Piazzale M. Champagnat, 2 - C.P. 10250 - 00144 Roma

Total Page:16

File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb

Piazzale M. Champagnat, 2 - C.P. 10250 - 00144 Roma

UPDATE 47 Piazzale M. Champagnat, 2 - C.P. 10250 - 00144 Roma 28.05.1999 Tel.(39) 06 545 17279 - Fax (39) 06 545 17 217 - Email publi- [email protected]

Superior General’s Visit who are living in situations and conditions CONGO: HEAD WINDS AND HIGH SEAS similar to those of “street kids” in cities. From the 25th of April to the 8th of May Brother Benito visited the District of Congo. He was International Formation Commission able to meet almost all the Brothers and to (C.I.F.) visit all our schools except for those at Kindu THREE TOPICS STUDIED and Kisangani. This required four entry visas The CIF (International Formation Commis- since it is not easy to travel within the country sion), whose task is to assist the General nor across the borders close to our com- Council in its reflection on important topics re- munities. All Marist schools are functioning at lating to initial and ongoing formation, met in the moment. The Brothers have made a great Rome at the General House from April 21 st to effort to get an agreement between parents 29 th. The Commission is composed of Broth- and teachers regarding salaries which in ers Gaston Robert C.G. (co-ordinator), Luis some cases are less than 15 dollars (US) a Garcia Sobrado C.G., Christian Mbam (Niger- month. Apart from such financial insecurity, ia), Donald Bisson (U.S.A.), Roberto Clark the schools are working normally and seri- (Guatemala), Sebastião A. Ferrarini (Brasil), ously. Tony Clark (Australia), Wency Calimpon Brother Benito commented on how he was (Philippines), Xavier Barceló Maset (Spain), impressed by the composure and calm of the Afonso Levis (secretary). Brothers. They are living in peace and are The reflection of these Brothers focussed on dedicated to their work with young people. three themes which had previously been pro- He had the same impression in his contacts posed by the General Council’s Formation with other religious communities. The instabil- Commission (Brothers Gaston Robert, Luis ity caused by the civil war is not a source of Garcia Sobrado, Sean Sammon, Claudino fear. All in all, the future looks bleak since Falchetto): Post-novitiate—2nd Stage; there is no end in sight to the war which is Formation for Perpetually Professed causing great financial hardship to the ordin- Brothers around 40 years of age; Motives ary people. for Departure of Young Brothers. The sharing and reflection on these topics Brotherly collaboration began with the participants’ personal experi- RWANDA: NEW EDUCATIVE PROJECTS ences, and was enriched by the series of rel- To visit eastern Congo, Brother Benito had to evant materials distributed during the course pass through Rwanda where he was able to of the meeting. The cordiality and openness greet the Brothers and, in a special way, of everyone, together with their frankness, thank Brothers Rene Roy, Javier Terradillos, mutual respect and demonstrated commit- Juanjo Luján and Alvaro Otalora for their ment rendered possible a fine work whose presence and contribution. These Brothers suggestions will be the matter of a report to are ending their contracts in Rwanda at the be furnished to the General Council for ap- end of this school year. praisal. The Brothers in Rwanda are responsible for three large educational centres and, in addi- Visit to Marist Brasil tion, have this year appointed a Brother to MEETING IN CAMPINAS. work on educational projects with “bush” kids UPDATE number 47 Rome, May, 28, 1999 page 2

