Passionist News Notes St. Paul of the Cross Province

Transcription

1 November 2018 Volume 4 Number 11 Passionist News Notes St. Paul of the Cross Province At the 47th General Chapter Fr. Joachim Rego was re-elected as the Superior General These are his Consultors Date November Birthday FAGAN, Paul 2 KEATING, Earl PESCE, John Baptist 4 MCKENNA, Robert BURKE, Richard 15 SCANLON, Terrence SALVAGNA, Michael 18 SUMAMPONG, Jed 19 FINNIGAN, Francis [1] Fr. Juan Ignacio Villar Cabello (SCOR) - Spain [2] Fr. Aloysius John Nguma (CARLW) - Tanzania, Africa [3] Fr. Rafael Vivanco Pérez (REG), -Mexico [4] Fr. Miroslaw Lesiecki (ASSUM) - Poland/Passionists International NY [5] Fr. Ciro Benedettini (MAPRAES), Italy First Consultor [6] Fr. Mario Gwen Barde (PASS), Philippines Pictures of the General Chapter Are on the following pages from Fr. Tom McDonough s daily summaries of the General Chapter

2 Opening Mass at St John and Paul Basilica Opening Homily by the Superior General Fr. Joachim Rego

3 St John and Paul Basilica With the Passionist Mother House Of Saints John & Paul to the right This is a satellite view of The Colosseum The Mother House of the Passionists Saints John & Paul Where the meeting took place The Basilica of Sts John & Paul

4 Celebrating Mass at St Mary Major on Tuesday October 9th On Tuesday, the Chapter members celebrated Mass at St Mary Major s. I always think it is not really possible to understand why we would see such a visit as special without knowing what led to Paul of the Cross visiting there in Paul travelled all the way from northern Italy to Rome in the belief that he could get Papal approval for his new rule of life. He went to see the Pope without any appointment, at the Qurinale. Today it is the site of the palace of the President of the Republic of Italy s. In Paul s day it was the residence of the Pope. Paul was 26 years old and filled with confidence that God was supporting his plan to gain permission from the Pope to start a Congregation. Paul never got to see the Pope. He was sent away by one of the guards who asked him if he was not aware of how many loafers we get coming here every day. Disappointed and hungry he found a quiet place by a nearby fountain and took out the piece of bread given to him at the hostel where he had stayed the night before. A nearby beggar asked him to share his bread, which he did. He must have felt at his lowest point. Soon afterwards he walked off and headed down to the basilica of St Maria Maggiore, and prayed before this image of our Blessed Mother

5 One of the Meeting Rooms

6 Numbers of the Professed Passionists, Students and Novices in each Configuration CPA (Kenya, Tanzania, Botswana, South Africa, Zambia and Dominican republic of Congo) 293 professed (Average age: 40) + 41 professed students & 13 novices CHARLES HOUBEN (Ireland, Northern Ireland, Scotland, England, Wales, Netherlands, North-Germany, Bavaria, Austria, Poland, Ukraine, Czech Republic, Belgium Sweden, Paris) 196 professed (Average age 66) + 11 professed students & 5 novices JESUS CRUCIFIED (Canada, United States, Mexico, Puerto Rico, Dominican Republic, Jamaica, Haiti, Mozambique, Uruguay, Argentina, Brazil). 346 professed (Average age 63) + 28 professed students & 7 novices PASPAC (Australia, NZ, PNG, Vietnam, India, Philippines, Indonesia, Japan, Korea, China, Myanmar 400 professed (Average age 45) + 81 professed students & 39 novices SCOR (Spain, Peru, Colombia, Ecuador, Venezuela, Chile, Panama, Honduras, Guatemala, Cuba, El Salvador, Bolivia, Nicaragua) 369 professed (Average age 61) + 10 professed students & 34 novices MAPRAES (Italy, France, Portugal) 416 professed (Average age 66) + 2 professed students & 6 novices Our Representatives to the General Chapter Fr Victor Hoagland, Fr Jim O Shea, Fr Justin Kerber

7 The stairs to the meeting room with the Pope was quite a challenge. This is one set of the 8 flights of stairs we had to climb Greeting the Pope

