The Pallottines Have a Mission

In essence, all the baptized have agreed for centuries: Our Church is missionary by nature! ‘As the Father has sent me, so I send you’ (John 20:21). We want to bring the Good News of the Gospel and our enthusiasm for the Kingdom of God into the world.

The Understanding of Mission is Changing
The fact that there have been and continue to be epochal interpretive variations in this regard was recently highlighted at the special historical exhibition ‘Alles Pallotti – Gut gebrüllt Löwe’ (A Roaring Lion) at the Diocesan Museum in Limburg. During the colonization of Cameroon by the Prussian-German Empire, the Pallottines were able to establish their mission work in Cameroon from Germany beginning in 1887. Today, this colonial period requires critical reflection.

In our time, a sense of superiority over others is seen as a root cause of fundamentalism. Additionally, literature and politics have long addressed the consequences of racism, violence, and oppression. For instance, in her 2008 book Germany Black & White, artist and activist Noah Sow explores colonial-era attitudes and the resulting everyday racism in „Germany“ British author Reni Eddo-Lodge critiques ‘White Privilege’ and ‘Structural Racism’ in Europe in her book „Why I’m No Longer Talking to White People About Race“. Just last week, Brazilian philosopher Djamila Ribeiro criticized Europe’s historical amnesia and lack of engagement with its colonial history in the German press.

Fighting for a Better Life for All
The perspective on mission history has changed significantly. While, up until 1950, most Christians lived in the northern hemisphere (Europe and North America), today, nearly three-quarters of Christians reside in Asia, Africa, and Latin America. This shift in demographics has altered the dynamics. Today’s messengers of the Gospel hold a different role; they must be present in their respective cultures and societies to bear witness, rooted in the experience of God and a spirituality that transcends boundaries. At the same time, they must engage in intercultural and interreligious dialogue.

We Are a Mission
October has been declared the ‘Extraordinary Month of World Mission’ by Pope Francis, with a special focus on evangelization. The slogan ‘Baptized and Sent’ underscores the mission of all Christians. Many German religious communities are using this opportunity to explain the concept of ‘mission’ in a contemporary way and to highlight the unique aspects of their foundational spirituality. The idea of not just having a mission but being a mission is as unusual as it is inspiring. Pope Francis describes being a Christian as living in a state of permanent mission: we are here to bring light, to bless, to enliven, to uplift, to heal, and to liberate. Mission as an antidote to the individualistic sadness and coldness of closed doors. This message inspires hope. Our Generalate in Rome has embraced this idea with the slogan ‘We are a mission – Be holy. Be Saints.’ The Generalate regularly reports on this vision and the worldwide mission activities on a dedicated website.

The Pallottine understanding of mission encompasses everyday life and the entire journey of life. This mission is not solely a task of the Church but of all the baptized. For Vincent Pallotti, his apostolate was nothing less than the ‘competing Christian love that conveys the outpouring love of God, as Jesus exemplified perfectly.’

Developing Country Germany
The cross-border, dialogue-oriented spirituality of the Pallottines aligns well with the United Nations’ modern concept of development. With the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, the international community expresses its conviction that global challenges can only be resolved together. The Agenda provides a foundation for shaping global economic progress in harmony with social justice and within the Earth’s ecological limits.

A milestone set by the United Nations is the view that all countries are ‘developing countries’ and must contribute individually to the world’s global development. The core of the Agenda is an ambitious catalog of 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), which, for the first time, equally consider all three dimensions of sustainability — social, environmental, and economic. The 17 goals are indivisible and interdependent. Five core messages precede them as guiding principles: People, Planet, Prosperity, Peace, and Partnership, also known as the ‘5 Ps.’

Making God Visible
We have a mission: to make God visible through acts of living love! God’s love knows no national, cultural, or religious boundaries. This is why we live out our mission not only in Germany and Austria but also in our delegations in Spain, Croatia, South Africa, Nigeria, and Malawi. With the support of our brothers on the ground and our benefactors, we are also involved in many partnership projects in Latin America, India, and Cameroon. The local communities always determine which development goals are most urgent for them and where our help is most needed.

Text: Josef Eberhard
Images: Pallottine Archive (Tom Wittkemper, Br. Bert Meyer) & 2019 ENGAGEMENT GLOBAL (SDGs)