nuntia - october 2011 (english)

8/3/2019 NUNTIA - October 2011 (English)

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News Bulletin from the General Curia of the Congregation of the Mission

The General Curia

The Superior General

On September 30th, October 1-2 the Superior General participated in agathering that was organized by the Association of Vincentians in Italy.This gathering took place in Assisi and the central theme was The Pre-sent Day Challenges of Charity. This theme was developed especiallythrough the clear and very concrete presentation of Bishop AlessandroPloti, bishop-emeritus of Pisa. Dr. Mario Brutti developed the themeDemocracy, Charity and Civil Society.

The theme Politics and Charity and Charity in the Christian Life were pre-

sented respectively by a sociologist and a married couple from the SaintVincent de Paul Conferences. Father Stanislav Zontak,Giuseppe Carulli and Juventino Castillero joined the Supe-rior General and participated in the same event.

The EditorWe bring you this edition of Nuntia during this month that is dedicated to the Missions and inthe context of noteworthy world events, especially those events resulting from nature itself.

We are at a time when mother earth has revealed in a very clear way the wounds that for yearswe have inflicted on her life. In recent years we have seen more frequent natural disasters. Us-ing the biblical metaphor we could say that the earth is experiencing birth pains as she seeks thebirth of something new but while this occurs our world today cries out in pain. During thismonth many of our countries have suffered the consequences of all of this: earthquakes, heavyrains, flooding, landslides, etc. These natural disasters are vivid reflections of the consequencesthat have resulted from the wounds that we have inflicted on mother earth.

From this place where we organize this international bulletin we express our solidarity to thoseprovinces that have been affected by these phenomena and to the confreres who together withthe poor have suffered through these events. At the same time we unite ourselves to the reflec-tion and the work of many individuals who seek creative ways to heal the wounds of ourmother.


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The tempo-forte was held from October 3-7 and the informationand conclusions from the meeting has been communicated toyou through the letter of the Superior General.

On October 8th the Superior General, the General Council and

the Econome General participated in a special session of studyand work. During this time they reflected on three themes:the possibility of creating an ONLUS (a social non-profit or-ganization) that would work directly with the VSO(Vincentian Solidarity Office); a reflection on an economy ofsolidarity (utilizing the article of Fr. Robert Maloney, Solidarityand Economy); evangelization and systemic change. That sameday (Oct. 8th) was the birthday of the Superior General and sothe participants in this gathering took advantage of this occa-sion to have a special meal together outside of Rome.

October 16-17 he made a brief trip to England. On the 16th he visited a project of the confreres inLondon that is called Project London. The confreres of distinct Provinces live together in a housein order to attend to the needs of the immigrants from their respective countries. The superiorof the house is Father Paul Roche who was a missionary in Nigeria and the Vice-Visitor of theCyril and Methodius Vice-Province. The other confreres are from Salamanca, Nigeria, Ethiopia,the Philippines and at the present time they are awaiting the arrival of a confrere from the Prov-ince of Fortaleza. On October 17 Father Gregory gave a conference at a gathering of the Vincen-

tian Family.

October 9-14 the Superior General was in Verna where he participated in a retreat with the othermembers of the General Curia.

On October 18 there was a meeting of the Council and on October 19 he began his journey toChile. This is the second time that Fr. Gregory is visiting this country. In 2004, soon after hiselection, he traveled to this country and presided at the activities that had been organized toclose the celebration of the 150 years of presence of the Vincentian charism in Chile.

Upon his arrival on Monday, October 24th Fr. GregoryGay met with the Vincentian Family in Santiago andcelebrated the Eucharist in the Church of Saint Vincentde Paul. On Tuesday, October 25th he traveled to PuntaArenas where he met with the Bishop of the Dioceseand explored the possibility of establishing a house ofthe Congregation in that region of the country. Later, inthe Cathedral Church of Punta Arenas, accompanied byFather Fernando Macas, Visitor of Chile, the Eucharistwas offered in the presence of the Vincentian Familyfrom that area.

There, the Superior General also visited two communi-ties of the Daughters of Charity who minister in the Es-cuela La Milagrosa (The Miraculous Medal School) andthe Hogar del Nio Miraflores. The Superior Generalhad the opportunity to greet the members of the Vincen-tian Family, especially the members of the AIC whowere concluding their annual Assembly.


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Saturday and Sunday, October 29-30 the Su-perior General visited the Communities ofthe Vincentian Missionaries who minister inthe parishes of Los Lagos in the Diocese of

Valdivia, Quilacahun in the Diocese ofOsorno and Callipulli in the Diocese of Te-muco.

On Monday, October 31 he participated in the Eucharis-tic celebration in which the Archbishop of Santiago,Bishop Ricardo Ezzati, raised Gabriel Fuentes and JuanDavid Mamani to the order of priest. The ordinationtook place in the church of San Sebastin, near the Vin-

centian Seminary in La Comuna de Macul. That after-noon he had a meeting with the Vincentian seminariansand priests at Saint Vincent de Paul Seminary and laterparticipated in the first Mass of Father Gabriel Fuentes.

