Meetings in the Philippines
Before leaving the Philippines, I
took part in two meetings at the beginning of June. One was with all the confreres of perpetual
vows from the three communities at Payatas, to discuss the general situation of
our Congregation in the Philippines. The
second was with the formators, Fr Anderson and Fr John Castillo and Fr Eucinei
at Montalban, to try to establish the right priorities in this community
pre-eminently dedicated to the formation of future members of the Congregation
in the Philippines.
The Philippines a nation of young people
Reflecting on the Philippines, it
is obvious that there is a very large number of young people there. Also our Confreres are mostly young and
working hard to serve God and the people in their many needs. The work of formation of future confreres is
a very important part of that work. Let
us pray for them in this challenging but most rewarding work.
In Rome and internet meetings in the Delegation via “Skype”
When I returned to Rome, it took
me a few days to get over the jet-lag. So, I postponed a meeting via Skype on formation due to take place on 5th
June. It still has to be
re-organised. Then on 19th
June we held the first Orionine Lay Movement meeting on Skype with
representatives of confreres and lay people from each nation invited. It was quite successful even though not all
participants were able to connect because of network problems. These meetings via Skype are becoming more
and more common and necessary in our Delegation to make the secretariats become
a reality. We also have had meetings on formation
and works of charity, forming the Delegation Vocations’ Centre, finance, and a
Delegation Council meeting on budgets. I
hope that we can have the next Formation Secretariat meeting on Wednesday 7thAugust. We have planned to have the next Orionine Lay
Missionary Movement meeting on Wednesday 14th August.
Renewal of vows of Brs Ian, Jeremiah and Gideon at Camaldoli, Genoa,
Italy
On 28th June Brs
Sunil, Ian and Gideon and I travelled by car from the General Curia to the
house at Camaldoli, Genoa, to join Br Jeremiah for the renewal of vows on the
next day, feast of Ss. Peter and Paul with the confreres, staff and residents
in their beautiful chapel of Our Lady Cause of our Joy. Br Sunil had already renewed his vows on 16th
May in the parish of Ognissanti, Rome.
Fr Alessandro D’Acunto, Fr Ivo Caprai and the other confreres made us
very welcome and we had a lovely meal together with friends of the house after
the Mass. We took the opportunity to
visit the city of Genoa (Genova in Italian) in the afternoon. The next day we were invited by Fr Alessandro
to participate in the Mass at Paverano, the biggest “Little Cottolengo” in
Italy and join the community and Friends for lunch. After Mass I was asked to give a talk about
the Delegation, “Mother of the Church” to the Friends of Don Orione group. After lunch we made our journey back to Rome.
Diaconal ordination of Br Morris Mawira Gichia
Brother Morris was ordained
deacon at our parish of Kaburugi, Murang’a diocese, Kenya, by the auxiliary
bishop of Nairobi, the Rt. Rev. David Kamau on 30th June. Almost all the confreres were present at the
celebration which was also the annual parish Family Day, the nearest Sunday to
the feast of Ss. Peter and Paul, as the parish patron saint is St. Peter. Br Morris had spent one year of his
tirocinium at Kaburugi so he was well know by all the parishioners. Frs Raphael Kailemiah and James Njoroge are
looking after the parish of Kaburugi and their work is much appreciated by the
Bishop Wainaina of Murang’a. Br Morris
is now preparing for the final and fourth year of pastoral experience and study
in preparation for priestly ordination next year. Rev. Morris’ home is on the slopes of Mount
Kenya, the second highest mountain in Africa at over 5,000 metres, after Mount
Kilimanjaro in Tanzania. Best wishes and
prayers for Br Morris in this all-important year of preparation for ordination
to the priesthood and future service in the priesthood of Christ following the
example of St Luigi Orione.
To the USA with Fr Fulvio
On 2nd July, Fr Fulvio
Ferrari, our Bursar General, and I flew to Boston to carry out the second part
of the canonical visit which Fr Sylvester Sowizdrzał,
our General Secretary, had started in June.
We were joined by Fr Mirek Kowalczyk and Fr Marcelo Boschi and met with
the Mr Joe Traina Sr and members of Central Health Initiatives who are managing
the Don Orione Home at the moment for some discussions. We visited the Home and celebrated Mass with
about 60 residents one day, another day we celebrated Mass in our Parish of St
Joseph-St Lazarus, of which Fr Mirek is the pastor and also we concelebrated the
Portuguese language Mass in the Shrine of Our Lady Queen of the Universe with Fr
Miguel and the mostly Brazilian people.
