The General Chapters of the Society of the Divine Word (1884-2012)

“In this book, Fr. Andrzej Miotk, SVD employs another approach to historiography, namely, looking at the history of a religious-missionary congregation through the lens of its general chapters over the years. It is a novel approach to writing the history of a religious congregation, one that can reveal features of the congregation that would otherwise remain hidden or only insufficiently given attention to. […] He examines all 17 general chapters of the SVD in its 140 years of existence, and what emerges is an interesting story of a religious-missionary congregation struggling to remain faithful to its original charism but also seeking to be responsive to the challenges of the times. And within that overarching story, we hear about different kinds of superiors and different styles of leadership, saintly and dysfunctional religious, heroic and failed missionaries, debates and disagreements, tried and old ways and bold and new approaches, traditional mentalities and new paradigm shifts, divergences and convergences, interculturality and unity in diversity. It is a tale of the unfailing constancy of God’s grace in the midst of human weakness, frailty and limitations.”

Buchangaben: Andrzej Miotk SVD, The General Chapters of the Society of the Divine Word (1884-2012). The Historical Journey in the Footsteps of the Founder: The Response to the Challenges of the Times (Studia Instituti Missiologici SVD # 105), Siegburg: Franz Schmitt Verlag 2016, 314 S. 24,90 €. ISBN 978-3-87710-544-3