Prophetic Dialogue as Life and Mission 327 Robert Kisala, SVD* PROPHETIC DIALOGUE AS LIFE AND MISSION Prophetic dialogue is a unique contribution of the 15% and 16% General Chapters of the Society of the Divine Word to the under- standing of mission in the Church today. This article explores how ‘the concept emerged in the 15'* General Chapter, and offers some further reflections on the significance of the term for mission today. In particular, prophetic dialogue is offered as an understanding of mission that combines witness or proclamation with dialogue. Since the relationship of these two has been the object of much theological reflection in the post-conciliar church, this is an important devel- opment not only for the SVD, but for the church as a whole. Prophetic dialogue has been the theme of the last two General Chapters of the Society of the Divine Word. The 15' General Chapter in 2000 coined the term and proposed that it could be used to describe the mission activity of the congregation, and the 16" General Chap- ter in 2006 explored what implications prophetic dialogue could have for the life and spirituality of the institute. In this article I would like to offer some reflections on the meaning of the work of these two General Chapters, and explore its implication for the life and mission of the whole church, concluding with some suggestions for future reflection and activity. 1. SVD Mission as Prophetic Dialogue The 15 General Chapter, held at “the threshold of the new mil- lennium” (DW1, 1), took as its task “to further clarify our call to mis- sion, reaffirm our missionary response today, and indicate a direction for the future” (IDW1, 9). The Chapter wanted to propose a new way of approaching mission, while still faithful to our roots: “We articu- * Born in the USA in 1957. Doctorate in Religious Studies from the Univer- sity of Tokyo in 1994. Research fellow at the Nanzan Institute for Religion and Culture in Nagoya, Japan, from 1995 to 2005. Author of Prophets of Peace: Pacifism and Cultural Identity in Japan's New Religions (Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, 1999) and co-editor with Mark Mullins of Reli- gion and Social Crisis in Japan: Understanding Japanese Society through the Aum Affair (Houndmills: Palgrave, 2001). Provincial in Japan 2004-2006, presently member of the General Council. ‘Verbum SVD 47:4 (2006)328 Robert Kisala, SVD late our missionary charism anew in creative fidelity to the legacy of our founder and the founding generation and in response to the chal- lenges of today” (IDW1, 3). It saw its work as more particularly grounded in the renewal of mission and religious life mandated by Vatican II, with the revision of our constitutions in the 9 to 12% General Chapters, and the subsequent reflections on mission as “passing over” (13 General Chapter) and “communion” (14* General Chapter). With the legacy of the founder and founding generation and this post-conciliar renewal as its foundation, the Chapter de- scribed its purpose in the following way: “In this 15% General chapter in the Jubilee Year 2000, we wish to widen the horizon of our under- standing still more and to recommit ourselves to mission” (IDW1, 8). It was perhaps surprising to many what the Chapter proposed as this new way of thinking about mission: “prophetic dialogue.” The term itself was born in the deliberations of the Chapter. The draft chapter document proposed to the capitulars, the product of extensive consultation with the members in the provinces and regions and two preparatory commissions, suggested that “dialogue” was the best way to express our new way of approaching mission. However, early dis- cussion on the floor of the Chapter indicated that many of the capitu- lars felt that dialogue by itself was inadequate, too limited to describe the fullness of our understanding of mission. In searching for a better way to express the aspect of mission that challenges unjust and sinful situations, a suggestion came from one of the small discussion groups at the Chapter that the adjective “prophetic” be added, and “prophetic dialogue” was born. In choosing prophetic dialogue as “the deepest and best under- standing” (IDW1, 53) of mission at the beginning of the new millen- nium, the Chapter first made clear that it was not talking only about dialogue with other religions, perhaps the usage of the term with which most are familiar. Interreligious dialogue is one aspect of mis- sion, but the Chapter proposes “prophetic dialogue” as a paradigm that can express all of our mission activities, indeed the very essence of mission itself. Since Vatican II, dialogue with other religions has been promoted widely as one aspect of the church's mission (RM 58). Our specific commitment to this dialogue is re- flected in our constitutions (c. 114) and the Statement of the 1988 General Chapter. However, already in the Vati- can II documents, the term “dialogue,” in all its richness, is used in a wider meaning to