homily at the opening Mass Fr. Virginio added this reflection:

As children of Fr. Dehon we say that we are prophets of love... builders of the Kingdom... people who are involved in reparation for personal sins and for the so-called social and structural sins, that is, sins which are the consequence of the action of the anti-kingdom in structures whose interests are opposed to those of the Kingdom of God.

...The works of the Kingdom are works of justice, of peace, of reconciliation, of mercy, of solidarity, of fraternity, of truth, of charity.

The works of the Kingdom presuppose a deep, concrete and committed discipleship in the following of the passion of Christ.

...Our assurance consists of our knowing that no one will tear us from the hands of Christ and of the Father. Jesus told us this and St. Paul experienced it in his own flesh. Our founder tells us this. And here in Latin America it is told to us by the martyrs...like Romero, Angelleli, the Jesuits of the UCA, together with thousands of men and women who died for having denounced the anti-kingdom and for having opted for justice, for the Gospel and for the madness of the cross.

And here in Recife it is repeated by a prophet for all seasons. A man who spent his life here, who spoke with clarity and mildness, and who today continues to preach from the silence of his tomb, visited by the poor: Dom Helder Càmara, whose dream was: "the year 2000 without poverty".

...The Fr. Founder invites us to "come out of the sacristies" and to "go to the people", to emerge ourselves in social problems, to take on the "ministry to the lowly and the humble, the workers and the poor" (Cst. 31). These are all expressions which we use when defining ourselves "Dehonians".

We can therefore ask ourselves: Today are we Priests of the Sacred Heart known as priests who live for the people, or have we failed to fulfill the hopes of the poor?

* * * * *

Dear confreres,

Welcome to Recife, welcome to our VIth General Conference.

We are at the beginning of this important international meeting of our Congregation, which sees Major Superiors and confreres representing treasures and the Justice and Peace sector, meeting.

We are going to occupy ourselves during these days with a very complex and a controversial theme: The Economy and the Kingdom of God. In truth, this our work does not commence today. Today we inaugurate the intensive part of the reflection already begun the day this Conference was convened.

The theme, the motivation and the aim of the VIth General Conference

1. At the origin of this VIth General Conference there is the 5th motion of the General Chapter, approved on the 04.06.1997, which makes the theme, its motivation and its aim precise. The motion says:

"Gathered in the General Chapter, the Priests of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, called to be 'prophets of love and reconciliation,' feel questioned by the problem of economic neoliberalism."

This type of economy, in as far as it is supranational, escapes any state, national or local authorities, and any juridical order, so also avoiding any ethical valuation. That upsets the life of a major part of humanity with wars and environmental ruin and constructs one of the maximum 'structural sins' of today's world (Pacem in terries, GS, PP, SRS, CA passim).

In order that the whole Congregation becomes sensitive to this problem, it was asked that the next General Conference has, as the theme: The Economy and the Kingdom of God, and to single out apostolic choices coherent with the social dimension of the dehonian charism " (Cf. Doc XVII, p. 392).

That motion was taken up again in the plan "We, the Congregation, in service to the Mission" (N° 17-18), and in the operative document "A road to build, a path to travel" (N° 8) which says: "The objective we are asked to aim at is that the provinces and the Congregation as a whole have an administrative and economic policy which is directed against the neo-liberal ethic and makes precise decisions in favour of poverty and at the service of the poor. In order to attain our objective the preparation for the General conference in the provinces or regions is more important than the celebration of the conference itself. Each province or region therefore needs to study their own socio-economic reality in whatever way is most opportune for them before the conference. It is necessary to raise awareness, to create a new way of thinking, to become conscious of the importance of this theme in order to arrive at real and demanding new ways of living, looking even at how we administer our goods." (A road, 8)

It clearly appears that the theme of the Conference, "The Economy and the Kingdom of God" is motivated by the actual negative situation of the world for the majority of humanity which is created by economic neo-liberalism.

The globalisation of the market economy becomes for us dehonians an appeal to respond based on our spirituality and our tradition of social commitment.

The aim of the conference is explicitly enunciated:

- Sensitise ourselves, create a certain mentality, make ourselves aware regarding the problem.

- Single out apostolic choices coherent with the social dimension of the dehonian charism, i.e.

To lead the Provinces and the Congregation to an administrative and economic policy which is sensitive to the ethic of neoliberalism.

