CONGREGATIO MISSIONIS CURIA GENERALIS

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TEMPO FORTE MEETING SUMMARY December 2013

Dear Confreres, May the grace and peace of Our Lord Jesus Christ be forever in our hearts! The following is a summary of proceedings from our December Tempo Forte meeting. Update on Ongoing Activities Our ongoing formation session for Tempo Forte was held in conjunction with the annual gathering of our priest-confreres who study in Rome. The theme for our reflection was the second chapter of our Constitutions: Apostolic Activity. Fr. Eli Chaves, Assistant General, presented and guided discussion with all present. A summary of the ideas shared with the Curia and Council will be published in Vincentiana as a Meditation Moment. We put the final touches on our New Visitors Meeting for January, 2014 in Rome. We are hoping for a great deal of sharing and interaction between Visitors and presenters. We began preparations for the 2016 General Assembly by reviewing names from the Visitors for a Preparatory Commission. We discussed the selection of a theme for the assembly, such as a focus on the 400th anniversary of our foundation (2017) and the New Evangelization. We finalized the date and place for the Assembly: it will be from June 26 to July 17 at DePaul University in Chicago, IL, USA. We discussed ongoing plans for the reconfiguration of provinces. Reports were given by the Assistants General tasked with helping provinces that are considering reconfiguration. With regard to the on-line catalogue, it is now active and functioning. It has been visited by a number of confreres offering suggestions and information to keep it up to date. A letter and questionnaire sent to Visitors about establishing a center for confreres who need to do vocational discernment yielded a small response. There is still time to respond. At the next Tempo Forte, we will decide whether or not to establish such a center. We discussed the response to a letter we sent to the Visitors requesting provinces take up a collection around the time of St. Vincents Feast to support the VSO (Vincentian Solidarity Office) in its efforts to strengthen the patrimonial fund for developing provinces. We received donations from the provinces of Indonesia, Colombia, Salamanca, Chile, Peru, and Poland. If other provinces have taken this collection, please notify the Econome General.

General Curia Personnel We are now selecting a confrere to be administrator for the General Curia. Fr. Giuseppe Carulli, C.M., will complete his three-year term in June, 2014. On behalf of the confreres at

the General Curia, I express my gratitude for his generous service as administrator of the house these last three years. We have nominated his replacement and await a response We have named a new Brother to work at the General Curia, replacing Br. Ivan Sanchez who finishes his service in June, 2014. Br. Gerardo Fajardo is not new to the Curia, as he has previously served here. We are grateful to Br. Ivan for his years of generous service.

Department Reports Fr. John Maher, Director of Communications reported on Vincentiana, our web sites, and SIEV. We spent some time dealing with a revision of SIEV. There will be a meeting in 2014 to discuss future projects and to appoint a new board. We are grateful to the current SIEV Board members; namely Fr. Eugene Curran, Province of Ireland, Fr. Elie De Place, Province of Paris, and Fr. Alexander Jernej, Province of Austria, who have served SIEV diligently for over eight years. At the March Tempo Forte, we will appoint a new board. We also hope SIEV will create inter-provincial and inter-continental groups to encourage study of our Vincentian heritage and charism, especially among younger confreres We studied proposed statutes for the ONLUS Commission, that is, the Vincentian Solidarity Office based in Europe. Documentation was sent to the VSO-USA Director Fr. Miles Heinen for his input. We are in the process of forming an Executive Board for this ONLUS. The boards make-up will include the Superior General and Assistants General.

New Projects We had a discussion with Fr. Robert Maloney in his capacity as president of the Franz Foundation. Together, we discussed two new initiatives. The first is a program providing a distinct Vincentian emphasis to parishes to strengthen our Vincentian identity in places where the confreres minister. Further information will be sent out once it is translated. The second initiative, with the help of the Franz Foundation, is to make emergency relief funds available. We will create a fund for emergency situations to supplement our often quickly depleted limited funds. With this new initiative, we can quickly respond when emergencies occur, particularly where confreres and Vincentian Family members serve. Another new initiative is a proposal to offer workshops training confreres and Vincentian Family members on strategic planning, grant-writing, and asset management. This was proposed by Frs. Bob Maloney and Joe Agostino, and Sr. Marjorie Clifford, D.C. and discussed by the Council. Details are in the early stages of discussion and planning.

