autumn 2006 mission update newsletter - catholic mission association

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sharing the respective strengths

of both types of programs before,

realistically, we can begin to“integrate our mission perspec-

tives.”

Rev. Bob Schreiter’s openingkeynote asked the question: Whatare the theological implicationsof long and short term programs?

He documented the fact that inthe U.S., short term programshave been growing and long termmission programs have been

declining in number. Both devel-opments, he noted, were rooted

in certain social and culturalfactors such as how people todayrelate to their own life cycle, therelative ease of travel, the disap-

pearance of life-long loyalty toemployers, and society becomingmore complex. He then high-lighted certain theological factors

that impinge on lay mission

Reflections on the 2006 USCMA AnnualConference

MISSION UPDATE

By Andrew Thompson, Ph.D., National Director of the St. Vin-cent Pallotti Center and USCMA

board member.

“This was one of the best

USCMA conferences I’ve at-tended in recent years,” said

presenter Rev. Robert Schreiter.Speakers and participants were

like the wise stewards who brought forth from their treas-ures, things both new and old

(Matt 13:52). This was mostappropriate given the title of thisyear’s 25th Anniversary Confer-

ence: “Celebrating and Integrat-ing Our Mission Perspectives:

Short Term, Long Term, OnWhose Terms?”

Keynote presentations and smallgroup discussions focused thethemes developed during theConference. One of the most

central concerns addressed was

that in today’s Church, we havean urgent need for long term

missionaries to share their wis-dom with those engaged in short

term missionary efforts. Simi-larly, the newer forms of short

term immersion or mission pro-grams have pastoral insights toshare with the long term pro-grams. This year’s conference,

held at the University of NotreDame, October 1-3, 2006, wasthe first time in USCMA’s his-tory that conference participants

so explicitly reflected on bothforms of mission and challengedattendees to “Integrate Our Mis-

sion Perspectives.”

As a conference participant, Ithink many of us came away with

a clearer understanding of someof the issues. In my opinion,however, we, the Catholic mis-sion community, have much

work ahead of us. We need toidentify strategies for meeting

this challenge. Iwonder if, for

example, wecould pair upeach short termwith a long term

program and,through a dia-

logue partner-ship, clarify our vision of missionand how we

recruit and formnew members. Itseems we mightneed some type

of ongoing dia-logue process for

In This Issue

Reflections on the 2006

Mission Conference

1

From the Director 2

25th Anniversary Message

from the President of the

Board

2

Annual Meeting and Resolu-

tions

4

Short Term, Long Term, OnWhose terms?

Center

The Photovoltaic Project 13

Celebrating a Response to

God’s Call

14

Mission Appeals Report 14

Orbis Books 15

Resources & Upcoming

Events15

We Praythat

through the effort

of believers,

together withliving forces of

society,

the new and old

chains which

prevent the

development of the

African continent

may be broken.

Un i t ed S t a t e sCa tho l i c M iss ion Assoc ia t ion Fall 2006

Volume 15, Issue 3

cont’d on p. 3

US Catholic Mission Association

Themes from past Conferences



USCMA 25th AnniversaryMessage from the President of the Board

USCMA StaffRev. Michael Montoya, MJ, Executive Director

Ms. Charlotte Cook, Associate Director

Sr. Anne Louise Von Hoene, MMS, Accountant

Sr. Michael Theresa Brauer, SND de N, Administrative Assistant

Questions/Comments re: Meetings & Conferences [email protected]

Questions/Comments re: Mission Update / Current Topics [email protected]

E-Mail: [email protected] Web Site: www.uscatholicmission.org

MISSION UPDATE

From the Director:

Rev. Michael Montoya, MJ

What a way to start our 25 th year! If the re-

cently concluded Conference at Notre Dameis any indication, then the years ahead prom-ise to be very exciting. The Conference was

indeed a mirror to what can happen – participants creating space and engaging in honest,critical, yet respectful dialogue. The sharingand celebration of the many diverse perspec-

tives of mission that our own experiencesallow us to see enriches and challenges our own stories of mission. In our world where

polarization seems to dominate the current

thinking, it is hopeful to see that there isroom for deliberate and intentional dialoguethat welcomes everyone at the table. It is withthis same hope, that our dialogue becomes

transformative. Thanks to all of you who

made the Conference a big success!

To paraphrase a dictum in community orga-nizing, “Good conferences regenerate to

actions!” The Conference has opened manynew possibilities for creative networking andcollaborations for USCMA. We ask you to

partner with us. As we have repeatedly said

during the Conference, USCMA is not just anoffice in Washington DC. USCMA is us!

Together we are USCMA!

We call on your expertise and your positiveexperiences to share with us “best practices”in the different areas of mission, be it on ashort-term or long-term basis. That way, we

can create a hub for “best practices” on our website. The Dialogue Sessions have openedthe conversations. But we need those conver-sations to translate into useful information!

We also call on your expertise in the differentlanguages spoken here in the US so that wecan make our website truly multi-lingual andhave a wider reach of audience in our promo-

tion of mission.

