NUNTIA, MAY 2008

From the General Curia: New assignments to the Curia House; The Superior General; The Assistants General; General Postulation; Treasurer General; Finance Committeee. From the Provinces: Spain. Madrid; Poland; Peru; Portugal; France; USA-East. From the missionaries:

From the General Curia:

New assignments to the Curia House: Father Mario Grossi, from the Province of Turin, has been appointed superior and treasurer of the Curia House. For the past six years he has been superior of the Genoa House. He will begin his new service in September, but we joyfully await his visit in the beginning of June for the first contact with the community and house.

Father Luis Moleres, from the Province of Zaragoza, will also be coming in September, as private secretary of the Superior General and collaborator in the Communications Office.

Likewise, in September, Brother Milton de Jesus Pereira, from the Province of Rio de Janeiro, will be coming to replace Brother L’ubomir Žemla from the Province of Slovakia.

The Superior General: As mentioned in the previous issue of NUNTIA, he spent from 10 April to 15 May doing the Canonical Visitation of the Province of Madrid. The website of the Province of Madrid www.paulesmadrid.org (click on Noticias), followed the visit with a great deal of graphic information. Upon returning to Rome, he assisted at the meeting of Major Superiors, participated in the Finance Committee Meeting, and went to Ukraine for the Beatification of Sister Marta Wiecka. Returning to Rome the very day of the beatification, 24 May, he left on the 25^th for Los Angeles in order to give the Annual Retreat to the Province of the West (United States).

The Assistants General: On 3 May, Father Józef Kapuściak returned from Poland, where he had made the Canonical Visitation. His report is further on in this issue. As this issue of Nuntia was written, we were still awaiting the return of Fathers José María Nieto, José Antonio Ubillús and Gérard Du Tran Cong, as well as the Delegate of the Superior General for the Vincentian Family, Father Manuel Ginete.

General Postulation: Father Giuseppe Guerra, Postulator General, along with the Superior General and Father John Gouldrick assisted at the Beatification of Sister Marta Wiecka in Ukraine. On 29 May he went to Valencia, where the diocesan process for the cause of Msgr. Emilio Lisón was closed. He was Archbishop of Lima (Peru) from 1918-1931 and died in Valencia (Spain) in 1961.

Treasurer General: At the invitation of the COVIAM, Father John W. Gouldrick made two presentations at their annual meeting, held this year in Matola, Mozambique, May 6-9. The first presentation on the topic of economic self-sufficiency, offered a preliminary analysis of the information each province needs to know before creating strategies for self-sufficiency. The second presentation was a practicum on responsible financial management.

Finance Committee: Father Gouldrick handled the details related to the May 19-20 Curia Finannce Committee. A number of practical recommendations emerged from the participants: Mr. Thomas Beck of the Province of the U.S.A. Midwest, the newest member of the Committee, Fr. Philippe Lamblin of the Province of Paris, Fr. Bernard Meade of the Province of Ireland, and Fr. Thomas Stehlik of the Province of the U.S.A. South. Due to the Curia’s having changed the date for the meeting, Fr. Santiago Azcarate of the Province of Zaragoza was unable to attend.

From the Provinces:

Spain. Madrid: The province welcomed the Superior General’s Canonical Visitation from 11 April to 15 May, concluding with the feast of Saint Isidro Labrador, Patron of the City and the Archdiocese of Madrid.

The Superior General visited the province’s 16 houses and interviewed all the missionaries, beginning with Father Javier Álvarez, Director General of the Daughters of the Charity in Paris, and concluding with Father Antonio Ruiz, student of Fundamental Theology in Rome, after meeting with the 55 missionaries who live in the Central House of Madrid. Even the missionaries living outside the province, Father Diego Plá in El Alto (Bolivia), Father Miguel Ángel Renes in San Pedro de Sula (Honduras), and Father Miguel Sánchez Alba in Lisbon (Portugal), contacted the Superior General, answering some questions that he asked them through the Internet.