Commission for Promotion of Systemic Change The Franz Foundation has generously agreed to continue financing the Commission for the Promotion of Systemic Change. The Commission is now shifting to a new model of training leaders to teach systemic change. The Commission, which met at the general Curia in October, is also in transition to new leadership. The Commission welcomed a new member, Sr. Teresa Mueda, D.C., former Visitatrix in the Philippines. With Fr. Maloney, I thank the founding Commission members who complete their service in 2014.
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In their October meeting, the Commission discussed a number of presentations to be given in different parts of the world. The Commission also recommended appointment of a fulltime person to do follow-up work on systemic change workshops.

Status of Ratio Formationis We took up the project of the revision of the Ratio Formationis, re-working its content to total fifty pages. Interspersed with the text will be articles by confreres who will offer commentary on each section. The text will be published in a future issue of Vincentiana.

Union of Superior Generals Fr. Zeracristos, Assistant General, attended the Solidarity with Southern Sudan session. We renewed our participation as a congregational member of this project, which consists of assigning personnel to work in an inter-religious community setting in South Sudan. We now have Fr. Manuel Ginete, Philippines Province, training the laity in pastoral care. The topic of the meeting at the Union of Superior Generals was the present-day exercise of leadership in religious communities. The highlight of this meeting was a three-hour session at the Vatican which consisted of dialogue, questions, and give-and-take with Pope Francis A summary of this meeting will be available at a later time.

Housing of Immigrants in Rome We studied a letter that we received from Cardinal Vallini, the Vicar General of the Diocese of Rome, who represents Pope Francis, the Bishop of Rome. Inspired by the words of the Holy Father, Cardinal Vallini made a request to religious congregations who have access to underused buildings to consider housing poor and immigrant populations. Rome, like many cities, has a large immigrant population. We wrote to Cardinal Vallini and offered the use of a house on the grounds of the Curia for such temporary housing.

Implications for the Congregation I would recommend that all provinces with underused buildings to consider putting our goods at the service of the poor, whenever and wherever possible. This action is quite consistent with both our charism and our Constitutions. The plight of the poor is real, raising a key question for Vincentians: in what concrete ways might we serve them? We do so not because of Pope Francis or Cardinal Vallini, but as a response to Jesus who in Matthews Gospel (25:40) states: Amen, I say to you, whatever you did for one of these least of mine, you did for me.

Vatican Synod for the Family We received the working paper issued by the Vatican for the Synod on the Family, which will be held in October 2014. The Council will have an opportunity to reflect on its contents and to send our ideas by way of our membership in Societies of Apostolic Life.

Archives and Historical Matters We received some recommendations from Fr. John Rybolt regarding the archives of the General Curia which we will adopt with the assistance of the Archivist and Secretary

General. We also considered a proposal from Fr. Rybolt for the creation of a historical section for our on-line database. We approved it and authorized him to implement it. The Education Apostolate of the Congregation We reviewed minutes of a meeting between the five university and college presidents of institutions with Vincentian sponsorship: St. John's, DePaul, and Niagara universities; Adamson in the Philippines; and All Hallows College in Ireland. In general, we approved their statement on Vincentian sponsorship of universities, with some recommendations. Upon approval of the final document, the Superior General will write to Visitors in provinces where the universities are located, urging their support of this apostolate. We also believe that, with the assistance of SIEV, we can establish and promote on-going dialogue between the Congregation and the universities and colleges sponsored by the Congregation. We are considering having SIEV produce publications that will offer confreres practical ways to apply the Vincentian spirit in our educational apostolates. The Superior General shared with the Council the initiatives that are being undertaken on behalf of the secondary and elementary schools affiliated with the Congregation. A pilot project has been initiated at DePaul and St. John's universities (USA) to establish links with these schools to assist them in finding ways to promote the Vincentian charism.

Postulator General Report The Postulator General provided us with an update on the status of Vincentian Family members whose causes for beatification are moving forward. The results of this report will eventually be published on line in the Fam-Vin web site and in Vincentiana. The Council also intends to provide updates on these matters on a more regular basis.

INTERNATIONAL MISSIONS
A constant challenge we face is the difficulty of gaining entry visas for confreres going to various missions. This can lead to double frustration, as the confrere seeking entry gets discouraged, while confreres at the mission site must take on more work while awaiting the arrival of new confreres. I appreciate the patience and perseverance of those confreres seeking to go to the missions, along with the example of the men in the mission awaiting a new confrere. The Solomon Islands is one such place where the process for visa entry and residency can often take an extended period of time. We discussed the International Missions of the Congregation. In Papua New Guinea plans are underway for the construction of a Vincentian residence in Bomana to serve as a place of work and rest for the confreres coming in from remote parts of the mission. We received a copy of the community plan from our international mission in Chad (sponsored by COVIAM). It is well prepared by the two confreres at the mission. They are hoping for a third confrere to arrive in January 2014. Fr. Sixtus, Province of Nigeria, will visit and encourage the confreres, and negotiate a contract with the bishop in Chad.

