The Seventh Plenary Assembly of the FABC is calling us to have a closer look at traces of a renewed Church in Asia and to search, as disciples of Jesus called to a Mission of Love and Service, for relevant responses for the new century.
    The past three decades saw the emergence in Asia of a grassroots movement called "Basic Ecclesial Communities/Small Christian Communities." BECs/SCCs have been hailed as a new hope for renewal in church and society -- "the most fundamental ecclesial realities," as stated by the Asian bishops.[1]Pope John Paul 11 has called them "signs of vitality within the church, an instrument of formation and evangelization, and a solid starting point for a new society based on a civilization of love," [2]since they give possibility for all the baptized to participate in church life and mission in their own areas.
    A survey about BECs/SCCs in different parts of Asia conducted by the AsIPA Desk of the FABC Office of Laity bears witness to the vision of the "New Way of Being Church" that was at the heart of the Final Statement of the Plenary Assembly of the Fifth Plenary Assembly in Bandung. [3]
    Asked about the changes in the life of the parish because of efforts to have BECs/SCCs, a lot of positive remarks were made. Let us listen to some voices:

"People have started to use the Bible" (Sri Lanka).
"They listen to the Word of God more carefully" (Myanmar).
"The Word of God has become dear and meaningful to them; they have started to pray spontaneously" (India).
"Participation of the people in liturgy and in other church matters have increased" (Bangladesh).
"They take more responsibility as members of the parish" (Indonesia).
"There is more concern for each other as members of the same community, especially in times of sorrow, e.g. death" (Malaysia).
"There is unity, cooperation and concern for others" (Philippines).
"The SCCs have common tasks in the neighborhood, e.g., repair houses, clean roads, buildings" (Sri Lanka).
"Some BECs are involved in interreligious and interracial movements. Their members are more approachable and willing to share and to open their houses" (Malaysia).

    FABC VI's Final Statement called for a "disciple-community," that "is living by the Spirit of the Risen Lord and by the demands of the Kingdom of Life[4]and is a "liberating and recreating communion among neighbors." [5]
    Many of the BECs/SCCs in Asia show the characteristics of a true "disciple-community" in as far as:

a. They come together as a group of neighbors who have the same concerns for daily life and look for solutions in the light of faith.
b. They make Gospel Sharing the basis of their regular meetings.
c. They act together out of faith, and are therefore a concrete expression of the Church.
d. They are linked to a parish and take part in the worship and ministries.[6]

    Although there is a variety of BECs/SCCs throughout Asia, there are common areas of concern. Here are some statements of people involved in BECs/SCCs:

1. Different Ways of Starting BECs/SCCs

    The question of how to maintain BECs/SCCs is closely related to the question how BECs/SCCs came into being. [9] There are many ways of starting SCCs, e.g., developing existing prayer groups, or action committees. But experience has shown, however, that certain ways will necessarily lead to failure. Two main approaches have to be distinguished:

i.  "Expert" Start
ii. "Community" Start

2. How to Involve the Whole Community: The Importance of Awareness Programs

    If a three-legged chair is to be made lower or higher, one cannot just alter one or two legs but has to change all three. If a congregation wants to become a sharing and caring community, then the three parts have to undergo a change:

• The full-time leaders (priests, deacons, catechists, etc.)
• The many emergent leaders, and
• The whole congregation

3. Developing Shared Ministry

    A difficulty for many parishes and BECs/SCCs is how to get the right leaders for SCCs, or how to replace them. This question is closely related to the awareness of a shared ministry in the Church. The awareness that all members of the Christian community are called to share with others in prayer, service and community building cannot be forced on them. It has to emerge from within the community as the result of a participatory process.
    There are different ways of getting leaders, some of them foster this process, some of them don't.

1) "Appointed leaders" start SCCs.
2) "Volunteer leaders" start SCCs.
3) "Elected leaders" start SCCs.

    The AsIPA process proposes a fourth way of getting leaders for SCCs: "The emerging, rotating team leadership." [11]

Explanation: How Leaders Emerged in the SCC "St. Gabriel."

