84. General Curia
Tempo Forte. The General Council held a Tempo Forte session from 3-7 October. It began with a formation program given by Fr. Marco Gnavi, of the Community of Sant’Egidio, who spoke on the “Humanization of prisons and the liberation of prisoners.” All the members of the General Curia participated in this. Some of the agenda points were:
1.- Study of the Postulate of the General Assembly on the “Vincentian places.”
2.- Study of the letter presented by Fr. Giuseppe Guerra, Postulator General, on a petition to the Holy See to include two confreres in the list of the Blessed on 2 September.
3.- Naming of the Commission for the study of the Statutes of the Congregation of the Mission. The commission will be composed of Frs. Paul Golden (Midwest, United States), Giuseppe Turati (Turin), Juan Julián Díaz Catalán (Zaragoza), Eli Chaves dos Santos (Rio de Janeiro), and Alberto Vernaschi (Rome).
4.- Decision on the International Visitors’ Meeting, which will be held from 4-15 June 2007 in Mexico City.
5.- Presentation by the Superior General of the first draft of the Project of the General Council 2005-2010.
6.- Beginning study of the possibility of establishing a “Development Office” for the Congregation at the international level.
7.- Approval of the “Program for Systemic Change” which has as its primary objective to help the confreres in their apostolates. This “Think Tank” program will be coordinated by Fr. Robert Maloney, helped by a team composed of Joseph Foley, (NGO representative at the United Nations), Pedro Opeka, (Madagascar), Norberto Carcellar, (Philippines), Mrs. Patricia de Nava (AIC), Sr. Ellen Flynn, DC (Great Britain), and a member of the St. Vincent de Paul Society.
8.- Establishment of two awards to support projects in favor of the poor: the “Systemic Change Award” and the “Mission Award.” The projects will seek to stimulate the missionary creativity of all members of the Con-gregation and help to maintain missionary zeal in the evangelization of the poor.
9.- Dialogue on the “Patrimonial Funds” of the provinces project.
10.- Discussion on the organization of the New Visitors’ Meeting which will be held from 18-24 January 2006 in Rome. Fr. Corpus Delgado, Visitor of Zaragoza, will coordinate the meeting.
11.- Approval of the project, presented by Fr. Sylvester Peterka (Philadelphia), which will help the different provinces of COVIAM in the formation of formators and in the ongoing formation of the confreres. The program will begin in 2006.
12.- Establishment of a provisional agreement between the General Curia and the Visitors of the Asia-Pacific Conference (APVC), which will assume the responsibility of the mission in the Solomon Islands.
13.- Analysis of the topic of reconfiguration of some provinces. The General Council will continue dialoguing on this issue with the provinces.
14.- Examination of various reports of different commissions linked with the General Curia: from SIEV (International Secretariat for Vincentian Studies); from the administrator of the Vincentian Family website, Fr. John Freund; from Fr. Manuel Ginete, Delegate for the Vincentian Family.
15.- Discussion about the candidates for the missions of the entire Congregation.
16.- Study of the agreement among the Supe-rior General, the Province of Chile and the missionaries of El Alto, Bolivia, on the forma-tion of the students who come from the inter-national mission of El Alto, Bolivia.
17.- Listening to the report of Fr. José Antonio Ubillús, Assistant General for the Missions, on the visit he made to the international missions of the Solomon Islands and Papua New Guinea.
Director General of the AMM. Fr. G. Gregory Gay participated, as Director General of the Association of the Miraculous Medal, in the opening, the closing, and other moments of the Second International Meeting of the Association of the Miraculous Medal in Rome.