Also this year, we have launched“Transformative Dialogue Project” (TDP).

TDP hopes to help promote mission aware-ness locally through the collaboration and

dialogue of mission-sending groups and indi-viduals who have had mission experiences. It

envisions a strong network of mission-oriented groups and individuals in a particu-lar locality that promotes an integration of thecomponents of mission (proclamation, justice

and peace, witness, dialogue, and spiritual-ity). It provides a space and time to sharestories of mission and learn from each othersexperiences. With TDP, we hope to put mis-

sion on the agenda of the local church. The best advertisements to mission promotion are

Dear Friends in USCMA,

With our wonderful 2006 Conference behindus, we’re already looking forward to nextyear’s gathering with you. The Board spent a

day after the conference looking at what weexpect to be our most important priorities in

the coming year.

First among those is building up our member-ship and participation. As we noted during theconference, new styles of mission are fast

growing among us, and the people involved inthem have a great deal to offer to and gainfrom USCMA – if only we could find the wayto let them know that. So, we’ll be strategiz-

ing around that question and asking you to do

the same with us.

Aiding us in the strategizing will be our twonewest Board Members. We welcome Sister Flotilda Lape, ICM and Sister Mayon Sylvain,RSM, both of whom were elected at our last

meeting. We are grateful for their generosityin allowing their names to be on the ballot.We extend that same gratitude to Sister Joanna

Okereke, HHCJ who also accepted nomina-

tion at the convention.

As we welcome the new Board Members, wealso thank the out-going ones, Sr. Mary Paul

Asoegwu, DDL and Rev. Mr. MickeyFriesen, for their service to USCMA as mem-

bers of the Board.

Those of you who were with us in SouthBend know first-hand that the USCMA officeis under the able and energetic new leader-

ship of Rev. Michael Montoya, MJ. You willfind his message in this issue of MissionUpdate, and see how the publication reflectshis contributions to our organization. Please

give his requests for support your serious

consideration!

God Bless you all in this season of autumnwhere we see the splendor of the old prepar-ing space for the quiet of winter and the new

growth that is to come.

Mary M. McGlone, CSJ

the concrete stories of people that have goneto mission! We need to harness the beautyand power of these stories to reveal the rich

potentials they hold for transformation.

By now, you must have received our 25th

Anniversary Annual Giving Campaign. We

ask you to please be generous in your gift toour Association. We are able to do the work entrusted to us and create new and relevant

programs with your financial partnership. Weneed you to help us achieve the goals wehave set. Your gift does not only affirm our work, but it also promotes a sense of owner-

ship to the association. Thank you for your

continued commitment and partnership.

We also ask the Mission Offices in the Dio-

Fall 2006

ceses to remember USCMA as you assign parishes for your Mission Cooperative Plans.We want to share the good things that to-

gether, we as US catholic missioners,whether working here and abroad, do as we

participate in God’s mission.

Lastly, as you read through this Mission Up-date, we want you to join us in prayer ofthanksgiving for everything that God has

blessed us with at USCMA. And as we lookinto the future, Robert Schreiter in our Peri-odic Paper reminds us: “… it is important toremember that mission is ultimately on God’s

terms. This is not our mission; it is God’smission, in which we are called to participate.If indeed God is calling people into shorter and long-term mission, then it is up to us to

find ways to make that happen.”




women in Church leadership roles, BishopCarmody affirmed the importance of laity and

women and indicated certain ministerial ques-

tions were beyond his domain of influence.

The prayerful

character of theconference alsoreceived high

praise. Prand music ser-vices flowedthrough the three

days which inte-grated and gaveadditional defini-tion to the pro-

ceedings. Manyfound the liturgical highpoint to be the Eucha-ristic liturgy in the Basilica of the SacredHeart, with Bishop Carmody as the main cele-

brant and with the accompaniment of the awe

inspiring fifty-member strong student Notre

Dame Folk Choir.

Eucharist was followed by the traditional din-

ner banquet which this year celebrated theAssociation’s 25 years of service to theChurch and society. “Together, we are

USCMA” was the refrain which Father Mi-chael Montoya, MJ, sounded throughout theimpressive festivities. Twenty-five large post-ers identified the theme of each of the

USCMA’s 25 annual conferences. Takentogether, this display illustrated the emphasesgiven to missionary efforts and how they de-veloped over the past quarter of a century.

This colorful and professional review of thethemes of USCMA’s conferences, most ofwhich I attended, underscores the importanceof the work of the USCMA. Father Michaelalso focused a spotlight on those individuals

and mission communities who were givenawards at each of the prior 24 conferences.This year’s award recipient was the University

of Notre Dame Center for Social Concerns.