Make choices of poverty and of service to the poor

Highlight the importance of such awareness. The conference has to look for and highlight the general lines to develop in the concrete environment where the SCJs live and work. In order to create awareness, it is necessary to have clear ideas and convinced people who are ready to take action.

Nature and preparation of the Conference

2. The General Conference is a consultative organism, prescribed by our Constitutions to be held at least once during the mandate of the Superior General (Cf. Cst. 136), "to promote the dialogue and collaboration of all at the general level, expressing the participation and interest of all members in the good of the community (PC 14),"(Cst. 110).

The presentation of this conference was launched at the last meeting of the Major Superiors with the General Administration in November 1998.

Then it was followed by the arduous work of the preparatory committee, which suffered the unforeseen sickness of Fr. Nestor Eckert. However, that did not hinder the committee going ahead and complete its work. We thank him for the remarkable service he rendered. Many confreres then studied the theme individually and in groups. There have been assemblies, seminars, various meetings and articles in "Dehoniana." Our Web site published 36 articles on the theme. There were many proposals which the committee received.

3. This conference is neither the first nor the last step of this work. It must constitute an intensive stage to look at the many suggestions already proposed by our confreres. The responses which have already arrived indicate the direction: that this conference should not limit itself to producing yet another document, nor to propose motions impossible to realise or which have to be realised by others. What we hope for, are concrete measures, feasible, practical, and which will affect our way of life including our practical and pastoral administrations (cf. Mot. 5). Some fear that nothing will change, others believe that we are too few and weak to change something of this world as complex as that of the economy. Some have expressed some anguish, a feeling of certain impotence towards neoliberal capitalism. Others instead harbour great hopes. In my journeys I have perceived a great interest in the theme and for the results of this Conference. That might constitute an important step in the concretising of the social dimension of our charism.

It is important and decisive that the Major Superiors and all the participants feel involved and responsible in order to assure the execution of the proposals, which will be agreed upon. The putting into practice of the decisions of the Conference will depend to a large extent on the commitment of the Superiors.

General Conference: a challenge and grace

4. This Conference is a challenge which we may not miss and which we have to face. I firmly believe that it can give a vital push to the Congregation because it touches our charism in its essential element. It is a challenge that calls for courage to question ourselves, to renounce the well being gained and the too personal use of the patrimony, to share with the poor the resources which the Providence puts into our hands. We may not forget that the greater part of our material good comes from benefactors who believe in us, who believe that we are committed to the poorest as we often make them believe.

This challenge is, however, not as big as the one Fr. Dehon had before him when he had just arrived at St. Quentin, to believe in a more just world in an era in which no one dared to occupy himself with social and economic questions.

5. Our task will not be an easy one at all, given that fact that we are from such diverse social and economic levels. We work in two worlds: we are in the midst of the conflict between the rich and the poor worlds. This difference between rich and poor is found in all latitudes, be it South or North of the globe, even though it is more visible and shameful in the South. Our views and our preoccupations are different: those who live in the more developed areas and those who live in more poor ones, all have much to hear, maybe to listen more that to talk. Here we can make an examination of conscience avoiding any manoeuvres in order not to change anything. We are invited, so to say, by the poor to examine with sincerity our attitudes towards them.

6. The choice of the city of Recife made by the Major Superiors in the meeting of November 1998, as a place for this Conference is very suggestive and symbolic in itself. It has been here, very near to this house that, in 1893, some confreres were called to work among the workers of a factory of Camaragibe, specifically for the reason of social sensibility, which then was already our identity. The city in which we are is part of an arid region, a victim of exploitation, a place of past and present slavery. In the past, for the work in the sugar cane fields and presently for the unemployed, peasants without land, forced to emigrate. Our nearness to these suffering people can stimulate our decision making.

7. We do not start from nothing. We have many initiatives in the Congregation in the field of human promotion and the defence of justice. It is enough to read the dossier on the social commitments in the Congregation published last year by the General Secretary of Justice and Peace. Very often, these initiatives are born by the initiative of a single religious, and only later that the Provinces acknowledges them and incorporates them in its projects. They are choices that came in faith to the spirit of Fr. Dehon, in the will to respond to the needs and the local situations which do not allow us to be indifferent.

Under the guidance of the dehonian constitutions and tradition

8. Our constitutions push us to respond to these situations (cf. Cst. 28b), when they invite us to share our life, our joy and our sorrows with the poor who are the sign and the image of Christ in whose name we preach the Good News to them. The call to solidarity will lead us towards areas in which our presence represent a hope and a sign of the presence of Christ. Coming closer to the poor and the humble we will also find these simple values of sharing and renunciation, of solidarity with the needy, of the joy of serving…, values obscured in our individualistic and competitive society of the world of neoliberalism. We will go to the poor to learn from them why does the face of Christ manifests itself in them and more hidden in other areas. (cf. Cst. 29a).

We can comply with human aspirations such as truth, justice, love, freedom, (cf. Cst. 36) bringing the values of the Kingdom of God: his truth where there is confusion, peace where violence reigns, hope where despair dominates, pardon where hatred and intolerance overcome groups and entire nations. The inhuman situation of the present world must be purified and transfigured by the Cross and the Resurrection of Christ (cf. Cst. 29b). It is then up to us "to effectively witness that the Kingdom of God and His justice must be sought before all and in all" (Cst. 38b).

9. But, according to which norms is the Kingdom of God already working in this world?

Many are interested in the destiny of the poor and at the threats that govern human destiny and of nature; many are seeking to construct a new earthly city; there are many human organisations who are looking for alternative models to that of globalisation of economic, of the society and of culture.

The Church has recently warned us about that. "With her social doctrine, the Church offers a valid contribution to the problem which the actual globalised economy presents. Her moral vision in such matter leans on the three fundamental corner stones, human dignity, solidarity and subsidiarity… In reality the social doctrine of the Church and the moral vision aims at stimulating the governments, the institutions and the private organisations until they configure a congruent future with human dignity" (Ecclesia in America, 55).

The Kingdom of God is operative in those who are committed to it, e.g. in the following spheres:

Establishing a "globalisation of solidarity" and of movements of resistance and of struggle against "economic globalisation."

Subjecting the economy to the service of people. The economy cannot have the seeking of profit at any cost as its sole principle; but it has to subject itself to human service and for the common good of all people.

Reinforcing the civil society starting from the poor and the social movements to condition the strong powers of the political society, as well as economical.

Orientate the technological progress and the means of communication to put itself at the service of people and at the respect of nature.

Besides these big objectives and long term projects towards "alternative globalisation," the Kingdom of God manifests it dynamism through those who are today involved in more immediate and concrete initiatives, such as, for example:

The cancellation of the debt of poor countries.

Obtaining national and international laws the implementation of which would serve to protect the environment.

Establishment of international Law and relative Tribunals for the respect of human rights.

The promotion of Justice, Peace and Nonviolence.

Assistance and support for the outcasts, refugees, marginalized, prisoners…

We have to ask ourselves: in which sense can we co-operate in this work of the Kingdom of God? In which area can we commit ourselves? Which initiatives to support? It depends on this Conference to deepen and characterise the area of commitment for the Congregation, for our organisms of Justice and Peace.

Finally, world globalisation in its positive aspects of communication network, of the solidarity of charity, support of hope, as in its negative aspects of market idolatry, of a crisis of ethical values, destruction of cultures and local identities, questions our very Congregation, as institution and as members.

In which manner can we respond, as an SCJ institution to this globalisation?

At the structural level, we have to start from the Province, in order that these promote the "globalisation of solidarity" between themselves, the Regions and Districts.

Inside each Province, Region, District, we need to work so that our resources are put at the service of mission and not at the accumulation of goods and capital; to work for the common cash between communities. That the administration of goods respects ecclesiastical and civil laws, respecting justice, giving witness to our religious poverty. Give to our goods a clear ecclesial purpose, such as the mission; guarantee their community dimension, for the demands of the dehonian religious life; promote their social aspect, presenting ourselves united with the poor. It is a task that is mainly up to the Superiors and to the Treasurers, but which, in daily life involves all religious.

At the conscientisation and operative level, all religious have to sensitise themselves to the social dimension of our charism. Support those confreres who put themselves at the service of the poor and with the poor, above all those confreres who make the choice of being poor and living together with them.