describe our proper atti- tude toward and relationship with all people. Dialogue is an attitude of “solidarity, respect, and love” (Gaudium et Verbum SVD 47:4 (2006)Prophetic Dialogue as Life and Mission 329 Spes [GS] 3) that is to permeate all of our activities. (DWI, 53) ‘The Chapter also makes clear that “prophetic dialogue” is not only, or even primarily, an activity of speech. Certainly talking, shar- ing through words, is an essential part of mission, but even before we engage with the other in speech, the Chapter, borrowing from the wisdom of Vatican II, says that prophetic dialogue is an attitude that should permeate all our activities. Furthermore, this attitude not only finds expression in words, but also in the way we lead our lives, through the “dialogue of life, dialogue of common action for justice and peace, and the dialogue of religious experience” (IDW1, 54). Finally, the Chapter wanted to make it clear that dialogue does not mean merely openness to the views and beliefs of the other, but that it indicates an honest, frank, even bold sharing of our own be- liefs with others: “We witness to God's love by sharing our own con- victions boldly and honestly, especially where that love has been ob- soured by prejudice, violence, and hate. It is clear that we do not dia- logue from a neutral position, but out of our own faith” (IDW1, 54). Initially, it was to emphasize this aspect of speaking from conviction that the word “prophetic” was chosen to modify dialogue, although sharing from a position of faith and conviction has always been ex- plicitly understood as an essential aspect of dialogue, a point that I will return to below. In this way the Chapter anticipated some of the problems that the members have had in understanding the meaning of prophetic dia- logue as the new way that we express our mission as SVD. Prophetic dialogue does not mean that we must abandon our present aposto- lates and take on something completely new, nor, certainly, does it mean that we are to engage only in interreligious dialogue as our way of doing mission. The fourfold prophetic dialogue — dialogue with people who have no faith community and with faith-seekers, with people who are poor and marginalized, with people of different cul- tures, with people of different religious traditions and secular ideolo- gies — was meant to express the full range of activities that SVDs are engaged in throughout the world, and to offer a new way of looking at these activities — a sharing of faith and conviction done in an attitude of solidarity, respect, and love — as a way of renewing our commit- ment to mission and answering the specific needs of the day. But perhaps for many a more fundamental question remains: why was dialogue chosen as “the deepest and best understanding” of mission today? Verbum SVD 47:4 (2006)330 Robert Kisala, SVD 2, Mission as Dialogue ‘Three reasons can be given for the choice of dialogue to express mission at the threshold of the twenty-first century. The first has to do with the acceptance and use of the term within the church at large, the second is a theological reason having to do with an under- standing of mission that was seen increasingly as important at that time, and the third with the situation of the world at the end of the second millennium. 2.1 Dialogue in Post-Vatican IT Church Documents Dialogue has been a key concept in the church since Vatican II. However, in post-conciliar documents it is used in the two senses mentioned above: the more limited sense of interreligious dialogue, as well as the broader sense of dialogue with all humanity out of an attitude of “solidarity, respect, and love.” At the council, the church called for “dialogue and collaboration with the followers of other reli- gions” (NA 2) as well as an engagement with all of humanity “in con- versation about...various problems” (GS 3). In speaking of mission, often the more limited sense of dialogue with believers of other faiths is highlighted, and dialogue is offered as “part of the Church's evangelizing mission” (RM 58). Indeed, it was with this more limited understanding of dialogue that the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue and the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples issued a joint document on Dialogue and Proclamation (1991) to explore the relationship between these two “component elements and authentic forms of the one evangelizing mission of the Church” (DP 2). However, the broader understanding of dialogue as an attitude of openness and respect that permeates all activity of the church in its relationship with all people has not been absent. This understanding of dialogue has been especially important for the churches of Asia, as expressed in the documents of the Federation of Asian Bishops’ Con- ferences. Already at its First Plenary Assembly held in Taipei in 1974 the FABC declared: ‘The local church is a church incarnate in a people, a church indigenous and inculturated. And this