Final Document of the JMV 2005 General Assembly

Final Document Advisors Meeting (2013)--- Schedule “With Our Lay, Marian and Vincentian Spirituality, We Share the Mission!”

In this sacred place, where the chapel of the Apparitions can be found and where the Association was formed at the request of the Virgin, the certainty that She continues to intercede for us and concede abundant graces in behalf of her Son, is stimulated in us. Jesus Christ today is a response to life, meaning and salvation for the young people. He invites us to follow His footsteps and continue His mission of proclaiming the Reign of God.

We, participants of this 2nd General Assembly, have seen the development made in the last years: identity, spirituality, formation, apostolate and expansion are some realities that we see under new dimensions. During this Assembly, we have lived moments of prayer, formation, sharing, revision and common reflection. It has been a real feast in the Lord! From this experience and evaluating the course traveled since the First Assembly, we present to you what we have envisioned for the next five years.

In line with the Final Document issued at the end of the Assembly in Rome 2000 and with the guidelines prepared over these years, we would like to present to you some convictions, challenges and commitments applied in the following dimensions:

SPIRITUAL LIFE

In a society where there is constant temptation to close in on oneself and focus upon one’s personal interest, we are convinced that our charism directs us to following Jesus Christ, Evangelizer of the poor. This affirmation leads us to take the Gospel with more radicalism, responding thus to the invitation made by Pope John Paul II to the young people of the Third Millennium, “Set out into the deep.”

1.1. Convictions

1.1.1. From our MARIAN – VINCENTIAN Spirituality, we are convinced that the young people, more than ever, need to concentrate on what is essential in order to find true meaning in life.

Marian Spirituality: we feel the need to deepen even more the message of Rue du Bac and the Spirituality of the Magnificat. In Mary we are inspired to live-out the Gospel values traditionally suggested by the Association (charity, humility, spirit of collaboration and transparency,) and to cultivate attitudes of contemplation and action, love and justice.

Vincentian Spirituality: we want to take on our responsibility of keeping alive the Vincentian charism, which is a gift of the Spirit to the Church.

1.1.2. From the depth of our spirituality, we feel the need to update the Vincentian charism and bring our joyful lifestyle closer to other young people and the poorest of the poor.

1.2. Challenges

1.2.1. Wherever we young people are, we are to give witness to our Spirituality as manifested in productive deeds for the youth and the poorest of the poor.

1.2.2. To become aware of the presence of Mary among us as educator of faith in her dedication to God and in the service to others.

1.3. Commitments

1.3.1. We will encourage the National and Regional Councils to look for ways to allow us to deepen even more in our Marian and Vincentian Spirituality and to live a meaningful sacramental life.

1.3.2. We will organize workshops where young people learn to pray individually and in community, in order to develop a deep experience with God.

1.3.3. We will express our baptismal vow through the Marian Consecration within the Association, as inspired by the Spirituality of the Magnificat, thus becoming agents of transformation of the reality bearing prophetic attitudes.

FORMATION

More than ever, it is necessary to defend the dignity of the person in a society that intends to manipulate the creative end of God, making men and women objects and not subjects of promotion and life. For this, we need a formation that promotes integral growth: human and spiritual. We get formation in order to serve, sharing our God-given gifts, and thus enriching ourselves mutually.

2.1. Convictions

2.1.1. We discover the need to strengthen formation following the guidelines drawn out by the Association and taken up in the document “Formation Processes and Endways in JMV.”

2.1.2. We affirm the need to continue interchanging formation materials which may enrich us.

2.1.3. We affirm the urgent need to offer accompaniment to the young people so they may mature in faith and discover their vocation-mission from their personal project of life.

2.1.4. Integral formation of Advisors and Animators of the groups will promote growth and perseverance of the members of the Association.

2.2. Challenges

2.2.1. To contribute in the formation of lay leaders who assume a role of co-responsibility in the Association and in the Church.

