The plane of the Plenary Council has entered the landing mode on the tenth day of progressive work. Since the take off was smooth, it is hoped that the landing will equally be a smooth ride. The morning session today was dedicated to some of the issues that members had brought up for discussion. One such matter was the question of appointments. Certain members shared the difficulty they are experiencing with regard to stability of conferes in the mission. 

Confreres keep changing missions within short periods of time and they consider this unhealthy for the missions. Some members held that some of the instability has been occasioned by the structural changes that have affected most new entities over the last decades. Certain confreres in the mission had to be withdrawn for administrative work. Another reason that explains instability is the fact that after a certain number of years in the same place some confreres felt tired and longed for a change.

Some members argued that community living that is welcoming and open to accompany a young confrère is likely to succeed.

Concern was raised about a certain number of young confreres who are not interested in learning the local language and the culture of the places of mission they are sent to. This, they argued, could lead to instability and superficiality as they do not have practical cultural experiences to relate to the gospel and thus resort to examples given by social media.

Language and culture of the people is not only important for confreres working in Africa but for those who are working in Europe and elsewhere without which it is difficult to have a significant pastoral implication.

Certain members shared the experience of some confreres who believe they must be climbing the ladder and when they are given certain appointments, they consider it a demotion. Priesthood is nothing short of a call to service.

Certain new entities have tension among them because primary evangelization is only reserved for members coming from other entities. These tensions when they go unresolved, it is the mission that suffers.

Young confreres look up to the elder confreres. But unfortunately, there is a huge gap between the new entities and confreres of the old provinces.

Some confreres are not clear about the sabbatical year. This is not a special circumstance but a moment of renewal. This led to the question about the future of Inter Congregational Ongoing Formation (ICOF) , a sabbatical renewal program at the disposal of SMA confreres.
Another  important facility that is important to the SMA is  the Institut Catholique Missionnaire D’Abidjan (ICMA). The SMA plays a crucial role in both of these institutions.

Before the end of the session, members were invited to share some of the information of their entities and majority of them were about the upcoming ordinations and jubilees as well as new programs. Last but not least, they were asked to do an evaluation of the 2023 Plenary Council through the formationplus platform.

                                                                  By Dominic Wabwireh, SMA