means con- cretely a church in continuous, humble and loving dia- logue with the living traditions, the cultures, the reli- gions — in brief, with all the life-realities of the people in whose midst it has sunk its roots deeply and whose his- tory and life it gladly makes its own. (FABC1, 12) Verbum SVD 47:4 (2006)Prophetic Dialogue as Life and Mission 331 It was this document that led to the formulation of the “three-fold dialogue”: dialogue with the people, especially the poor, dialogue with the cultures, and dialogue with the religions of Asia. While characteristic of the documents of the FABC, this wider un- derstanding of dialogue has not been absent from other church docu- ments, although it has been overshadowed by the effort to describe the relationship of proclamation, or mission, with dialogue in its nar- rower sense as interreligious dialogue. One interesting example of the continuing presence of dialogue in its wider meaning comes from another document of the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dia- logue, The Attitude of the Church towards the Followers of Other Re- ligions, issued in 1984. While the document itself is primarily con- cerned with dialogue in its narrow sense and its relationship with mission, in one passage it speaks of dialogue in its broader sense, and equates this meaning of dialogue with the whole of mission: Before all else, dialogue is a manner of acting, an atti- tude and a spirit which guides one’s conduct. It implies concern, respect, and hospitality towards the other. It leaves room for the other person's identity, his modes of expression, and his values. Dialogue is thus the norm and necessary manner of every form of Christian mission, as well as of every aspect of it, whether one speaks of simple presence and witness, service, or direct proclama- tion. Any sense of mission not permeated by such a dia- logical spirit would go against the demands of true hu- manity and against the teachings of the Gospel. (DM 29, italics added) Dialogue has also played a major role in the reflection of mission- ary institutes on mission in the post-conciliar period, but again it has mainly been understood in the narrow sense of interreligious dia- logue. For example, the SEDOS Research Seminar on the Future of Mission, a gathering of more than one hundred persons engaged in mission or mission research held in Rome in 1981, identified four main activities for mission at the end of the twentieth century: proc- lamation, dialogue, inculturation, and liberation of the poor. Al- though proclamation and dialogue are seen as separate activities here, there is an awareness that the two are deeply related, for while proclamation is described as witness by word, action, and the silent presence of a life lived faithful to the Gospel, “at the same time it is a listening to life, discovering the presence of God's Word and Spirit among a people” (Mission in Dialogue, p. 635). On the other hand, while “dialogue involves the humble discernment of the Word of God in other persons, in the institutionalized forms of other faiths, in Verbum SVD 47:4 (2006)332 Robert Kisala, SVD various ideologies and in secular realities,” the research seminar also concludes that “dialogue is a genuine form of Christian witness” (ibid., p. 636, italics in original). Reflection in church documents and by the missionary institutes in the post-conciliar period, therefore, offer one source for the 15' General Chapter's choice of dialogue as “the deepest and best under- standing” of all mission today. There is, however, another, more pro- found, reason for the Chapter's choice, related to recent developments in the theology of mission. 2.2 Missio Dei and Dialogue Another key concept of the 15" General Chapter’s reflection on mission at the threshold of the twenty-first century was Missio Dei, that mission is fundamentally God's work: “The starting point of such renewal must always be the conviction that mission is first of all the work of God (Redemptoris Missio [RM] 24) and that our calling is but a call to share in the mission of the Triune God” (IDW1, 34). Missio Dei, as a modern missiological concept, can apparently be traced back to the work of Karl Barth in the 1930's (Constants in Context, p. 290). The idea that mission is fundamentally the work of God can be found in the theology of mission adopted by Vatican II in the document Ad Gentes: “Missionary activity is nothing else and nothing less than an epiphany, or a manifesting of God’s decree, and its fulfillment in the world and in world history, in the course of which God, by means of mission, manifestly works out the history of salvation” (AG 9). However, the idea did not gain prominence in mis- siological thinking until the 1990s, perhaps because of a certain pas- sivity with which it became associated in some circles, that is, if mis- sion is God's work then perhaps it is best left. to God, without our interference. In the 1990s, however, it was increasingly seen