Four General Concillors, six Provincials, 33 Superiors and other representatives from our Provincial Councillors: a gathering both nu- Marist provinces and District in Asia gathered merous and competent to bring to a conclu- in Seoul, Korea from the 11th to the 14th of sion the Visit to Marist Brasil. This Meeting May. Joining them were four members of the took place in Campinas, São Paulo, between General Administration (Brothers Jeff Crowe, the 6th and 12 th of May, and treated the topics Gaston Robert, Seán Sammon, and Henri which had been broached in the visits to the Vignau) together with Brother Alexis Turton, Provinces. who coordinates Marist Apostolic Spirituality Following reflection on the topic of refounda- among English-speaking Brothers for the tion, the participants opted to focus on two General Administration. other crucial themes: the mission of the Mar- The meeting brought together brothers from ist community as Presence and Gospel Wit- China (Brothers Thomas Chin and John Lek), ness; and the Future of Marist Mission in India (Brothers Chinna Devadoss and Mi- Brasil. A third theme, already in the pipeline, chael Sexton), Korea (Brothers Alfredo Her- was that of Restructuring. At the end, each rera, Jacobo Song Chul Seob, and Juan Provincial Council had the opportunity to es- Castro), the Philippines (Brother Ted Fernan- tablish its own priorities in the light of the top- dez), and Sri Lanka (Brothers Sunanda Alwis ics under consideration. The brotherly rela- and Victor Fernando) to deepen their under- tions, the depth of the sharing, the urgency of standing of the meaning of re-founding Marist the choices proposed, the spiritual climate of life in Asia. As part of their process, the discernment: all of these were so many high Brothers provided one another a profile of the points characterising the conclusion of this situation in their respective countries, ex- visitation of the General Council. The proxim- amined ways to increase collaboration within ity of the Canonisation was also a great fillup the region, and discussed the implications for their part of the world of the 1993 General Marist International Centre- Nairobi Chapter's discussions and directives about BROTHER JOSEPH MCKEE, NEW RECT- restructuring. Some input on leadership was OR also provided. At their March 1999 annual meeting, the Mar- Brother Alexis spent a day with the superiors ist superiors who make up the Conference of and provided them with a number of useful Superiors of the African Continent appointed tools that will enable them assist their Broth- Brother Joseph McKee as Rector of Marist In- ers locally in reflecting further on contempor- ternational Centre effective July 1999. Broth- ary Marist Apostolic Spirituality. During the er Joseph, forty-eight years of age and a course of the four day meeting, the superiors member of the Province of Britain/Cameroon, of Asia decided to form a Conference of Su- has studied in Ireland, Spain, Nigeria, and, periors of Asia, building upon the longstand- most recently, the US. Since 1976 he has ing Marist Asian Regional Conference and lived and carried out his ministry on the Afric- their 1997 decision to continue to meet regu- an continent, serving for a period of time as larly. Brother Thomas Chin, Provincial of headmaster of Sacred Heart College in Ba- China, was named Convenor for the Confer- menda, Cameroon. ence and a job description was drawn up by Brother Joseph traveled to Nairobi earlier this the group. year so as to have time to acquaint himself Finally, the Apostolic Pronuncio for Korea and with the overall formation programme at MIC Mongolia, Archbishop Morandini, joined those and to orient himself to the day-to-day run- in attendance at the meeting for several ning of the Centre. He has also taken time to hours one day during the meeting. He gave visit our regional novitiates on the African an address that encouraged Catholics in continent, and spoken with Marist formators Korea to be consciously Catholic, and chal- engaged at all stages of the process of initial lenged the Brothers to love their vocation and formation. to educate the entire People of God as to its meaning and important place in our Church. Summary of a Meeting MARIST SUPERIORS OF ASIA GATHER IN General Council in Rome SEOUL BEGINNING OF PLENARY SESSIONS UPDATE number 47 Rome, May, 28, 1999 page 3