Visits of confreres to the Curia Msgr. Leonardus Dobbelaar, Bishop of Neke-mte, and Msgr. Theo Van Ruijven, Apostolic Prefect of Jimma Bonga, were in Rome for a few days participating in the meeting of the Episcopal Conference of Ethiopia. Msgr. Berhaneyesus Demerew Souraphiel, Arch-bishop de Addis Ababa, after having participat-ed in the Synod of Bishops, visited the General Curia for a few days. During the Tempo Forte some confreres were here for interviews with the General Council: Fr. Corpus J. Delgado, Visitor of Zaragoza; Brother Peter A. Campbell, VSO Administrator; Fr. Antoine Ab-boud, Visitor of the Orient; Fr. Ziad Haddad; Fr. Milad Youssef, Regional Superior of Egypt; and Fr. Milad Zakhary. Fr. David Arias Guzmán (Central America) came to Rome for a course on the Missions and profited for a brief visit. Frs. Charles Pan (China) and Sunny Vadakumpadan (South India) took a break during their CIF course and came to get to know the Eternal City and visit the General Curia.
Meeting with the Young Vincentians of Italy. The Superior General, Fr. G. Gregory Gay, held a meeting with the young Vincentian Missionaries of the three Provinces of Italy on 10 October. Eleven missionaries (two from the Province of Rome, two from the Province of Turin and seven from the Province of Naples) participated. The Superior General gave a short message consisting of three points: 1) keep alive missionary enthusiasm; 2) renew oneself continuously with humility as a starting point; 3) continue denouncing injus-tices with courage. He shared with them plans for the coming years as Superior General and ended with an informal dialogue with the parti-cipants.
85. International Missions
Papua New Guinea. Msgr. Adolfo Tito Yllana, Apostolic Nuncio in Papua New Guinea and the Solomon Islands, received, on 16 October, during the Eucharistic celebration, the document of affiliation to the Congregation of the Mission. The ceremony was held in the chapel of the Apostolic Nunciature of Port Moresby. Present at the ceremony were Frs. Frank Vargas, Tulio Cordero, Rolando Santos, and Dr. Mary Joku Ponifasio, Presi-dent of the St. Vincent de Paul Society of Port Moresby. This affiliation is a recognition that Archbishop Yllana, formed by the Vincentian Fathers from the Minor Seminary in the Philippines to his priestly ordination, continues supporting what the confreres do in the for-mation of diocesan priests, both in Port Mores-by and in Honiara.
86. CLAPVI
12th Ordinary General Assembly. In the framework of the Golden Jubilee of the presence of the Congregation of the Mission in Peru, the 12th Ordinary General Assembly of CLAPVI was held in Lima, Peru. Participating in this event were Frs. G. Gregory Gay; José Antonio Ubillús; 19 confreres, representatives of the provinces, vice-provinces, and delegates of the missions, including the International Mission of El Alto (Bolivia); and the Secretary of the Conference. They exchanged personal and provincial experiences on mission, forma-tion, and the Vincentian Family. They studied the challenges and the lines of action of the Latin American Provinces from the 2004 General Assembly and the “dreams” for CLAPVI proposed by Fr. Robert P. Maloney before he finished as Superior General. They drafted proposals for the next triennium. Finally, they elected a new Administrative Council for the period 2005-2008: Frs. Francisco Solás (Visi-tor of Venezuela), President; Euzébio Spisla (Visitor of Curitiba), Vice-President; Faustino Burgos (Visitor of Puerto Rico), 1st Councillor; Carlos de la Rivera (Visitor of Chile), 2nd Councillor; and Emilio Melchor (Province of Venezuela), Executive Secretary.
87. NCV (Conference of Visitors of the United States)
Autumn meeting. Fr. Józef Kapu_ciak, Vicar General, participated, from 13-15 October, in the Meeting of the Conference of Visitors of the United States. The meeting was held at De Paul Evangelization Center in Montebello (California). Present were the Visitors of the United States: Frs. Andrew E. Bellisario, President of the NCV (U.S.A. West), Daniel Borlik (South), Thomas F. McKenna (East), James E. Swift (Midwest), Roman Gorowski (New England), and William R. Piletic, Executive Secretary. On the morning of the first day, Fr. Manuel Ginete, Delegate of the Superior General for the Vincentian Family, participated. The principal topics of the meeting were: evaluation of the first years of existence of the NCV, drafting of the objec-tives for the next three years; preparation of the report for the Superior General on the re-configuration of the Provinces of the United States, examination of the common initiatives for initial and ongoing formation, financial questions, and scheduling the next NCV meeting with those responsible for the Vincentian Family in the United States. The meeting was well organized and took place in a fraternal, dialogical and constructive atmosphere.
