The real mission

On October 23, prayers were held in the churches for the missions. That is, for the missionary nature of the Church everywhere in the world.
At the prayer of the faithful we were invited to pray for the men and women missionaries. Important: for some time now, the missionaries have also joined. One step closer.

But my amazement was that lay men and women also did not find space. I started thinking about which religious culture and which Catholic Church those who wrote that intention for the Italian liturgy belonged to.
If I think of those who, lay men and women, have paid with their lives for having made themselves available to others, for having committed themselves with the witness of their faith in difficult contexts and bordering on respect for human rights, I wonder why which they have not been mentioned. Only one answer comes to me: a clerical culture that does not want to give up its traditions. I write now that I no longer have direct responsibilities in the missionary world.

I was president of FOCSIV (Federation of Christian Organisms for International Voluntary Service) for eleven years and as many in the missionary council of the Italian Episcopal Conference. Now again for the Catholic world I am called to other positions: I say this only so that it is not thought that it is my duty to defend the laity in the missionary spirit of the Church. Instead, I think that, if this is the cultural heritage from which we start, the perspectives of the Synod of listening and of the outgoing Church are wishful thinking. I was lucky enough to be born in France where the mission was launched in the 1960s for the French community itself.

I was lucky enough to serve Father Pellegrino who innovated by writing Walking Together in the 1970s. I had the opportunity to share with Giorgio Ceragioli and Edo Gorzegno the commitment of the laity when the Fraternity Lent came to life in Turin in 1963 to understand that another Church is possible.

Gianfranco Cattai
NP November 2022