NUNTIA No. 9 SEPTEMBER 2007

Monthly Bulletin of News from the General Curia of the C.M.
In the Mission of Heaven:
With this expression, Saint Vincent referred to the missionaries who had concluded their mission on earth. They continue forming part of our Congregation, through the Communion of Saints, stimulating us when we recall their virtues and helping us by the intercession with which they favor us. Today we remember three Daughters of Charity and Father Antonio Canduglia. The Beatification of Sister Giuseppina Nicoli (1863-1924) will be held in Cagliari (Italy) on 3 February 2008 and will be presided by Cardinal José Saraiva Martíns, Prefect of the Congregation of the Saints, as delegate of the Holy Father.
The Beatification of Sister Marta Anna Wiecka (1874-1904) will be held in Leopoli (Ukraine), and will also be presided by Cardinal Martíns.
NUNTIA has already given information about the Beatification of Sister Lindalva Justo de Oliveira (1953-1993), which will take place in Salvador de Bahía, Brazil on 25 November 2007. Now we can add that the liturgical memorial has been set for 7 January (the date of her baptism), because the day of her death (9 April) falls in Lent or Easter time.
The Diocese of Aversa (Naples) wanted to celebrate solemnly the centenary of the death of an illustrious citizen and our brother, Father Antonio Canduglia (1861-1907). He was born in Aversa on 13 June 1861 and died as a martyr in China, at Ta-ho-ly, on 25 September 1907, during the Boxer Rebellion. Participating in a roundtable discussion were Monsignor Nicolas Giallaurito, author of a praiseworthy biography of the martyr; Father Biagio Falco, Visitor of Naples; and Father Giuseppe Guerra, Postulator General. They were able to clarify the Vincentian presence in Aversa in the past and in the present.
General Curia
Change in the General Secretariat: After 14 years in the service of the Secretariat of the Superior General, Sister Ann Mary Dougherty is returning to the United States. In truth, it does not take much time to get to know the capacity and dedication of Sister Ann Mary, because her welcome and spirit of service are transparent, with Vincentian simplicity, for all of us who live in the General Curia. Thank you. May Saint Vincent accompany her and the Spirit of the Lord guide her in her new work.
To replace Sister Ann Mary in the Secretariat of the Superior General, Sister Mary Hale has arrived from the United States. We wish her a happy and joyful stay in this important service to the Superior General of the CM and of the Daughters of Charity.
The Superior General: He had an interruption in his vacation for three activities that he carried out: at Niagara University, where he gave a conference; in the Northeast Province of the Daughters of Charity, where a meeting was organized; and in Saint Louis (Missouri), where he assisted at the National Assembly of the AIC.
On the 26th, he assisted at the inauguration of the Interprovincial Internal Seminary in Avila.
The other members of the Curia, having concluded their vacations or their summer tasks, are now in the house, preparing the Tempo Forte Council meeting, which will be followed by the annual retreat that we will make together.
The community received with joy the mother and family of Father José María Nieto, who, on visit to Rome, shared a meal with us one day. The superior welcomed them, saying that in our community the families of our confreres are like an extension of our own family.
From the Provinces
Madagascar: From the notes of Father Gérard Du, Assistant General, who made the canonical visitation from 17 August to 20 September, we take the following extracts:
From 1674, when the mission begun by Saint Vincent himself was interrupted, one had to wait 222 years until 1896 to take it up again. The province, which celebrated the centenary of this second epoch of Vincentian presence on the island in 1996, will recall the centenary of its canonical erection in 2011.
Today the province has two bishops (Msgr. Pierre Zévaco, Bishop Emeritus of Fort-Dauphin, and Msgr. Benjamin Ramaroson, Bishop of Farafangana), 78 priests, of whom 35 are Malagasy, two deacons, six incorporated brothers, some 20 seminarians in the Scholasticate and ten in the Internal Seminary.
From the beginning, the Holy See assigned the southern part of Madagascar, the Apostolic Vicariate of Fort-Dauphin, which represents a third of the island, to the Priests of the Mission. It is the poorest region in all senses. In this extensive territory, various dioceses have been erected: Farafangana (1957); Ihosy (1967), whose first bishop was an Italian missionary from the Province of Naples, who died three years later, at the age of 50; and the Apostolic Vicariate of Toleara (Tildar) confided to the Assumptionists in 1957.