    The whole community is aware of their responsibility to do Gospel-sharing and visit newcomers. Out of this common awareness of shared leadership, new leaders emerge and act on behalf of the small community. Although these leaders are elected, they "emerge" from an atmosphere in which all feel: "It is our common business!"
    The small community knows exactly for what task particular leaders are needed. This makes it easier to let the right people emerge. There are at least two leaders chosen for each task in the community, to avoid overburdening one person, and to make mutual correction easier. Other advantages of teamwork are: it's easier to replace somebody; young people can join more easily; shy characters will find it easier to come forward; and the burden of training will be shared.
    A rotating leadership animates all the members of the SCC to take an active part in the tasks of the community. It helps to develop the gifts and talents of every member. "Old" leaders can share their wisdom with the new leaders. People undertake more willingly a certain responsibility if the time of their commitment is limited. The SCC coordinator (or facilitator), for example, will usually change after two years. Concrete tasks, like greeting newcomers in the neighborhood, could even rotate after six months.
    To have an "emerging, rotating team leadership" calls for a constant ongoing training in the BECs/SCCs. A participatory process is suggested to find out what kind of formation is needed for various leaders of BECs/ SCCs.
    The AsIPA Desk of the FABC Office of Laity and the Lumko Institute offer a whole series of skills-training and formation programs for leaders of BECs/SCCs. Most of them are based on the principle of "learning by doing."
    Pastoral planning in every parish should include in its parish calendar terms for skills-training and the spiritual formation of leaders during a particular period every year. It is the task of the parish priest and his parish team to invite the leaders to weekend retreats and formation programs.
    An annual "Blessing of Community Leaders" will keep the interest in BECs/SCCs alive, and give public recognition to their contribution to the life of the parish.
    The annual celebration for the parish leaders should be celebrated on a special Sunday of the year where all leaders of the parish can be thanked, introduced to their responsibilities, or released from them.
    The AsIPA process considers helping the SCCs sustain and maintain themselves to be a very important principle for "maintaining SCCs." [12] To strengthen the self-confidence and conviction of all the members of a SCC, an ongoing formation of all members is indispensable. The AsIPA texts have been written for this purpose. A facilitator of SCCs, without the traditional theological schooling, can use the AsIPA texts in their respective groups after a minimum of training. The texts focus not only on some 11 skills," but try to share with the lay-faithful deeper theological insights about the "New Way of Being Church." This might be the major challenge not only for the members of the SCCs and their leaders, but also for the full-time leaders (bishops, priests, deacons, catechists, etc.), and for the whole congregation, as they are called to a change their attitudes and to evaluate their specific role in the Church.
    In the "New Way of Being Church" the clergy and laity continue to have different roles, but there is "true equality between all with regard to the dignity and to the activity which is in common to all the faithful." [13] There are no classes of the "learned" and the "ignorant." All have some knowledge and experience to share.
    "Maintaining SCCs" depends greatly on whether the parish priest and the parish leaders accept and appreciate this equality, and how they understand the nature and mission of the SCCs. This will influence the way in which the priest and his team will inspire and accompany the SCCs in the parish.
    SCCs are more than prayer and/or action groups. They are the "concrete expression of Church." [14] SCCs, therefore, share in the basic mission of the parish in their particular neighborhood and make it possible to "de-centralize" the tasks of the parish. The members of the SCCs share in the consultative and decision-making process of their parish. Pastoral tasks will no longer be limited to members of existing organizations and committees. Associations and other traditional groups in the parish are challenged by the SCCs to re-think their role within the Christian community.

4. Towards a Guiding Leadership

    In a paper written for a training session for new bishops, Archbishop Joseph Ti Kang writes. [15]

    Some of the difficulties found in SCCs are tensions between the parish priest and the SCCs, or between members of SCCs and their coordinators. Many of them are caused by a dominating leadership style.

    Let us have a look at a parish with this problem: [16]