2.2.2. To offer specific formation for Advisors.

2.2.3. To be creative and dynamic in the making of formation materials in each country.

2.3. Commitments

2.3.1. That, in whatever means possible, the International Secretariat will offer formation courses for Advisors and Animators through the Internet.

2.3.2. We will continue studying and distributing the document “Formation Processes and Endways in JMV,” making it known in all levels of the Association.

2.3.3. We will share the interesting bibliographical richness for the Association diffusing it through the Web page of the Secretariat or one’s own country.

2.3.4. We will assume and distribute the document “Role and Functions of Advisors in the JMV” with better participation of the laypersons.

2.3.5. We will suggest that in the initial formation programs of the Daughters of Charity and the Vincentian Priests, the knowledge about the Association and the roles that they will have in it shall be deepened.

SERVICE AND MISSION

In an increasingly globalized society, VMY wishes to give witness to the universality of the Gospel which invites us to overcome all sorts of frontiers and be creative with concrete gestures of solidarity.

3.1. Convictions

3.1.1. On the 175th anniversary of the Apparitions, and remembering that the Virgin Mary entrusted to St. Catherine Laboure the mission to go to the young people, we are convinced that even today Mary continues to inspire our mission.

3.1.2. We affirm that the service and evangelization of the poorest of the poor, inspired by the charism of St. Vincent, remains relevant and it is our mission to make it known.

3.2. Challenges

3.2.1. To seek ways of discerning how to live our missionary vocation today in an organized and systematic manner, in the direct contact with the poor, the privileged place of encounter with Christ.

3.2.2. To develop new styles of apostolate in order to bring the Gospel to the young people, with audacity and creativity.

3.3. Commitments

3.3.1. Faithful to our origins, we will encourage all young people in the Association to discover the richness of our charism, by undertaking service personally and as a community, in direct contact with the poorest of the poor.

3.3.2. We will get formation in order to work with present-day strategies in form of PROJECTS, such that we may learn to make, execute and evaluate our projects thus ensuring that we are evangelized ourselves by those whom we serve.

3.3.3. We will promote “twinnings” among countries, overcoming dependencies and seeking mutual enrichment. This sharing will apply to projects, methodologies, testimonies, services, financing, etc.

3.3.4. We will continue fostering missionary communities “ad extra” as much as “ad intra” and sharing with the local Church in the evangelization, proclamation and denouncement in favor of the poorest of the poor.

VINCENTIAN FAMILY

The Vincentian Family shares a common charism that is service to Christ in the person of the poor. This conviction keeps us united and gives us the enthusiasm and dynamism to work in teams. To be a family, and to work as a family, means to know each other, to accept us as we are, to be united because of what we have in common and to be enriched by what differentiates us. If we are united as a family, our service and evangelization to the poor will be more effective.

4.1. Convictions:

4.1.1. We find it necessary to have closer links of collaboration with other branches of the Vincentian Family, may they be for common projects or for formation.

4.1.2. We believe that the young adults of the Association are capable of assuming the function of Advisorship, in co-responsibility with the Priests and Sisters.

4.2. Challenges:

4.2.1. To search for better proximity and collaboration at all levels, with other branches of the Vincentian Family, in order to give concrete service to the less fortunate and the marginalized.

4.2.2. To promote the creation and development of the PROGRAMS OF INTEGRAL FORMATION with the Vincentian Family especially the formation for the “Misión ad Gentes” in collaboration with MISEVI.

4.3. Commitments:

4.3.1. We will actively take pare in the “Vincentian Family Councils” that are organized in the different levels of the Association.

4.3.2. We will promote encounters wherein we share with other members of the Vincentian Family in the levels of formation, prayer and action.

4.3.3. We will use technology and other actual means of communication to foster communion in order to make better our service, interchange of missionary experiences, materials and others.

4.3.4. We will commit ourselves with the other branches of the Vincentian Family in the concrete projects of service and evangelization.