The University’s facilities more than met theneeds of the conference. The large presenta-

tions and small breakout sessions were all heldin the University’s Center for Continuing Edu-cation building. The two conference facilita-tors, Dr. Rudy Vela, SM and Sr. Caroljean

Willie, Ph.D., moved the attendees throughtheir paces with skill and gentility. But theysurprised and delighted the attendees in theirListeners’ Report by taking each of the home

communities’ short summary phrases, combin-

work. Today the Church affirms the universalcall to holiness (and mission) and no longer

sees laity as peripheral to the life of theChurch. Similarly, today, mission and its

Trinitarian character, is seen as central to theChurch and not a specialized department.Further, the Catholic community emphasizessocial justice (Lk 4:18-19), the Church’s social

teachings and no longer simply defines mis-sion exclusively in terms of making disciples

(Matt 28:19-20).

The question of whether or not short term

programs are “mission” depends on one’stheology of mission, Schre-iter noted. A member of the Society of the Precious

Blood (C.PP.S) and theauthor of Mission in theThird Millennium, he thenreferred to the four ele-ments of mission as de-

scribed by SEDOS, namely proclamation, dialogue,inculturation and, for the

poor, freedom from oppres-

sion (see www.sedos.org).He concluded that God is calling all of us to

mission and we need to find out how to make

our short term and long term programs work.

On the second day, conference attendees weretreated to a panel presentation on four different

types short term programs, described respec-tively by Ms. Rosanne Fischer (St. Cloud, MNDiocesan Mission Office), Sr. Mary Medved(Jesuit Volunteers International), Ms. Teresita

Gonzalez de la Maza (Amor en Acción), andMs. Rachel Tomas Morgan (Univ. of the NotreDame International Service Learning Pro-gram). In their descriptions, the presenters

affirmed their programs were:

• various forms of immersion experiences in

God’s one mission,

• short term missions which build commu-

nity at home and between countries,

• often a partnership of laity sharing in areligious order’s charism,

• a discipleship training program for laity

who experience intimacy with God

• and intimacy with the affairs of the world,

• and sometimes based on service-learningcomponents which include theological reflec-

tion.

This panel presentation was well received. Insubsequent conference sessions, many partici-

pants repeatedly expressed their appreciationfor the pastoral wisdom and professionalism

evident in the panelists’ presentations and inthe design of their programs. No one ques-

tioned to whatextent these programs em- b o d i e d

“mission.”

After eachkeynote presen-tation and the

panel, confer-ence partici-

pants used oneof two forms of

small groupdiscussion to dig deeper into the implicationsof the speakers’ thoughts: home communitiesor dialogue sessions (content-specific breakoutsessions). The home communities’ facilitators

made sure each participant was listened torespectfully and without interruption. Thecontent-specific dialogue sessions began witha brief presentation which participants had

time to question and apply to their own pas-toral situation. Each of the home community

sessions ended with the group coming up witha “headline” - a phrase which captured the

flavor of the prior hour’s discussion.

A second keynote was delivered by Bishop

Edmond Carmody, DD, Ordinary of the Dio-cese of Corpus Christi,Texas. Based on hisown missionary ex-

perience serving in theU.S. and Ecuador, headdressed the questionof how to prepare andorient missionaries

who are coming into anew culture. “Tell themissionary priests theyneed to be loving and

need to know the Mas-ter” was one recom-

mendation. That way,even if the priest does not know the local lan-guage, he said, the people will recognize andrespond to his love for them. Carmody illus-

trated his points with charming Irish storiesand such light humor that a few of the younger conference attendees said they appreciated thatBishop Carmody was down to earth and con-

sidered him the “coolest bishop ever.” “Don’twalk away from negative people,” Carmodyadvised, “run!” When a few of the more sea-soned attendees asked pastoral questions about

cont’d from p. 1

cont’d on page 4

Fall 2006 MISSION UPDATE


Reflections on the 2006 USCMA Annual Conference

Teresita Gonzalez de

la Maza, Panelist

Most Rev. Edmond Carmody

Dialogue Session with Robert Schreiter, CPPS



Page 2

MISSION UPDATE

shortest service opportunities are aimed at summer

and school break time. A quarter of all volunteersare between the ages of 21-25; this no doubt repre-

sents many of the post-college programs that are

conducted by religious orders. Indeed young people

between the ages of 21 and 25 make up more thanhalf of all long-term (defined as 9 months or more)

service. Interesting too is the fact that more than

90% of all long-term missioners complete their termof service. In 2004, more than 40% of long-term

missioners renewed their term of service.

Seventy percent of all long-term missioners haveat least four years of college. For shorter periods of

service, slightly over half have a high school educa-

tion—again, showing the fact that the short-term

missioners tend to be under 20.

What kind of service do these missioners provide?For the short-term missioners, over

half provide social services. For

long-term missioners, the largest sin-gle block, provide education (i.e.,

general, not religious, education).

So what emerges from this pic-

ture? Let me sketch out what seem tome to be salient points. I begin with

the larger context. According to the

2005-2006 figures from the U.S.Catholic Mission Association, there is

a little over 6,500 U.S. missioners

working internationally. Of these,

just over 1400—or not quite 20%--are lay missioners. The women-to-

men ratio—roughly 6 to 4—is about

the same for both religious and lay

missioners.

