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God's loving grace has gathered us from various peoples and continents into a religious
missionary community dedicated to the Divine Word and named after him the Society of the Divine Word.
(The Constitutions of the Society of the Divine Word)
Our charism can be defined in
5 main points:
The following are the extracts from
The Constitutions of
the Society of the Divine Word
Communion with the Divine Word
We see our special dedication to the Divine Word and his mission expressed in our name. His life is our
life, his mission is our mission.
As members of the Society of Divine Word we consider it our duty to proclaim the word of God to all
to bring new communities into being within the people of God, to foster their growth and to promote among them as
well as with the whole church.
God's Word is the light of the world that enlightens everyone. As missionaries of the Divine Word, we must
be ready to recognize the rays of this light in the religious traditions and convictions of peoples. In sincere
dialogue we bear witness to the fact that the true light has become man and has come into the world in
Jesus of Nazareth.
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Missionary work
We work first and foremost where the gospel has not been preached at all or only insufficiently and where
the local church is not viable on its own. Other tasks must be oriented towards these primary aims.
In the choice of our missionary activity priority will be given to those situations where the need is perceived
to be particularly acute, where others are not available for the task of evangelization and where people show
greater openness to the word of God.
Wherever the church sends us, we are to proclaim the gospel so that all peoples may walk in the way of
salvation, freed from the darkness of sin by the light of the Word and the Spirit of grace. Missionary work is,
therefore, the end and the aim of our Society. All our activities, diverse though they be, are ultimately
intended to help the church fulfil its missionary task.
Wherever we work, we always keep in mind that we are missionaries: we seek to keep alive the universal church's
awareness of its missionary responsibility, promote and prepare vocations for missionary service and support
the missionary cause of the church both spiritually and materially.
As much as we can, we promote basic communities and apostolic movements (...). We help them especially
in the formation of their leaders.
We consider it our duty to promote justice according to the gospel in solidarity with the poor and oppressed.
We devote much care to the education and formation of truly christian families so that they be open to the real
needs of the church and the world.
(...) We devote ourselves to christian education and formation of youth both in and out of school.
Our presence in an educational institutions aims at making it a place of evangelization (...). We work with
the larger educational community: teachers, students and their families. Our educational institutions are open
to the poor.
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Internationality
A distinguishing feature of our community life is that confreres from different nations live and work together.
This becomes a mutually enriching experience when based on deep respect for one another's nationality and culture.
As a community of [priests and] brothers from different nations and languages, we become a living symbol of
the unity and diversity of the church.
Whoever joins our Society must be ready to go wherever the superior sends him in order to fulfil our missionary
mandate even if this entail leaving his own country, mother tongue and cultural
milieu. Such readiness is an
essential characteristic of our missionary vocation. Confreres always have the right to volunteer for
missionary service in another country or culture.
No matter where he lives, every confrere is a member of a definite community, be it a house or district. In
either case he should contribute to building up his community.
Because of the character of our Society, confreres are appointed to various provinces according to the
principle of relative internationality.
To carry out our mission in a worthy and effective manner, we make every effort to master the language of the
people and become familiar with their history and culture.
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Evangelical counsels
We follow the Lord on the path of the evangelical counsels and bind ourselves to his person and his service
by the vows of consecrated chastity, evangelical poverty and apostolic obedience. In this way we join together
to form a missionary religious community. We propose to make the goodness and kindness of God visible in our
life and service.
We live celibate life in community. This means that we strive to form a true brotherhood where every confrere can
feel at home, form deep friendships and find fulfilment in his work and in the
developments of his talents.
Such a community makes us more mature and natural in our dealings with people.
Our poverty has a missionary character. It call us to generously place time, talents, work and community goods
at the service of our missionary tasks. Only to the extent that earthly goods serve the kingdom of God can
their use in the Society be justified.
Our obedience serves to unite us and coordinates our efforts, focussing them on the Society's missionary goals.
To attain these we are ready to go anywhere the Society sends us. We work at our
assignments conscientiously
but are prepared to hand them over to other, even after years of service.
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Openness to the signs of the times
(...) We try to insert ourselves into the actual situation of those among whom we work. With open mind and deep
respect for the religious traditions of peoples, we seek dialogue with all and present the good news of God's
love to them. We show the special preference for the poor and oppressed.
Readiness for dialogue encourages us to appreciate the spiritual riches found in the expressions of popular
religions both in and outside of Christianity.
The phenomenon of atheism confronts us today in diverse forms throughout the
world. Therefore we must be ready and able to enter into serious debate with the advocates of purely humanist
or atheist convictions. Our institutes and universities should be involved in this discussion on the basis
of solid scientific knowledge and philosophical principles.
(...) We cooperate with those of other religions and convictions in facing contemporary problems.
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