NUNTIA, OCTOBER 2007

General Curia; Popular Missions; Scholarships; Clapvi: Meeting of Brothers, Anual Meeting of the Executive Council; Feast of Saint Vincent de Paul; Other News from the Provinces: Central América, Madagascar, Cameroon, Zaragoza, Naples, USA.East.
General Curia:
Spiritual Exercises: Once the Tempo Forte finished, the Curia community, with the exception of Father Giuseppe Guerra, who once again remained as guardian of the house, on 8 October went to the Better World Movement Center in Rocca di Papa to make its annual retreat. We were like 12 disciples around the master, Father Erminio Antonello. Following the Gospel of Saint John, he animated us to respond to the gift of communion that builds brotherhood in the reality of our community. Certainly, with the help of God, we have to grow more united to the Lord, more open to the confreres of the Congregation in the whole world and more cordially close as good friends who live together for the work which the Congregation has entrusted to us.
The Superior General: After the annual retreat, he left on 14 October to make the Canonical Visit of the Province of Hungary and visit a house in Ukraine, of the Vice-Province of Saints Cyril and Methodius. He returned on the 24th and departed on the 25th for Paris in order to meet with the confreres in CIF and a group of Daughters of Charity attending a formation session. Information about these is available on the page about the visits of Father Gregory http://famvin.org/frgreg_es/ and on cmglobal.org.
Father José Antonio Ubillús: During the Visit to the Province of Fortaleza, Brazil, from 25 August to 27 September, Father Ubillús met with the Visitor and council at the beginning and at the end of his visit. He visited all the houses and communities; had dialogue with individuals and in common with all the confreres, including the theology, philosophy and college students and aspirants. He participated in meetings of the Vincentian Family and visited Daughters of Charity of six communities.
The Province, which has just finished celebrating the 40 years of its foundation, finds itself in continuity with a rich past and at the same time in a condition of transition and searching. Parish ministry is predominant, but lately there is a desire to give the parishes, both in rural as well as in urban areas, a greater openness to clearly missionary ministries, creating missionary fronts.
Actually there is a considerable number of vocations. This fact allows us to see the future of the province with optimism. The four Lay Vincentian groups: AMM, J.M.V., AIC, SSVP, although not equal in vitality and in number, have great potential with respect to evangelization. These are sufficient reasons pointing to a promising future for the Province of Fortaleza.
Course of Missionary Spirituality: For the second consecutive year, Father José Antonio Ubillús, Assistant for the Missions, has secured two scholarships for the Course of Missionary Spirituality, which the International Center on Missionary Animation (CIAM), an institution that depends on the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples, programs each year for missionaries of the Spanish language. Last year the recipients of these grants were Fathers Fernando Sánchez Donati (Argentine) and Cyrille de la Barre de Nanteuil (French), of the International Mission of El Alto. This year the recipients are Fathers John Kelvin Macías Loor of the Province of Ecuador, and João Donizete Dombroski of the Province of Rio de Janeiro.
Father John Gouldrick had the good fortune of spending some days with his brother and sister-in-law, who visited Rome in order to celebrate their 50th wedding anniversary. Our whole community enjoyed their presence during their brief, but fruitful, stay with us.

Popular Missions:

