 Meaning of the Logo |
COMLA 6 - CAM 1 Infancia Misionera en el Congreso |
Meaning of the Logo |
COMLA 6 - CAM 1 Infancia Misionera en el Congreso |
The Missionary Infancy in Argentina
HISTORY OF THE MISSIONARY INFANCY IN ARGENTINA
THE ORGANIZATION OF THE MISSIONARY INFANCY AT A NATIONAL LEVEL
Our Missionary Infancy National Secretariat.
Since three years ago, the National Secretariat of the Missionary Infancy, formed by Fr. Jairo Calderón IMC, National Director of the Pontifical Missionary Works, Sr. Kathleen Mc Garvey NSA, National Secretary of the Missionary Infancy, three diocesan directors of the PMW, Fr. Daniel Petelín, Fr. Walter Pereyra and Fr. Antonio Ferigutti, and two diocesan delegates of the Missionary Infancy, Mrs. Antonia Martínez de Pedroso and Miss Sonia Amadruda, have monthly meeting to collaborate with the National Direction in the planning, co-ordination and execution of the Missionary Pastoral with and of children and adolescents. It has the following functions:
To spread the Pontifical Work of the Missionary Infancy.
To offer materials, workshops and diffusion and training courses.
To offer the co-ordinators accompaniment by means of diocesan teams.
To check those places where work is carried out and those in which the Work has to be implemented, accompanying them.
To help with the organization and realization of national events.
At the beginning of every year, it is carried out a study of the reality of the Church, society, childhood and the Pontifical Work of the Missionary Infancy in Argentina. This study helps orientate the efforts of the Secretariat according to the real needs and plan the activities of the year to offer its missionary pastoral service to children and their educators.
The Diocesan Directors of the PMW are encouraged to organize a Mission Diocesan Team in their diocese, with one or two representatives of the Missionary Infancy, forming, together with other co-ordinators, a Diocesan Secretariat of the Missionary Infancy. These co-ordinators, besides being encouraged to participate in the School for Missionary Co-ordinators, are offered an annual training to help them carry out their task.
IMPORTANT PROGRAMS AND ACTIVITIES IN THE NATIONAL ORGANIZATION
1. MISSIONARY CO-CORDINATION with children.
A. Main achievements.
Printing and distribution of leaflets of the Work.
Introductory workshops to the Missionary Infancy during National and Diocesan Catechism Meetings.
Daily assistance in the office of the Missionary Infancy.
Workshop and stand (selling of material and distribution of leaflets) in the National Meeting of Rectors of Catholic Schools organized by the CONSUDEC.
Section in the magazine "Iglesia Misionera Hoy" (quarterly publication of the PMW), in which elements of missionary co-ordination and training for children and their educators and catechists are offered.
B. General Progress in the Missionary Co-ordination with children.
It can be seen an increase in the amount of groups formed in all the dioceses of the country and a greater coincidence between educators and catechists as regards the importance of the missionary dimension of each pastoral activity. It is noticeable a deeper coincidence regarding the true sense of the Work, particularly in reference to the universal missionary co-ordination and co-operation.
2. MISSIONARY TRAINING of children and their co-ordinators.
A. Main Achievements.
Selling of training material at the office and by mail. Much of the material is brought from Colombia, but also in Argentina some material that is useful for the missionary training of the co-ordinators has been published.
It has been formed a team to write and elaborate Guides for the Missionary Training, adapting the Guides from Colombia to the social and educational reality of Argentina. We hope to fulfil this project of printing our own Guides before the end of 1999.
Annual workshops of Initiation to the Missionary Infancy at a national, regional and diocesan level.
Annual National Workshop "The Missionary Infancy at School".
Annual National Workshop "The Missionary Dimension of Catechism".
Annual Training Meeting for Diocesan Delegates of the Missionary Infancy.
There have been Regional Schools of Missionary Co-ordinators (ESAM I and II) in six of the nine ecclesiastical regions of the country.
Argentina has been host country of the ESAM I and II of the Southern Cone, organized by Monsignor Julio Botín. In February 1998, the 1st. Meeting of Closing of the ESAM Southern Cone took place in Buenos Aires.