On November 1st he met with the Daughters of Charity in the Pro-vincial House which is local in La Comuna de Independencia. Inthe afternoon he traveled to Valpariso where in participated in thefirst Mass of Father Juan David Mamani.

The visit concluded on November 2nd with a Mass in the GeneralCemetery. He was accompanied by members of the Congregationof the Mission, Daughters of Charity and members from the otherbranches of the Vincentian Family.

The General Council

Visits of Father EliFrom August 15 September 25 Father Eli Chaves made a canoni-cal visitation of the Province of Curitiba. The visitation was carriedout in accord with a plan that had been drawn up and organizedby the Visitor. This involved a visit to all the ministries, meetingswith the Provincial Council and the confreres in the differenthouses as well as dialogue with the confreres.The Province is composed of 71 incorporated confreres and 6 con-freres who have been admitted into the Province. There are sevencanonical houses located in the states of Paran and So Paulo andthe confreres are involved in a wide diversity of ministries andworks.

Parish ministry is their strongest ministry, one in which they are very visible. They have 20 par-ishes which are large and located in the city (workers and populist movements) and in rural ar-eas. All the parishes have a network of chapels and communities (approximately 380 communi-ties) and many ministerial groups.


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The province has developed various missionary activities (pastoral among the truck drivers,missions ad gentes, school, radio, television, advisors to various pastoral groups and advisors tothe Vincentian Family). These initiatives are truly creative ministries and have many possibili-ties for development and Vincentian missionary outreach.During his visit to the Province of Curitiba, Father Eli had the opportunity to preach a retreat to

the confreres of the Province of Rio de Janeiro (September 3-9), participated in the National As-sembly of the AIC in Curitiba (August 29th) and in the National Assembly of MISEVI which washeld in Belo Horizonte (September 2nd).From October 15-24 he was in Guatemala and participated in the XVI General Assembly ofCLAPVI and on October 26th initiated the canonical visitation of the Province of Portugal.

During his meditations Fr. Mario led us to reflect on the reality thatwe live in a society that places much emphasis on that which is in-ternal. People seek to discover God within themselves but do notseek God in history or in other individuals. At the same time oursociety lives with fear and insecurity and appears to be frustratedand apathetic and in some situations, even bitter. Indeed we live ina society without a father, without norms around which it can or-ganize it daily life.In light of this situation we as Vincentians are called to view the re-ality and to find positive aspects in this reality. Like Jesus, we are

called to be real friends to the people of this generation and to helpthem find God in other people, in history. We are called to ap-proach others with compassion, to be Good News for them, to helpthem put aside their fear. We are called to live a prophetic ministrythat sees, judges and acts in light of the divine plan.

While on retreat, we were fortunate to have the help of GiuseppeMartinelli a seminariam from the Province of Naples.

The attendees wish tothank Fr. Mario for his

spiritual accompani-ment, reflections,meditations, and mostof all to thank him forthe witness of his life.

Spirituality and Mission of the ApostleFrom October 9-14 the community at the Curia held their retreat. This re-treat took place in the House of the Daughters of Charity in Chiusi de laVerna near the Sanctuary of Verna of Saint Francis.. The retreat was di-

rected by Father Mario Dosi from the Province of Rome (he is presently min-istering in the School of Alberoni in Piacenza).

The theme of the retreat revolved around the ministry of the apostle as out-lined in the Bible and in the Vincentian tradition. The apostolic form of SaintPeter and Saint Paul and Saint Vincent de Paul were highlighted as modelsthat allow us to discover the being of an authentic apostle today. This wasviewed from the perspective of the present challenges of our society and ofour consecrated life for the mission.


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Food prices: the crisis of stability

On October 17-22 the 37th session of the Committee on WorldFood Security (CFS) of the United Nations was held at the head-quarters of the Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) in

Rome. The CFS is the principal forum of the United Nationsthat examines and follows through on policies relative to foodsecurity on the international level. Four representatives of theInternational Congregations to the FAO were present at this ses-sion: among them was Father Yosief Zeractristos, Assistant Gen-eral and Alfredo Becerra, Archivist at the General Curia.

In the context of this meeting World Food Day was celebratedon October 17th and focused on the recent shifts with regard to food prices that threaten to cre-ate hunger for millions of people. Food prices: the crisis of stability was chosen as the theme of

World Food Day, 2011. This theme was chosen because of five consecutive years of instabilityand the trend toward higher food prices that actually are now near record levels.

In a message on the occasion of the celebration of World Food Day Pope Benedict XVI pointedout that the struggle against hunger requires immediate solutions and long term initiatives. Ina clear reference to the crisis in the Horn of Africa the Pope stated: Immediate aid is of course es-sential in the face of the death from starvation of entire communities obliged to abandon the land of theirorigins, but it is also necessary to intervene in the medium- and long-term so that international interven-tion is not limited to responding only to emergencies.

