Must read
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Forming Missionaries for the Contemporary World
“What It Says on the Label Must Match What’s Inside” By Pierre-Paul Dossekpli SMA Plenary Council, Lagos 2026 During the 2026 Plenary Council, formation was at the heart of the conversation. In a world reshaped by technology, shifting charitable giving, and an increasingly complex mission landscape, how does the SMA ensure it is forming not…
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“To Serve, Not to Be Served”
When Ordinary Time Recalls the Essence of Missionary Leadership By Pierre-Paul Dossekpli SMA Plenary Council, Lagos 2026 This evening, May 27, 2026, at 6 p.m., the Eucharistic celebration of the plenary council took on the green color of Ordinary Time. A discreet liturgical transition, but one full of meaning for those present. The Gospel proclaimed…
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The SMA Plenary Council in Lagos, a Living Mirror of Magnifica Humanitas
By Pierre-Paul Dossekpli Plenary Council Lagos 2026, Day 8 On 15 May 2026, Pope Leo XIV signed his encyclical Magnifica Humanitas on human dignity in the age of artificial intelligence. The date is no coincidence: it marks the 135th anniversary of Rerum Novarum, the founding encyclical of the Church’s Social Doctrine. By choosing this day,…
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Group Work: Seat of the Holy Spirit
On this sixth day of the Plenary Council 2026, on the eve of Pentecost, the members set aside the plenary hall for something more intimate. Divided into five working groups — Care, Well-Being and Spirituality; Mission, Collaboration with Laity and JPIC; Integral Formation; Good Governance and Synodality; and Finance — they bent over tables, exchanged…
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Why a Foundation? Fr. Jean-François Bergeron Questions the Purpose of PACEM
By Pierre-Paul Dossekpli Plenary Council 2026, Lagos, Nigeria On the fifth day of the Plenary Council, Fr. Dennis Senyo Etti presented PACEM — Partnership, Collaboration, and Empowerment. Approached by the SMA Media, Fr. Jean-François Bergeron, Superior of the Canadian District, admitted he was perplexed at first: “Why a foundation?” He was asking what every serious…
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“If Only I Had Done This Sooner…” — Father Narcisse’s Testimony on the ICOF
The fourth day of the Plenary Council was marked by an unexpected moment of grace: the testimony of Father Narcisse, Provincial Superior of Côte d’Ivoire, on his participation in the ICOF (Inter-Congregational Ongoing Formation) programme in Tanzania during the first quarter of 2026.