The General Council has begun the plenary birthplace. Six thousand people, mostly family sessions which will continue until the 24th of groups with a high representation of young July. During this period, they have set aside people, witnessed the diocese placing itself time for their annual retreat in community. under the new saint’s patronage and saw a Topics on the agenda include: recently con- missioning to new parishes, which was a real cluded visits, report on the canonisation, re- message of hope in the diocesan church. structuring in the light of proposals that have Young people, animators, religious and mis- come in from Provincial and District councils, sionaries called to mind Marcellin’s struggles naming the Preparatory Commission for the and his faithfulness. XX General Chapter as well as considering our role in stimulating reflection and prepara- The historical, religious and educational tion throughout the Institute prior to the context Chapter. IN THE FOOTSTEPS OF MARCELLIN CHAMPAGNAT A mission completed The Marist Province of Chile has just pub- CENTRAL CANONISATION TEAM lished a book entitled: In the Footsteps of On the 10th of June, the canonisation team Marcellin Champagnat (“Tras la huellas de plans to conclude the task entrusted to it by Marcelino Champagnat”). The work collects the General Council. Before this date, they 61 of Br Pierre Zind’s articles, and several ap- will present the General Council with a report pendices by Br Agustín Carazo which fill out and evaluation, including financial aspects. It the treatment of certain points of great in- will then be the responsibility of the General terest. Council to determine any possible follow-up Congratulations for making widely available materials or simple momentos to be made an investigation of such historical quality. available to the Institute as a help for Broth- ers and lay people, especially youth, motivat- Two lives: two destinies ing and helping them deepen their knowledge THE MISSIONARY DIMENSION OF THE IN- of our charism and spirituality. STITUTE The General House has recently hosted two Visiting our General House… Brothers awaiting the issue of their visas: Br Fr. WALDEMAR LONGO, Superior General Néstor Quiceno (Colombia), and Br Joseph of DON CALABRIA’S CONGREGATION Nduwamungu (Rwanda). Once the visas The canonisation has fostered a brotherly were obtained, Br Néstor began his journey rapprochment with the Congregations with to Rwanda, and Br. Joseph to Roumania. The whom we shared the joy of that great feast: gospel imperative dissolves national boundar- Don Calabria and Sister Agostina. On May ies. 24th, Father Waldemar Longo, Superior Gen- eral of the Poor Servants of Providence, ac- Recent consultations, and thanks companied by their Postulator, Father Luigi PUBLICATIONS SERVICE Piovau, shared Eucharist and the community  Provincials have recently been consulted supper with the General Council and the Can- on the question of FMS Message 27 with onisation Team. Fr Waldemar is Brasilian, a view to firming the exact number of cop- and an ex-student of the Marist Brothers. The ies they need. Shortly there will be anoth- charisms of the two Congregations offer re- er request for firm orders for copies of the markable affinities, especially in the close ac- Canonisation video companiment of the most abandonded of chil-  Thanks to the Brothers and communities dren and young people. who responded to the request for photo- graphic material for our publications sup- 6000 people in Marlhes ply. MARCELLIN, A SAINT WHO FORGES UNITY *** Congo once again in front line Amongst the many celebrations held to celeb- *** LATE-BREAKING NEWS rate Saint Marcellin’s canonisation, it is worth *** = May we recall that this kind of news singling out especially that which took place item is reserved exclusively for the informa- in Marlhes on the 2nd of May, our Founder’s UPDATE number 47 Rome, May, 28, 1999 page 4

tion of Marist communities, and should on no We are not the only religious community to be account be given wider diffusion. attacked. In the zone controlled by the gov- While this edition of Update was being final- ernment, religious have been taken hostage, ised, we received some disturbing news from while in the zone under the control of the the Congo. Last Monday night, the com- rebels a Congolese priest was recently munity at Nyangezi was attacked by a group murdered. Recently, for example, in the re- of about thirty soldiers. As yet we do not gion of Bukavu a Xaverian priest and a dio- have many details but it is certain that some cesan priest have been taken captive. Some Brothers were assaulted. A Congolese Broth- religious communities have seen their houses er has been receiving treatment in hospital for ransacked or completely destroyed, and have his injuries; Br. Paul Rossignon, from Belgi- had to abandon their post. um, was operated on Wednesday as tendons Even though the international media has little in his arm had been cut as well as bones to say about Congo (ex-Zaire), the war con- broken. He will be evacuated to Belgium next tinues to destroy the country and tension has Saturday. Two Brothers were able to hide been rising recently. A few days ago, bombs and avoid the confrontation. Regrettably the fell on Goma. Our community which is quite night watchman of the house was shot by the near the airport did not suffer any damage. attackers; for the moment, there is no inform- There is fighting in Kisangani as we write... ation on his condition. The house was com- They speak of “heavy rain”. pletely wrecked. The Brothers are now all Kinshasha’s “Bon Accueil” community has safe for the moment in Bukavu and are con- been attacked by armed men. The Brothers sidering their future.. have not suffered violence and the assailants Nyangezi is about 30 km from Bukavu. The stole everything: clothes, objects and money. community was attacked twice over the In the community there are three Brothers, Christmas period, apparently by people intent two of whom are Belgian and one is Con- on stealing. On these occasions as well some golese Brothers were assaulted. This time, the as- sault has been much more violent.

BROTHERS DECEASED BETWEEN 16-04-99 AL 24-05-99 According to information received by the General Administration

SURNAME NAMES IN RELIGIÓN AG PROVINCE DATE DIXON James Joseph James Gerard 70 EEsopus 16-04-1999 BUCKLEY Edward J. Denis Colman 80 Poughkeepsie 29-04-1999 LENTZ Antoine Liénard 83 Belgium-Holland 03-05-1999 EGGS Clément Marie Xavérius 85 MCO-Hermitage 10-05-1999 DUGUAY Henry Leo Romuald Lucian 78 Esopus 14-05-1999 AREGALL PUIG Joaquín Juan Simón 86 Perú 23-05-1999 DECOSTERE Paul Joseph Climaque 79 Belgium-Holland 24-05-1999

Recommended publications