The Synod of the Word. From the General Curia: Farewell to Brother Lubo; Tempo Forte; The Superior General; Father Weldemariam Zerajohannes; Appointments and decisions; SIEV. CLAPVI: 13th General Assembly From the Provinces: Holland; Colombia; Costa Rica; Turin:Tragic death of Father Giovanni Concas; USA, Eastern Province: Paris-St. John’s-Rome:





The Synod of the Word:

The month, and even more so here in Rome, has been dominated by this great ecclesial event that is the Synod of the Word.  We enjoyed the presence among us of our confreres the Bishop of Farafangana, Msgr. Benjamin Ramaroson, before beginning the Episcopal Assembly, and the Archbishop of Addis Ababa, Msgr. Berhaneyesus Demerew Souraphiel, who visited us on the 30th.  Their interventions at the Synod can be read in the Vatican’s press releases.  Msgr. Souraphiel granted us an interview that cmglobal.org will publish.
Saint Vincent’s image, which will be seen on Nuntia for several months, helps us recall that the weight of responsibility to make of the Word the center of the Church’s life and mission, and to make it reality in the world of the poor, gets lighter with the power of the Lord’s Spirit in us.
From the General Curia:
Farewell to Brother Lubo: This photo (only in the PDF version) of almost all the members of the Curia is a well-deserved honor to Brother L’ubomír Žemla (in the house, Lubo) for the five long years of skillful, punctual, and dedicated service that he gave in the Curia.
The schedules of the different members of the community made it necessary for the farewell to be held in several stages.  On the 14th, before the Superior General left for the Congo, we celebrated the first farewell, with an emotional speech by Brother Lubo, who exhorted us to live in fraternal love and commended himself to our prayers in order to be faithful in the new mission that the Lord entrusts to him.  The Superior General answered him, thanking him for his services and the example of his dedicated life.  Then, on the 22nd, the Visitor of Slovakia, Father Jozef Noga, accompanied by the Provincial Treasurer, came to take Lubo, first to his province and then to send him to the mission in Ukraine.
And now we have nothing but his memory, evoked in so many places, so often, whenever his name is mentioned: Lubo!!
Tempo Forte: The General Council, presided over by the General Superior, used the 1st and 2nd of October to review its Council Project.  Then, from the 6th to the 10th, with some additional meetings, it was the “tempo forte” of October.  A detailed account of it will be given in letter to the Visitors and on cmglobal.org.
The Superior General: After the revision and tempo forte days, he took part, on the 12th, in the presentation of the project of Saint John’s University in Rome and, on the 15th, he went to visit the confreres and sisters in the Congo.  We await his return on the 29th.  Cmglobal will report on this trip too.  At the moment, as Father Dominique Iyolo, Visitor of the Congo, reports, everything is going well and with great benefit for the entire Vincentian Family.
Father Weldemariam Zerajohannes, of the Province of Saint Justin De Jacobis (Eritrea), visited the Curia to report on his recent visit to the Church of Tripoli in Libya.   A more detailed report can be seen on cmglobal.org and on        famvin.org/es.  He went there invited by the Bishop of Tripoli, who is looking for support to care for some groups of religious, who are working in collaboration with Catholic Charities.
In a totally Moslem territory, the Vincentian spirit lives on in four Daughters of Charity, two from the Philippines and two Spaniards from the Province of Pamplona, who are a vivid expression of Christ’s charity that sympathizes with the poor.  “They are teaching us to serve the poor,” the Bishop says.
Father Weldemariam’s impression and reaction is enclosed in this question: How could we, Vincentian missionaries, collaborate with the Church of Tripoli, which is in the forefront of this new evangelization?  Initially, the response seems to point to some type of periodic presence.  In this way the entry is easier.
Appointments and decisions:
Fr. Gregory Gay, Superior General, and his Council have named Fr. Marcelo Manimtim from the Province of the Philippines, Director of the International Formation Center (CIF) in Paris.  Fr. Marcelo will begin his mandate officially in September 2009 for a duration of five years, renewable for three other years.
Likewise, theSuperior General, Fr. Gregory Gay, announced the appointment of Fr. Enrique Rivas as Subdirector of the International Association of the Miraculous Medal.  Fr. Enrique assumed this responsibility after Fr. Benjamín Romo submitted his resignation due to conflicts with his present apostolic endeavors and the leadership role of the International Association of the Miraculous Medal.
In a letter directed to the entire Vincentian Family, the Superior General concretized the aim of the 350th anniversary celebration of the deaths of Saint Vincent de Paul and Saint Louise de Marillac: “Our celebration will primarily focus on honoring Saint Vincent de Paul and Saint Louise de Marillac as witnesses and examples of love and service of the poor.  Concretely, in this time of grace, we will seek to deepen our Vincentian charism and spirituality, as well as our relationship with the poor and with one another, and to celebrate their heritage by, among other things, promoting the service of the poor through concrete projects in partnership with other organizations in the Church and in society, particularly projects that bring about systemic change in the lives of the poor.”