There has been extraordinary growth in short-term

missioners, with half of these under the age of 20.

For long-term missioners, the age group 20-25makes up half of those serving a year or more. Sev-

enty percent of these have had at least four years of

college. So in terms of sheer numbers, both short-

term and long-term missioners are substantially un-der the age of 25. In one way, this is not surprising:

once these missioners begin families long-term ser-

vice becomes more complex as decisions have to bemade regarding the well-being of children. One

hundred sixty-two missioners working in the short

On the Protestant side, the number of international

missioners coming from the mainline churches hascontinued to drop. The overwhelming majority of

international Protestant missioners today coming

from the conservative end of the spectrum—

evangelicals, Pentecostals, and fundamentalists.Most of these are supported by independent mission

agencies with no denominational affiliation or are

sent by individual congregations.

Just what does the scene look like today? For this

I am relying on the most recent survey done by the

Catholic Network of Volunteer Service, and pre-sented at their national conference in November of

2005. To be sure this is a survey of those programs

that are members of the CNVS, but that organization provides by far, to my knowledge, the most compre-

hensive picture that is available to us. Moreover,86% of the member organizations responded to thesurvey—a surprisingly large num-

ber—so it offers us the best snap-shot of the current scene available

to us.

Let me give some highlightsfrom that report. In 1983 there

were 65 volunteer programs affili-

ated with the CNVS; in 2005, therewere 212. That is nearly quadru-

ple the number involved. In 1992,there were about 5,000 lay mis-sioners/volunteers; by 2004 there

were over 10,000. The bulk of

these lay missioners (about 90%)

are involved in domestic programs.The CNVS survey reports that the

number of international volunteers reported has been

dropping since 1999 from a high of a little over 1100

to a little under 900, a drop of nearly 20%.

Regarding term of service, about 75% of these

overseas missioners serve for 12 months or less. Of

that 75%, about half of these volunteers served three

weeks or less, and about 40% served 9-12 months. Alittle over 60% of all volunteers are female, with

slightly under 40% male. They are overwhelmingly

(nearly 85%) Caucasian.

Given that the term of service may run from aweek to a year for 75% of the missioners, it is not

surprising that over half are under the age of 20. The

Fall 2006


So in terms of

sheer numbers,

both short-term

and long-term

missioners are

substantially

under the age of 25.



Page 3

starts to look at one’s life in segments of time, some

period can be allotted to work like mission. For the preponderance of young people who participate both

in short-term and longer-term service, it can be seen

as part of a larger preparation for one’s working life.

For those in high school, having such service onone’s résumé is helpful in seeking admission to elite

colleges.

I do not of course want to reduce the motivation of

young people to these factors. Their desire to serve is

certainly much more complex than that. But these

factors cannot be overlooked. That in both of thesegroups (the short-term missioners under 20, and the

21-25 age group serving long-term) more than eighty

percent of the participants are Caucasian points to thefact that a certain level of privilege gives them the

option of thinking in these terms.A second cultural and social factor that deserves

attention is the distinctive feature of the age cohort

under 25. These young people have self-designatedthemselves as “millennials,” inasmuch as they began

coming of age at the turn of the millennium. The re-

search that has been done on this age group findsthem more altruistic, more intellectually curious, and

more at home in cross-cultural and interracial settings

than the two previous age cohorts (usually known asGeneration X and the Baby Boomers). This openness

can be partially accounted for by the fact that at leastthe older members of this age cohort came of age in atime of economic prosperity and relative stability (the

years of Bill Clinton’s presidency). Annual surveys

of college freshmen support this general finding

about altruism and ability to live with difference, withthe added note that Catholics in this group tend to be

especially well represented in these statistics. To be

sure altruism, curiosity, and ease with difference donot characterize all Catholic young people, but it cer-

tainly is a salient factor. A supporting factor from the

CNVS survey shows that among those who go on tograduate school after completing their service, the

great majority choose the “helping professions”—education, social work, theology and medical care.

Across the country, those involved in graduate theo-

logical education have noted in recent years a newgroup coming to study theology: they typically have

spent one or two years in some social service after

college, and now want to study theology, at least

term reported being married, while 154 married mis-

sioners were working in the long term. Sixty-four

short-term missioners reported have dependent chil-dren, while just 18 long-term missioners reported

having dependent children. Thus only about 7% of

lay missioners serving in both short-term and long-term are married.

Cultural and Social Factors Affecting the Term of

Service

As we begin to reflect on what are the implica-

tions for mission, it could be useful to begin by pro-

viding a cultural and social frame for these reflec-tions. Are there things in the cultural and social en-

vironment of the United States that help us under-

stand better what is going on in mission? I would

like to reflect on three of these.

