Information service of the Pontifical Mission Societies since 1927
Brasilia (Agenzia Fides) – June 9 marked the opening day at the Mission Cultural Center (JCC) in Brasilia, for the first missionary training course which is focusing on the Amazon. The event, organized by the Bishops' Commission for the Amazon, the CCM, and the Conference of Religious of Brazil (CRB) brings together about 34 people, including lay people, deacons, priests, and religious, and will last until June 30.
According to the note sent to Fides, the aim of the course is to provide a human, spiritual, intellectual, and practical formation to priests, religious, and lay missionaries typically sent to regions like the Amazon. According to the program presentation, "in this period we will try to help deepen personal motivations, the understanding of the mission, a global vision of missionary challenges, the process of meeting with other cultures, biblical and theological foundations of the mission and missionary spirituality.”
For the head of the Commission for the Amazon of the National Conference of Brazilian Bishops (CNBB), Sister Irene Maria Lopes dos Santos, the event is important in offering guidance to the missionaries before departure: "Before reaching foreign lands, the missionary should be familiar with the situation of the place. This course will help to train missionaries for the Amazon," she said.
During the course, participants will explore three main themes: "The mission today: its human, historical, and theological dimensions"; "Challenges for the mission today: the world and the Amazon"; and "The mission today: memory, the project, and follow-up." The topics will be offered by various specialists and scholars, among them the head of the Commission for Interecclesial Mission Action and Cooperation of the CNBB, Father Jose Altevir da Silva, Executive Director of the CCM; Father Stefano Raschietti, National Secretary of the Pontifical Missionary Union; Father Savio Corinaldesi, head of the Commission for the Laity of the CNBB, and Prof. Sergio Coutinho. The event theme is "Fishers of People for Life" (Lk 5:10). (CE) (Agenzia Fides 10/06/2010)
