Between the 14th and 17th of May at theretreat house in El Escorial, the provincials of Europe and Africa had their annual meeting. It was attended by Enrique Losada of the Iberian province, entertainer, Derek Laverty of the Ireland / England Province and conference province, the coordinator of the Conference, which is Heinrich Josef Catrein of the German Province, Christian Malrieu of the French province, Jan Munsters of the Dutch Province, Piotr Budrewicz of the Polish Province, and Willy Mpia the African Province. From the General Government were present Javier Alvarez-Ossorio, the Superior General and Alberto Toutin, General Councilor. With regret Juliann Vandekerkoove, the Provincial of Flanders, was not able to participate.
First we went through the life of each of the major communities. Given the richness of the exchange of questions and reflections that followed, it showed not only a real interest in each other but also trust and mutual understanding between the provincials. Then we discussed the topics of the agenda: Initial Formation, On-going Formation, financial support for the Province of Africa. Next,the members of the General Government presented some points relating to the whole of the Conference: a reminder of the guidelines and decisions of the 38th General Chapter, in particular the state of progress of the International Community project in Leuven, the animating vision of the General Government for the coming years (see INFO No. 65, January 2013), a reflection on the Major Communities, Provinces and Vice-provinces regarding 20 brothers.
It is a reality that there are differences between the Major Communities, nevertheless, some common issues emerge: for example, the issue of identity, visibility and mission of the Congregation lived and proposed as a way of life for the youth. It is an issue for all the brothers, especially the trainers, facilitators and Ministry for the Youth and Vocations, as well as the desire for closer collaboration among the European communities.
On Thursday, May 17th, we made a pilgrimage to places of memorials in Madrid and its surroundings, related to ss.cc. brothers, the martyrs of the twentieth century in Spain who would be beatified in Tarragona on October 13th, 2013. Guided by Osvaldo Aparicio ss.cc., this pilgrimage has allowed better “on-site’ feel of the bold witnessing of faith of these brothers in their concrete historical circumstances. This was a good impetus to continue the course of this year of faith.
A special word of thanks to Enrique Losada and also to the communities of El Escorial and the Provincial House for their fraternal hospitality during these days.
Piedra del Mochuelo, the place where the Fr. Teófilo Férnández de Legaria Goñi ss.cc. was shot on August 11th, 1936.
From left to right: Javier Alvarez-Ossorio, Enrique Losada, Alberto Toutin, Heinrich Josef Catrein, Piot Budrewicz, Derek Laverty, Willy Mpia, Conrado Monreal, Christian Malrieu, Jan Munsters, Osvaldo Aparicio.
Memorial Cemetery of martyrs - Paracuello of Jarama.
From back to front: Javier Alvarez-Ossorio, Osvaldo Aparicio, Derek Laverty, Alberto Toutin, Piotr Budrewicz, Conrado Monreal, Willy Mpia, Jan Munsters, Christian Malrieu, Enrique Losada, Heinrich Josef Catrein.
05/18/2013