8 The Pope s Address to the Passionists Dear brothers, I am pleased to meet you on the occasion of your General Chapter and I thank the Superior for his words. In these days, your reflections have been guided by the theme Renewing our mission: Gratitude, Prophecy and Hope. These three words: gratitude, prophecy and hope, express the spirit with which you wish to stimulate your Congregation towards a renewal in the mission. Indeed, in addition to electing the government of the Institute, you propose to undertake a new path of ongoing formation for your communities, rooted in the experience of daily life; and you also intend to carry out discernment on pastoral methodology in your approach to the younger generations. Your Founder, Saint Paul of the Cross, gave to himself and his companions this motto: May the Passion of Jesus Christ be always in our hearts. His first biographer, Saint Vincent Maria Strabo, said of him: It seemed that God Almighty had chosen Father Paul, in a special way, to teach people how to look for Him in the interiority of their heart. Saint Paul of the Cross wanted your communities to be schools of prayer, where you could experience God. His holiness was lived in darkness and desolation, but also with joy and peace that touched the heart of those who met him. At the centre of your life and your mission is the Passion of Jesus, which the Founder described as the greatest and most beautiful work of the love of God (Letters II, 499). The vow that distinguishes you, with which you are committed to keep alive the memory of the passion, places you at the foot of the Cross, from which there flows the healing and reconciling love of God. I encourage you to be ministers of spiritual healing and reconciliation, so necessary in today s world, afflicted by wounds both old and new. Your Constitutions call you to dedicate your whole self to evangelizing, and where necessary re-evangelizing the faithful, especially the poor in more neglected areas (Const. 70). Your closeness to people, traditionally expressed through popular missions, spiritual direction and the sacrament of Penance, is a valuable witness. The Church needs ministers who speak with tenderness, who listen without condemning and who welcome with mercy. The Church today strongly hears the call to come out of herself and to go to the peripheries, both geographic and existential. Your commitment to embracing the new frontiers of mission implies not only going to new territories to take the Gospel, but also facing the new challenges of our time, such as migration, secularism and the digital world. This means being present in those situations where people perceive the absence of God, and trying to be close to those who, in any way or form, are suffering. In this age of change, which is instead an epoch change, you are called to be attentive to the presence and action of the Holy Spirit, reading the signs of the times. New situations require new responses. Saint Paul of the Cross was very creative in responding to the needs of his time, acknowledging as he says in the Rule that God s love is most ingenious, and is shown not so much with words, but rather with deeds and by the examples of those who love (XVI). A creative fidelity to your charism will enable you to respond to the needs of the people of today, staying close to the suffering Christ so as to take His presence to a world that suffers. Your Congregation has given many examples of holiness to the People of God: let us think of Saint Gabriel of Our Lady of Sorrows, a young man whose joyful following of Christ still speaks to the young of today. The witness of the Saints and Blesseds of your religious Family manifest the fruitfulness of your charism and represent models to inspire your apostolic choices. The strength and simplicity of your message, which is God s love revealed on the Cross, can still speak to today s society, which has learned no longer to trust in words alone, and to let itself be convinced only by deeds. For many young people who are in search of God, the Passion of Jesus can be a source of hope and courage, showing them that each person is loved personally and fully. May your witness and your apostolate continue to enrich the Church, and may you remain always close to the crucified Christ and His suffering people. May the apostolic blessing, which I impart to you Capitulars and to all the Passionist family, accompany you on your way. Please, do not forget to pray for me. Thank you.

9 Some Group Pictures

10 The Day of Discernment and Election Our day began in the Chapel of St Paul of the Cross in our Basilica. There the capitulars celebrated the Mass of the Holy Spirit asking the Spirit of Wisdom and Communion to assist us in our endeavours Afternoon Election Fr. Joachim Rego was re-elected as Superior General

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12 Father John Baptist Pesce, C.P. Born: November 2 nd, 1923 First Profession: August 15 th, 1944 Final Profession: August 15 th, 1947 Died: September 26 th, 2018 Mass of Christian Burial: October 1 st, 2018