Spiritan General Chapter 1998
From the beginning, Spiritans have been missionaries in every sense of the word. Ours is a ministry of presence and of hope. Over three centuries, we have brought the Word of God to people on five continents. And today, we are continually going to and coming from the worldwide mission network. We serve on the continents of Africa, Asia, South America, and in Oceania and the Caribbean. To the people we serve, we are mtu wa Mungu or "Men of God," who represent the freedom to grow and change without coercion.
The Spiritans have a rich history of serving the poor and marginalized. It has never been an easy job. Of the first group of seven missionaries sent to Gabon,West Africa in 1843, five died within months. But the remaining two founded the first modern Catholic mission there. And when Spiritan seminarians in France heard of the deaths of the first five missionaries, they lined up at our founder's door to volunteer as their replacements.
Spiritans in the 1840s dedicated themselves to working with newly freed slaves on the islands of Haiti, Mauritius, and Reunion. In East Africa, where most of the American Spiritans now serve, we began our missionary work in the 1860s by buying men and women out of slavery in Zanzibar. We opened schools and hospitals, taught people marketable skills, and gave property to those who needed it. The Spiritans pioneered modern missionary activity in Africa and ultimately sent more missionaries there than any other religious order in the Catholic Church.
In other countries, such as Mexico, the Spiritans were invited by the local Catholic bishops to minister to Catholics in remote areas where there were not enough diocesan priests to serve the growing numbers of faithful. Today, Mexican-born Spiritans outnumber Spiritan missionaries from other countries. The seminary program is a vital aspect of the Spiritan presence in Mexico. This spring, four priests were ordained.
The core of mission remains constant -- the proclamation of the Good News of Jesus to those who have never heard it at all and to those who have heard it inadequately. But the manner in which we do it varies according to context and opportunity. The goal is always to establish a viable local faith community with its own leadership, incorporating the language and customs of the people.
In Africa, for example, two-thirds of the 1,500 Spiritans are African-born. More than half of the leadership of the Spiritans worldwide is chosen from Africa. And the key to our missionary work is "to be African with the Africans," regardless of where we were born.
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