The Superior General himself recounts his impressions after the visit: “I discovered that certainly the best resource that the province has are its missionaries. I admire the dedicated experience of the elderly, who continue putting their diverse capacities at the service of God’s Kingdom, when at their age the remainder of the world is already retired and resting. The province counts on a significant group of valuable young men, who put their different talents at the service of the poor. I describe the provincial administration as being close to the confreres and, at the same time, efficient. It is a province that has economic resources at the disposal of the mission’s development, for the care of the missionaries, and for solidarity with other provinces and with the poor in general.”

“The visit provided me the opportunity to meet other branches of the Vincentian Family. I visited many houses of the Daughters of Charity, who are very well attended by the priests of the province. During almost all the visits to the local communities, I met members of other branches of the Vincentian Family, celebrating the Eucharist, summit of our faith, with them and always followed by a moment of sharing together.”

“To these general impressions of the visit, I would add some significant moments, such as the meetings with the President of the SSVP and the President of the AIC; the visits to JMV’s facilities, both national and international, and to the offices of the national AMM of Spain. A visit that particularly caught my attention was to the Clarisse Monastery in Lerma, where I was accompanied by the Provincial Treasurer, Father Roberto Calero. There I spoke with the 119 members of this community, more than one hundred of them young, mainly from Spain. Some of them have had close relations with the Vincentian Family, having been educated in centers of the Daughters of Charity, or members of JMV, and others coming from neo-catechumenal communities.”

“Other points of emphasis are the meeting with the seminarians of the Interprovincial Internal Seminary during my visit to the Community of Avila; the celebration of the Eucharist with the priests of the infirmary in the Provincial House; and the closing Eucharist in the Basilica of Our Lady of the Miraculous Medal with parishioners of the basilica’s parish, Daughters of Charity, and other members of the Vincentian Family, among them the International and National Presidents of the SSVP, the President of the AIC, the National President of the AMM, the International President of MISEVI, and the International and Spanish Teams of JMV.”

“Some have said that the Visit of the Superior General was a grace of God for them. I can say that it was for me, because it helped me to learn with greater depth the lively charism in a province of Western Europe.”

Poland: As delegates of the Superior General, Fathers Józef Kapuściak, Vicar General, and Father Józef Łucyszyn, Visitor of Hungary, visited the province in two periods, from 3-26 February and from 26 March to 29 April 2008.

Father Kapuściak writes after the visit:

“The Province of Poland is presently the largest in our Congregation. It has (data from May of the present year) 276 incorporated members (three bishops, 264 priests, four deacons, five coadjutor brothers). It has 29 houses, of which four are abroad (Austria, Belgium, France, and Germany).”

Both delegates of the Superior General visited all the houses and a good part of the sites where the confreres carry out their ministry. They interviewed the great majority of the confreres (for objective reasons they were not able to interview about 20 of them) and met with all the confreres together in each of the houses. They also had two meetings with the Provincial Council (at the beginning and at the end of the visit) and had a meeting with the students (22) and the seminarians (four).

“During the visit, both delegates also had fraternal visits with the three Visitatrixes of the Company of the Daughters of the Charity (Krakow, Chelmo-Poznan and Warsaw) and in a dozen houses of the sisters, who work with the confreres.”

“Upon visiting the communities and talking with the confreres, both delegates were able to state that the province has great human potential and is very dynamic. Thanks to a high number of active confreres (almost 220), the province carries out diverse activities: parish pastoral work (almost half the confreres are employed in this field), teaching religion in public schools (approximately 50), teaching in universities and theology faculties (10), formation of candidates for the priesthood — ours, diocesan, and religious — (approximately 30), pastoral assistance in hospitals, retirement homes and homes for mentally and physically handicapped children (there are some 15 chaplains all together), attention to the Daughters of Charity (three directors plus around ten chaplains), animation of the Vincentian laity (3), preaching popular missions (7) and spiritual retreats (various confreres), pastoral work with university students (3), missions ad gentes (3) publishing (2) and literary activity (some confreres). The province also tries to help some needy provinces with personnel (New England, Saints Cyril and Methodius, Paris, Holland, and Hungary).”

