Each year the General Curia in Rome welcomes the members of the Commission for the Promotion of Systemic Change. This year the meeting took place from 17 to 19 of April with an agenda of evaluating the different activities completed in the last months and of programing what they will do next.
In dialog with the Director of the Office of Communication, Fr. Jorge Luis Rodríguez, some of the members spoke of the difficulties, the positive aspects and the challenges encountered which the Commission will need to address in the future.
The members of the Commission are James Claffey, SSVP; Sister Teresa Mueda, DC: Fr. Mizael Pogglioli, CM; Sister Teresa Kotturan, SCN; Juan Pablo Jácome, VMY and Fr. Giuseppe Turati, CM, the coordinator of the Commission. While the group manifests a wide cultural and language diversity, over the course of these past months, they have learned to use the richness of this diversity to enhance their work. A Vincentian spirit of service unites them. The evaluation of the work realized in these last months was very positive. They underlined as successes the harmony in their teamwork as they overcame the obstacles posed by distance, time and culture. They also noted that in some countries teams are forming that are implementing some interesting projects. Little by little, the continental teams are also becoming stronger in promoting Systemic Change.
Among the deficiencies that the team noted, there are some instances that, after the workshops in the countries or regions, the people leave full of enthusiasm; but then, when it comes to putting theory into practice, they begin to lose their enthusiasm.
Another challenge is the lack of commitment of some members of the Vincentian Family to support initiatives. However, we should not generalize this reality because there are countries where collaboration among the Vincentian Family produces extraordinary projects. We are taking steps in the right direction, but it is clear that there is a long way to go.
This year the Commission for Systemic Change, in addition to the formation workshops that they will do in some countries, such as Indonesia, commits itself to support and collaborate with the “The Vincentian Family Initiative on Homelessness”.
