I. Attentive to the Real Situation
5. Reading the signs of the times, the 20th
General Chapter, in light of the gospels and our Dehonian charism, took
note of the phenomena of globalization. While certainly having positive
aspects, this phenomena is greatly conditioned by a neo-liberal market
economy and by a tendency to make cultures uniform. The negative effects
are obvious:
-
there is a growing divergence between the
Northern and Southern Hemispheres: between the well-off and the poor, with
the latter becoming even more marginalized;
-
it diminishes the diversity of cultural expressions;
-
any reference to spiritual, moral and juridical
values is losing meaning;
-
it accentuates the crisis of meaningfulness
and of hope in many countries and cultures;
-
it renders the values of justice, peace, love
and forgiveness even more fragile.
However, many positive aspects and new possibilities
also exist. In a time of epochal change and of cultural transition, globalization
permits the extension of the means of communication; it arouses the attention
and interest of many for what is happening in every part of the world;
it creates new bridges that can be put to use in fraternal service and
human solidarity.
We welcome these aspects of globalization
as signs of the times, that summon us to become a significant presence
today and as SCJs to evangelize this reality.
6. Likewise within the church and congregation
a number of challenges face us, for example:
-
the challenge of the Church to be more present
in the secular and neo-liberal world;
-
the geographic and cultural shift of the congregation
from the traditional western provinces and regions and cultures to the
South, to the East and to the Orient;
-
the aging of persons, works and structures,
to some degree everywhere; some provinces will not even have the normal
generational substitution;
-
the inadequacies of some structures of government
to deal with the changing situations or new realities that are emerging
in the congregation;
-
the reception and diffusion of the Dehonian
charism beyond the boundaries of the congregation in different vocations,
in various styles of life and ecclesial commitments.
All these challenges open up bright horizons;
we believe we can adequately face them only by pursuing a plan for the
congregation in which it responds as a corporate unity and chooses its
arena with great care.
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attentive to our real situation