“The delegates noted too that the province has its problems among which it seems that the following three are the principal ones: 1) the instability of the young men in their vocation (in the last six years more than ten have left the Community); 2) the dispersion of a notable group of confreres, who, for reasons of work — especially in foreign lands — live alone; and 3) the decrease of vocations, which has been noticed for some years.”

Peru. 150 Years of Vincentian Presence. The Provincial Bulletin, in its January – February issue of 70 pages, gives an ample account of what happened in this Jubilee celebration. It has a long report on the visit of the Superior General and the Superioress General of the Daughters of the Charity. And why not? The tragedy of Pisco keeps appearing in the last part that Father Alfonso Berrade signed. It is well that we remember so that the marks of such a great tragedy do not fade away with time.

Portugal. Rebirth of the Bulletin: We celebrate the rebirth of its informative bulletin, after a year’s interruption.

The Bulletin opens with the report of a long and difficult missionary task carried out by seven branches of the Vincentian Family in Vale Flores-Feijó, in conformity with the commitment made at a council meeting. A mission, but one in which the Spirit’s ferment is acting, producing small, but solid fruits of Christian community.

The Bulletin reminds us too that the Daughters of Charity celebrate the 150^th anniversary of the canonical erection of the Province of Portugal (4 February 1858).

France: Meeting of Vincentians who work in prisons. Leading with articles by each of two participants at the meeting, Father Éric Ravoux and Marie Thérèse Esnault, Cahiers Saint Vincent, n º 202, recounts that, from 24-25 October, members of the Saint Vincent de Paul Teams (AIC) (13), Daughters of Charity (22), Priests of the Mission (4), and guests (4) met in the Welcome Center Louise de Marillac. All of them were committed somehow in the world of prisons. There were two very dense days of great quality because of the origin of the diverse participants and the professionalism of those who intervened.

USA East: Scholarship Fund: This note came from St. John’s University for publication:

“The cut-off date for making a final decision about which provinces receive scholarships will be on 1 December 2008.

Please submit any scholarship requests directly to Father Michael Carroll, C.M. By no later than 31 December 2008, the Eastern Province USA will notify the applying provinces of acceptance or non-acceptance.”

From the missionaries:

Father Tri Minh Duong, New Yorker of the Week: New York One is a 24-hour TV news channel that reaches more than two million cable TV users in the five boroughs of New York City. In addition to news and weather information, it promotes human-interest programs, such as New Yorker of the Week. On 16 May 2008, it granted this title to Father Tri Minh Duong.

“A Vietnamese immigrant, he gets college students to give back, encouraging volunteers among those at the University to help others.”

Father Tri Minh Duong came to the United States with his family in the early 1990s at age 20, in search of a better life. Life in Vietnam had been a daily struggle for Duong and his family. His mother cared for him and his nine siblings while his father was imprisoned for serving in the South Vietnamese Army. Upon arriving in the U.S., he entered the seminary and pledged his life to helping others. Now a priest, he works at St. John’s University, motivating his colleagues and students to help others. For the past three years he has organized volunteer projects for more than 1500 students. “He’s got this incredible gift of being able to motivate people to volunteer,” said Bread & Life Executive Director Tony Butler. “Every time he comes, he comes with a crew of students from the university, which we couldn’t survive without.”

When Duong arrived in the United States, he was surprised to find so many needy in New York. “In Vietnam, the only thing we know about the United States was through the movie. So, the idea you have about the United States, is this rich country, where everybody has money and whatever you want is right there for you. But when I came here, the reality is different.” “People in New York City and all over, they could see you bleed and they don’t approach you.

Each week Duong organizes free transportation for the volunteers, and spends time at more than ten organizations.

“He embodies what New Yorkers do,” said Butler. “Frequently most of us come from some place else, if another place in the country or another country, come without a lot of things and don’t just take from the city but transform the city and make it different and make it better.” And so for bringing the St. John’s community to people in need and helping to transform their lives, Father Duong is our New Yorker of the Week.

Nominationes:

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Necrologium: