The 16th Provincial Chapter of Ireland-England has taken place in Swords (near Dublin), from the 6th to the 10th of June. This included 18 brothers, plus Pankras Olak (General counselor) and Javier Álvarez-Ossorio (Superior General) who had been doing the canonical visit to the province during the previous days.
The Chapter began with two days of reflection on the encyclical Laudato Si '. It was a set time for brothers, sisters and laity of the Secular Branch. There were 47 participants in total.
In the last two days, several reports were heard: the Final Report after the canonical visit of the General Government, the Report of the outgoing Provincial (Derek Laverty), Report of the Econome, Report of the Commission of Child Protection (Children Savegarding).
The Chapter elected a new provincial government: Michael Ruddy (provincial), Fergal Maguire (Vicar) and Ultan Naughton (counselor). They are the three youngest members of the Province.
In view of the renewal of life in the Province, the Chapter decided to seek a way to have at least one community with the capacity to accommodate young people in vocational discernment, and to help the local coordinators in their task of encouraging lifelong learning and sharing of faith in local communities.
The Chapter ended with the celebration of the jubilee brothers: Kenneth Barnes (50 years of priesthood, who stayed in London for health reasons), Eamon Aylward and Chris McAneny (50 years of religious life), Derek Laverty and Vince Fallon (25 years of priesthood).
06/11/2016