France: The following has been taken from PARIS ÉCHOS 10/17: “We had an exciting and enthusiastic meeting on the Popular Mission on 7 September. It brought together 18 confreres, four of whom were from the Province of Toulouse. It dealt with the initial steps of a process which needs to be undertaken in order to update this traditional form of popular mission. The discussions were honest and straightforward; they were also constructive and opened up concrete perspectives. Since we are in a period of transition, it is necessary that we support the popular missions which have been scheduled by Father Bruno Novitski, but, at the same time, be attentive to new demands and new realities: with young people in the network of Vincentian organizations, under the form of preaching on the occasion of major gatherings and pilgrimages, etc. In addition, we can enter into this process of discernment by listening, dialogue, and sharing experiences and commonly planned projects. How can we participate actively, there where we are committed, in this clear didactic presentation of our faith and, at the same time, have in mind this new style of mission which involves a missionary approach? Another meeting has been scheduled for Wednesday, 23 January 2008, as a continuation of these two days of formation in the Mother House. As I inform you about these dates, I hope that the confreres will be able to take part in one of these missions, in order to experience it and above all to listen to the pastoral workers and the laity.
Next popular missions:
10 November – 2 December — Goudargues (30-Gard)
2 December – 25 December — Bliesbruck (57-Moselle)
24 February – 14 March — Goudargues (30 Gard)
20 April – 11 May — Goudargues (30 Gard)
1 June – 22 July — Ennery (57 Moselle)”
Province of Turin – House of Sassari: (From Communio, 38)

• November 2007, preparation of the Cagliari mission, in the parishes entrusted to the Vincentians: Parishes of Saints Peter and Paul, Saint Maximilian Kolbe, Saint Eusebius, Pirri-Saint Tarsicius, Quartu-Saint John (CA).
• 1 – 16 December 2007, in Atzara (Oristano): 3 men and 2 women missionaries
• 19 January – 3 February 2008, Cagliari and hinterland: 22 missionaries and 14 Daughters of Charity.
• 9 – 23 February 2008, in Lula (Nuoro): 3 men and 2 women missionaries.
• 5 – 20 April 2008, in Zerfaliu (Oristano): 2 men and 2 women missionaries.
• 3 – 18 May 2008, in Osilo (Sassari): 4 men and 4 women missionaries.

Scholarships:

DePaul University in Chicago, Illinois is presently accepting applications for confreres from provinces outside the United States to pursue graduate degrees at the university beginning in the Fall of 2008. Tuition and full room and board costs are paid for by the university and include preparatory work in English language skills. Confreres reside inthe local Vincentian community and minister part-time at the university. Confreres must have the permission of their respective Visitor/Vice-Visitor to apply. For more information please contact: Rev. Edward R. Udovic, C.M. eudovic@depaul.edu

CLAPVI:

Meeting of Brothers: During the week of 14-21 October 2007, CLAPVI held the First Meeting of Vincentian Brothers in the Caribbean city of Santo Domingo. They followed the activities laid out in the program as planned. Twenty Brothers took part, coming from nine of the 19 groups which make up the Latin-American Conference and from the 36 Brothers that these nine provinces have. The title of the conference was: “The Identity and Mission of the Brother as Consecrated and Vincentian in Latin America Today.” Its motto was: “A Good Brother is a Treasure for the Company.” Its contents were: his life as a consecrated lay person in a missionary community, his experiences as Brother, the profile of the Brother, the formation of the Brother, and the self-esteem of the Brother and for the Brother. The Brothers themselves took the lead, did the work and made the presentations. The results of the meeting were expressed in a set of “Conclusions and Challenges.” These conclusions have been published on https://cmglobal.org
Annual Meeting of the Executive Council: Taking advantage of the Meeting of the Brothers, the members of the Council met in the same city of Santo Domingo on the two days preceding the Meeting. The work of the Council consisted fundamentally in the verification of the outstanding points of the previous meeting, the evaluation of the activities planned for 2007, and planning of the activities for 2008.

Feast of Saint Vincent de Paul:

Certainly the feast was celebrated around the world with much solemnity. To give an example and because of its special meaning, we reproduce here the information received from Father Michael Ngoka, the Vice-Visitor of Nigeria:
“On 27 September the confreres celebrated the feast of our Founder in a very special way, in that the members of the Saint Vincent de Paul Society gathered in the Cathedral of the Holy Spirit in Enugu for their First National Meeting. The Vice-Visitor, Father Michael Ngoka, presided at the Eucharist. With him were the confreres and a priest from a neighboring diocese who is himself a member of the SSVP. After the Eucharist, the Vice-Visitor gave a conference concerning the relationship between the Congregation of the Mission and the Saint Vincent de Paul Society. At the end of the day the confreres and the students gathered together for a quiet dinner.”