as an important expression of mission spirituality, that those involved in mission must be “conformed to the mission and ministry of Jesus” (ibid., p. 292), or that it “points to a new spirituality in the face of what seems an overwhelming challenge: our task is to cooperate with God's presence in the world, not to go it alone” (ibid., p. 293). Missio Dei has a number of important implications that were high- lighted by the Chapter. First, it is a call to cooperation, not only within the church, but also ecumenically and interreligiously: “Be- cause mission is the work of the Triune God, and the Spirit blows where it wills, the Church carries out its service to the Kingdom in collaboration with other faith communities and all people of good will” (DW1, 44). Second, it gives incentive to define our own specific Verbum SVD 47:4 (2006)Prophetic Dialogue as Life and Mission 333, way of participating in God's mission: “We are not the only ones called [to participate in God’s mission,] indeed all members of the Church share in this common vocation. But there are different ways in which the Church lives out her call to mission, So we turn to the Spirit to discern our own specific contribution” (IDW1, 47). Finally, and most importantly for the purpose of this article, it provides us with the most appropriate means of participating in mission: through prophetic dialogue, for God’s mission is itself characterized by God's dialogue with humanity: “The Word of God is communication, self- expression and saving event (Isa 55:10-11)” (IDW1, 35). God's dia- logue with humanity can be traced back to the very beginning of the world: “Creation itself is the beginning of the history of God's self- communication and saving action” (IDW1, 35). The dialogue contin- ues through the life and work of the Son and Spirit, and it is the Spirit who vivifies the Church’s mission and our own mission: “As with Jesus, so with the church: the Spirit is the dynamic principle, the inner life, of mission” (IDW1, 42). And so the Chapter identifies mission with prophetic dialogue, because dialogue is what fundamen- tally characterizes the Missio Dei. ‘The 16% General Chapter deepened the identification of God's mission with dialogue by identifying dialogue as not only characteris- tie of God’s relationship with humanity, but as characteristic of the Triune God himself: “It is from the internal loving dialogue of the Triune God that this mission emerges, a dialogue of love and forgive- ness with all humanity” (DW6, 6). The document on The Attitude of the Church towards the Followers of Other Religions, mentioned ear- lier, foreshadows this understanding that the call to dialogue comes from the identity of the Triune God himself: “The church, however, feels itself called to dialogue principally because of its faith. In the ‘Trinitarian mystery, Christian revelation allows us to glimpse in God a life of communion and interchange” (22). 2.3 The Context of Mission in the Twenty-First Century and Dialogue Finally, it is the situation of the world today that led the Chapter to choose dialogue as “the deepest and best understanding” of mission today. The 2000 Chapter document begins with a chapter devoted to an analysis of the context of mission at the threshold of the new mil- lennium, Globalization has led to “the marginalization and exclusion of large groups of people” (IDW1, 11); urbanization has “uprooted [especially the youth] from traditional values and patterns of life” (IDW1, 12); the search for better living conditions, as well as political, ethnic and religious conflicts have “uprooted millions from their fami- Verbum SVD 47:4 (2006)334 Robert Kisala, SVD lies and homeland” (IDW1, 13); the quest for liberation, while enjoy- ing some successes, has also led many to “a certain sense of frustra- tion and impotence” (IDW1, 14). Such a situation calls for a renewed commitment to witness to the “universal inclusiveness and openness to diversity” of the Reign of God (IDW1, 48), a witness that calls for the attitude of solidarity, respect, and love that has been identified with prophetic dialogue. ‘The 2006 Chapter, while reaffirming the reading of the “signs of the times” given by the previous Chapter, is even more urgent in as- serting that the state of the world today calls for mission as prophetic dialogue: Subsequent developments have largely confirmed our reading of the major trends — globalization, urbanization and migration all seem to be accelerating. The 2000 Chapter went on to note that one important consequence of this rapid change is that religious fundamentalism and pronounced secularism are growing side by side in many parts of the world (22). However, we also see other emerging trends — an increasing polarity in the world since the terrorist attacks of September 2001, the contin- ued problem of refugees, the great divide between the rich and the poor, a greater tendency towards militariza- tion in many states, and an exclusionary attitude