The first of these is changes in our understanding

of the life cycle. At the height of the industrial age

in the United States—running roughly from 1880-1970—those who entered the job market outside the

home were likely to engage in the same kind of work

for most of the rest of their lives. This was partially

explained by the level of education; most people hadrelatively limited education until the end of that pe-

riod and so could not move around easily in the jobmarket. There was in some trades and professions aswell a sense of loyalty to one’s employer who in turn

would be loyal to the employees. Henry Ford was

one of the pioneers in this, raising working classwages in his factory and being repaid by lifelong

fidelity of the workforce. This even stretched across

generations. In its heyday IBM (“Big Blue”) tried to

do much of the same.

The volatility of the employment scene that hasresulted from globalization and technological ad-

vances has changed all that. There are now somewho say that those entering the workforce must be prepared to change their professions—not just jobs

within professions—three or more times over their

working life. As the median age of the populationhas risen, people no longer think in terms only of

work and retirement. The work possibilities become

more variegated.

What does this mean for mission service? If one

Fall 2006 MISSION UPDATE




Page 4

MISSION UPDATE

Theological and Missiological Factors in Mis-

sionary Service

I turn now to the third part—theological and

missiological factors that are evidenced or may bein play among those engaging in short-term and

long-term missionary service. By theological fac-tors I mean changes in ideas in our Tradition that

might impinge upon mission service in some way.

I believe that there are at least three key theologi-

cal factors that deserve our attention here.

Theological Factors

The first is the universal call to holiness that

came out of the Second Vatican Council. In thisvision of the Church, there is no longer a clericalcenter with a lay periphery. The most important

sacrament vis-à-vis our membership in the Church

is not Holy Orders, but Baptism (cf. Lumen gen-

tium, 30-31). Laity and clergy are all part of the

People of God.

This insight has had far-reaching implications.

To some extent, it has erased the boundary be-

tween the laity in general and those who join reli-gious institutes. But it has also served to make the

spiritual life of lay people more expansive. The

associations that have been set up by religious in-stitutes to share their charism and spirituality with

others have led more than 50,000 people to enter

these associations. Some lay mission programs

have been inspired by the same desire to share notonly charism and spirituality, but also mission.

Engaging in these mission programs becomes part

of that quest for holiness, for a deeper participationin the life of Christ and of the Church. Such asso-

ciations have led to a significant revitalization of

religious life, as their membership declines andages.

A second theological factor that has shaped

these developments in mission has been the

Church coming to see itself as essentially mission-

ary, and that the whole people of God share in themission of the Church and in the world. Mission

is no longer to be seen as a separate department

within the Church. The Church is in its very na-

through the master’s level.

I think that volunteer mission service—both short

term and longer term—is providing a wonderful outlet

for these aspirations among young people. It provides a

forum that not only expands their spiritual horizons, but

gives them invaluable experience that will help themshape their adult lives.

The third factor worth considering is the strong tra-

dition of volunteerism in the United States. De Toc-queville noted it already in his travels through the coun-

try in the 1830s. The idea that volunteerism may be on

the decline was signaled in 2000 by Robert Putnam inhis book, Bowling Alone, where he detected a significant

drop in the amount of participation in shared activities,

due to the aggressive individualism of U.S. society. The

debate that the book ignited ended up presenting a more

nuanced picture. Participation in bowling leagues, cardclubs and the like has indeed declined. But the principal

reason for that decline is the growing complexity of or-dinary life. People still do volunteer, but for shorter pe-

riods of time and under carefully specified conditions.

A postmodern, globalized society puts a great deal of strain on volunteering, but it has by no means disap-

peared. A somewhat parallel phenomenon can be found

in wider circles in the growth of new social movements

and non-governmental organizations.

In the United States, the Church is very much seen to

be a voluntary agency, in contrast with the statechurches still found in Europe. There the Church is of-

ten viewed as a department or agency of the state,whereas here one joins a church out of choice. It is pre-

cisely that U.S. view that many people see as the reason

why secularization is not felt more strongly here as it isnow being experienced in Europe. Put another way, the

culture and tradition of volunteerism helps create a

friendly environment for short-term and long-term mis-

sion service, especially when such volunteer opportuni-

ties is nested in a voluntary agency itself.

All in all, then, one can identify at least these three

factors that contribute to creating a cultural and social

environment within which mission service is bound toflourish. Other countries outside the United States send

term missioners as well. It is my guess that these are

most likely to catch people’s imaginations when at least

the first of the two cultural factors—a longer lifecyclewith changing employment patterns and a large cohort

of millennials—are in place.

Fall 2006




Page 6

MISSION UPDATE

mission experience. The object of evangelization may

not be “them”—those whom “we” visit. Perhaps oneof the most significant feature of short-term mission—

even mission lasting up to two years—is how it can

change the lives of those who experience it. Espe-cially when these experiences come in the late teens

and into the twenties, it can mark out a course for anentire life. For those who come as missioners, it may

be the first exposure to poverty, or what our govern-mental policies are doing to others. For the people in

those settings themselves, they can find a number of

important, if unexpected, benefits. In Latin America,for example, I have seen people there who accept

short-term missioners because it is an opportunity to

show them the oppressive results of U.S. foreign pol-icy. Their hope is that the missioners will indeed un-

dergo conversion—and go back to con-

vert the United States. For others, whohad never had a personal encounter

with people from the United States, it

led to revising some of the stereotypes

they had about yanquis. In still other ways, those who have been oppressed

(I am thinking especially of indigenous

peoples here), they come to realize thattheir own culture is valuable and valued

and that they have something very spe-

cial to share with people who may have

many possessions but lack spiritualdepth.

