Challenges for the Identity of the Congregation of the Mission in the Contemporary European Context

Abstract

Today, at the time of radical social, cultural, and spiritual change, the Church and its institutions are returning to the question of their original identity as revealed in the Gospel and how to live and realize their identity in the modern world of newness. Our contribution addresses this question through the example of the Congregation of the Mission. The first part analyses the notion of identity, which, in the case of human identity (individual or collective), is not a static but a temporally dynamic concept. P. Ricœur characterizes this identity as ipseity, i.e., creative fidelity, characterized by the fact that it re-creates itself in time, without denying its origin but recreating it in ever new forms. Identity does not limit man but enables him to create himself anew. Man’s identity is, therefore, the fundamental form and attitude of his spirit, which he creates as he lives and creates himself over time. St. Vincent, who founded the Congregation of the Mission in the spirit of Jesus Christ to preach the good news to the poor, sees its fundamental characteristics in its Christocentricity, its “eccentric” serving, its spirituality of incarnation, and in bringing mercy. In the context of contemporary European society, which is secularised and confronted with emerging digital technology, the Congregation of the Mission lives its original spirituality as caritas in relation to man and as the mysticism of charity in relation to God. The work of the Vincentian missionary is not the result of human economy but of God’s incalculable and mysterious economy.

Keywords

• congregation of the mission
• st. vincent de paul
• vincentian family
• the poor
• mystics of charity
• europe