Mexico. Again we welcome the new day together with the warble of the birds, without forgetting our prayer facilitated this morning by Fr. Mikel Burgos, of the mission of Northern Potosí who, through a brief video about the difficult conditions of life of the peasant population, prepared our hearts to see God in the humble and the simple, in the poor and in the children. Among the many works that the mission carries out there, it is worth emphasizing the functioning of the little school in the midst of the mountains.
After breakfast, we all gathered in the conference hall to begin the work of the day with the reading of the previous minutes and the letter from Fr. General reporting on the main themes discussed in the recent sessions of the General Government. After that, we had a quick look at the processes of reorganization of the Major Organisms: Fr. Oswair Chiozini, newly appointed Provincial of the new Province of Brazil, told us that last January 23 he officially took possession at the end of the encounter of the General Government with the Major Superiors. It was a serene process because many joint processes had already been maintained. We will have to see if the calmness continues when the changes come. Regarding Peru and Bolivia, the process of unification has not yet been initiated because one of the parties (Peru) has to make first a discernment path within the Delegation; some steps have already been taken, like the unification of the Theologate between both Organisms. In Colombia and Venezuela the unification plan has been normally followed, making approaches and several joint projects. Also in Chile, Argentina, Uruguay and Humahuaca the process is progressing through encounters by pastoral areas, and in January of 2009 there will be a general assembly among the Claretians involved which, with the help of Fr. Abella, may give body to the unification.
In another aspect we were reminded that in the encounter of the General Government with the Major Superiors in Sao Paulo it was proposed to reflect in the General Chapter on the Claretian vocation and identity. The theme decided by the General Government is “Called to evangelize. How to live our missionary vocation today.” Another point to which we dedicated some time was the project of building a seminary in Haiti, but due to he economic conditions of that country, it was exceedingly costly, and this demanded a reform of the project and of its sources of financing, since aside from CICLA, it is important that the General Government, the Delegation of Antilles and the Board of Directors of CICLA dialogue over this affair. On its part, CICLA continues collaborating with the mission of Haiti, and is ready to help with the construction of the seminary.
Toward the end of the morning, the result of the survey to begin the presentation of candidates for the Board of Directors of CICLA was made known. Among the most frequently heard names are Fr. Alejandro Cerón as President, Fr. Marcos Garnica as Executive Secretary and Fr. Oswair Chiozini as Vice-president. This last one did not accept the nomination for reasons of distance and the work in his new Province of Brazil. It seems that CICLA will move “the Mexican way,” but we must wait to see where all this leads us to.
The final hour of the morning and the rest of the afternoon was dedicated to the revision of the general project of CICLA, keeping in mind that we will have to revise this more deeply considering the Chapter conclusions. Nevertheless, some proposals of change were given, for example that the part of the reality be written by some Claretian that has studied it and who will integrate the vision given by the participants of CICLA; to give more strength to the vocational ministry, to interculturality and the inter-religious dialogue; to reformulate the doctrinal framework guided by the main Claretian and ecclesial documents, including in this last part what is reflected in Aparecida, and that it should seek to identify ourselves as a confederation. Well, these are only some points among many contributions given by the assembly.
In the Eucharist, led by the participants from Brazil, their vocational history was shared as well as many expectations existing in view of the new Province of Brazil. We all prayed to God that He may enlighten them and push much more their missionary initiatives.
After supper and with our different outlook at Alejandro Cerón and Marcos Guernica, came the main topic of the night: a theatrical presentation based on the writings of Fr. Agustín Cabré, cmf, on the last moments of the life of Fr. Andrés Solà, cmf, D. Leonardo Pérez and Fr. José Trinidad Rangel, the Blessed Martyrs of San Joaquín. This theatrical work left more than one person dumbfounded; it was professionally well prepared, with good actors, and with quite a passionate way of narrating it. Congratulations!