Other News from the Provinces:

Central America: On 14 September, the Latin American Council for Excellence in Education granted to the Colegio San Vicente de Paúl in Santiago de Veraguas, Panama, the 2007 First Place in Education and a Doctorate Honoris Causa to Father Daniel Pallais, C.M., Director of the school.
Madagascar, National Synod: In Oloraiky n. 7 of the Diocese of Farafangana’s bulletin, Bishop Benjamin Ramaroson, C.M., wrote: “The event that will mark the life of the Church in Madagascar in the final three months of 2007 will be the National Synod concerning the life and the mission of the priest, which will take place in Antananarivo from 30 October to 4 November 2007. We will accompany this meeting with our prayers.”
Cameroon Region of the Province of Paris: One of the objectives indicated in the Project chosen for the Mission Award this year reads: “To establish a Vincentian presence in Bangui in the Central African Republic in collaboration with the Vincentian Family starting in September 2007.” Today we are able to announce the upcoming arrival of the CM in the parish of Saint Anne in the diocese of Bangui. In the beginning there will be a small community: a priest, a deacon and a brother. The people gave thanks in a Eucharist celebrated in Bangui by Father Elie Delplace, the Visitor of Paris and by Father Guillaume Leukemo, Regional Superior of Cameroon.
Zaragoza, Superiors’ Meeting: The superiors of the different houses of the Zaragoza Province met at the Provincial House for a day and a half. This annual meeting was directed toward animating the superiors in their responsibilities and to providing them with information and specific guidance. Assisting the Visitor in the meeting were Fathers Santiago Azcárate, Juan Julián Díaz Catalán and Julio Suescun, who talked about Ongoing Formation, the CIF program, and the Visitors’ Meeting in Mexico.
Naples. In memory of Father Salvatore Micalizzi: On the afternoon of 13 October, on the eve of the 70th anniversary of the “dies natalis” of the Venerable Father Salvatore Micalizzi (14/19/1936), a solemn commemoration was held at the Provincial House “de Vergini,” presided by the Postulator General, Father Giuseppe Guerra.
The ceremony took place in the present Auditorium, which, before World War II, was the chapel where Father Salvatore Micalizzi preached retreats to the clergy. Father Guerra is confident that, during this anniversary year, the beatification of the Servant of God might happen. The day ended with a concert directed by Maestro Giovanni Variale.
In Melfi, in whose diocese Saint Fele, the town where Saint Justin De Jacobis was born, belongs, a town square was dedicated right in front of the Casa della Missione (an old convent of the Capuchins), which, in the future, will be called “Largo S. Giustino De Jacobis.” During the ceremony, attended by civil and religious authorities, the great missionary founder of Catholicism in Abyssinia and a famous member of the southern region of Italy was remembered.
USA-East. Bread & Life Program: Saint John’s University has announced improvements in the structures of services for Bread & Life Program. The program, founded in 1982 on the original site of the university (75 Lewis Avenue), is now among the major providers of emergency food and assistance services in New York. The program’s objective is to fight poverty and help people to value themselves. It also aims at educating the public and awakening consciences with regard to hunger, poverty, and the homeless. The nucleus of the program is the dining room which provides breakfast and lunch for more than a thousand people everyday of the week. There are also other social, legal, health and promotional services, etc.
With the reforms of the program, the reception areas will improve, cold storage and a kitchen to teach food preparation, as well as an interior parking lot for the Mobile Dining Room, which travels daily around Brooklyn and Queens to serve the needy who have no access to regular food. “In spite of working hard, the needs of the poor increase more and more. This goes beyond our imagination,” said Mrs. Tobin, a member of the organizers of the program.

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