On March 5-6 we held the second meeting of the Comboni Social Forum 2021. If in previous editions this event coincided with the Global Social Forums, this time we chose to hold it online, which allowed us to enrich the participation, exceeding 200 participants. This meeting is a continuation of last December’s meeting, which reflected on Comboni ministerialities.
This edition of the CSF was based on the challenges of the significance of the Comboni mission, synodality within the Comboni Family and the style of life. In order to advance answers, it was designed the Mapping of Social Ministry in the Comboni Family, that it was presented at this meeting. A total of 205 Comboni presences were collected over several months and are now presented on a dedicated website which can also be accessed from the website of the General Secretariat for the Mission of the MCCJ.
In a formidable task, the various presences have been classified according to the institute that coordinates them, the geographical region, the sector [Health, Education, Development and Justice, Peace and Integrity of Creation (JPIC)] and the priority area, among which we can find Afro descent people, human trafficking, missionary animation, migrants…. Each sector is further subdivided into more specific sectors, in order to give as much detail as possible to each presence.
By entering in each continent, you can access the concrete presences that are present in it, each one presented through a complete card that includes a brief summary, the Comboni charism to which it is linked, the Sustainable Development Goals involved or the human groups that are mainly involved. Among the charisms, we can highlight Making Common Cause, Regenerating Africa with Africa, Cenacle of Apostles or At the Foot of the Cross.
It also includes a very interesting element of analysis, the Social Ministry Rhombus, which allows us to quickly visualize this concrete presence according to 2 dimensions: direct service and Justice and Peace:
This rhombus can be used to visualize the complete set of all the presences, but also by continents or according to which institute is leading it:
A first impression shows that the dimension most present is that of human promotion, while that of denunciation is in the minority. In Africa, this approach is even clearer, and with regard to CLM-led presences, the weight of the vertical axis of JPIC is greater than the average.
Other very relevant aspects of the mapping is the articulation of each presence with civil or ecclesial entities and the joint participation of various branches of the Comboni Family in the mapping.
It is not possible to summarize all the information presented in this mapping but rather to invite each one to explore it according to his own concerns. On the other hand, the conclusions of the mapping presented during the CSF insist on the need to grow in the dimension of prophetic denunciation. In these conclusions we also highlight the challenge of synodality, since this first picture that we have drawn invites us to share among similar projects in terms of geography, sector, field… for shared reflection-action. And the powerful systemic approach that allows us to seek new answers to the enormous missionary challenges we face. It is an injection of enthusiasm to know all the Comboni presences documented and all that this mapping invites us to grow in the service of the Kingdom.
Gonzalo Violero, CLM Spain
