05 May 2001

What's New?

A Promise Kept

As we promised our readers (cf. 21/04/01) we have gathered all the materials published since December 2, 2000 on Fr. Juan Garcia Mèndez and the XXth Century SCJ Martyrs to one easy link page (cf. Celebrating the First SCJ Beatification: Fr. Juan Garcia Mèndez, scj). This link will also be added to the Letters & Documents page.

Justice & Peace Conference

We are posting to the Letters & Documents section a letter from Fr. General announcing the International Conference of SCJ Promoters of Justice and Peace. It will be held in Montréal, Canada next year (October 1 - 15, 2001). The letter is posted in Italian, Spanish and Portuguese, we hope to add our other languages later (cf. "Incontro Internazionale dei Promotori SCJ di Giustizia e Pace"),

Papal Address

The office of Justice & Peace forwarded the address (April 27, 2001) of Pope John Paul II to the Pontifical Academy of Social Sciences on the morality of globalization. The article is posted here in English, for other languages please visit the Vatican website at: http://www.vatican.va

Postings for Salamanca

We are posting to the Salamanca Dehonian Education Conference page an article by Giuseppe Manzoni (IS) on Fr. Dehon: Il suo ascendente come educatore. The text is available in Italian and Spanish.

We are also posting, in French, the third part of Fr. Ledure's article on Fr. Dehon as an Educator that appeared in Heimat und Mission 1999 1/2 pp. 14-15.

Le Père Dehon éducateur

What's Happening?

India

Construction continues on the novitiate house in India. It is located at Guntur where a new minor seminary is also under construction. The novitiate is designed along classical Indian lines. Funds for the construction of the novitiate are coming from the US Province, while the Dutch Province is providing funds for the new minor seminary.

Formation in South Brazil


Students and Staff Taubaté Candidate Program

[additional photos]

The Southern Brazilian Province is undergoing deep and large changes in its formation system.

The main changed is due to the decision to postpone the novitiate until after philosophy. Under the old system candidates entered postulancy soon after high school, at around 18. After one-year postulancy, in Curitiba, they would enter the novitiate, in Jaraguá do Sul, and then philosophy in Brusque, followed by theology at Taubaté.

This year the first group under the new system went straight to philosophy in Brusque. To host this new group the retreat house at Brusque (Casa Padre Dehon) was converted into a formation house.

The postulancy house at Curitiba is being renovated to become a part of ESIC (Madrid). The candidates of the minor seminary at Corupá moved to Rio Negrinho. The plan is to stop formation activities in the big house (Corupá) and give it another mission.

There are still 24 novices, the last group in the old system. Next year the house of the novitiate will serve as a Latin-American Novitiate. Postulants from Maranhão and some from the south, as there are always some who have completed philosophy preparing for the Novitiate which will be located this year in São Luis, Maranhão.

In addition, the Brazilian government recently recognized theology schools giving them a status equal to any other university program. The proceedings to obtain this official recognition for Taubaté are underway and will require additional space. An independent institution will be created, with an independent administration, personnel, board of direction, etc. It is foreseen that the formation house in Taubaté will no longer be able to lodge all the theology students attending classes there.

A questionnaire has been sent to BM members to solicit possible solutions to the many problems created by these changes and the increasing number of candidates. There is a possibility some theology students might be sent to other scj provinces as well as to other theology schools in Brazil.

In 2003 RBM (Region of South Brazil) should be erected as a province. They are thinking of keeping their theology students in the new province, perhaps at Florianopolis. On the other hand, the new central part (which could be name BC=Central Brazil) may establish their own philosophy program. As it can be seen many things have to be managed and many alternatives are being considered to solve these problems, which all provinces ought to be blest with! Blessed is the provincial who has this kind of headache to keep himself busy!

by Odilo Leviski (BM)
assistant secretary general
NB Photos provided by Frater Levi dos Anjos Ferreira (BM) who is in third year theology at Taubaté and lives in the candidate house. For more information write to:

Convívio Vocacional Dehoniano
Av. Santa Cruz do Areão 1506
Bairro do Areão
12061 -100 Taubaté - SP
Cx. Postal 154 12010-970 Taubaté, SP
Brazil
email: convivio@infocad.com.br

Mozambique

The superior general with the consent of his council on April 9th and April 18th of this year in conforming to number 121 of the constitutions has appointed the following provincial administration to take office on June 19, 2001.

Provincial: p. Onorio Matti (second term)

Council:

  1. p. Claudio Dalla Zuanna
  2. p. Carlos da Cuhnha Sousa Lobo
  3. p. Renato Comastri
  4. p. Azevedo Saraiva
Youth Ministry

From April 20 to 22, 2001 the Portuguese Province held its Fifth Young Dehonians Youth Encounter at Fátima. Jacinto Jardim passed along the final message from the group (cf. "JOVENS COM VALORES").

NB For more information contact Pe. Jacinto Jardim, scj: Centro Dehoniano <cdehoniano@mail.telepac.pt>