to- wards those suffering from HIV/AIDS. Where the end of the Cold War was marked by the tearing down of walls, we are in a new era of wall-building. Both the warnings of scientists and destructive climatic events have re- minded us of the increasingly serious environmental cri- sis and of the vulnerability of humanity to it. As SVD re- ligious missionaries committed to prophetic dialogue, how have we responded to these situations? The world needs to be both challenged and to be given hope. We are called to respond to these and other similar needs through prophetic witness and dialogue, to speak in our day with the boldness of those who have been with Jesus (Acts 4:18). (DW6, 1) The 2000 Chapter was then not completely original in proposing dialogue as the paradigm for mission at the threshold of the twenty- first century. As we have seen above, there were at least hints of such an understanding in some church documents, especially the docu- ments of the FABC. However, the Chapter was original in adding the adjective “prophetic.” This, of course, has been controversial within the congregation. Let us turn now to a consideration of the contribu- Verbum SVD 47:4 (2006)Prophetic Dialogue as Life and Mission 335 tion that this new term may add to our own, and the wider church's, understanding of mission. 3. Prophetic Dialogue ‘As noted above, the term “prophetic dialogue” was born on the floor of the 15% General Assembly, as an effort to answer the argu- ment that dialogue was not sufficient to express the full meaning of mission, especially mission as challenge to unjust and sinful situa- tions, Within the Chapter statement, the prophetic aspect of dialogue was singled out as emphasizing that we dialogue from a position of faith and conviction, something that was always understood in the post-Vatican II church’s understanding of dialogue, but because of the popular usage of the term dialogue perhaps this aspect of speak- ing from faith needed to be brought out more clearly. However, calling attention to this sharing of convictions through the use of the word “prophetic,” the chapter opened itself to the charge that it was speaking in contradictions. In discussions since the Chapter in local communities, provinces, zonal assemblies, as well as the 16% General Chapter of 2006, “prophetic” and “dialogue” were often seen as mutually contradictory terms. The 2006 Chapter ad- dressed itself to this issue in the following way: The term “Prophetic Dialogue,” at first glance, can seem self-contradictory. There is clearly tension between the two elements. This tension, however, can help overcome a too-limited understanding of both prophecy and dia- logue: we might think that dialogue is only a sharing of ideas with others with no clear commitment to our own faith; we might also associate prophecy only with denun- ciation. All parties to a sincere dialogue must honestly put forward their own views and concerns. In Jesus many recognized a prophetic figure who, like prophets of old, proclaimed God's word. But what captures our atten- tion is that he exercised his prophetic ministry in con- stant dialogue with those he encountered. Dialogue is rooted in mutuality and so is the prophetic aspect of it. We do not enter into dialogue arrogantly presenting our- selves as the only prophets. Instead, we give witness to our partners, they give witness to us, and the Spirit calls all of us to “acknowledge our own sinfulness and to en- gage in constant conversion... Together with our dialogue partners we hope to hear the voice of the Spirit of God Verbum SVD 47:4 (2006)336 Robert Kisala, SVD calling us forward, and in this way our dialogue can be called prophetic...” (IDW6, 7) ‘The balancing of the two terms in this way is one possible inter- pretation of the intent of the 2000 Chapter, and, as the 2006 Chapter points out, the tension that some have identified can lead to new un- derstandings of both prophecy and dialogue. I would like to propose here, however, that there is perhaps another way to approach the problem, a way that can contribute to the ongoing discussion within the church regarding the relationship of mission to dialogue. ‘As we saw above, when post-conciliar documents talk of mission and dialogue, or proclamation and dialogue, they are often referring to dialogue in the narrow sense of interreligious dialogue, and this is seen as one aspect of mission, alongside proclamation. The 2000 Chapter, however, chose the broader meaning of dialogue as an atti- tude of solidarity, respect and love that is to permeate all of our ac- tivities to express the whole of mission activity, and emphasized its prophetic aspect, an aspect that I think can be identified with what church documents normally call proclamation. In other words, I think we can say that the 2000 Chapter combined proclamation and dia- logue in order to express the whole of missionary activity. Proclama- tion and dialogue are not parallel but separate activities of mission, they