    The congregation of St. Simon with about one thousand Catholics had already gone through the different stages of building up a community of communities, when the problem arose that some leaders wished to do things alone. Again and again, the community had to counter these attempts. Many people emphasized that they wanted everybody to have a say, and every-body to use their charisms. But others said that they found it good if leaders had special rights and were different from the others.
    One day, somebody stood up in one of these meetings, and said: "Do you not see that this is the main problem of our whole society, not only of the Church? We have officials in the town-offices who want to become our bosses instead of serving us. We have leaders who compete among themselves for power and status instead of working for the common good of the country. And, at the same time, we have the masses of people who just accept the evil and have given up their right to say what they feel. They leave everything to the few at the top. They deplore the domination but they assist it through their passivity. They suffer under the exploitation, but they perpetuate it forever, because they are competing in the very same way among themselves. It is a vicious circle of domination and submission and it will carry on forever, unless somebody finds something that counteracts it.
    Do you not see that it is God himself who is most strongly against this kind of life? Do you not see that it must therefore be the family of God, the Church, who has to make a path towards a new kind of society where there is communal responsibility? What we need is a combination of real community and non-dominating leadership. We want this kind of leadership everywhere: in the town-offices, in the factories, in the political parties, and in the governments of our countries.
    But if we want it in the whole society, we must make a start in the Church. If we cannot manage it in the Church, we cannot make big statements saying that it is God's will in the world. In the Church we are a large group of people. We have to demonstrate in the Church, that it is possible for such a large group to feel belonging to each other, to voice their opinion, and to be jointly responsible. At the same time we must demonstrate that such a large group can have leaders who exercise authority without destroying communal responsibility. If we believe that society needs non-dominating leadership, we must prove in the Church that this is possible. This is our service to the world.
    A Christian community needs leaders who resemble Jesus Christ: Jesus led and served at the same time. He rejected Satan's temptation to power and made himself equal to his disciples.
    One Gospel passage[17] gives us an excellent summary of a good leader according to the ways of Christ:
    Jesus walked with the disciples to Emmaus; listened to their reasons for being sad; helped them discover the message, while retelling the Scriptures and inflaming their hearts; accepted their invitation to stay and share at table; be recognized in the breaking of the bread; and disappeared when not needed.

    According to the Gospel the features of a guiding leadership are:

a good leader helps others how to find out what is wrong with themselves

a good leader offers a vision

a good leader is a non-dominating leader, who is patient and gives the members of the group the feeling, that everyone can contribute to the solution

a good leader is with the people; his role is guiding, facilitating the group response

a good leader builds up people, gives confidence to them a good leader encourages others to do the same

a good leader is an inspiring leader.

5. Ongoing Formation for Facilitators

    A difficulty of BECs/SCCs, sometimes mentioned, is that they are rather a nice prayer group, and show no or very little interest in social actions. This is quite often related to the fact that there was no, or poor, basic formation of new leaders. In most of the cases there was very little ongoing formation.
    The AsIPA modules are prepared in such a way that they lead to action. The basic steps of this awareness program are:

Look at the life-situation

Seek inspiration from the word of God and from Church teachings, and,

Plan a common action to move towards the vision.

Step 1-5: Growing personally and together as a community in the presence of Christ.

Step 6-7: Continuing Christ's mission in this particular neighborhood. [18]

Group Response Method [19] : facing Sunday Gospel's social aspects.
Aims:

To see how daily situations and problems are reflected in the biblical text.

To help the group look beyond their immediate personal spiritual needs.

To make the Gospel a driving force for "self-help" in tackling life issues.

To start from a life-issue.

To share life-experiences in which members of the group are emotionally involved, feeling happy or unhappy about them.

To listen to God's call regarding this experience or event, even if no biblical text can be quoted.

To arrive at common action.

    BECs/SCCs do not live for themselves alone but to become communities that carry out the Kingdom mission of justice and peace in the world. It is not right for Christians to leave "social analysis" to experts only, or to some militant political groups. It was for this reason that different programs have been compiled to empower BECs/SCCs and other groups to get involved in social issues.
    An outstanding tool to move from Gospel sharing to social involvement is the Amos Program.

1. Amos Program : Its Aim and Features

    The Aim of the Amos Program:
    Amos was a prophet of Israel. He was one of the people who herded the cattle and ploughed the field. Inspired by God's Spirit he stood up against the king and the priests of his time. He told them that God wants laws that are just, and religious services which come from pure hearts.
    In the same way, the Amos programs aim at waking up Christian communities, and helping them to do something about the problems that are tormenting them. Too often Christian communities say: "We are powerless; we cannot do anything; we just sit down and wait." The Amos programs help to overcome this mentality. They offer a way of facing social or economic problems, analyzing them in the light of the Gospel and doing something about them.

    The main features of the Amos Program:

The starting point is a "typical" social, economic or political problem, e.g., "When the poor are pushed aside."

There are two "rounds" of analysis in the Amos Program:

First, a somewhat "superficial" analysis, asking the question "WHY?"
Secondly, a deeper analysis, searching for the root causes of a problem.

A problem-solving scheme helps the group to arrive at a concrete action.

