Wednesday, the third day of the meeting of the visitors, did not have any special character. During the morning, before the usual period of prayer, the members assembled for an official photo, and then the usual routine of the other days began.
Fr. Hugh O´Donnell laid out the various resources that we could use to move ahead on this voyage that we want to take, moving from our own reality to the ideal that we are pursuing, to move, as Saint Vincent did, from being a self-centered seeker after benefices to being a great organizer of all the resources that he encountered in the service of the poor. And Fr. O’Donnell kept inviting us to value what had already been accomplished in the Community and the Church, to recognize the value of the very persons of the confreres, to appreciate the potential good that ongoing formation offers us, to discover a positive attitude toward change and conversion, to thank the goodwill of the confreres, and finally to know how to take advantage of the rich and varied collaboration that people of good will offer us.
Then Fr. Patrick McDevitt continued his work of directing to a safe harbor the search that we have begun. First, the group listed various concrete resources that we can count on, then in small groups, and finally in the plenary session, we worked to lay out the concrete lines of actions that should be developed out of what we perceive in our own reality and leading to the expectations that we have to bring something to our provinces. It was not an easy task. Just when it seemed that the door was open, a new intervention made us think that there was a long way to go to get out of here. And all the interventions were very important, but each one made the way a little more difficult. Where we were going? What are we supposed to do? Tomorrow may bring a solution. As with all procedures, this too needs some time for maturity to arrive at the result that we are hoping for.
Amid all the comings and goings, this chronicler had time again to examine the fine logo that greets us everywhere, and which the readers can see in the opening image of this chronicle. It is the graphic design of a theological student in the province of Paris, Alexis Cerquera. He has a real sense of pre-Columbian cultures. There is a diversity of forms which all together give an impression of unity. And so we could read that the theme is “To inculturate unity amid diversity, on the Aztec lands.” But after the fatigue of today’s sessions, we could also understand the logo as the labyrinth in which we find ourselves, and from which we are anxious to exit.
In the final session of the afternoon, we had the continuation of what we are calling the Agenda of the superior general. We had presentations today about SIEV and the office of communications.
Concerning SIEV and its plans, both long-term and short-term, Fr. Elie Delplace, the provincial of Paris and a member of SIEV, gave a well-ordered, rousing and enthusiastic presentation. To situate this institution in its trajectory, which is somewhat unknown among the confreres, Fr. Julio Suescun, the executive secretary of SIEV, noted some small historical details and pointed out some of the results inspired by SIEV.
Vincentiana, Nuntia and the web page were presented by Fr. Alfredo Becerra, up till recently the director of these efforts in the Curia. In a fine PowerPoint presentation, he gave a report on his work, and asked the participants to give their collaboration to the new director, Fr. Julio Suescun. The latter took the occasion to present the situation of reorganization of the web page, with one exclusively for the CM, and which will have a common address: https://cmglobal.org, from which one can access the various versions. English is https://cmglobal.org/en, Spanish, https://cmglobal.org.es; French and Italian https://cmglobal.org/it. Until now, only the Spanish and English versions are up and working. The English one has, for now, https://cmglobal.org/en/news/.