We also greeted the people at the Spanish language Mass with Fr Marcelo,
although we were unable to participate in their Mass. 4th July was a big holiday in the
USA, that is, Independence Day, so we had a trip to the sea on the north side
of Boston. (In many places I visit people celebrate their independence from the
British – USA, Ireland, Kenya, India and Jordan!) Fr Miguel Gonçalves is responsible for the
Portuguese-speaking people who attend the shrine and Fr Marcelo, the rector of
the shrine, for the Spanish-speaking people.
Fr Gino Marchesani, after recovering from heart surgery, is again able
to help where needed.
To Jasper Indiana
On 8th
July Fr Fulvio and I flew to Louisville, Kentucky, the most convenient airport
to reach Jasper, Indiana, where we have the first house founded in the USA, Providence
Home, by the late Polish confrere, Fr Alexander Chwilowicz,
in 1933,. Fr Angelo Quadrini is now
there as the only confrere. He has been
extremely ill but has now recovered and has returned to his room in the
religious quarters. The home has a very
active Management Committee which really runs the home with Fr Angelo
supervising as chairman. We celebrated a
special Mass with the Management Board, residents, families and friends on
Wednesday and had some beautifully prepared light refreshments afterwards. Fr Fulvio and I talked to the Manager, Mr
Mike O’Brien, the office manager, Mindy and to the new Director of Nursing,
Dawn Nordoff and to other members of the staff and Management Board. The home is an important part of the social fabric
of Jasper, a small industrial town in a largely agricultural area in South-East
Indiana. On 12th July we left
for Louisville and Rome via Chicago.
To London, UK, Delegation Council
On 22nd July Fr Joseph
Vallauri, our Delegation Secretary, and I set off for London, albeit by
different routes and we arrived within five minutes of each other at our house
at Hampton Wick. We were joined in
London by Fr Eucinei, the co-ordinator in the Philippines, who arrived from
Manila and were warmly welcomed by Fr Philip, the co-ordinator in the UK and
Ireland. The next day we began the Delegation
Council meeting, connecting with Fr Mariano, the other member of the Delegation
Council, who was in Bangalore, by Skype.
The following day we had the Annual General Meeting of the Sons of
Divine Providence in the UK with Mass, reports on our activities and finances
by Mr Michael Healy and Mrs Jackie Neeve.
Then some awards were given to staff that had completed training
courses. This was followed by
refreshments. In the evening all the
confreres held a general meeting of the Members of the Sons of Divine
Providence Charity. They appointed 4
religious trustees and 2 lay trustees of the Charity. The next day we concluded the Delegation
Council. On Friday and Saturday the
Delegation Councillors dispersed and I went to Ireland where I am now while Fr
John Carmel and Fr Michael are participating at the annual retreat with all the
other confreres in the UK and Br Francis from the Vatican in the Jesuit retreat
house in North Wales.
Studying in Rome
New arrivals for studies in Rome
are Brs Gideon Ombwori Ombaba and Ian Kiprotich Katah both from Kenya who are
preparing to begin theology in Rome, Fr Antonio Ursillo from Jordan who is
preparing to do a license in Islamic and Arabic Studies and Fr Praveen
Addagatla from India who is preparing to do a license in pastoral
theology. Best wishes to them in their
studies.
Up-coming events
·
Formation Secretariat via Skype 7th
August.
·
Orionine Lay Movement meeting via
Skye 14th August.
·
The feast of Our Lady of Safe-keeping
(“Madonna della Guardia”) 29th August, Tortona, with celebration of
those who have 25 or 50 or 60 years of religious and/or priesthood. In our Delegation Fr Mirek Kowalczyk and Fr Henryk
Halman have 25 years of priesthood, Fr Julio Cuesta has 50 years of religious
life and Fr Marcelo Boschi has 25 years of religious life. Congratulations to all of them for the gift
of perseverance and may they continue to the end of the race!
·
The Orionine Synod of Africa and Madagascar at
Bonoua, Ivory Coast, 8th-10th September. Fr Paul Mboche Mwangi, co-ordinator in Kenya
and Fr Peter Wambulwa, the first Kenyan priest, will represent the Delegation
along with me. It will discuss
enculturation and fidelity to the charism.
·
15th -27th September, General Canonical Visit UK &
Ireland.
·
The Orionine Lay Movement Assembly,
Montevideo, Uruguay, 7th -11th October. Karen Chia from UK and Fr Mariano Zapico,
co-ordinator for India will attend.
·
The General Assembly of Verification
at the shrine of Our Lady of Aparecida, Brazil, 13th – 20th
October. Fr Mariano and I will
attend. This is also the start of the
Orionine Missionary Year. Each country
must prepare a celebration to remember the foundation of the Congregation in
territory during the following 12 months.
F
Fr
Malcolm.
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