AMERICA - Continental Encounter of National Directors of the PMS

Bogota (Agenzia Fides) – From March 2-6, Bogota is hosting the Continental Encounter of National Directors of the Pontifical Mission Societies in Bogota (Colombia), with the participation of the National Directors from 25 countries of the Americas. During the Encounter, Fr. Carlos Rockebach, Secretary of the Latin American Bishops' Conference (CELAM) will give an address on the Continental Mission. There will also be several sessions for evaluating the Third American Congress (CAM3), celebrated in August 2008 in Quito, Ecuador and other sessions for discussing experiences and plans for the continental mission, which is taking place in each country. They will also discuss the All-American Encounter of Youth Missionaries (ENAJOMIS), which took place after the CAM3 in Ecuador, with the goal of evaluating the Encounter and trying to establish criteria for accompanying and coordinating the youth missionaries.
There will also be a session for evaluating and planning (according to the proposals made by the youth), a year dedicated to spreading awareness and reflecting on the life, work, and missionary spirituality of Pauline Jaricot, foundress of the Pontifical Society for the Propagation of the Faith, the oldest of the four Pontifical Mission Societies (in France, 1822). Lastly, they will address other issues, in preparation for the PMS General Assembly that will take place in Rome next May, in which all the Directors across the world will meet.
The Encounter this year will take place in Colombia, coordinated by Fr. Hector L. Valencia Lopez, given that the country is celebrating its 80th anniversary of the Pontifical Mission Societies in the country. (RG) (Agenzia Fides 4/3/2009)