10. This will, therefore, be a Conference profoundly dehonian in as far as we draw our inspiration from one of the great motivations of the activity of our Founder: the cause of social justice, the promotion of the working class, attention to the poor; motivations which reflected his spirituality. Fr. Dehon put much energy into the social cause. It is enough to remember his works at St. Quentin, his enthusiasm for Val-de-Bois, his Roman Conferences, his social writings including the Social Catechism, the Social Manual and the Christian Social Renovation, his commitment in the spreading of Rerum Novarum, his participation in social and political movements, and the foundation of some of them.

He seemed like a dreamer when he thought of a more just society based on Christian charity. He was a man very much ahead of his time. Even then, like today, many people did not think that it could be possible to interfere in the natural process of such a powerful system, like the forces of economy. His reflection and his action surely contributed, so that the idea of the "Kingdom of God" surpasses the spiritual dimension to extend itself to social reality. In fact he was qualifying the "Kingdom of God" as the"Reign of the Heart of Christ in the souls and in the societies."

The social commitment of Fr. Dehon is a visible part of his profound spirituality of oblation, reparation, eucharist, fully associated with the salvific action of Christ. His life of faith and intimacy with the Heart of Christ, made him "live for Him," feeling the passion of the Kingdom and embracing the cause of Christ, which is the salvation and integral liberation of all men and women. He lived this social preoccupation together with many of his contemporaries, choosing the proper way, whether siding with some or opposing others. He was always faithful to Church directives, in particular those of Pope Leone XIII, where he found the guide to incarnate the Good News in the contemporary reality of his time.

Fr. Dehon cultivated the dream of great men, who believed in the power of human beings and in the intervention of God in favour of the weak. The same dream occurs today in our very task. We want to be prophets of love, servants of reconciliation and builders of the civilization of love in Christ. The theme of this Conference leads us in that way.

The social commitment of Fr. Dehon was not occasioned only by the circumstances that he came across at St. Quentin. Already in his formation in the seminary he studied the social reality of that time with utmost interest in his sociological and scientific categories, discerning them in the light of the Gospel and of the Social Doctrine of the Church. So also for us today, coherently in the social commitment, we have to analyse more profoundly the different dimensions of the problems and topics of today.

The Conference as a Jubilee act

11. The responses of the Provinces say that the choices to make must be those that change our style life. Are we ready to confront ourselves with that demand? This is a crucial point of our discussions. Very often we religious propose the sharing of goods of other people: of governments, of the big companies and of the rich. Who of us is ready to divide that which is ours? If we will succeed in confronting that point with sincerity and without excuses, then, our charism will find new ways of development. Are we not, as individuals and as an institution, accomplices of an economic system, which forgets the weakest, which augments the distortions, which distributes in a shameful way the resources of the world created by God? Up to what point can we justify the entrusting of our patrimony, our reserves, our investments to a system, which exclusively seeks the profit and the accumulation of capital? What can we hope for from us SCJs in front of the calls of the world impoverished by neoliberalism and the so-called market economy to respond to them in the light of the Gospel, of our option of life and our charism?

12. We celebrate this Conference in the Jubilee year. We are all living the mystic which emerged around this event. It is a mystic of forgiveness and reconciliation, of revision of relationships between persons and peoples. It is a mystic, which, among many other aspects brought about the turn over of the situation of poor countries and their relationship with the rich, above all the problem of the foreign debt of the poor countries with the consequence of impoverishing them and of the dependence which it creates.

This Conference will be for us an occasion to live our dehonian moment of the Jubilee. We have an opportunity to participate in this great event of the Church as a Congregation and perhaps discover the particular form of participation in this event.

We reflected about it in our Mass. Let us do everything possible so that our coming to Recife transforms itself into a pilgrimage towards the poor; that our choices be the fruit of a profound institutional conversion; and that we indulge in the word of Jesus: "Come you whom my Father has blessed, because you gave me food…, drink…, made me welcome…, clothed me…, visited me…, in so far as you did this to the least of these brothers of mine…" (cf. Mt. 25, 31ff).

13. We thank the Province of North Brazil, which welcomes us so fraternally and which, for the last few months has been occupying itself so that this Conference would be a success. I know that it has been a commitment of all of the members of this Province. In this way they give an example of solidarity without overloading anyone.

I once more thank the Preparation Committee (Frs. Carlos Alberto da Costa Silva, Peter Sanders, Angelo Cavagna, Nestor Eckert and Osnildo Klann) who will accompany us in the work of these days.

Thanks very much to all present and particularly to those more involved in the technical services needed for the good flow of everything.

In conclusion I wish you all good work!