TOWARDS AUTO-FINANCING

Very often, finances are a great difficulty among the youth groups for the scarcity of available funds, but it is also an opportunity to know commitment and maturity that shall be acquired. As a General Assembly we thank the strong economic support that we receive from the “adult groups” of the Vincentian Family and we would like to grow in our commitment to be auto-financing.

5.1. Convictions:

5.1.1 The Vincentians know the social function of the economic goods and for this our funds must be geared toward the service of the poor.

5.1.2. The finances of the community organizations must be guided by the principles of transparency, participation, responsibility and gratuity.

5.1.3. The exercise of solidarity assures that poverty or economic difficulties do not prevent the empowerment and participation of the less fortunate young people in the planned formation programs.

5.2 Challenges:

5.2.1. The pedagogy and the means that we will use must be simple and austere, promoting the empowerment and interchange of the contributions of the young people.

5.2.2. Transparency and good management of funds must be manifested in all organizational levels of the Association.

5.2.3. Economic problems must not prevent the participation of the young people in programmed activities. For this, creative methods of looking for economic contributions must be encouraged.

5.3. Commitments:

5.3.1. We ratify all the economic commitment of the General Assembly of Rome 2000, especially the process of annual contribution for each member country to contribute a share of the expenses of the international coordination. All the local centers and each member must contribute to achieve this auto-financing.

5.3.2. We ask the International Secretariat to specialize in the presentation and accompaniment of the solicitations of economic aid for the projects of formation and promotion of the youth in the international, continental and national levels both in public and private organizations.

5.3.3. We will encourage that “twinnings” be made among the National or Local VMY Associations in order to interchange experiences, materials, prayer and goods. The International Council will accompany this process with the drafting of a guide and knowing the established contacts.

To conclude, we are sure that the new VMY International Council and the respective National Councils will supervise the dissemination and implementation of the commitments contained in this Final Document.

We, participants of this Second International Assembly, would like to make ours the invitation of St. Paul the Apostle, “Be vigilant, stay firm in the faith, be brave and strong.” (1 Cor. 16:13).

Paris, August 12, 2005

1st GENERAL ASSEMBLY VMY ROME 2000 / Resolutions Regarding Economy

The General Assembly, after listening to the different proposals as well as the work of the economic commission, approved the following resolutions regarding the economy.

1. Quota:

The following is the suggested manner for establishing the quota:

Each National Council will fix an amount in its annual budget representing their share of co-responsibility to what the country thinks it can contribute to the International Secretariat as a gesture of communion and solidarity. For this:

This amount fixed as quota should be decided in the financial budget before the end of February of each year.

This budgeted amount will be communicated to the International Secretariat and they can make partial payments throughout the year, making use of the usual means employed by the Vincentian Family.

The Secretariat will send a receipt for each of the contributions received.

The National Councils can set the criteria for the amount to be calculated which should be around $.50 - $2.00 per member above 16 years of age, depending on the standard of living and other circumstances of each country.

The Secretariat can ask for explanations from the Councils and officers in charge of the economy if they shown signs of disinterest.

The International Council will evaluate the formula for establishing a quota for three years and they are authorized to change it in case they judge it not to be functioning properly.

2. Accounting guidelines.

As far as it is possible, the National Councils will try to:

Have an accounting record or system. The International Council will formulate an accounting plan that will be applicable in a comparable manner for all the countries.

The bank accounts of the National Councils should be in the name of the Association, with the necessary legal registrations as well as the signature and supervision of the national adviser.

A copy of the annual ending balances is to be sent to the Director of the International Secretariat. This will be treated as a confidential document.

3. Solidarity fund for materials on formation.

Two possible means proposed for its gradual development:

3.1. Contributions to a reserved fund that will be utilized for this purpose.

3.2. The Secretariat will contact and propose "benefactors" who will look for economic support meant for this purpose.