The Pope described as unfortunate the idea of considering foodstuffs as any other commercial product and thereforealso subjected to speculation. He said that agriculturestimulates economic growth and added that farmingmust not be seen as a secondary activity but as the focus ofevery strategy of growth and integral development. The HolyFather noted that liberation from the yoke of hunger is the

first concrete expression of the right to life.

Vincentian Studies SeminaryThere will be seminars at All Hallows College, Dublin.1] An academic study of Vincentian spirituality, Febru-ary 6-10, 20122] An academic srtudy of Vincentian history, July 1 and

July 8-10, 20112

There is a limited number of spaces available. The costis 350 euros for each seminar Reservations can be made

with Dr. Eugene Curran, CME-mail address: [email protected] 353 - 1 852 0706All Hallows College, Drumcondra, Dublin 9, Ireland


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The Assistant General, Father Eli Chaves, CM partici-pated in this meeting. The Visitor from Cuba, theMission in Bolivia and the Mission of Zaragoza inHonduras were unable to participate. Part of theagenda consisted of the election of the ExecutiveCouncil. Fr. Daniel Vasquez, the Visitor of Colombiawas re-elected as President and Father Jair Vlez waselected as Secretary.

Different experiences, provincial projects and workswith the Vincentian family were presented. Eachprovince and delegation explained their current situa-tion: its challenges and struggles as well as futureplans in the different areas of our life that will providea dynamism to the missionary life of the provinces ofLatin America.

This gathering was a time for fraternal sharing, seek-

ing common solutions to similar problems, strength-ening our unity, and an exchange of ideas that led to agreater commitment to the missionary endeavor ofthe region.

In the Miraculous Medal Retreat House in Menzanales (Guatemala Central American Prov-ince) the XVI Ordinary Assembly of the Latin American Vincentian Provinces (CLAPVI) was

held from October 16-22. This took place in the context of the 150 anniversary of the arrival ofthe Missionaries and the Daughters of Charity to Central America.

In the Assembly the Visitors of the Provinces of Curitiba, Fortaleza, Rio de Janeiro, Colombia,Central America, Argentina, Peru, Mexico, Ecuador, Venezuela, Chile, the Vice-Province ofCosta Rica and delegates from the communities of other provinces that work in the region: Bar-celona that works in Honduras and Philadelphia that has a missionary region in Panama.

XVI Assembly of CLAPVI


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PolandAn ancient tradition in the Province of Poland is that the feastof Saint Vincent de Paul marks the end of the Internal Semi-nary. In the past two years two new traditions have been in-troduced into the celebration of this feast. One of them,

which began last year, is the day of calling, that is, the day onwhich the candidates for the Internal Seminary express theirwillingness to imitate Saint Vincent de Paul in following inthe footsteps of Jesus Christ. The other tradition that was ini-tiated this year is the profession of Good Purposes this wasformerly done on December 8th, the feast of the ImmaculateConceptionThis year, in the context of the feast of Saint Vincent de Paul,eight young men professed their intention to imitate SaintVincent de Paul in following in the footsteps of Jesus Christ

as they initiated their year of formation in the Internal Semi-nary. At the same time five young men profess their GoodPurposes.

During this ceremony the use of a very significant symbol oc-curs, namely, the young men move to another part of thechapel where there is an altar dedicated to Saint Vincent.There the young men receive a special blessing with the reli-quary of our Founder.

At the present time the Province has 24 seminarians, seven ofwhom are incorporated and are transitional deacons. Toknow more about the events in the province visit our webpage in English at: http://vincentians.pl/

Congratulations Angelus Njiagi Njiru

On October 26 our confrere, Angelus Njiagi Njiru, defended his doc-toral thesis at the Alphonsus University in Rome. The title of his the-

sis is: Private property and the distribution of the fruits of the land inCatholic Social Teaching: a basis for reflection on the situation of theland in Kenya. Angelus received his doctorate in moral theology.Congratulations Angelus and may the fruits of your studies continueto be good news for your confreres and for the poor in Kenya.


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Nominationes / Confirmationes

FERNNDEZ H. DE MENDOZA Jos Ignacio 06/10/2011 Visitor Ecuador

Ordinationes

UMANHONLEN-OKOH Sylvester E. Fra Nig 27/09/2011

GUSMEROLI Francesco Sac Rom 08/10/2011

FUENTES MATAMALA Gabriel Avelino Sac Chi 31/10/2011

GUTIRREZ MAMANI Juan David Sac Chi 31/10/2011

Necrologium

Nomen Cond. Dies ob. Prov. Aet. Voc.

CASSI Cesare Fra 09/10/2011 Rom 90 70

GABBIADINI Luigi Pietro Sac 18/10/2011 Cng 86 67

SANTA CRUZ PAZ Jos Luis Sac 21/10/2011 AmC 65 48

WOODS Thomas Sac 21/10/2011 Hib 76 58

LIGNE Hubert Eugene Sac 28/10/2011 Par 87 70ROSAS ROA Lorenzo Antonio Sac 01/11/2011 Col 84 64

nuntia - october 2011 (english)

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