are more profitably seen as a single act of mission. In arguing for this interpretation of “prophetic dialogue” I take a hint from the work of Theo Sundermeier, professor of Mission and History of Reli- gions at the University of Heidelberg. In the entry on “theology of mission” in the Dictionary of Mission (Miller et al., eds., 1998), Theo Sundermeier addresses the issue of the relationship of proclamation, or witness, and dialogue. In the section on “mission and dialogue,” he argues that there are four ways of describing the relationship: that dialogue precedes witness, and is a means to get to know the other so that the witness can be more effective; that dialogue broadens witness and serves to enrich one’s own faith, that is, we discover previously unnoticed aspects of our own faith through dialogue with those of other faiths; that dialogue and witness proceed on parallel lines but do not intersect, that one or the other is used in the different situations of mission; or that dia- logue and witness are closely interwoven and witness is seen as an integral part of dialogue. Sundermeier believes that it is the last un- derstanding — which I believe corresponds to what the 15 and 16t% General Chapters are proposing with the term “prophetic dialogue” — that is potentially the most fruitful: The possibility of mutual testimony is the indication of real dialogue. The truth, as the partners in dialogue rec- Verbum SVD 47:4 (2006)Prophetic Dialogue as Life and Mission 337 ognize it, may not be silenced, On the contrary, dialogue presupposes it, because it is only on this basis that new truth can be found. This concept of dialogue proceeds from the presupposition that finding the truth is not yet finished, even when believers, in spite of their vulnerabil- ity, are sure of their God’s necessity for salvation. The Spirit, however, will lead one into all truth (Jn 16:18). (Dictionary of Mission, p. 447) Furthermore, the juxtaposition of the two terms in “prophetic dia- logue” can offer us new insights into the meaning of dialogue, and its connection with mission. Superior General Fr. Antonio Pernia's clos- ing homily at the 16" General Chapter, reproduced in the Aug-Sept 2006 edition of the Arnoldus Nota, offers one example of such creative analysis. Fr. Pernia points out that the two things characteristic of the Old Testament prophets were that they were rooted in God’s word and that they stood on the side of the poor and oppressed. This General Chapter and the last one added the word “prophetic” to dialogue. To me, it is a happy addition. For, it underlines the need to root our dialogue both in our daily listening to God's Word and our enduring sol darity with the poor. God’s Word and the world’s poor — these are the two indispensable pillars of our vocation as Divine Word Missionaries. Our dialogue becomes pro- phetic, if it is built on our rootedness in God’s Word and our commitment to the world’s poor. 4, Living Prophetic Dialogue “Living prophetic dialogue,” the theme chosen for the 16" General Chapter was meant to deepen our experience and reflection on Pro- phetic Dialogue by asking what implications it has for our life to- gether. While this might be interpreted as a movement inward, after the outward looking reflection on mission today that characterized the 15! General Chapter, I would instead argue that the work of the two Chapters was intimately connected, not only by the common theme of “prophetic dialogue,” but also with their common concern for our missionary activity as such. The words from the Prologue of the SVD Constitutions, “His life is our life, his mission our mission,” were used at the Chapter, and in the Chapter statement (IDW6, 10, 11, 107) as a handy way to describe the work of the two Chapters: the 15% General Chapter was concerned with “mission,” and the 16 General Chapter with “our life,” in particular our life together as a religious missionary congregation. However, the statement from the Verbum SVD 47:4 (2006)338 Robert Kisala, SVD prologue of the constitutions should be seen as an integral whole: our life and mission both flow from the Divine Word, and they cannot be separated. The idea that our life is intrinsic to our mission is con- tained in the idea of prophetic dialogue, as seen above in the discus- sion on the primacy of the dialogue of life; the witness of our life to- gether in multicultural religious missionary communities is itself a means of engaging in prophetic dialogue. ‘The idea that the life of the missionary, or of the missionary com- munity, is itself intrinsic to mission is also an emerging theme in recent missiological research. As mentioned previously, one of the reasons that Missio Dei began to attract attention in the 1990s was its connection with mission spirituality. Robert Schreiter makes men- tion of mission spirituality as one of the themes of the SEDOS Mis- sion Congress convened in Rome in 2000, a follow-up to the research seminar held two decades before. The