PROVINCIAL ASSEMBLY – PERU January 2017
By: Fr. Roberto Romero, CM Chronicler of the Assembly
Within the Congregation of the Mission, provincial assemblies are an important element in life of every province. We know that each province is organized hierarchically, a Visitor leads an individual province and that confrere is assisted by the members of his council. The destiny of the province is basically in the hands of the Visitor and his council. Nevertheless, there are times when the Visitor needs a broader consultation which can only be provided by those who are ministering in the various areas of the province, that is, those areas where the nature of the Congregation of the Mission is being made effective. Thus, we see the importance of the provincial assemblies: they are the best means of consultation that is available to the Visitor, they provide the Visitor with the best understanding and vision of the province and they help the Visitor and the Province to move out toward new goals and to renew commitments to present goals. This has been our experience as we, the members of the Province of Peru, gathered together in Lima to celebrate our provincial assembly (January 30 to February 4th, 2017).
As established in our Provincial Norms, twenty-four missionaries representing the twelve local communities in Peru, were called together in the Provincial House of the Daughters of Charity. On Monday, at 9:00 we celebrated the Eucharist and prayed for the guidance of the Holy Spirit. After the Eucharist, we gathered in the Assembly Hall where the Visitor, Father Pedro Guillén, verified the assistance of all the delegates. Then, the Visitor, declared that the Provincial Assembly was now open.
The Preparatory Commission, which had been established some months before, had informed us that the primary objective of the Assembly was to develop a new six-year Provincial Plan. This new plan was to be grounded on the conclusions of the 2016 General Assembly. The Visitor suggested that we use the outline of the previous plan as we begin to develop a new plan. The Assembly accepted this suggestion and then began its work.
The schedule of the day was organized in the following manner: the first activity of the day would be morning prayer and the celebration of the Eucharist; the delegates would then work the rest of the morning in two groups and then gather together for a plenary session. In the afternoon, after lunch and a “siesta”, the same process would be followed. In the evening the redaction commission would be involved in its work … little by little, as the days passed, the new Provincial Plan was developed.
Perhaps it would be best to highlight those themes that created much discussion among the participants in the assembly as well as those themes in which one was able to notice a great concern among the delegates. The first heated discussion revolved around the approval of the objectives, the mission and the vision of the plan … what was to be expected from this plan. We attempted to establish the nature and goals of the plan. The majority of the missionaries agreed that the province ought to become more missionary (with concrete plans for assisting those who are poor and with an intention of moving out to the peripheries). After much work, those ideas were incorporated into the objectives of the plan. Another theme that was debated was that of vocational promotion. Many suggestions were made in this area: deepen our ministry with young people, appoint one confrere who would dedicate himself exclusively to this ministry, become more conscious of the witness that we give to other, etc. Some of these suggestions were also incorporated into the plan.
At the end of the week, we saw that our Assembly has produced much good fruit: the Province of Peru has a goal and a path to follow during the next six years. I believe we have developed a realistic plan, one that is viable and sensitive to those who poor. Now we have to live this plan and, as I said at the beginning, this depends on the Visitor, his council and each one of the confrere ministering in all the different areas of the province.
Translated:
Charles T. Plock, CM
