The Visitors’ Conference of Europe and the Middle East (CEVIM) has promoted the gathering of missionaries who work in the formation of our members. This took place in Rome (Casa Maria Inmacolata) from the 17th till the 21st of January 2008.
The participants came from the provinces of Turin, Naples, Rome, Hungary, Poland, Slovenia, Slovakia, Orient, Paris, Barcelona, Madrid, Salamanca and Zaragoza.
The meeting was structured on these three axes: Formation, Information and Action.
The formation or framework of the meeting dealt with the following subjects:
1. Formation today in the recent documents of the Church.
2. The fundamental aspects of the formative process.
3. The formative process in consecrated life.
4. The historical evolution of formation in the Vincentian charisma in the C.M.
5. Formation in the present Constitutions of the C.M.
6. The 1983 and 1988 Ratio of the C.M.: the formative orientation for the mission.
The information enriched the gathering with the sharing of experiences of the participating missionaries from the different dimensions proposed in the Ratio Formationis of the Internal Seminary and in the Vincentian Ratio of the Major Seminary.
The action proposed by the meeting will lead to some operative proposals that may be offered to the international community as CEVIM’s contribution on this matter. They are gathered together in a final document, coming from the experience of each province and from the participants’ reflection on each stage of the formative process.
Cardinal Franc Rode presided at the Eucharistic celebration of the first day of the encounter. The Superior General shared his reflections about the Congregation in one of the working sessions and presided at the celebration of the Eucharist on the second day. On Sunday we were able to share the experience of the Community of Trevigliano and we visited the origins of western monasticism in Mount Subiaco. The Province of Rome, which generously coordinated all these services, also provided us with an unforgettable visit to the excavations at St. Peter’s in the Vatican.
The fraternal atmosphere, the carefully prepared liturgical celebrations and the exchange among the participants (in spite of the language barriers) helped along and brightened up our gathering and our service in the formation of our members.