With regard to our mission in Benin, Fr. Zontak, the Assistant General responsible for this mission will soon visit the confreres there shortly. This relatively new mission is staffed by three very enthusiastic confreres from the Province of Poland. We received a report of our Punta Arenas mission from the Visitor of Chile, where two confreres from that province serve. Unfortunately, the Visitor announced that one of the two confreres is not able to continue for health reasons. So, I am putting out an appeal for a confrere who may be discerning applying to the missions to consider Punta Arenas. On a related note, in the recent meeting with the Holy Father sponsored by the Union of Superior Generals, Pope Francis appealed to religious communities to go to the ends of the earth for mission. He mentioned that the Salesians had done so in Punta Arenas. But, what the Holy Father did not know is that the Salesians left, and weve taken their place! Hopefully, we can keep our commitment to Punta Arenas, our end of the earth mission.

Mission Appeal 2013 We received five responses to the October mission appeal from confreres volunteering for the international missions. We made two definite assignments: Fr. Alexander Fonseca, Province of Fortaleza, will go to Mozambique; Fr. Slawomir Szucki, Province of Poland, will go to Papua New Guinea. I thank the confreres who volunteered, and urge all to consider volunteering. Don't hesitate to discern more deeply. Recall that we are a missionary congregation who serve the most abandoned wherever the Lord calls us!

The Vincentian Family: We received notice of the cancellation of a workshop on Dialogue with Islam that had been in preparation for over a year by the Commission for Inter-religious Dialogue with Islam, Hopefully, it will eventually be held at DePaul University in Chicago. We received a proposal from Fr. Claudio Santangelo, who serves as moderator of the AIC (Ladies of Charity) in Rome. The Ladies of Charity are willing to offer a scholarship to a confrere in the Congregation for the study of the social doctrine of the Church. For further information, please contact the Secretary General ([email protected])

Conferences of Visitors We received reports from the different Conferences of Visitors. The Asia-Pacific Visitors Conference (APVC) will meet in Sydney, Australia in February. It is being organized by Fr. Greg Brett, the Acting Visitor of the province in Australia. At their August provincial assembly, the confreres made the decision to rename it the Province of Oceania. The European Conference of Visitors (CEVIM) will have its next meeting in Jerusalem. The Latin American Conference of Vincentian Provinces (CLAPVI) is holding a program for seminarians in theology in the Province of Venezuela. The Superior General will meet with the National Conference of Visitors (NCV) in the USA in May to discuss how the three provinces can support each other and further the spread of the Vincentian charism.

Superior Generals Calendar The calendar for the Superior General for the next three months is as follows. In January, he attends the New Visitors meeting in Rome from January 5- 15. Then, he goes to Paris January 16-19 for the annual meeting of the Executive Committee of the Vincentian Family and ongoing formation for Vincentian Family Leaders. Then he will participate in the International Council meeting of the Vincentian Marian Youth which will be held in Madrid from January 22 26. On February 2, the feast of the Presentation, he will participate in his traditional meeting with Sr. Evelyn Franc, D.C. to discuss the state of the Company of the Daughters of Charity as they prepare for the annual March 25 renewal of vows. From February 3-25, he will visit the missions in Papua New Guinea and the Solomon Islands, and attend the Asia Pacific Visitors Conference (APVC) meeting in Sydney, Australia. From February 27- March 2, he will attend the General Assembly of MISEVI in Costa Rica. He will then go to Rio de Janeiro. Assisted by Fr. Eli Chaves, he will participate in dialogue on the reconfiguration of several Brazilian provinces of the Daughters of Charity. He will then return to Rome for the March Tempo Forte meeting. As I conclude this report, 2013 is nearly over, and Advent has ushered in a new liturgical year. I look back with great thanksgiving and much gratitude to God for the warm welcomes I received in my visits with confreres during this past year. I am also thankful for the many kind and thoughtful greetings I receive from confreres by letter, e-mail, and phone. I pray that God will bless you and grant us all abundant life (Jn.10:10) in the year ahead. Together, may we continue to live the Mission entrusted to us by Jesus and Vincent.

Your brother in St. Vincent,

G. Gregory Gay, C.M. Superior General