"God's point of view" is included through Gospel Sharing and asking the Church documents what they have to say about a certain problem.

2. Example of an Amos Program: "We Need More than Money." [20]

1. Look at Life: The Story of Florence, the Bride
    There was great excitement in the home of Florence. Mr. Lola was dating Florence and there was hope that he wanted to marry her. The girl, however, was not in a hurry to decide.
    Her father was furious. He could not understand his daughter's hesitation. "Look," he said. "Mr. Lola is one of the richest businessmen in town. He knows how to make money and he is not lazy. Even on Sunday morning he works in his office. On Sunday afternoon he looks after the local soccer team. He is a respected man. Do not miss the greatest chance in your life. Who else in town drives such a car as he does? Who else could build such a beautiful house for himself? If you want to be happy, marry him. He will be able to fulfil all your wishes and buy you all you want. What else are you looking for in life?"
    Florence just replied: "Dad, I need more than money." Her father shook his head and left in anger.
    (Read the story twice. Dramatize the conversation between Florence and her father.)

2. Ask the question Why?
     (Buzz sessions in groups of two, 2 to 4 minutes: report back to the whole group after each question.)

• How can you describe the feelings of Florence?
• What kind of happiness did her father have in mind?
• What did Florence say: "I need more than money?"
• What else did she want?"
• Find examples from your own life where you judged and behaved in the way that Florence's father did.

    God is interested in Florence's happiness and in our own happiness. His word can throw light on her situation.

    Let us find deeper reasons why many of us think that the only thing which can make us happy is money.

    The world, people around us, our youth... are confused about real happiness. We Christians have the prophetic task to proclaim the Good News, news which can make people happy.
    How can you, as a community, bring to others a happiness that cannot be bought with money? What can you do to help the youth find the way to those real values which alone can bring happiness?
    Make a plan, even if you can do very little yet. Make use of the following steps to agree on a concrete plan of action:
 
 

    The lay faithful of the Church have demonstrated their desire to participate fully in the life of the Church and its mission in the world. In several occasions and in previous statements, the Asian Bishops have recognized the importance of enabling the whole People of God to become a sign of communion and to live out their faith in daily circumstances.
    The formation of Small Christian Communities and the BECs and their growth will bring to realization the communion and mission so longed for by all. The need for continuous support, training, evaluation and trust cannot be underestimated. The work has just begun.
 
 

    1. What is your diocesan vision that gives light and direction to all the efforts to build BECs/SCCs? How is the vision implemented in all diocesan and parish programs and activities?
    2. What is the present situation of BECs/SCCs in your diocese? What are some of the difficulties they encounter? What are some of the approaches they have employed to expand and maintain the communities?
    3. What are the difficulties you have experienced?
    4. List the advantages and disadvantages of both ways of starting SCCs.
 

1. 'Expert' Start 1) Parish leaders decide: "We should have SCCs!" 2) Parish priest appoints or asks for volunteers too join the "Parish Team."      He trains the team to conduct SCC meetings. 3) Parish Team divides the parish into zones and SCC groupings. 4) Members of the parish Team start and lead SCCs in all the zones.

2. "Community' Start 1) Retreat weekends on "New Way of Being Church" by a small (diocesan) team. 2) Parish Team emerges and is trained to start SCCs. 3) Parish Team and members of committees visit all homes. 4) Parish Team conducts 5 to 8 initial meetings in SCCs, on request. 5) Parish team conducts AP in parish hall and/or during the Sunday liturgy 6) Emerging leaders in SCCs are trained regularly.

 

[1] Asian Colloquium on Ministries, 1977.
[2] Redemptoris Missio, No. 51.
[3] FABC V, Plenary Assembly, "Final Statement," Bandung, 1990.
[4] FABC VI, Plenary Assembly, "Final Statement," Manila, 1995, No. 14.1.
[5] IBID, No. 14.2.
[6] AsIPA TEXTS, B/3.
[8] FABC VII, PLENARY Assembly, Bangkok, 2000
[7] Statement of Bishop Joseph Kingsley Swampillai of Sri Lanka, In ASIA FOCUS, January 16, 1998, p.8.
[9] AsIPA TEXTS, D/6.
[10] Awareness Programs for the Sunday Liturgy: AsIPA TEXTS, D/3,D/4,D/5.
[11] AsIPA TEXTS, B/4, p. 6-12.
[12] AsIPA TEXTS, D/7
[13] Vatican II: LG 32
[14] AsIPA TEXTS, B/2
[15] Joseph, Ti Kang, "The Bishops and the Laity," Vatican, October 2, 1995.
[16] Lobinger, Fritz, Towards Non-Dominating Leadership, No. 10 of Lumko-Series, p. 9.
[17] Mk 16:12; Lk24:13.
[18] AsIPA TEXTS, A/1-A/6.
[19] AsIPA TEXTS, A/7
[20] Hirmer, Oswald, The Pastoral Use of the Bible, Gospel Sharing Methods, No. 20, of Lumko Series, p. 72.
 
