| Italy – 77th Half-yearly Assembly of the USG |
| Italy – Seminar on Consecrated Life |
| Vatican – You are by vocation seekers of God |
| Italy – 76th Half Year Meeting USG: Consecrated Life under review |
The second day ended with a talk “Consecrated Life in Europe: committed to an evangelical prophecy” by Fr Josè Rodriguez Carballo, of the Order of Friars Minor (OFM). The Minister General encouraged his audience not to be fearful about the present difficulties: “If, as St Augustine says, in the winter the roots are alive then the present moment of Consecrated Life in Europe is not infertile or dead, but of concentration on what is essential.”
He then suggested some ideas from which to start in order to give once again a prophetic dimension to Consecrated Life in Europe: re-evaluating the role of the elderly, remembering that it was they “the great protagonists of primitive monasticism ”and that the increase in vocations depends precisely on the ability of the elderly to be teachers and witnesses for the young; re-vitalising, in this context the service of authority; and re-discovering the missionary dimension of the religious orders. Fr Carballo then encouraged them to look to the future with optimism: “The hope we are speaking about is very different from that of a passing moment. It has a sure foundation, Jesus Christ.” He concluded: “I am dreaming of a consecrated life closer to Jesus and closer to people, especially the least. Full of passion for Christ and for humanity.”
Having completed their work at the Salesianum, today, 26 November, the Superiors went to the Vatican to be received in audience by the Holy Father Benedict XVI.
As President of the USG the Rector Major greeted and thanked the Holy Father. Fr Chávez first recalled the words recently addressed by the Pope to the bishops of the south region of Brazil in which the Holy Father declared that “consecrated life could never die nor be lacking in the Church because it was the wish of Jesus himself as an essential part of his Church.”
Then after giving a short account of the proposals arising from the two Assemblies of USG dedicated to consecrated life in Europe, Fr Chávez informed the Pope of the commitments which the Superiors had decided to make: to re-discover the depth of the spiritual experience, by faithfully referring to the Founders, and to their lives of holiness and to the charism; to build communities in which the gift of brotherhood is lived with joy and which are capable of witnessing to the transforming power of the Gospel to European society; and finally to recover the centrality of the mission, re-launching the priority challenge of building the Kingdom of God and becoming the sacrament of the presence of Jesus in today’s society.
The President of the USG concluded, in the name of all, renewing the pledge of fidelity and availability to the universal mission of the Church.
Published 26/11/2010
