Madrid, Spain. Today the IV Encounter of Young Religious in Spain has come to an end in Madrid. For several days it drew together almost one hundred and fifty young religious men and women from 15 nations. The encounter occurred within the framework of a few weeks of intense activity in the consecrated life in Spain, which will further celebrate, in the next few days, the III Symposium organised by the Institute of Religious Life in Madrid. All appears to be a great success of programming and organisation, hosting more that one hundred and sixty religious, the majority of them religious brothers, to whom this Symposium is especially dedicated.
In the middle of November the Spanish capital was the backdrop to the XVII General Assembly of the Conference of Religious (CONFER) which brought together, against all expectations, a significantly high turnout of major superiors in Spain, amongst them the four Provincial Claretians, who usually distinguish themselves by their consistent annual attendance at the Assembly. As usual, some of our brothers played a crucial role, in particular Frs Luis Alberto Díez, José Cristo Rey García Paredes and Manuel A. Tamargo. The first took charge of the moderation of the encounter; the second was responsible for giving one of the important lectures; and the third, as a member of the Steering Committee of CONFER, took an active part in its preparation.
Some days later, Madrid also welcomed the II International Encounter of Specialist Magazines in the Consecrated Life, an initiative which had its first meeting in Chile in 2008 and was put in place by the International Congress that took place in Rome in 2004. The meeting brought together twelve of the principal world publications, amongst them Vida Religiosa(Religious Life) and Claretianum. It was the responsibility of Vida Religiosa, along with two other Spanish publications, to host the encounter. Fr Pedro Manuel Sarmiento Caballero, assistant director of VR, took to the floor as the main speaker of one of the three lectures.
The young religious men and women then took over proceedings. They usually have an annual rendezvous at the Encounter of Juniors, organised by our Regina Apostolorum School, its 11th meeting scheduled for the month of March 2011. The Encounter at this time, also fourth in a series in which there has always been a visible Claretian presence, has relied on the Claretian Deacon Manuel Ogalla as one of its principal organisers. Frs Luis A. Gonzalo Díez, Carlos Díaz Muñiz and Fernando Prado addressed those present at the lectures, seminars and workshops.
You can find further information about all these activities at www.masdecerca.org, a blog initiated by Fr Fernando Prado, Director of Claretian Publications in Madrid. It comes as no surprise that, in the light of their participation and expertise, that some people think that our Congregation was born to support the consecrated life.