The Italian missionaries, who are now ten, settled in the Diocese of Ihosy and, since 1962, have been working at evangelization and human promotion in many mission posts.
The Spanish missionaries are concentrated in Androy. It is the poorest region, because of the drought, which produces endemic famines.
The Polish and Slovak missionaries work above all in the Dioceses of Fort-Dauphin and Farafangana, while the French missionaries are spread out in the capital and the dioceses of the Southeast.
Father Gérard participated in the Provincial Assembly, which was held in the Scholasticate of the Congregation in Fianarantsoa from 22-24 August 2007. He also had interviews with all the bishops of the dioceses where the missionaries work: the Archbishop of the capital, Antananarivo, the Archbishop of Fianarantsoa and President of the Episcopal Conference, the Bishop of Ihosy, the Bishop of Fort-Dauphin and the two bishops of the Congregation of the Mission.
Father Gérard also visited the Daughters of Charity who work in the different localities and who make up a province of some 250 sisters. He met with the Nazarene Sisters in various places. This is a community founded in Turin by Blessed Durando, missionary beatified by John Paul II in 2002. The Nazarene Sisters arrived in Madagascar from Italy in 1967 and already have 90 Malagasy sisters. They are, above all, in the Diocese of Ihosy, in the care of hospitals and leprosariums where they serve the sick.
The different branches of the Vincentian Family are thriving where the Daughters of Charity or the Nazarene Sisters work. They have their formation meetings or celebrations, like that for the upcoming feast of Saint Vincent. Father Gérard met with them in various places and spoke to them about Vincentian spirituality.
Before returning to Rome, the Assistant General was delighted to get to know the social center of Akamasoa, developed in 1989 by Father Pedro Opeka on the outskirts of the capital, to construct cement housing and lodge thousands of homeless. Thanks to the help of benefactors, he has been able to construct classrooms for schooling some 9000 children and adolescents.
In the village of Tanjomoha, in Vohipeno, Father Emeric Amyot d’Inville continues, with burning zeal, the work begun by Father Vincent Carme for the mentally and physically handicapped, as well as for other sick people, especially all with tuberculosis.
Seeing all these works of charity, one cannot stop thinking that the Vincentian charism is alive and that it makes happy those who live it and those who benefit from it.
Poland, Ongoing Formation: On 10-12 September 2007, in our rebuilt Vincentian Formation Center “Vicentinum,” we had a meeting for missionaries ordained between 1970 and 1979.
The principal theme of this meeting was “The Sacraments of the Eucharist and Reconciliation in the life and ministry of the Vincentian priest.” The conferences were looked at from the recent documents of the Holy See referring to the theme. There were also two special conferences: one on the problem of alcoholism, given by a priest responsible for the AA movement in Poland; and the other referring to the problem of brothers in difficulty, in relation to the meeting organized by the General Curia in January 2007.
The 24 missionaries who took part evaluated the meeting very positively. It helped them to see again the greatness of priestly ministry and to experience the happiness of community life. From 1-3 October, there will be another meeting for missionaries ordained between 1980 and 1987.
Poland, Retreats 2007: As in past years, for this year 2007, nine annual retreats have been organized for our missionaries. All the retreats are held in Krzeszowice, our newly rebuilt Center of Vincentian Formation “Vicentinum.” The preachers will be our confreres and a priest from another religious congregation.
Argentina, Celebration of 150 Years: On Saturday, 23 June, the enlarged Commission for the preparation of the 150 years or sesquicentennial met in the Provincial House of the sisters; “enlarged” because it includes laity of the Vincentian Family. From now on, we will work together, the laity and the consecrated, to prepare our celebration.
The theme and the definitive logo were discussed. The matter of the history was also tackled, for it is necessary to revive the memory of those who constructed our provinces and of so many missionaries, sisters, and laity, identified with the Vincentian charism, who gave their lives in our land.