missionary’s relationship with God is taking a cen- tral place in discussion of mission in ways it has not in the recent past. (Mission in the Third Millennium, p. 156) ‘As missionaries move into the new millennium, it is clear that the issue of spirituality has a high priority... This may have to do with another perspective on mission that is emerging, namely, mission as first and foremost the work of God... The rediscovery of the contemplative di- mension of missionary spirituality appears to be one of the emerging elements in mission in the third millen- nium. Why that is the case at this time may have some- thing to do with the overwhelming challenges facing mis- sionaries because of conflict, the need for reconciliation, and the sense of helplessness in the face of the forces of globalization. It may arise too with the experience of burnout, or of the loss of religious focus in struggles for liberation. Certainly any missionary activity having a fo- cus on dialogue will be attentive to the interior dimen- sion that must inform and direct genuine dialogue. (Ibid., pp. 159-160) “Communion,” the theme of the 14‘ General Chapter in 1994, re- emerged in the 15% General Chapter in an emphasis on how our communities, how our life together, is itself an essential part of our mission. The Chapter statement reflects this awareness of the iden- tity of community life and mission in references to the need for com- munity discernment (7); the witness provided by our communities to the universal inclusiveness and openness to diversity of the Reign of Verbum SVD 47:4 (2006)Prophetic Dialogue as Life and Mission 339 God (49, 50); that our call to mission is not only a call to apostolic service, but “is equally a call to build up among ourselves a mission- ary religious community that gives an ever more credible witness to the Reign of God” (61); the challenges to deeper conversion that each of our dialogue partners makes to our communities (57, 61, 65, 69); how the characteristic dimensions are expressed in our communities (78); and, finally, how communities are meant to serve as a “genuine school for dialogue” (102). ‘Thus the call of the 16% General Chapter to reflect on and renew our spirituality, community, leadership, finances and formation in the light of prophetic dialogue should not be seen as a turn away from our concern with mission, but as an integral part of that concern. As the 2006 Chapter statement concludes: Faithful and committed missionary service flows from our living together as brothers in communion with the Triune God. (IDW6, 107) 5. Challenges In conclusion, let me outline four challenges that come out of the work of these two General Chapters on prophetic dialogue. The first challenge is to continue reflecting on and refining our understanding of what is new in “prophetic” dialogue. That would mean to continue to develop the implications of combining witness and dialogue, as the terms are presented in the work of Theo Sun- dermeier and in post-conciliar church documents. One creative at- tempt at this, the closing homily of the Superior General at the 16% General Chapter, has been presented here. What other creative thoughts might be sparked by the tension introduced by the juxtapo- sition of these two terms? This could be an important contribution to the whole church, an issue that I will return to in my last point. The second challenge is to further reflect on prophetic dialogue as a specific means of doing mission. Much has already been accom- plished by the provinces, regions, and local communities in identify- ing their “dialogue partners,” and this has helped to clarify our mis- sionary activities. However, more can be done to renew and strengthen our efforts by means of reflection on how we are to engage in mission as prophetic dialogue. What would it mean to teach a class, or administer a school, as an expression of prophetic dialogue? What would parish ministry as prophetic dialogue mean? What would change in our various ministries when they are approached consciously as an expression of prophetic dialogue? In Dialogue with Verbum SVD 47:4 (2006)340 Robert Kisala, SVD the Word # 2 (IDW2), offering personal testimonies of the expression of prophetic dialogue in the activities of fourteen members, is worth further reflection as individuals and communities try to meet this challenge to renew our activities. ‘The third challenge is the implementation of the reflections of the 16% General Chapter on the renewal of our life together in the light of prophetic dialogue. The specific “steps to renewal” offered in the Chapter document would be a starting point for this task. In addition to the agenda offered by the Chapter, I would add that we need to explore more the contemplative dimension of our spirituality as mis- sionaries, as suggested by Robert Schreiter. The fourth and final challenge is to dialogue with the wider church regarding the efficacy of prophetic dialogue as a paradigm for doing mission