It has been organized and carried out a Regional School of Adolescent Missionary Leadership (ELMA) for kids between 13 and 15.
It has been organized in some dioceses the Schools of Missionary Infancy Leadership (ELMI) for kids between 10 and 12.
Co-ordinators were invited to write songs to select the one that has now been chosen as the Argentinian Missionary Infancy Hymn. A cassette with the Hymn and other songs for the co-ordination and missionary training of children has been released.
In October, it is published a leaflet with meetings and suggestions to live more deeply the four weeks of the missionary month. This is sent, together with the magazine "Iglesia Misionera Hoy" to all the parishes and catholic schools of the country.
The Diocesan Directors has been asked to form a Missionary Pastoral Diocesan Team and to appoint a Secretary for the Missionary Infancy. Many have done this.
B. General Progress in the missionary training with children.
The workshops and meetings carried out have helped take positive steps towards the realization of the objectives proposed in these last few years: the training in the true sense of the Work, the diocesan organization, the conscience as regards the importance and necessity of the material co-operation to the universal mission.
Regarding the ESAMs, these schools are bearing fruit, their most obvious result being the inter-diocesan, regional and national co-ordination, and the establishment of the Diocesan Secretariats of the Missionary Infancy.
3. MISSIONARY ORTGANIZATION of children an their co-ordinators.
A. Main achievements.
The National Secretariat of the Missionary Infancy has been strengthened.
In many dioceses there are diocesan meetings of groups of the Missionary Infancy with the Bishop and the National Secretariat of the Work.
Some of these diocesan meetings are organized by the children of the Missionary Infancy, together with their co-ordinators, and invitations to other children of the diocese are sent, thus offering them the possibility to get in contact with the spirit of the Work and also grow in the missionary training.
There is an annual National Meeting of Diocesan Delegates of the Missionary Infancy to:
promote the appointment of a diocesan delegate/team of the Missionary Infancy and its consequent diocesan organization.
clarify the role of the diocesan delegate/team and offer training to enable them to the development of this task.
unify Missionary Infancy diocesan work criteria.
promote interchange between children and co-ordinators of different dioceses and mail communication with Argentinian missionaries "ad extra".
B. General Progress in the Missionary Organization with Children.
These activities allow a greater co-ordination of the activities of the Work in the country, a unification of criteria, an interchange of missionary activities, thus enriching the groups of the Infancy in the diocese and among the dioceses. Likewise, the universal missionary spirit of the Work is extended to other spaces within the pastoral task of the Church.
4. MISSIONARY CO-ORPERATION of the Children.
A. Main Achievements of Children Missionary Co-operation.
* Missionary Moneyboxes are distributed among Missionary Infancy groups as well as schools and parish catechism groups.
* In all the workshops and meetings that are carried out, it is emphasized the importance of the missionary co-operation, spiritual, material and of personal sacrifice. As the economic situation of the country has worsened in the last few years, it is important to recognize that the economic offering of children, though still insufficient, has multiplied by five in four years.
* The value of the "Missionary Stamp", the collection of used stamps, is still insisted upon.
* To encourage the groups to continue with their small efforts, the National Direction has sent a letter to thank their donation of stamps and money.
* In Argentina, the children celebrate the "Month of the Missionary Infancy" in August.
* As a means of spiritual co-operation, the promotion and selling of the Missionary Rosary has been intensified.
B. General Progress in the Missionary Co-operation of Children.
Regarding the increase in the material co-operation, though there is not a significant increase in the money sent by the dioceses, there certainly is more conscience with respect to its importance and necessity.
MAINLY NEED OF THE MISSIONARY INFANCY IN OUR COUNTRY.
* There are many active groups that call themselves "Missionary Infancy", but which lack universal missionary dimension or a true sense of the fundamental charisma of the Work.
* Lack of conscience and concrete practice of the economic missionary co-operation.
* Little presence of the Work at schools.
* Lack of a true missionary dimension in the catechism and in other areas of the pastoral of the Church.
* The needs of a Meeting of the Argentinian Missionary Infancy.
* Little structure for the missionary training of adolescents.
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