 

    My topic has been the main concern of my pastoral experience, and is close to my heart: The Basic Ecclesial Community (BEC) as a Church Model.
    Strangely, the BEC is mentioned explicitly in only two instances in the Instrumentum Laboris of the Special Assembly for Asia of the Synod of bishops for Asia (as "Basic Christian Community"). Still, in both instances the Instrumentum Laboris cites BEC as a positive element, and an Asian aspiration for a genuine sharing and serving disciple-community.
    My task now is relatively simple. It is to treat of the BEC as a Model of the Church for Asia. I wish to develop the topic in three general steps: (a) the Pastoral Situation and Vision in Asia; (b) the Vision of a New Way of Being Church; and (c) Basic Ecclesial Communities.
 
 

    From the very beginning of the Federation of Asian Bishops' Conferences (FABC), three key insights into the pastoral situation have guided pastoral reflection among FABC bishops. The first is the tragic reality that Asia is the vast continent of the poor. Almost three-fourths of the world's poor are in Asia (73% in 1993; South Asia alone has the biggest share of the world's poor at 39%). While Asia's poor may not be the poorest of the poor (for it would seem that these live in Sub-Saharan Africa), still rural poverty is the principal aspect of Asian poverty. On the other hand, mass media would seem to dwell more on the mass migration of rural poor to urban areas, and on the dehumanizing situation in which millions of poor Asians live in hundreds of crowded and crime-ridden city slums.
    Faced with this situation of abysmal poverty the Asian Church envisioned a Church that is on the side of the poor, exercising a preferential love for the poor, and proclaiming a Gospel of integral salvation and liberation from every form of dehumanization, most especially sin. It is a vision of a Church of the Poor.
    A second key insight into the pastoral situation is the fact that Asia is the cradle of the world's ancient religions, including Christianity, Islam, Buddhism, Hinduism, and scores of ancient religious and philosophical traditions. For centuries, even before Christ, some of these religious and philosophical beliefs have shaped and enriched Asian civilizations, and through them Asian peoples have believed in salvation.
    In light of this pastoral reality, the Church in Asia envisions itself as a Church in dialogue with peoples of other faiths and religions, journeying to the common hope of all humankind, which is to satisfy the deepest aspirations, especially spiritual, of the human heart and soul. The Church in Asia has to be a Church of Dialogue.
    The third key insight into the pastoral situation is the fact that Asia is also the home of the greatest variety of rich and ancient cultures, the matrix of great and enduring civilizations. The thought patterns, ways of valuing and relating, ways of living, and all other elements, that make up the cultures of Asia are vastly different from those which brought Christianity into many Asian countries. Although Christianity was born in Asia, in many parts of this continent Christianity is regarded as a "foreign religion." In a few countries, becoming Christian may even raise questions of cultural identity.
    From this insight Asian bishops envisioned the Church to be thoroughly inculturated, so that Christ, his life and message, the Gospel and the Kingdom of God, the Church and its teachings, etc., may be fully understood in terms of the cultures. Through such inculturation, Christ and the Church would truly have an Asian Face.
    The pastoral situation then calls for a triple dialogue: with the poor, with peoples' faiths, and with their cultures.
    The corresponding vision is formidable, but daily it is guiding Asian local churches in their pastoral thrusts and programs.
 
