SVD
Generalate

With the dawn of the new millennium, an unprecedented change in both the world and the Church has gathered pace. The world has been encompassed by the whirlwind of rapid technological development, frenzied expansion of social media, and the cult of individualism sparked by postmodern relativism. This new reality has heavily impacted on the way of conducting mission work and on the SVD sense of identity.

Moved by these profound changes, the XV GC (2000) embarked on a project of refining our mission and identity through dialogue and engagement with this new global reality. Let us briefly examine this pursuit through a glance at the General Chapters of the XXI century.

The 15th GC introduced an entirely new model of mission through the concept of the “fourfold prophetic dialogue” and identified four “characteristic dimensions” of the SVD missionary engagement. Our identity was to be “rooted in the call to witness to the Reign of God, its inclusiveness and openness to diversity.” The 16th GC continued exploring “prophetic dialogue” with emphasis on internationality, contextualization, inculturation, inter-religious dialogue, and working for communal harmony. The 17th GC identified SVD as “an intercultural religious-missionary congregation,” declaring that “interculturality is a distinguishing feature and an essential part of our identity.” The 18th GC substituted the term “identity” with “DNA,” stating that “interculturality is in the DNA of our Society” and declaring that “our name is our mission.” Finally, the 19th GC located the SVD identity in its rootedness in Jesus, the Divine Word, which compels the missionaries to be faithful and creative disciples, bringing healing and light to a wounded world.

These General Chapters and countless other efforts demonstrate our impressive 25-year long quest for a clearer self-understanding and its practical expressions through mission unfolding in a very complex world. However, the same journey raises a crucial question: How can we maintain rootedness in our founding charism while adapting creatively to new realities? How do we remain faithful while embracing change and incorporating new elements into our self-understanding, without losing our essential character and morphing into something unrecognizable? Perhaps we need “guideposts of identity” to establish ourselves on solid ground that preserves the core of who we are while allowing for the necessary adaptability.

A wisdom from our past might illuminate this dilemma. In 1934, Fr. Joseph Grendel, the 4th SVD Superior General wrote: “It was indeed according to the plan of God that our Blessed Founder was led to found his Society and also to bestow upon it a particular name. This was not an idea which he conceived by himself; it was given to him by God… since from eternity our Society was present in the mind of God as the Society of His eternal Divine Word” (Nuntius SVD, II, 1934-1938, p. 74).

In our continuing quest to refine SVD identity, Fr. Grendel’s statement offers two essential guideposts:

1. The SVD exists because God called it into existence with a purpose, which the Congregation continually rediscovers. Our identity is dynamic, and our quest to refine it is God-willed.
2. Our name defines our identity: we are the Society of the Divine Word; our fidelity to and deeply personal, dynamic communion with the Divine Word forms the enduring core of our identity.

Using a cosmic metaphor, we may liken the Divine Word to the radiant sun that holds our Congregation in its “gravitational” embrace. Like a planet in orbit, we journey, navigating ever-changing landscapes of life and history, yet remain firmly held and encompassed by its life-giving light.

Generalate Leadership Team