The purpose of the Congregation of the Mission is to follow Christ evangelizing the poor. This purpose is achieved when, faithful to St. Vincent, the members individually and collectively: 1. make every effort to put on the spirit of Christ himself (CR L 3) in order to acquire a holiness appropriate to their vocation; 2. work at evangelizing the poor, especially the more abandoned; 3. help the clergy and laity in their formation and lead them to a fuller participation in the evangelization of the poor.

With this purpose in view, the Congregation of the Mission, faithful to the Gospel, and always attentive to the signs of the times and the more urgent calls of the Church, should take care to open up new ways and use new means adapted to the circumstances of time and place. Moreover, it should strive to evaluate and plan its works and ministries, and in this way remain in a continual state of renewal (from C&S C. 1, 2).

Through our intentional effort to live more fully our synodal identity as a congregation, we have begun to experience the power of deep, prayerful listening to the Holy Spirit, one another, and the poor. Among the signs of the times we have discerned and the calls of the Church we have heard at this moment in our provincial journey, we believe we should concretely respond to these five essential areas:

1. A Call to deepen our commitment to community life, one another, and God’s plan

We recognize the need to build strong communities where happy, healthy, and committed men can “acquire a holiness appropriate to their vocation” (CR XII:13). We know we will need to be together more frequently to pray, renew our lives, plan, and respond authentically to God’s will. In looking to the future, particularly the next five years, as men given for the mission, we will build a community life based on our constitutions, virtues, and rich heritage. We will care for one another, help each one shape our hopes and confront our struggles.

2. A Call to find our place on the ‘peripheries’ to challenge the globalization of indifference

We hear God calling us more urgently to go to the peripheries as we recommit ourselves to our basic thrust and criteria for mission based on the 2018 convocation, especially to encounter those fleeing oppressive conditions in their lands of origin, such as immigrants, displaced persons, and asylum-seekers. Our movement towards peripheries and commitment to accompany the marginalized will be concrete, achievable, and based on the prioritization of our current provincial works.

3. A Call to live our Vincentian vocation as a joyful witness to welcome newcomers

We are convinced that “the harvest is great, but the laborers are few” (Mt 9.37). The urgency to continue to serve and live out our mission of integral evangelization moves us to seek out, invite, and form new brothers and priests for the mission amongst the marginalized. We accept this responsibility, affirming the importance of this sacred task being undertaken by all confreres of the province and our collaborators in the Vincentian charism.

4. A Call to transformative collaboration to enrich living our Vincentian charism

We affirm the need at all levels for a climate marked by synodality: transparency, deep listening, speaking with courage, consensus, and broad collaboration for the mission. With this spirit, we will move forward, journeying together with other branches of the Vincentian Family and the international Congregation. We will deepen our CM identity as members of the Vincentian Family and dedicate ourselves to accompanying the other FAMVIN branches as true family. As the reality of receiving confreres from other provinces becomes more common, we will adequately prepare, integrate, and accompany these confreres in our communal and pastoral contexts.

5. A Call to systematically prepare and empower the next generation of Vincentian servant leaders

We know that sound leadership within the Congregation and amongst our many collaborators is vital to fruitfully living out the mission the Lord has entrusted to us. We will, therefore, call forth and prepare new leadership that is open, transparent, and committed to a dialogue-based servant leadership model, flowing from the values of the Our young confreres will be provided the formation, resources, and accompaniment to move successfully into leadership positions in the province and our ministries. Our non-confrere partners in ministry, be they collaborators in our institutions or the marginalized we journey alongside in mission, will be respected and supported as true leaders, bearers of the charism in the present and future, and increasingly essential for carrying out the mission which has been entrusted to us.

So, our vocation is to go, not just to one parish, not just to one diocese, but all over the world; and do what? To set people’s hearts on fire, to do what the Son of God did. He came to set the world on fire in order to inflame it with His love.

(Vincent de Paul, Conference of May 30, 1659)