Assembly of Major Superiors

 

As scheduled in theprogramme for the Sexennium, the Order’s Assembly of Major Superiors convened inRome, at the General Curia, on 23-27 October, 2017.

 

The Assembly wasattended by all the Provincial Superiors, the Vice-Provincial and the GeneralDelegate and was inaugurated by a celebration of the Eucharist.

 

In his openingaddress, the Superior General touched on various important matters of relevanceto the Order’s future, mainly focusing on the Sexennium theme, “Living hospitalityhopefully and boldly”, and recalled that the Assembly was being asked to addressthe sub-theme “The Hospitaller Family of St John of God”. He emphasised thevaluable experiences of the Canonical Visitations conducted this year to theOrder’s Provinces, as “a very special momentfor the General Government to get a first-hand understanding “in the field”,and a very special opportunity for theProvinces to share, evaluate and plan their livesfe,with the help of the General Government… I do not know whether we succeeded in transmittinghope and boldness, and whether we have all been capable of growing in hope and fostering boldness in the lives of theProvinces. I believe we have. But we must we must continually to live ourconsecration hopefully and continue to show boldness and courage in the missionand never allow anything to paralyse us”

 

On the subject ofthe Hospitaller Family, he emphasised the fact that “in recent years, the issue of charismatic families has become one ofthe most important topics even in the theology of consecrated life. Practicallyall the Institutes of Consecrated Life are working on it and some Congregationshave even gathered together to jointly set up reflection groups to address thewhole issue of charismatic families”.

 

The first threedays concentrated reflections on charismatic families, led by three externalfacilitators, and shared the experiences of Provinces of Korea and Andalusia.

 

The last two dayswere spent in regional groups and exchanging information on the work carriedout by the general commissions, the 2019 General Chapter PreparatoryCommission, and the work at the General Curia during the year.

 

On Thursdayevening, the participants were invited by Fr Gerardo, the Rome ProvincialSuperior, to celebrate Vespers in the San Pietro Hospital Chapel, the headquarters of the Rome Provincial Curia,and to a fraternal supper in the Community refectory. 

 

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