What's
NewWhat's
NewThanks to Marcial Macaneiro (BM) for translating the article on news from Brazil. [Editors Note: Little articles like this are of great interest in the congregation. We encourage others to send along similar news articles. Remember it does not have to be in English, but Spanish, French, Italian or Portuguese are possible. Just remember it takes time to find translators willing and able to do the work.]The second article this week is the final message from the Fifth Formation Week on the Iberian Peninsula (Alfragide, 30 July 1998).
What's
HappeningThrough Radio Marítima Española the Spanish Government has the ability to contact missionaries working in troubled countries. On the evening of August 31st Fr. General had the opportunity to contact a Spanish diocesan priest working in the diocese of Wamba, about 60 kilometers from Mambasa. He relayed the following message received from Mambasa.We are well. We have had some difficulties. At the moment it's soldiers passing through with little or no organization. The Virgin has protected us. We are certain that she will continue to do so. Pray for us! Pray for us. We do not know if or when we will have the opportunity to use the radio again.
Greetings to All
Fr. Gianni Lanieri, Fr. Nerio Broccardo, Abbé Jean-Marie
He also confirmed that Mambasa is in the hands of the rebels. They have taken the radio. The soldiers that fled tried to take the vehicle, but they were not able to do so because the people stopped them. They did steal two bicycles. The lack of telephone communication with Mambasa means the community remains cut off from outside communication.
From the zone controlled by the rebels it is possible to enter the area controlled by the government, but it is not very prudent to do so.
From Kisangani it was reported that the city is in the hands of the rebels. The situation is tranquil. The Rwandan troops are retreating from Kisangani. Only the Congolese rebels remain. The city of Isiro remains in the hands of the government, likewise the regions around Ibambi and Babonde.
Curia GeneralisRomeSeptember 1, 1998
News
from Brazil1. Fr. CARLOS ALBERTO COSTA E SILVA (CU)A few days after arriving in his homeland, Fr. Carlos Alberto began working, despite being on vacation. As a Brazilian expression says "He removes stones while resting". Besides the theological classes at the Franciscan Institute of Olinda -- where the SCJ scholastics from North Brazil study -- the general counselor is also teaching a course on the Gospel according to St. Matthew, offered to lay people, priests, brothers and sisters at the Catholic University of Pernambuco (the state of Recife). Exceeding all expectations, this course prepared for 60 people now has almost 100 students!
2. VOCATION MINISTRY IN BS PROVINCE
In all Brazilian dioceses August is specially dedicated to vocations. Therefore, following the Church schedule the BS Province has been developing several activities for vocational promotion during this month. Among the activities the II Decision Meeting -- 07/04-06 -- with eight SCJ candidates deserves mention. This meeting is offered to young people who have finished high school and want to attend the SCJ Vocation Center. During a preparatory year the Center offers three meetings on vocational topics to help candidates in their discernment process. Besides, several interviews for personal and psychological knowledge about each candidate takes place. The Vocational Commission is responsible for the interviews and all the meetings. Fathers Is Cavalcanti -- coordinator --, Luis Carlos Sousa, and Fratres Miguel Batista, Felipe Menezes, and Marcos Roberto da Silva are members of the commission. By the way, the BS Province sent three vocational commission's members to a intensive Vocation Ministry course -- 07/03-15 in St. Luis (the capital city of the state of Maranhão).
3. DEHONIAN UNITY DAY
The BS Province's lay dehonians have celebrated Dehonian Unity Day since 1991, on August 12 -- the anniversary of Fr. Dehon's death. On this occasion dehonian religious and lay associates gathered to share their common charism and participation in the SCJ mission. This meeting is a special moment to study aspects of the dehonian identity. Priests and lay people pray for one another united in the same spirituality. It's a beautiful expression of the Dehonian Family! Since 1995 -- when the first Latin-American Dehonian Lay Meeting took place in S. Paulo, South Brazil -- the event has become an annual commemoration in Latin-America. Each year a country is responsible for developing liturgical suggestions, offered as contribution to all Latin-American provinces. This year the South Brazil dehonian lay was responsible for it. In addition to the Dehonian Unity Day different celebrations took place in several SCJ parishes on August 12.
translated by Fr. Marcial Macaneiro (BM)Door to the chapel of the new Lavras, Brazil Retreat Center -- planned site for the August 1999 SCJ Vocation Conference
Fifth
Formation Week on the Iberian PeninsulaEighty-five of us from the Spanish and Portuguese provinces of the Congregation of the Priests of Sacred Heart of Jesus gathered at Lisbon between July 27-30, 1998 in the presence of the Fr. Carlos Alberto da Costa Silva, general councilor, for the Fifth Formation Week (Iberian Peninsula).Together we lived our SCJ religious life in a spirit of prayer, work, collaboration, brotherhood and conviviality in the fullest sense of congregational fraternity.
Together we examined the topic of the Economy and the Kingdom of God making use of the dynamics of exposition (conferences, communications), discussion (group work) and debate (full assembly) along the following four trains of thought and reflection:
Biblical-theological 1. The relationship between the Kingdom of God and socio-economic reality in the Old and New Testaments. For the Old, we began with the exodus experience, and finished with the covenant and exile experiences. For the New, we accentuated our freedom found in the structures of the new order: love, sharing, and service;
2. The theological foundations of the Kingdom of God, focusing our reflection on the Holy Spirit as the source of the new world of cohesive communion. We are looking for a culture of sharing and fraternity in our current history;
Dehonian spirit 3. The commitment to the Kingdom of God in Leo Dehon as a reign of love, as a reign built on the foundation of reparation, as reign of justice, and as reign which has the commandments and the Gospel as its social code;
4. The contribution which the Dehonian spirituality makes to the Kingdom of God today wherever church, religious life, and SCJs come together;
5. Some actual concrete achievements along these lines in our LU and HI provinces, in the thought and activity of their respective Justice and Peace commissions, in parochial pastoral life, in youth ministry, in social ministry, in management, in missions Ad Gentes, and in the "We, the Congregation" plan.
Ecclesial 6. The social reality of the Kingdom of God in the local church, starting with the concrete witness given by the local church in Lisbon, by its parishes and its movements;
7. The economic situation with attention drawn to the characteristics, fields, needs, and functions of social ethics when it affirms the values of justice, freedom, equality, and solidarity;
8. Market strategy and the Kingdom of God, with particular concentration on the social function found in discussion of the Kingdom of God in Economy;
9. Economy and the Kingdom of God from the perspective of a Christian economist explaining the overall objectives of economy and consequent ethical requirements.
Faced with such challenges, a greater commitment is necessary in order to arrive at concrete proposals and positions:
We submit this final message to all the members of the Spanish and Portuguese provinces and to the entire Congregation as an expression of the thinking that went on during the week and make it available to everyone.
