The Society of the Divine Word, better known as Los Verbitas, celebrates 150 years of mission

In March of this year, the Society of the Divine Word, better known as Los Verbitas, held 150 years of foundation with an international conference on mission in today’s world, held at the Gregorian University of Rome.

Founded in Holland in 1875 by San Arnoldo Janssen, this missionary congregation has evolved from its European origins to a global presence, with an increasingly western face.

Currently, only 15% of verbs are European, while more than 50% come from Asia, especially Indonesia, India, Philippines and Vietnam.

The P.Marcelo Cattaneo, a member of the Congregation, says in an interview with ACI Press that what began as a small group of German missionaries who left for China, today has become a multicultural missionary network. “We have gone from being a European and rather western congregation to an Asian and African congregation … the congregation has rocked,” he explains.

In this sense, the secularization process that Europe is going through has radically transformed the mission map. “Europe is no longer a region that sends missionaries … all human situations are clearly mission territory,” says the priest.

This implies a paradigm shift: it is not just about bringing the gospel to distant places, but about discovering the new “existential territories” mentioned by Pope Francis: loneliness, marginalization, religious indifference or migration.

“Given secularization, what we have is the presence of the testimonial community, which is intercultural, a community witnessing community in diversity,” he says after verifying that his presence thus becomes a living sign of the gospel, capable of speaking more than institutional structures.

“Beyond how institutional the Church or the missionary religious congregation entails,” which challenges today is the testimony of life, he says.

On the other hand, it emphasizes that the verbs currently translates into attitudes that embrace closeness, listening and accompaniment. “If we try to understand our mission, whose goal is full humanization … It has a lot to do with the relational, linking it, delicacy for inclusion, acceptance, tolerance.”

In a world marked by migratory flows and the consequent exclusion of these groups, which are forced to leave their homes, makes a clear appeal to accompany those who “suffer the consequences of this rejection”, to seek resources “for their inclusion in society and to be close to them.”

The commitment that verbs have with the poorest has also reaffirmed in line with the teaching of Pope Francis: “Preferential love for the poor is an issue that Pope Francis has resumed very fully … we want to respond as faithfully as possible and as creative as possible.”

The attitude with which verbs approach other cultures and religions, one of the essential points of the charism of this congregation composed of almost 6,000 members of 76 nationalities, has also evolved. “We are not going with the truth, but we are all as humanity in search of the truth,” says Fr. Cattaneo.

Instead of imposing, the current mission is based on dialogue, humility and shared discernment: “We have our own identity … but we do it in dialogue with other religious and cultural expressions, such as companions on the way.”

This spirit of dialogue translates into concrete actions in various contexts. The P. Cattaneo also shares some examples of how verbs, which have a presence in 79 countries and for which the interculturality is their DNA: “In Africa, in areas of violence or tribal wars, Christian and Muslim communities feel together not to discuss, but to discern what actions to take to stop these wounds.”

“Also on the southern border of Mexico, where thousands of migrants pass, there is a humanitarian encounter that tries to give concrete answers to the specific needs of which every day passes by,” adds the missionary.

Also, for this male religious congregation, the largest sixth of the Catholic Church and the first in mission terms to the nationsthe 150th anniversary is not just an opportunity to look at the past.

“The congregation was born in an ecclesial context where the Church itself was conceived as exclusive … we were gradually growing and today we conceived within the Church and the Church within the mission of God,” says the priest who notes a fundamental evolution in the missionary approach.

A charism that is born in the difficulty

San Arnoldo Janssen founded the Society of the Divine Word in 1875 at a complex moment for the Catholic Church in Germany, under the government of a federal monarchy headed by Kaiser Guillermo I, King of Prussia, with Bismarck as an imperial chancellor.

The religious restrictions of the German empire forced to look for what was not possible inside. “The greatest difficulty was to find prohibitions within the same territory. But the need to go out became a blessing,” recalls Fr. Cattaneo.

That first missionary house in Steyl, the Netherlands, became a barn for evangelization. From there, the formation of missionaries began with the aim of sending them to the East. The first two, Johann Baptist Anzer and Joseph Freinademetz (Holy), left for China after preparing in Hong Kong with other missionaries in Milan (Italy).

Today the missionary fruit of this congregation reaches the five continents. Most of the vocations come from Asia, where Christians are a minority: half of the verbs are Asian. Indonesia is the country with the greatest number of religious (1,575), followed by India, the Philippines and Vietnam. There are also 680 African missionaries.

Missionary Youth and its Challenges

One of the most obvious signs of change in the congregation is the young and multicultural face of its new members. “The verbs are no longer foreign evangelizers who come to a place, but are born from the same communities they serve.”

This inculturation of the mission is also a challenge to accompany young missionaries in their human and spiritual growth.

“They bring enormous wealth, talents, an impressive capacity … but also a very marked human fragility,” he warns. In many cases, these young people have grown in difficult family contexts and need support to face adversity. “They think they can do everything, and that sooner or later it clashes with reality.”

Even so, they provide an invaluable freshness: “They have the ability to relativize things that were fundamental for us. They help us focus on the essential.”

When asked what San Arnoldo Janssen would say if he saw his congregation today, Fr. Marcelo responds with conviction: “He would encourage us to deepen the exercise of discernment in the Spirit. He was a devotee of the Holy Spirit, and at every difficult moment he put himself in prayer looking for the will of God.”