In the same letter he transmits: “In view of all this, we formed various committees to coordinate at the international level the activities that would carry out these objectives.  Thus, the Heritage Committee will coordinate sessions and programs relative to reflection on and deepening of our Vincentian spirituality.  The Celebration Committee will take care of the major liturgical celebrations during these occasions.  And the Projects Committee will coordinate plans towards a collaborative project.  These Committees, together with two auxiliary committees — Finance and Secretariat — will assist the International Executive Coordinators headed by Fr. Józef Kapuściak, with the help of Sister Palmarita Guida, DC, and Fr. Manuel Ginete.”
SIEV: (International Secretariat for Vincentian Studies) held its annual meeting in Barcelona, on 1-3 September 2008.  It is grateful to the community of the Provincial House for its fraternal welcome and careful assistance.
CLAPVI: 13th General Assembly:
From 16-22 October 2008, CLAPVI had its General Assembly, which it holds every three years.  Accompanied by the Assistant General, Fr. José Antonio Ubillús, and with the absence of only two of the representative members, it carried out the prepared agenda: sharing of the provinces’ experiences, presentation of the secretary’s report on the work developed over three years, conference on the event and document of the Fifth Conference of the Latin American and Caribbean Episcopate assembled in Aparecida, evaluation of the document of the 2004 General Assembly, perspectives and contributions for that of 2010, answers to the points suggested by the Superior General and other matters presented, and the decision to form a common Internal Seminary in the only zone that does not have one.
The Council changed, so the following were elected for the next triennium: President: Fr. Daniel Vásquez, Visitor of Colombia; Vice-President: Fr. José Francisco Ramos, Visitor of Central America; First Member: Fr. Agnaldo De Paula, Visitor of Rio de Janeiro; Second Member: Fr. Silviano Calderón, Visitor of Mexico; Secretary: Fr. José Jair Vélez of Colombia.  During our Assembly we wanted to accompany the priests and sisters of the Province of Argentina in the opening of the jubilee year commemorating the arrival of the first priests and sisters in Rio de la Plata.
From the Provinces:
Holland: From 10 September to 5 October, Fr. Gérard Du, Assistant General, made the canonical visitation of the Province of Holland.
“The Province of Holland had a glorious history in the last century.  The first Dutchman entered the Congregation in 1829.  Then, in successive years, others followed in his footsteps.
From the beginning, the province was oriented toward the Mission ad Gentes.  All the confreres, priests and seminarians, were inspired by a single desire: to be sent to the foreign missions.  By the end of the 19th century, the Dutch Vincentians had their own mission territory in the Apostolic Vicariate of Tchély to the east of Beijing, China, and a Vincentian bishop for the new Vicariate of Yongpingfu.
From 1970 to 1976, the number of Dutch confreres rose to 252.  They were in 26 countries, notably in Brazil (48), Central America (12), Chile (3), Curaçao (3), Denmark (3), Ethiopia (22), Indonesia (20), Taiwan (10), Congo-RDC (6), and the USA (7).
Unfortunately, as in so many other religious congregations in the Netherlands, for 30 years the Province of Holland has not recorded any admissions.  Nowadays the province has no more than 43 priests, to which are added some confreres still working in Brazil (Province of Fortaleza), Ethiopia, China–Taiwan, and Indonesia.
At present, the province has three canonical houses, of which two are in Holland, Panningen and Nijmegen, and the third one in Denmark, near the capital, Copenhagen, maintained for several years by three Polish confreres, who animate three parishes.  The confreres who reside in Holland are almost all experienced former missionaries in Asia, Africa, or America.  Because of their advanced age (the average age of the province’s missionaries is 75) and infirmities, most are gathered in Panningen, where they receive all the necessary attention.  Those who are able carry out parish ministry or care for chaplaincies in retirement homes or hospitals.”
Father Gérard visited the Bishop of Roermond and the Bishop of Copenhagen, whose diocese extends over the whole of Denmark.  He went to greet the Daughters of Charity in three of the four communities that exist, of which one is in a wing of the large house of the missionaries in Panningen.
The visit to the confreres of the Province of Holland awakened in the Assistant General a feeling of deep esteem and admiration for these brave missionaries who, regrettably, do not find replacements.
Colombia: From 25 July until 28 September, Fr. José María Nieto, Assistant General, visited the Province of Colombia.  “It has 24 communities, 19 in Colombia, 2 in Rwanda, 1 in Burundi, 1 in Brazil and 1 in Ecuador.  Nowadays, it has more than 160 incorporated members and a median age of 53.50.  It is the second most numerous province of the Congregation, only surpassed by Poland.  The candidates (in philosophy) and the already admitted seminarians come to almost 100.
The Province carries out its apostolic activity in a difficult socio-political environment; but Colombia is rapidly changing and the government is achieving important accomplishments in the pacification of the country, in the economy and in other basic areas.
