SIEV
International Secretariat
of Vincentian Studies
INFORMATION SHEET
on the work and decisions of SIEV
The members of SIEV: Frs. Emeric Amyot d'Inville, Hernando Escobar, John Prager, Kazimierz Stelmach, Norbert Tix, and Roberto Lovera (Executive Secretary), at a meeting which took place in Rome on 7 and 8 January, thought it useful to send out an information sheet on the decisions made by SIEV and the work they are carrying out, so that the Visitors, the Vincentian studies organisms, and the Daughters of Charity might be deeply involved and collaborate better in a growing development of our common spiritual research.
The principal decisions, made during the meeting of 7 and 8 January and which were developed by the suggestions and approval of the Superior General and his Council, are as follows:
1.The preparation of the Vincentian Month on the theme of the Popular Missions, which will take place in Paris from 7 July to 2 August 1997, is well underway. The Month will be characterized in particular by sharing and mutual enrichment among the confreres, sisters, and laity (around 70) who work on the popular missions on the various continents. The organization of this has been confided to Frs. Emeric Amyot d'Inville and Roberto Lovera, who are members of SIEV, with the collaboration of Fr. Luis Mari Martínez, from the Saragossa Province.
2.To help the Congregation prepare for the 1998 General Assembly, we suggested to our main magazines that they dedicate some articles or a special issue to the theme of the Assembly; that they report initiatives which have already been carried out in common among the various groups of the Vincentian Family; that they promote the knowledge of all the Vincentian groups present in their territory; and that they confront the study of the challenges to which the Vincentian Family must respond today and in the future.
3.The project of developing a CD ROM of Vincentian texts (the works of St. Vincent and other important texts of the Congregation of the Mission) in various languages is also well underway. Moreover, we are going to insert the complete Vincentian bibliography of books, using as a base the considerable work which Fr. José María Román has achieved. We asked our principal magazines to prepare too a bibliography of the articles of a Vincentian nature which they have published and which will also be inserted into the CD ROM.
4.We are also studying a project to bring together in a CD ROM a vast collection of Vincentian pictures, relating to our history as well as to our present life and activities.
5.The canonization of Perboyre has been an interesting stimulus for studying this figure and making him known through numerous publications. We are trying to collect the entire existing bibliography, as well as stimulating and promoting new studies on the aspects which have not yet been sufficiently developed. The objective we have fixed for ourselves is to arrive at the publication of a critical biography of the saint, which is still lacking. We are looking too for competent and available confreres for this undertaking.
6.We are interested in highlighting the valuable work achieved by two of our deceased confreres: Frs. Raymond Chalumeau and André Dodin, in order to put the fruit of their efforts and reflections at the disposition of the entire Vincentian Family.
7.We have started researching all the documents that the Holy See has issued in favor of the Congregation of the Mission since 1876, the year of the previous publication. The most significant documents could be collected in a future publication.
8.The Superior General and his Council have made SIEV responsible for preparing a Colloque on our Vincentian mission in countries with a large Moslem presence. The colloque is scheduled for 1999 and will allow the confreres concerned to have a good exchange of ideas and information. It should lead to concrete propositions for the entire Congregation.
9.We are acting to collect, by making an appeal to the confreres of various provinces, information on texts (books, work documents, etc.) which, in diverse languages, have been prepared for the Vincentian formation of our young. As soon as this is ready, we will send a list to the Visitors who would otherwise be unaware of them.
A good part of the work which we are carrying out and the initiatives which we are taking had already been initiated by the confreres who belonged to SIEV before us. It is appropriate that all of us express our thanks to them.
SIEV will also be grateful to all who would like to send it propositions or suggestions, as well as constructive criticism in order to move forward.
SIEV has fixed its next meeting for 4 and 5 August 1997 in Paris, immediately following the Vincentian Month on the Popular Missions.
25 February 1997
Fr. Roberto Lovera, C.M.
Executive Secretary of SIEV