We continued discussing the possibility of some joint event as Family, as in the case of the Popular Missions in some of our works. As soon as we define the Interprovincial Mission, we will be able to concretize this project more for the entire Vincentian Family.
Italy, Interprovincial activity: At the meeting of the Provincial Councils of Italy, held on 8 September in the Provincial House of the Daughters of Charity in Cagliari, the Statute for the Italian Scholasticate in the Alberoni College was approved.
An agreement for Italian confreres who work in a province of Italy different from theirs was also signed.
Both approbations are unmistakable signs of the will to collaborate, which is springing up again among the provinces. Now it is necessary to have Interprovincial management and performance projects as a prophetic sign of a new way of understanding this collaboration.
Vincentian Studies Institute: In the Eastern Province Newsletter of the Vincentians we read that, by an agreement among the Provinces of North America, the Daughters of Charity and the University, as of 1 July 2007, the Vincentian Studies Institute became part of DePaul University.
The said Institute publishes the magazine Vincentian Heritage, as well as original works, reprints, scholarly monographs and translations in the areas of Vincentian history, spirituality and praxis. It offers grants to scholars researching and writing on Vincentian topics. It has a large library, special collections and archives to support its research mission.
It also has a continuing education program that includes sponsorship of tours of France to the key sites in the life and work of Saint Vincent.
The Institute, whose headquarters have been at DePaul University since 1995, has as mission to “promote a living interest in the Vincentian Heritage” among the Vincentian Family in the United States.
The members of the Institute, missionaries, Daughters of Charity and Vincentian laity, attended a total of 55 meetings held in 21 different locations.
From the Vincentian Family
In recent months, Father Manuel Ginete, Delegate of the Superior General for the Vincentian Family, visited various countries. In the beginning of May, he gave a conference at the Meeting of the Vincentian Family in San Francisco, California, USA, with the theme: “Expanding the Circle of Solidarity.” At the Visitors’ Meeting in Mexico, this past June, he presented a report on the Office for the Vincentian Family in Rome (from 2005 to the present), emphasizing the priority objectives and activities for the next five years.
This past June he participated in and spoke at the Meeting of the SSVP in Nagoya, Japan and give conferences at other meetings of the Vincentian Family in Osaka, Kobe and Wakayama, while visiting the members of AIC, SSVP, DC and CM. From Japan he went to Korea, where he met with various groups, such as the SSVP, Daughters of Charity, Sisters of Charity of Seton Hill, and Sisters of Charity of Suwon. He tried to encourage them to translate the basic documents of the Vincentian Family and to be more connected with the movement throughout the world. At the conclusion of his Asian trip, he was in Vietnam. Some of the enthusiastic members of the AIC, Daughters of Charity, Vincentian Marian Youth and missionaries of the Region of Vietnam brought him up-to-date on their various commitments in favor of the poor. In turn, he updated the vision of the situation of the Vincentian Family in the world.
In September, he accompanied the Superior General to the celebration of the 150th anniversary of the Ladies of Charity-AIC USA in Saint Louis, Missouri and gave a conference to the missionaries of the Province of New England on the situation of the Vincentian Family and the challenges that it faces. In New York, he visited the confreres of Saint John’s University and the Vincentian Center for Church and Society. He also spoke with Father Joseph Foley, the representative of the CM at the UN, and with Father John Freund, webmaster of the Website of the Vincentian Family.
Feast of Saint Vincent de Paul in Rome
Lastly, although the most recent, and not the least important, NUNTIA would like to make note of the celebration of the Feast of Saint Vincent in Rome. As in other years, the Curia united at the celebration in the Leonine College.
In contemplating the 50 or so priests, in large part young, around the altar and the multitude of Daughters of Charity and lay Vincentians who filled the chapel, some verses of an old hymn to Saint Vincent came to mind:

Your apostles still live,
the soul of your zeal;
your Daughters on the ground
have compassion for the poor.
Your life will be eternal
eternal as your glory;
eternal is the victory
of your high charity.

May he remain alive in all those of us who rejoice in his feast. May we take refuge in his protection and may he inspire our lives by his example.
Ordinationes

Necrologium