The formation of the clergy, a traditional ministry and very established in the province, continues being the principal ministry.  Twenty-four of our missionaries work in seven major diocesan seminaries with more than 200 seminarians: five seminaries in Colombia, that of Aparecida in Brazil, and one more in Ecuador.  The formation of our own candidates in Medellín, Santa Rosa de Cabal, and Funza occupies 18 missionaries to the full.
Four regions constitute another important work front in mission situations (Tierradentro, Guaranda, Gilgal, and Guachaca) and there is also the mission “ad gentes” in Rwanda and Burundi, which now is completing ten years of existence.  The province attends to other ministries too: urban parishes, a Marian sanctuary, accompaniment of the Daughters of Charity (in Colombia there are two provinces and around 900 sisters) and the Vincentian Family.  A typical feature of the province is its intense interprovincial collaboration: Colombian missionaries work in our international missions (Papua New Guinea), in several provinces of the United States and Europe (Naples, Rome, Toulouse, Germany, Holland, etc.), in Honduras and in Cuba.  Nevertheless, the province also senses the need to regulate this collaboration in order to be able to attend to its own commitments.
Colombia confronts several delicate situations too: the new and next paths for formation of the clergy, the future of our own vocations, the mission in Rwanda and Burundi, the consolidation of some local communities, the high number of absent missionaries, accompaniment of the Vincentian Family, financial self-sufficiency, etc.  Thanks be to God, the province’s vitality and virtues generate the necessary hope for confronting these challenges.”
Costa Rica: “The Vincentian month has been full of celebrations.  The first one was our Annual Retreat, during the first week of the month, which was based on reflection on the Conclusions of the Document from the Fifth Conference of the Latin-American Episcopate in Aparecida, on the Consecrated Life.  At the end of the retreat, two new admitted members of the Congregation made their Good Purposes: Reynaldo Bejarano and Karel Martin; both had begun their Internal Seminary in Cuba and completed it with us.  Finally, the celebration of the Feast of Saint Vincent de Paul with the whole Vincentian Family brought together members of all the branches that exist in Costa Rica.  Around 200 persons were present.  The reflections centered on the topics proposed by the Superior General for Systemic Change.  These were some celebrations that prove that our Vice-Province and our Vincentian Family work steadily in this small Central American country.”
Orient: Glorious anniversary: On Saturday, 27 September 2008, the entire Vincentian Family of Lebanon came together around the Visitor, Father Antoine Nakad, and the confreres of Lebanon to celebrate the solemnity of our Founder Saint Vincent de Paul and inaugurate the festivities of the 225th anniversary of the beginning of the Vincentian Fathers in the Orient.
His Excellency, Msgr. Paul Dahdah, Vicar Apostolic, in the presence of our confrere, Msgr. Georges Bou Jaoudé, Archbishop of Tripoli of the Maronites, celebrated a solemn Mass in the chapel of the College of Saint Joseph, in Antoura, in an atmosphere of fraternity and joyful sharing.
Turin: Tragic death of Father Giovanni Concas: The unexpected and tragic death of Father Gianni Concas, as consequence of carbon monoxide poisoning resulting from a fire in his room on the night of 17 October, painfully shook the community of Turin, the whole province of the Congregation, and his relatives and friends, as they heard the sad news.
He was only 51, born in Sinnai (Sardinia) on 22 August 1957.  He entered the Congregation on 26 September 1978 and was ordained on 9 April 1983.
In 1993, he was assigned to Turin for the service of the poor.  Of him the newspaper, La Stampa, in its Turin chronicle writes, characterizing him as an outstanding personality: “Father Gianni has died, the angel of the homeless”; “20 years in the service of the weakest.”  Father Gianni went every day to the Vincentian Service Center of Via Nizza, 24 to take care of the transients in collaboration with the Daughters of Charity.  He spent hours chatting with them and even had organized a special catechesis for them.  In addition, he went to the prison, because he had made care of the weakest his raison d’être.
USA, Eastern Province: Paris-St. John’s-Rome: Concerned about opening its students’ formation to other cultures and to the European world, the administration of Saint John’s University created a program of six-month placement in three of five European cities, where it has established centers with specially prepared residences.
The President of the University, Father Donald J. Harrington, presented the center at Rome, located in the Leonine, on 12 October, just as he had presented that located in the Motherhouse of Paris on the first.  He maintained that Saint John’s University has opened these centers not only for the European experience, but especially for the Catholic and Vincentian experience.  He invited the missionaries to collaborate, with the example of their Vincentian life, in the formation of the university’s young men and women.
Ordinationes

CHRISTIAWAN  Thomas

Ids

05/02/2008

ISWANDIR Lorentius

Ids

05/02/2008

BISMAK Vladyslav

SCM

10/10/2008

Necrologium

Nomen

Cond.

Dies ob.

Prov.

Aet.

Voc.

CONCAS Giovanni

Sac

22/10/2008

Tau

51

30

CHEVALLIER Jean-Baptiste

Sac

24/10/2008

Mat

77

60