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September 7, 1999

To the Visitors of the Congregation of the Mission and

the Visitatrixes of the Daughters of Charity

My very dear Brothers and Sisters,

Recently you received a copy of the new International Statutes for the Vincentian Marian Youth groups, approved by the Holy See on February 2, 1999. These groups now exist in more than 40 countries, on all the continents, and have more than 200,000 members.

Today we are happy to announce that the Permanent Secretariat for the International Association began to function in Madrid on September 1, 1999, with an international membership:

Sr. Luzdari Jiménez, D.C. (Province of Cali, Colombia)

Fr. José Eugenio López García, C.M. (Province of Salamanca, Spain)

José Juan Pérez Ramos (Spain)

Deborah Pacheco (Puerto Rico)

Gloria del Carmen Santillán Martínez (Mexico)

Ivanildo Dantas (Brazil)

The President of the International Association is Edurne Urdampilleta (from Spain), who has agreed to serve provisionally until elections can be held during the first General Assembly of the JMV, which will take place in Rome, August 8-12, 2000.

We hope that the Permanent Secretariat will be able quickly to establish a communications network with all of the national centers and begin to distribute formation materials and a regular news bulletin that will be useful to the JMV throughout the world.

It is encouraging that this new beginning is taking place precisely at the dawn of the third millennium. Our youth groups are rapidly growing. They will have a very important role to play in the spread of the Vincentian charism in the future. We hope that in time these groups will come to exist in all the countries (presently more than 135) where the Vincentian Family now serves the poor.

Right from the beginning we would like to create a fund that will provide a stable source of revenue for its future work, since the Permanent Secretariat will have many initial and ongoing expenses. If you should be interested in assisting, contributions can be made as follows:

Bank:Banco Central HispanoAmericano

Sucursal de José Abascal 52

Madrid, SPAIN

Swift:CENTESMM

Name of Account:Juventud Mariana Vicenciana - Secretariado Internacional

Pesetas (Euros) Account Number:0049 3155 97 2614074874

US Dollar Account Number:0049 3155 91 2114075269

When the Secretariat's web page has been created and activated, you will be able to follow its activities. As it starts out, we ask your prayer that the Lord will make it an effective instrument in drawing young people throughout the world toward a fuller immersion in the charism of the Vincentian Family.

Edurne Urdampilleta

International President

Vincentian Marian Youth

Sr. Juana Elizondo, D.C.Robert P. Maloney, C.M.

Superioress GeneralSuperior General

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