Going back to our origins strengthens our sense of belonging to CICM
1. Our union with God is at the center of our CICM missionary life.
“We know that all our labors and pains at the service of the Kingdom have value only if the Lord of the harvest blesses them.”
2. Our motto Cor Unum et Anima Una (One Heart and One Soul), is our strength and our first witness.
3. For us, forming a community is indispensable.
On the occasion of the Centenary, the Superior General wrote: “Even if we cannot live together, we often seek each other out. We are welcome everywhere as members of the same big family, and this is a great help to each of us. The family spirit which we owe to our CICM religious formation has always been the strength of our missionary Congregation and thus has a great apostolic value.”
4. A new dimension to the idea of community: Universal Brotherhood
“We felt enriched by this gift of the Holy Spirit to our Congregation, and we learned how to appreciate the value of the witness of international teams. However, a lot still needs to be learned.”
5. Building communities with those who collaborate with us in our work (parishes, school), and our missions has always been an essential and enriching element of our life.
“Our mission country became a second homeland for us.”
6. The majority of us entered CICM simply because we wanted to become missionaries. To reach this missionary goal, we accepted the vows, like our Founder had accepted them before us.
“The vows became for many of us the source of our missionary life. In a world of egoism, they continually challenge us.
7. The ad extra (going to another country) which attracted us, and which to this day constitutes our specificity, should perhaps receive a new interpretation.
“We are convinced that leaving our country as CICM missionaries and making ourselves vulnerable as foreigners in the midst of a different people, still is a valuable testimony, especially in this age when the world is full of migrants.”
8. Availability for service to the local church is an essential attitude for us.
“We cherish the spirit of the radical availability of the first generations of CICM missionaries who left their home country, often to never return, and placed themselves at the service of the poorest and most vulnerable in Mongolia or Congo. We dare to hope that in any case this radical availability will remain specific for the CICM of the future.”
Excerpt from the values our predecessors cherished and passed on to us by confreres from the European Region at 13th CICM General Chapter (2005)
