The Annual Conference of the Provincials of Europe and the Middle East (CEVIM) was held from the 1st to the 4th of April, 2008 at the VINCENTINUM Center for Spirituality, which the Province of Poland owns in nearby Krakow
The 19 participating Provincials, accompanied by Fr. José María Nieto, General Assistant, and helped by the translating team composed by Fathers Claudio Santangelo, Félix Álvarez, Bernard Massarini y Kasimierz Stelmach, worked on a hectic agenda, among which were featured:
- The evaluation of the pledges assumed by the CEVIM in Mexico in 2007.
- The response which the Congregation of the Mission may give before the new challenges to the Church and the evangelization of Europe.
- Interprovincial collaboration.
- The missions in the world belonging to the Provinces of Europe.
- The possible participation of the missionaries before organisms of European representation (a subject treated with the help of Maritchu Rall, representative of the AIC)
- The evaluation of the encounter of the CEVIM’s formators held in Rome in January 2008.
- The program for the encounter of the CEVIM’s young missionaries in june-july 2008.
- Exchange of information among the Provinces or group of Provinces.
- The Secretary’s report.
In accordance with the Statutes, this Conference had to elect a new CEVIM President and Vice-President. For the next three years, the following have been elected: Brian Moore as President and Nicola Albanesi as Vice-President. They are taking place of the outgoing President and Vice-President: Corpus Delgado and Stanislav Zontak respectively. The CEVIM’s permanent Council’s other participating members are: the Secretary, Giuseppe Turati, elected in 2007 for three years; and Fr. Antoine Nakad, as it is provided that the 2009 Conference be held in Beirut (Lebanon).
The atmosphere of brotherhood, the well-prepared liturgical celebrations y and the generous hospitality of the confreres of Poland have helped to favor the exchange among the Provincials and give way to the collaboration among the Provinces.
The visits to the Sanctuary of Our Lady of Jasna Gora and to the Salt Mines, together with the presentation of the Province and its principal works, have provided us a closer look at the spiritual, cultural and Vincentian reality of “semper fidelis” Poland.