What of course becomes important

here is how short-term mission is struc-

tured and supervised so as not to inflictmore suffering on people who have al-

ready suffered far too much. But there

is also a theological point to be made here. If we areindeed a missionary Church, and are all called to mis-

sion, then the lines between sender and recipient are

going to become reciprocal. Long-term missionersoften say how mission has changed them, and how

returning to the United States becomes increasingly

difficult. Evangelization runs in many directions. In a

world Church today, it is not simply a matter of send-ing churches and receiving churches. It needs to run

in many different ways.

A second missiological concern related to the first

goes something like this: Can there be real mission if any term or time limit is put on engagement in mission

at all? Is anything but a lifelong commitment what

mission truly requires?

This kind of idea arises out of how mission has

been perceived over the last two centuries. Until

fairly recently, the expense and duration of travel

was such that missioners going out from their homecountry were making a commitment for lifetime ser-

vice. It meant life commitment in another way aswell: many lost their lives, especially in equatorial

climes, as they fell to diseases against which they

had no immunity. The rise of missionary religious

institutes, especially in the nineteenth and twentiethcentury, where profession to the religious institute

constituted a commitment to lifelong mission, only

strengthened this feeling about the length of term of

service.

Such feeling that lifelong missionwas the only mission was supported

also by the missionary spiritualities that

served to foster and sustain the missionvocation. As Angelyn Dries has sug-

gested in her study of U.S. Catholic

missioners, to be a missioner—at leastup to the time of the Second Vatican

Council--was to live a spirituality of

heroism and/or of martyrdom. If viewed from that perspective, no mis-

sioner can be a sometime martyr or short-term heroic figure. But what thisstill pervasive sentiment regarding the

missioner calls us to do is to investigate

more carefully what underlies the spiri-

tuality of missioners today, who makeLuke 4:18-19 or some other biblical

passage the basis of their motivation. Are there dis-

tinctive features to a missionary spirituality today?

Let me make but one suggestion.

Certainly for the short-term missioner, “bridge

builder” might be appropriate. The short-term ex-

perience leads to opening up new horizons which the

missioner can carry back to his or her home commu-nity. The experience may serve as the basis of a call

to a deeper kind of vocation. The fact that so many

of the young term missioners choose the helping professions as their life’s work, rather than simply

finding a job which leads to acquiring wealth, is in-

dicative that something like this is going on.

Fall 2006


If we are indeed amissionary

Church, and are

all called to

mission, then the

lines between

sender and

recipient are

going to become

reciprocal.



Page 7 US Catholic Mission Association

Fall 2006MISSION UPDATE

Put perhaps another way, we should look at howterm missioners and their experience may be point-

ing us to thinking through our missiology in another

way rather than trying to fit the short- and longer-

term experience into pre-existing categories.

Where Do We Go from Here?

What is the future of short-term and longer-term

mission? In this concluding section, let me try to

situate our examination of this question within the

wider context and in light of what has been pre-sented here. It falls into three sections. The first has

to do with sustaining forms of term mission into the

future. The second revisits the theological and mis-siological issues just discussed. And the third and

final part addresses the question: on whose terms?

Sustaining Term Mission into the Future

What issues surround sustaining term mission—of

the shorter or the longer variety—into the future?Here we have some things to learn from our Protes-

tant counterparts, who have been working with term

systems for many years. They have experience withhow the issue of terms can change within the lives of

the missioners themselves. When children reach acertain age—especially in secondary school—family

issues may come to predominate over the ministry

issues.

If we look at the current state of Catholic mis-

sion, it is largely (although by no means completely

any more) sustained through religious institutes. Asnumbers decline and members age in those insti-

tutes, they themselves are being faced with the ques-

tion of sustainability. We have seen this happeningalready with healthcare institutions, with schools,

and with parishes. While mission service organiza-tions are already being entrusted to lay people to

manage them, the question will be what happens asthe religious institute may be no longer able to pro-

vide the needed financial support. We can already

look to what some institutes have decided to do.The Maryknoll Fathers and Brothers have set up

their lay missioners as a separate, canonically recog-

nized body that could be able, in principle, to con-

tinue should the Maryknoll Society reach a pointwhere they can send no more priests and brother

missioners. The Bethlehem Fathers (the national

missionary institute of Switzerland) are workingwith a structure whereby their lay missioners consti-

tute the overarching institution within which the priests have a separate place. As we look t

women’s congregations, even more creative models

are likely to emerge.

