Madrid, Spain. The fifth English edition of the Forge, the Claretian Renewal Encounter, began on Sunday, March 31, 2019 at the Forge Center in Los Negrales, Madrid with the Eucharistic celebration presided over by Rev. Fr. Pedro Belderrain, Superior of the Province of Santiago, and participated in by the community of Los Negrales, and the Forge cohort. In the introductory session before the Holy Mass, Paulson Veliyannoor and Roland Onuekwusi, facilitators for the English edition of the Forge, welcomed the participants and provided with necessary housekeeping information as well as information on the dynamics of the 75-day Forge encounter that will have three distinctive phases, each phase punctuated with a unique core experience.

The current Forge cohort has 15 participants drawn from 11 Major Organisms (Bangalore, Chennai, East Asia, East Nigeria, Indonesia-Timor Leste, Northeast India, Philippines, Sri Lanka, St. Charles Lwanga, St. Thomas, and US-Canada) and representing citizens from eight countries (Canada, India, Indonesia, Japan, Nigeria, Philippines, Poland, and Sri Lanka).

Presiding over the inaugural Eucharist, Fr. Pedro welcomed the participants to the Province of Santiago and wished that the Forge would be a graced time for them to ask for the real true Light, the Light that comes from the Highest, the Light missionaries need on a daily basis to witness to the Gospel amidst God’s people.

During the Forge, the participants will be led by the Spirit through the three processes of transformation that the Congregation has mandated for itself in the last General Chapter: to be adorers of the Father, to be a community of followers of Christ, and to be a congregation going forth. The participants will be praying for each Major Organism per day. And they request the prayerful accompaniment of their brethren in this pilgrimage of the soul.