To the members of the Congregation of the Mission
Tempo Forte (14-17 May) Circular
Dear Brothers, May the grace and peace of Our Lord Jesus Christ fill your hearts now and forever! Among some of the more interesting subjects that we covered in our tempo forte meeting from 14-17 May were the following:1. We discussed the question of reconfiguration in two parts. First of all, we considered the implications of the meeting we had with the three Visitors of the western part of the United States who are moving forward with the process of reconfiguration. They will give a presentation on the process to date at the Visitors’ Meeting in Mexico. Secondly, we had an open discussion about reconfiguration in general. We see our role not as forcing reconfiguration, but rather encouraging confreres and provinces to think in that direction, as has been done so far. The issue will be discussed at the Visitors’ Meeting in order to stimulate further thought. The justification of reconfiguration is based on Constitution 107, 3°. The key question that we must ask ourselves is: “Why reconfiguration? Will it help enable us to do the mission better?” 2. We talked about international activities the next of which is the New Visitors’ Meeting to be held from 8-16 January 2008. The coordinator of that meeting will be Father Corpus Delgado, Visitor of Zaragoza. He is very experienced in this role. We spoke about the possibility of other events between now and 2010. We have an open date in January 2009 and considered having an international meeting dealing with publications and documentation of the Congregation.3. Father José Antonio Ubillús, Assistant General for the Missions, and Father John Gouldrick, Treasurer General, presented the Mission Distribution Fund 2007. 4. Father Gouldrick also gave us an oral presentation, summarizing the meeting of the Financial Commission, which was held in the Curia a few days before our tempo forte meeting. The members of that commission are: Fathers Santiago Azcárate (Zaragoza), José Luis Fernández (Peru), Philippe Lamblin (Paris), Bernard Meade (Ireland), and Thomas Stehlik (South USA).5. We selected the winners for the Mission Award, which will be announced publicly on the Feast of Saint Justin De Jacobis, 31 July. This time we received 11 projects, of which five were selected. The Treasurer General will be writing a letter to thank all the provinces for their participation and informing those who have won the award. In July, with the announcement of the winners, a brief description of each of the projects will be presented, as usual. 6. We had a report from the Vincentiana and Nuntia team. The report was given by the outgoing Editor, Father Alfredo Becerra in the presence of Father Julio Suescun, the new Editor of Vincentiana and Nuntia, as well as the website, CMGLOBAL. We selected a new Editorial Board for Vincentiana. It will be made up of Fathers Julio Suescun, Claudio Santangelo (Secretary General), Jean Landousies, and Manuel Ginete. With regard to the website, it is now to be understood that CMGLOBAL is the website for the international Congregation of the Mission, with a section on the General Curia. It will be available in the three official languages.7. We are in the process of beginning a search for a new member of the CIF team. Father Juan Julián Díaz Catalán will complete his service in September 2008 and Father Hugh O’Donnell, the following year, September 2009. We hope to have a new member named by September of this year, so that he might be able to participate in some of the activities to learn the process of how CIF operates. 8. Once again we discussed the Vincentian Historical Sites and we considered the formation of a commission made up of members of the Vincentian Family to see how we might be able to improve our services, especially to the lay branches of the Vincentian Family, along the line of ongoing formation, pilgrimages, and updated equipment in order to make our historical sites more “visitor friendly.”9. With regard to the Solomon Islands, we discussed, and approved for discussion during the APVC Meeting in Mexico, an agreement that will be between the Superior General, who has overall responsibility for this mission, and the members of APVC. 10. With regard to our mission in Papua New Guinea, the missionaries there are beginning to receive petitions from possible candidates for the Congregation of the Mission. Their first year of experience will be in Papua New Guinea itself, in a parish which has recently been assigned to us by the Archbishop of Port Moresby.11. We are in the process of negotiating with two candidates for the missions ad gentes, concerning their placement.12. We received a letter from one of the bishops of Chad, requesting that we found a community of missionaries in his diocese. The Superior General will discuss this petition with the members of COVIAM in their meeting in Mexico.13. We received a copy of the Statutes of the Interprovincial Internal Seminary for the Mediterranean sector of CEVI
M. These will be confirmed and signed during the Visitors’ Meeting in Mexico. The provinces involved in this Interprovincial Internal Seminary are: the four provinces of Spain, Portugal, the three provinces of Italy, the two provinces of France and the Province of the Orient.14. Our ongoing formation session during this tempo forte was conducted by Father José María Nieto. He shared with us the rights and obligations in community living.I ask the Spirit of the Lord to fill each of you with an abundance of his gifts and fruits during this time of Pentecost.
Your brother in Saint Vincent,
G. Gregory Gay, C.M.
Superior General