today. It is our understanding that prophetic dialogue is “the deepest and best understanding” of all mission today, and that this understanding is based on the inner life of the Triune God as well as God’s own engagement with humanity through dialogue. In the understanding of the 15‘ and 16 General Chapters, Missio Dei, God’s mission, is prophetic dialogue, and so our participation in that mission should also be by means of prophetic dialogue. Stephen Bevans and Roger Schroeder have done some groundbreaking work in answer to this challenge by introducing mission as prophetic dia- logue in their recent book, Constants in Context: A Theology of Mis- sion for Today. There they propose prophetic dialogue as a synthesis of three strains prominent in mission theology in the latter part of the twentieth century: mission as participation in the life and mis- sion of the Trinity, or Missio Dei; mission as continuation of Jesus’ mission to witness to the Reign of God; and mission as proclamation of Christ as the universal savior (Constants in Context, p. 348). In their conclusion they argue that prophetic dialogue is the best para- digm for mission for the whole church today, and I will also conclude with their words: As the church witnesses and proclaims, prays and cele- brates, works for justice for humanity and for creation, is open to people of other faith perspectives and to the con- text in which people live, is available as God's instru- ment of reconciliation — in other words, as the church lives out its radical missionary nature — our conviction is that prophetic dialogue best names the service to which God is calling it in these first years of a new century and a new millennium. Prophetic dialogue, in other words, is the phrase that best summarizes a theology of mission for today. (395) Verbum SVD 47:4 (2006)Prophetic Dialogue as Life and Mission 341 DocuMENTS AND REFERENCES Church Documents AG Decree on the Missionary Activity of the Church (Ad Gentes) (1965) LG Pastoral Constitution on the Church in the Modern World (Gaudium et Spes) (1965) RM Encyclical Letter on the Permanent Validity of the Church’s Mission- ary Mandate (Redemptoris Missio) (1990) DM The Attitude of the Church towards the Followers of Other Religions (Dialogue and Mission] (Pontifical Council for Inter-Religious Dia- logue, 1984) DP Dialogue and Proclamation: Reflections and Orientations on Interre- ligious Dialogue and the Proclamation of the Gospel of Jesus Christ (Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples/Pontifical Council for Inter-Religious Dialogue, 1991) FABC1 Statement and Recommendation of the First Plenary Assembly of the Federation of Asian Bishops’ Conferences, Taipei 1974 (ef. For All the Peoples of Asia, Manila: Claretian Publications, 1992, Vol. 1, pp. 11-25) SVD Documents IDW1 In Dialogue with the Word # 1: Documents of the XV General Chapter SVD 2000 IDW2 In Dialogue with the Word # 2: Prophetic Dialogue (2001) IDW6 In Dialogue with the Word # 6: Documents of the XVI General Chapter SVD 2006 References Bevans, Stephen B. and Roger P. Schroeder 2004 Constants in Context: A Theology of Mission for Today, Maryknoll: Orbis Books Burrows, William R., ed. 1993 Redemption and Dialogue: Reading “Redemptoris Missio” and “Dialogue and Proclamation,” Maryknoll: Orbis Books Motte, Mary and Joseph R. Lang, eds. 1982 Mission in Dialogue: The SEDOS Research Seminar on the Future of Mission, Maryknoll: Orbis Books Miller, Karl, et al., eds. 1998 Dictionary of Mission. Theology, History, Perspectives, Maryknoll: Orbis Books Schreiter, Robert J., ed. 2001 Mission in the Third Millennium, Maryknoll: Orbis Books Verbum SVD 47:4 (2006)342 Robert Kisala, SVD ABSTRACTS Der ,prophetische Dialog" ist ein einzigartiger Beitrag des 15. und 16. Generalkapitels der Steyler Missionare zum Missionsverstaindnis in der heu- tigen Kirche. Dieser Artikel untersucht die Entstehung des Begriffs wihrend des 15. Generalkapitels und zeigt seine Bedeutung fir die heutige Mission auf, Der prophetische Dialog bietet im Besonderen ein Verstandnis von Mis- sion, das Zeugnis baw. Verkiindigung mit Dialog verbindet. Da diber die Be- zichung dieser beiden Begriffe in der nachkonziliaren Theologie oft nachge- dacht wurde, handelt es sich bei prophetischem Dialog um eine wichtige Entwicklung nicht nur fir die SVD, sondern fiir die ganze Kirche. E] “dilogo profético” es una contribucién singular de los Capitulos Gene- rales 15 y 16 de los misioneros Verbitas a la comprensién de misién en la Iglesia actual. El articulo examina el origen del concepto durante el XV Capi- tulo General y demuestra su importancia para la misién hoy. El didlogo pro- fético ofrece una comprensién de misién que une el testimonio o anuncio al didlogo. Como se ha reflexionado a menudo sobre la relacién de ambos con- ceptos en la teologia posconciliar, el didlogo profético constituye entonces un desarrollo importante no solo para la SVD, sino para la Iglesia entera. Verbum SVD 47:4 (2006)