It has been some time already that our website has not published a report to the Vincentian Family on the activities of the Superior General. We would have to go back as far as the visit in Brazil. Then there was summer and vacation and it seems as if the activity stopped. However, it was not thus. In this interview with Father Julio Suescun, Director of the Communications Office of the CM, he tells about his principal activities in that time.
J.S. During your vacation, you carried out some activities related to your office. Is that not so?
S.G. Yes, I used my stay in the United States to participate in some activities at the University of Niagara, assist at the anniversary celebration of the AIC in the United States and visit the Northeast Province of the Daughters.
J.S. What was celebrated at Niagara University?
S.G. There were various activities in which I took part at the university, noteworthy of which was the Opening Mass of the school year, which I presided as Principal Celebrant and at which I preached the homily. Since it coincided with 11 September, the anniversary of the attack on the Twin Towers, I spoke of the need to construct relationships of confidence in order to live in a better world and of the role education must play in order to build up such a world.
J.S. When and where was the AIC founded in the United States?
S.G. The foundation place of the AIC in the United States was the Parish of Saint Vincent de Paul, run by the Vincentian missionaries, in Saint Louis. The AIC celebrated its 150th anniversary with an Assembly at which I gave the keynote address. I spoke of the AIC’s past and present, while also indicating some challenges for the future.
J.S. On what did you insist most?
S.G. I tried to help them to work in a more united way with the International AIC and also to strengthen ties with the rest of the Vincentian Family in the United States.
J.S. What was your activity with the Daughters of Charity?
S.G. I was three days in the Northeast Province of the United States. There, in the Provincial House, which is located in Albany, I celebrated the Eucharist several times with the sisters. I held a rather extensive dialogue with them on topics related to the Vincentian Family and, in particular, to the Daughters of Charity. I visited the elderly and sick sisters. I met with the Visitatrix and her council and I also held a little meeting and Eucharist with other members of the Vincentian Family, especially the AIC.
J.S. After the vacation, where did the activity of the Superior General continue?
S.G. The first activity worth mentioning after my vacation was the Canonical Visitation of the Province of Hungary. It is a small province, which at this time has only ten active missionaries, of whom two are 95 years old, but still work, above all as confessors of various people, among them the Daughters of Charity.
J.S. What can you tell us of this visit to Hungary?
S.G. Among the various activities in which I participated, I can highlight a seminar on the history of the Congregation in Hungary, which lasted an entire day. I gave two talks, speaking of the Congregation in the world today and the spirituality of the Vincentian Family for our days. Father Luigi Mezzadri was also at this meeting and spoke of the Congregation in Europe. Hungary was the object of attention of other conferences prepared by professors and alumni of the university where the confreres of the province labor.
J.S. How did you find the confreres of the province and what is its vocational perspective?
S.G. I visited, of course, the province’s three houses, interviewing all the confreres. It is a young province, with four confreres from Poland, one from Slovakia and the rest Hungarian. At this time we have three candidates in the seminary, two of whom are completing their theological studies at the Collegio Alberoni in Piacenza, Italy.
J.S. And the Daughters of Charity?
S.G. I visited the Provincial House of the Daughters of Charity, where more than 100 sisters gathered. I celebrated the Eucharist in Latin, with the homily in Italian, translated into Hungarian. Then I had an informal dialogue with the sisters and priests present.
J.S. How does the Church’s hierarchy see the confreres’ evangelization activity?
S.G. I visited the Papal Nuncio in the country, the Cardinal and two bishops in whose dioceses the confreres labor. All of them want to see the presence of the Congregation increased in Hungary. All of them spoke to me of the great need for evangelization in the country.
J.S. Is there something else you can tell about this visit?
S.G. Yes. I left the province, with the Visitor, to visit a house of the Vice-Province of Saints Cyril and Methodius in Perečín, Ukraine, and to see our confrere, Father Milan Šášik, bishop of the Greek Catholics in a region of Ukraine. The Visitor and I participated in the blessing of a new church and the Eucharist, in the Greek-Catholic rite. The celebration lasted three hours, but was very well-attended, with much participation, many songs and a great deal of enthusiasm.
J.S. Following your return to Rome, you turned around and left for Paris. What can you highlight of your stay in Paris?
S.G. I met with a group of eight sisters in a new ongoing formation program called VIE (Vincentian Integrated Experience). It is a nine-month program in which the sisters begin with the origins and continue with an in-depth study of our heritage and the Vincentian charism. I celebrated the Eucharist with the sisters and we shared some informal time and also lunch.
J.S. Did you have a meeting with the confreres?
S.G. Yes. We can say that it took place on two levels, apart from the fraternal meeting with all at the Motherhouse. I met with Father Alain Pérez, superior of the Berceau, and with his assistant, in order to continue our dialogue on how we might improve the internationality of the services that the Congregation and the Daughters of Charity offer at the Berceau. I shared a session with 19 members of the CIF Program in an open dialogue at which I stated my vision of the Congregation today and responded to the questions the participants had on the life of the Congregation and the Vincentian Family.
We celebrated the Eucharist together in Saint Vincent’s Chapel, asking his intercession for this program and for this group so that the participants might continue advancing on their journey with Jesus Christ, Evangelizer of the Poor, in the different countries where they are assigned. This group is English and French speaking, coming from countries in the south of the world, Asians and Africans, and also a Colombian.
J.S. And the Vincentian Family?
S.G. I met with the coordinator of a branch of the Vincentian Family, which is called the Vincent de Paul Lay Fraternity and with Father Christian Sens, one of the primary promoters of this group. We tried to develop some documents to help present this small branch to the rest of the Vincentian Family.