 

    In the dynamic interplay of pastoral situation and pastoral reflection, there has emerged in Asia a vision of a "new way of being Church."
    One will find such a vision described in FABC plenary assemblies, in various FABC institutes and pastoral programs, such as BIRA (Bishops' Institute for Religious Affairs), BILA (Bishops' Institute for the Lay Apostolate), BIMA (Bishops' Institute for Missionary Animation), and BISA (Bishops' Institute for Social Action).
    How would the Asian vision of a new way of being Church be concisely described? To describe it comprehensively within the time available is not possible. But allow me to give a rather rough synthesis of some fundamental components of the vision for the purposes of this symposium:

• a Church of Communion;
• a Church of Dialogue--with the poor, the cultures and faiths of Asia;
• a Servant-Community, serving and bearing humbly the saving and liberating Good News of Jesus;
• a co-pilgrim with peoples of other faiths to the Kingdom of God;
• a communion of participatory faith-communities;
• led by the Spirit of God in an integral spirituality;
• to live out by word and witness their faith in Jesus;
• such a vision is exemplified and concretized in Basic Ecclesial Communities.

The FABC Thrust toward BEC

    In the thinking of FABC bishops the Basic Ecclesial Community (or in some countries, the Basic Human Community) clearly holds a privileged place in their vision of new way of being Church.
    The Third Plenary Assembly of FABC, at Sampran, Bangkok, Thailand, in 1982, reinforced what the First International Mission Congress in Manila (1979) had already indicated. The Plenary Assembly issued a "Syllabus of Concerns" which included the following:

Understanding the BEC

    Why is the Asian Church so keen on building Basic Ecclesial Communities? The reason lies in the very nature of the BEC. At this point we can then ask: "What is the Basic Ecclesial Community?" It is known by different names such as Basic Christian Community, Neighborhood Church, Small Christian Community, Covenant Faith Community. Where Christians live together with peoples of other faiths, they try to build a "Basic Human Community."
    For our purposes, allow me to take the description of my own colleague, Bishop Francisco Claver, S.J., as a working description:

    The BEC is:

(a) any community of believers
(b) who meet regularly
(c) usually under lay leadership7
(d) to express their faith in common worship;
(e) to discern in faith on their life problems and opportunities; and
(f) to act in faith on those same problems and opportunities
(g) in community, as community ("A New Heart and a New Spirit," First Northern Luzon Pastoral Forum - Papers, September 23-27, 1996, p. 24).

Process and Stages of Development

    In Asia, BECs usually develop because of a pastoral vision and plan, either on a parish or diocesan level. The first step is a process of communal discernment regarding the pastoral (social, economic, political, cultural and religious) situation. Social analysis, cultural analysis, faith analysis are used in the process of discernment.
    A process of envisioning follows. In the light of the pastoral situation, what kind of community should the people of God be in this particular geographical area? How do they envision themselves as church? What kind of mission does the Holy Spirit call them to fulfill? The formulation of a vision-mission statement takes place.
    The vision then guides a process of decision-making and planning on how the vision can be realized and on how the envisioned community can respond to the pastoral situation in the light of the faith and of the resources of the community.
    The general process will call for the following components required for the establishment and growth of BEC:

• catechesis, formation and conscientization of members of the community;
• the organization of the community;
• the selection, formation, and training of lay leaders in various aspects such as community organizing and leadership, catechesis, liturgy, and social action;
• action or community mobilization.

The "Newness" of the BEC

    If the BEC is considered by FABC bishops as a concrete realization at the grassroots level of a "a new way of being Church," what does this "newness" consist of?
    In my own experience with BECs I have found the following transformations taking place in people and in communities:

a) From individualism to community -- members of BECs gradually shed off individualistic attitudes regarding their faith and religion (God and I), and begin to understand that these have basic relation-ships with their neighbors (I-Thou-We-and-God).

b) From sacramentalism and ritualism to integral faith -- members of BECs consider and practice their faith beyond the mere celebration of rituals and sacraments, and are deeply aware of the social implications of their faith on Christian mission and day to day living.

c) From non-involvement to co-responsibility and participation -- in the BECs, church people are impelled by their faith to participate not only in their own intra-BEC activities but also in the outward reach of Church mission into the socio-political community, as an imperative of co-responsibility in mission.

d) From corporal works of mercy to justice -- BECs are very much aware of the importance of traditional works of charity, but their faith impels them to do more and, therefore, to act on behalf of justice and social transformation.

e) From clericalism to lay-centeredness -- in the BECs a paradigm shift takes place regarding the role of clergy and religious and the role of lay people. The principles of co-responsibility and subsidiarity determine both the process and the level of decision-making. A process of "de-clericalization," and a corresponding "lay empowerment," takes place in BECs.

    May I simply conclude my presentation with two official recognitions of the Basic Ecclesial Community:

END