Partnership in Mission (PIM) Working Group

The second meeting of the P.I.M. Working Group of the C.R.E. was held in the Redemptorist Community in Clapham London, on October 18th 2014. Present at the meeting were Fr. Martin Huk (Bratislava V-Province), Mr. Daniel Primo (Lay Missionary–Madrid Province), Mr. Martin Brandner (Vienna Province) and Mrs. Henrietta O’Meara (Dublin Province).
All present gave an update on how lay participation is currently progressing in their respective provinces. Daniel updated the group on the Redemptorist presence on the Camino de Santiago at Astorga, where he and his family volunteered during the summer. He also informed the group about El Espino 2014. Martin Brander spoke about the challenges that the Catholic Church are facing in Vienna, where there is a decline in church attendance and parishes are merging. Martin Huk informed the meeting that there is a greater support for and openness to lay collaboration in Bratislava province. Henrietta highlighted that as well as having many lay volunteers, there are many lay people employed by the Dublin province, including two lay women who are employed full-time on the Redemptorist Mission Team. Redemptorist Associates Groups are active in a number of Redemptorist Communities and in May 2014, a Redemptorist Associates Pilgrimage visited the Alphonsian sites in Italy.
The group reflected on how to encourage and support greater partnership in ministry and it was decided that a P.I.M. meeting would be organized across the C.R.E. This meeting will take place over a weekend in October/November 2015 and the venue is yet to be confirmed. It is proposed that a Redemptorist and a lay person from each province, who are involved with and have an interest in promoting partnership in ministry will be invited to attend. The purpose of the meeting is to share and learn from experiences and to reflect on the possibilities and challenges of working in partnership. A keynote speaker will be invited to address the gathering.
Dates and venue for this meeting will be circulated as soon as they are confirmed.
Fr. Martin Huk CSsR