January 25 marked the beginning of a new Italian Province of the Congregation of the Mission
By. Mario Di Carlo, CM
January 25, 2016, was a historic day for the Vincentian community in Rome. On the anniversary of the foundation of the Congregation of the Mission (1617), the Congregation began a new life in Italy. After a long period of preparation, which sought to involve all the Vincentian confreres in Italy, the three former provinces of the Congregation of the Mission became unified, even on a juridical plane. From now on there will be one Province of the Vincentians in Italy, comprising about 150 confreres, in the hope that it can also be the begin of a more significant presence in the life of the Church and in the history of persons, in a renewed fidelity to the charism of St. Vincent, lived in the two dimensions of evangelization and charity.
The day unfolded according to a defined program. At 3:15 pm at the Collegio Leoniano in Rome, the official act of the erection of the new Province by Fr. Gregory Gay, Superior General, with the seating of the new provincial government by the newly elected Visitor Fr. Nicola Albanesi. Then the event moved to the house “Maria Immacolata” [of the Daughters of Charity], where, after the welcome by the new Visitor, who spoke on the theme of the Mission in Italy today, there was a historical recalling to make evident the long history that all of us carry with us as Vincentians and to which we are called to remain faithful. Fr. Luigi Mezzadri accented the link between “missionary activity and the “praxis of mercy,” helping us to see that Vincentian work always appears as an opportune moment to reveal to people of every time the Fatherly and merciful face of God the Father, in the light of the experience and the teaching of St. Vincent. Then Fr. Luigi Nuovo presented the theme of the “mission going forth” of the Vincentians in Italy in the past, above all to the United States of America, where they have just recently celebrated the 200th anniversary of the arrival of the first Vincentians, who came from Rome. This [mission going forth] has been a constant part of the activity of the Vincentians in Italy, who have always felt strongly the call to the “missione ad gentes,” along with the commitment to the preaching of popular missions and the formation of the clergy. Besides the history of Italian Vincentians in the United States, the confreres began the work of the Congregation in Spain, Portugal, Madagascar, Indonesia, Eritrea, and Albania; in some of these countries Italian confreres from the former Italian provinces are still working.
Fr. General also spoke, inviting all to live this historic moment as a great gift that God gives to the Congregation in Italy.
We all returned back to the Collegio Leoniano, where the Eucharistic celebration to place, to thank the Lord for this moment of lived history, and to ask help for living a future of renewed apostolic commitment, accompainied by an abundance of new members for the Company. After Mass there was a community supper that sealed the beautiful moment. There were many confreres present, as well as Daughters of Charity and members of the Vincentian Family. All of this serves as a beautiful “good wish” that we might live together a future rich in hope, and of work done in common in the spirit of St. Vincent.
Translated: Roberto Stone, CM
NB January 25th celebrates the day of the first mission sermon, not the day of the juridical formation of the Congregation. In the first line I changed the date from 1625 to 1617. I used English usage to refer to the confreres (the Italians use the term “misisonaries”).