The likely trajectory of the huge spiritual associate

movement among religious institutes might serve as

a cautionary tale here. Most of these associates aremiddle-aged or older—the same age as the members

of the institutes. When those institutes are gone, will

this movement continue? We do not know, but it

would seem unlikely. This may be the same fate for

those term mission programs that depend on reli-gious institutes, some of which (the institutes) may

not survive.

Although the number of U.S. and European mis-sioners who are religious will continue to decline,

the number of life-term missioners from the Global

South continues to grow, both within already exist-ing international religious institutes and in new mis-

sionary institutes emerging in Africa and Asia. It is

with these people that short- and longer-term mis-

sioners from the United States will have to interact.

Will young people especially, and people of all

ages continue to show an interest in mission? Thatis certainly to be hoped for, even though we have no

way of predicting the future in that regard. Certainly

in countries where the birthrate is below the level of

replacement of the population, more and moreyoung people will find themselves having to enter

the workforce sooner. That will have a negative ef-fect on all but the shortest-term mission experience.

The United States is not yet to that point, thanks to

immigration. But all of Europe already is.Another feature that may figure into the immedi-

ate future is the intense animosity against the UnitedStates and the impact this may have on U.S. mis-

sioners operating outside the United States. Skills

for dealing with trauma and conflict are increasingly

important in the missioner’s repertory. The Pew In-stitute keeps reporting a steadily dropping rate of

favor for U.S. citizens, even among our allies.



Periodic Papers are published by USCMA.

USCMA

3029 Fourth Street, NE

Washington, DC 20017-1102

Phone: 202-884-9764 Fax: 202-884-9776

E-Mail: [email protected] Web site: www.uscatholicmission.org

Page 8

MISSION UPDATE


Fall 2006

Given that the percentage of long-term interna-tional missioners is already fairly small, this may

come to shrink even further.

The Ongoing Impact of Term Mission on Theol-

ogy and Missiology

As was already seen above, there have beenchanges in mission throughout especially the latter

part of the twentieth century into these first years

of the twenty-first. The context in which mission

is done, and the theology of mission that came outof the Second Vatican Council has changed how

we imagine mission and how we engage in it. A

stronger sense of the Church as essentially mis-sionary, and the universal call to holiness and par-

ticipation in the mission of the Church haschanged the face of mission today. Consequently,

we should be careful not to try to squeeze contem-

porary experiences of mission too quickly into our pre-arranged boxes. That the numbers of short-

term missioners have continued to grow so rapidly

may be one of those “signs of the times” to whichwe should be attending. Our missiological strate-

gies should be informed by a praxis that feeds

back into our theology the experiences we are en-

countering.

Whose Terms?

I wish to conclude with the final part of the titleof this conference and this presentation; namely,

on whose terms do we engage in mission?

To a great extent, the terms have been set by theHoly See and by the religious institutes. The latter

have carried the major part of what had been con-

sidered mission work. As their numbers decline

here and in other wealthy countries, they may have nochoice but to cede whatever terms they had been able to

set forth. To say simply that the terms will be ceded to

others engaged in short- or longer-term mission has totake into account that term mission depends upon an in-

frastructure that sustains it. To the extent that infrastruc-ture is in place, to that extent that handing on of the di-

rection of mission will be able to happen. We will needto do two things at once. If, on the one hand, we say all

Christians are to be engaged in mission, then we should

try to bring that about. But on the other hand, this willnot happen if a wider body is not given the resources

and the capacity to make decisions about mission.

In trying to think through these future dimensions, itis important to remember that mission is ultimately on

God’s terms. This is not our mission; it is God’s mis-

sion, in which we are called to participate. If indeedGod is calling people into shorter and long-term mis-sion, then it is up to us to find ways to make that hap-

pen.

____________________________________

1 “2004-2005 Membership Survey Results.” I am grateful to Mi-

chael Montoya, MJ, for making this available to me.2 Statistics may be found in the executive summary at:uscatholicmission.org/go/missionersurveystatistics/

missionhandbook .3

Representative of this literature is Neil Howe and William

Strauss, Millennials Rising: The Next Great Generation (NewYork: Vintage Books, 2000). 4

These are published annually in The Chronicle of Higher Educa-

tion.5

Robert Putnam, Bowling Alone: The Collapse and Revival of

Human Community (New York: Simon and Schuster, 2000).6 The proceedings of this conference may be found in Joseph

Lang and Mary Motte (eds.), Mission and Dialogue (Maryknoll,

NY: Orbis Books, 1982).7

Angelyn Dries, The Missionary Movement in American Catholic

History (Maryknoll, NY: Orbis Books, 1998).



MISSION UPDATE

USCMA is grateful to have been invited by five diocesan Mission Offices to participate in the 2006 Mission

Coop Plan. We thank each of these offices and the 12 parishes that welcomed us. The generosity of the pa-

rishioners to whom we spoke has been most gratifying. We give special thanks to each of you who spoke on

our behalf.