88. Ecuador
Spiritual Retreat. From 24-28 Octo-ber, all the confreres of the province met for their annual retreat. Fr. José Ignacio Fernández de Mendoza led the retreat. In an atmosphere of silence and recollection, the participants renewed their commitment to continue working for and with the poor.
89. USA-Midwest
Anniversary of the St. Vincent de Paul Society. On 2 October, the St. Vincent de Paul Society celebrated the 160th anniversary of its beginnings in the United States at the “Old Cathedral” of St. Louis, Missouri, on 20 November 1845. Fr. John Timon, first Visitor of the American Province, was impressed by the work of the Society for the poor during his visits to Paris and was moved to encourage its work in the Diocese of St. Louis. Mean-while, on a visit to Dublin, he had acquired a copy of the Rules and Bylaws of the Society and introduced them in St. Louis, where pro-minent lay leaders, who were already doing work for the poor, were receptive to the idea of the organization. The Ordinary, Bishop Peter Richard Kenrick, was also encouraged, and he established the Society at his Cathedral parish on the above-mentioned date. The Society is still flourishing in the Archdiocese. The names of Frs. Timon, Kenrick and Ambrose Heim, a diocesan priest and associate pastor, are forever linked with this important beginning in the United States.
Vincentians honored by the Canon Law Society. On 5 October, at its annual con-vention in Tampa, Florida, the Canon Law Society of America honored Fr. Paul L. Golden with its Role of Law award, recognizing his outstanding contribution to the society’s mission of serving the People of God for more than three decades. His talk, urging the reteaching of canon law so as to make peo-ple better aware of their rights and mission in the Church, was well received. Also, Fr. Michael P. Joyce was elected as one of the new consultors to the Board of Governors.
90. Vincentian Family
Second Meeting of the Association of the Miraculous Medal. From 24-28 October, the Second International Meeting of the Association of the Miraculous Medal was held in Rome. There were 87 participants from 29 countries where the AMM exists. Its objective was “to review the journey traveled from the First Meeting in 2001 in order to discover our mission in the Church and to continue advancing in our missionary commitment and service to the poor.” It concluded with a Final Document.
PRIESTLY ORDINATIONS
NGUYEN KIM Joseph Long Par 21-10-2005
NGUYEN QUANG Pierre Tien Par 21-10-2005
NGUYEN VAN Joseph Cuong Par 21-10-2005
NGUYEN QUOC Joseph Dat Par 21-10-2005
HOANG KIM Jean Baptiste Tien Par 21-10-2005
NGUYEN QUANG Paul Thanh Par 21-10-2005
NGUYEN QUYET Jean Baptiste Chien Par 21-10-2005
NECROLOGIUM
NOMEN COND DIES OB PROV AET VOC
DE ANGELIS Ugo Sac 15-10-2005 Rom 89-73
BERNIERE Marcel Sac 26-10-2005 Tol 87-69
BELLOCCHIO Giovanni Sac 27-10-2005 Rom 86-67
GERMOVNIK Francis Sac 02-11-2005 Ocn 90-70
BROWN Gerald Joseph Sac 02-11-2005 Ocn 78-57
175th Anniversary of the Apparitions of Our Lady at the Rue du Bac
On 27 November we will celebrate the 175th Anniversary of the Apparitions of Our Lady of the Miraculous Medal to St. Catherine Labouré. Mary, our Mother, continues pouring out graces on all those who wear the medal and invoke her with devotion, especially the members of the Vincentian Family throughout the world.
