Free from some of the immediate worries of their respective Provinces, the recently appointed Visitors attended a gathering in Rome (Casa Maria Inmacolata) from the 9th to the 15th of January. This meeting centered on the detailed study of the Practical Guide for Visitors, and on their sharing of reflections with members of the General Curia and other missionaries who have experience in this task.
The participants were: Francois Benolo (Madagascar), Ruben Pedro Borda Montes (Peru), Elie Delplace (Paris), Eblerino Díez Llamazares (Salamanca), Bienvenido Disu (Philippines), Harry Jaspers (Holland), Rafal Kopystynski (New England), Oscar Efrén Mata Pérez (Costa Rica), Brian Moore (Ireland), Antoine Pierre Nakad (Orient) and Paulus Suparmono (Indonesia).
Fr. Corpus Juan Delgado, from the Zaragoza Province coordinated the meeting. All of the members of the General Curia as well as Frs. Alberto Vernaschi and Carlo Braga, from the Roman Province, made presentations of the different subject matters.
A new team of young translators made easy the communication among the participants: Eamon Devlin (Ireland), Thomas Lunot (Paris), Bernard Massarini (Toulouse), Juan Fernando Polanco and Astor Luis Rodríguez (USA East).
For the study on the Practical Guide for Visitors, the encounter relied on brief presentations of the topics, followed by practical work and reflection in language groups, as well as time for personal reflection.
During these days, the Visitors also had the opportunity to dialogue personally with the Superior General and the Assistants.
The well prepared liturgical celebrations, the fraternal gathering and the simple exchange among the participants, the thoughtful attention of the Sisters of the Casa, the visit to the General Curia and to the Collegio Leoniano…, each of these helped to make possible the experience of the unity of the Congregation of the Mission and the vocation of service to which the Visitor is called.
For the Visitors who wanted, upon the Superior General’s recommendation, the C.I.F. has also organized in the following days a program of specific formation in Paris and other Vincentian places in France.
C.J.D.