Diocese Parish Speaker

Bridgeport Christ the King, Trumbull Charlotte Cook, staff

Cincinnati Holy Angels, Dayton Nancy Bramlage, SC

St. Joseph, Springfield Joan Patrice, S.C.

St. Raphael, Springfield Nancy Bramlage, S.C.

Philadelphia Mother of Divine Grace, Philadelphia Michael Montoya, staff

Our Lady Help of Christians, Philadelphia Charlotte Cook, staff

St. Cyril of Jerusalem, Jamison William Christy, C.S.Sp.

San Angelo Sacred Heart, Abilene Jack Whitley, C.S.B.

St. Joachim, Clyde Jack Whitley, C.S.B.

Youngstown Our Lady of Perpetual Help, McDonald Anthony Anomah, C.S.Sp.

St. Joseph, Masillon Anthony Anomah, C.S.Sp.

St. Pius X, Warren Anthony Anomah, C.S. Sp.

Fall 2006


Celebrating the Response to Christ’s Call

2006 MISSION APPEALS

“The saint is precisely that man or woman who, responding with joy and generosity to Christ ʹs call,

leaves everything to follow him,” the Holy Father said at the canonization of four new saints on Oc-

tober 15, 2006. One of these new saints is St. Teodora Guérin (1798-1856). Born Anne-Thérèse inFrance, she was sent by the Congregation of the Sisters of Providence to Indiana in 1839. The reli-

gious founded St. Mary-of-the-Woods College in Indiana in the United States. USCMA congratu-

lates the Sisters on the canonization of their foundress.

USCMA also celebrates the life of and mourns the death of Sr. Leonella Sgorbati, a Consolata Mis-

sionary Sister killed in Mogadishu in September 2006. Her life was also a response “with joy and

generosity to Christ’s call.” Our prayers go out to Sr. Leonella’s family and the Consolata Mission-

ary Sisters.



ORBIS BOOKS RECEIVED AT USCMA

Cuban-American Family Photo Exhibit National Tour

The Latin America Working Group Education Fund and the Washington

Office on Latin America

Different locations and dates now through April 2007

Check schedule at www.lawg.org/countries/cuba/exhibit--calendar.htm

22nd National Catholic China Conference

November 3-5, 2006

Simpsonwood Conference Center

Norwood, GA

Telephone: 973-763-1131

Email: [email protected]

Training in Trauma Healing

November 6-11, 2006

International Linguistic Center

Dallas, TX

Telephone: 972-283-1927


2006 CNVS National Conference

November 9-12, 2006

San Antonio, TX

Telephone: 301-270-0900 ext 10


Overseas Ministries Study Center

Week-long study programs

November 2006 - May 2007 including

“Challenges Facing Roman Catholic Mission Theology: From the Eve of

Vatican II to the Twenty-first Century”

March 19-23, 2007

Presented by Dr. Lawrence Nemer, SVD

New Haven, CT

Telephone: 203-624-6672, x315


Preparing for Cross-Cultural Ministry

January 9 – February 7, 2007

Intercultural Consultation Services

Kathryn Pierce, IHM

San Antonio, TX

Telephone: 313-341-4841


Orientation Days to the United Nations

February 7-9, 2007

777 UN Plaza

New York City

Telephone: 212-682-6481


Workshop for Returned Missioners

February 6-16, 2007

From Mission to Mission

San Antonio, TX

Telephone: 720-494-7211


Ecumenical Advocacy Days

March 9-12, 2007

“and How are the Children?”

Washington, DC area

Resources and Up-Coming Events

Fall 2006MISSION UPDATE


Dorothy Day Portraits of Those Who Knew Her, Rosalie C. Riegle, 2003

Ecology at the Heart of Faith, The Change of Heart that Leads to a new Way of Living on Earth, Denis Edwards, 2006

Francis of Assisi, Leonardo Boff, 1982, reissue 2006

From Union Square To Rome, Dorothy Day, 2006

Jesus Today, A Spirituality of Radical Freedom, Albert Nolan, 2006

Leo Tolstoy, Spiritual Writings, Charles E. Moore, editor, 2006On the Move, The History of the Hispanic Church in the United States, Moises Sandoval, revised, 2006

Religion in Latin America, A Documentary History, Lee M. Penyak & Walter J. Petry, 2006

Remembering Henri, Gerald S. Twomey & Claude Pomerleau, editors, 2006

Signs of Peace, The Interfaith Letters of Thomas Merton, William Apel, 2006

Soulsong, Seeking Holiness, Coming Home, Thomas A. Forsthoefel, 2006

The Asian Jesus, Michael Amaladoss, SJ, 2006

The Power of Principles, Ethics for the New Corporate Culture,William J. Byron, SJ, 2006

The Ten Commandments, Laws of the Heart, Joan Chittister, 2006

Voices from the Margin: Interpreting the Bible in the Third World, R. S. Sugirtharajah, Editor, 2006



Mission Update Fall 2006

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