Joint Meeting of CIME-CEME in Turkey

From May 26 to June 4 the members of the International Council for Mission Evangelization (CIME) and the Executive Commission for Missions and Evangelization (CEME) had a joint meeting in in Istanbul (Friary of Santa Maria Draperis). The main goal of the meeting was to continue developing the Ratio Evangelizationis for the Order (REO).

Representing CEME were Br Francisco Gómez Vargas and Br Dennis Tayo, respectively Secretary and Animator of the General Secretariat for Missions and Evangelization, Br Johannes Freyer, and Br José Rodríguez. Nine of the thirteen Conference Secretaries for Missions and Evangelization were present to represent CIME: Br Arcangel Borek (North Slavic Conference), Br Oscar Castro (Bolivariana), Br Jovit Malinao (EAC), Br Augustinus Nggame (SAAOC), Br Edgar Alves Pereira (Brazil-Southern Cone), Br Damir Pavic (South Slavic), Br José Rodríguez (ESC), Br Natalio Saludes (CONFRES), and Br Adolfo Calderón Velázquez (Our Lady of Guadalupe). Also present was Br John Barker, a member of the REO drafting committee and secretary for the meeting.

The mandate to develop an REO was given by the General Chapter of 2021. Discussion of the proposed REO began at the CIME-CEME meeting of March 2022. In May 2023 the General Definitory accepted a proposal from the Secretariat for Mission and Evangelization to convene a group of subject matter experts to develop a structure and outline for the REO and to begin drafting the document. That group met in September 2023 to develop a proposed structure for the REO, which was then discussed and accepted (with suggestions) by the General Definitory. In December 2023 the Conference Secretaries for Missions and Evangelization received a copy of the structure, asking them to discuss the proposed structure and answer questions to assist in the drafting of the REO, and to submit their responses. In the meantime, the expert group continued its work, producing a draft of Part One of the REO in March 2024.

The main work of the May/June 2024 meeting of CIME-CEME was to review the responses from the Conferences regarding the proposed structure of the REO, to discern in them common topics and concerns, and to discuss (in a preliminary way) their possible inclusion in the REO. The following is a summary of the results of that meeting.

Download the Summary of the CIME-CEME joint meeting