Our Chapter Reports, Days 5 and 6

Sylvester Warwakai, PNG Provincial (who spent some time at Cuskelly House, Blackburn, and at YTU)

Fifth Day. 22nd September, by Javier Trapero

This day was dedicated to the memory of the Blessed MSC Martyrs of El Quiché. In the Communal Wisdom Prayer, the text from Psalm 119:97-105 was used for personal reflection and subsequent sharing in the prayer groups. After this time of prayer, Humberto Henriques opened the day’s work and announced, among other things, the birthday of Ms. Doris Maldonado, Deputy in the International Council of the Lay Chevalier Family.

Work was done on the Reports from some of the Commissions established by the General Leadership Team according to the recommendations of the 2021 General Conference, namely:

• Safeguarding Commission: Tim Brenan, as head of the Safeguarding Commission, explained the importance of addressing the issue of safeguarding. Some provincials have had to address this issue in their provinces. Tim wanted to convey to all the capitulants to “not congratulate yourselves for making the document, congratulate yourselves for putting it into practice in your provinces”. Joe, facilitator, proposed a moment of dialogue and personal reflection afterwards with other capitulants.

• Commission on International Houses of Formation: Humberto introduced the people who have been working on this issue in recent years, among whom was Bogey Cabrera who died recently. Carl Tranter, one of the members of this commission, intervened to explain the document. The main idea for the dialogue focused on the international aspect of MSC formation.

From the two themes of the afternoon, the first session continued the discussion on formation, an issue that was linked to the last session on the older MSC:

• Ongoing formation: Chris Chaplin was in charge of leading this session, which he described as very important and underlined the need for the requirement to have Ongoing Formation coordinators and facilitators at the Entity level.

• Ageing Commission: The dialogue revolved around the Compilation of Congregational Feedback, a document dealing with the issue of ageing and proposals to address it. Joe was the facilitator, but Theo te Wierik and Sam Maranresy, provincials of the Netherlands and Indonesia respectively, showed a reality present in their provinces, stressing the importance of approaching this issue from the perspective of closeness and affection for the MSC who are getting older.

The day ended with the remembrance of the Blessed MSC Martyrs of El Quiché in the Eucharist presided over by Raúl Ruiz, provincial of Central America and Mexico, together with Willy Méndez.

Sixth Day. 23rd September, by Javier Trapero

Alan Neville began the Morning Prayer with some texts from Fr. Jules Chevalier and our Constitutions.
“The undertaking may seem foolhardy, but we have signs of God’s blessing […]” (Jules Chevalier, 1866)
“We will do everything for everyone, respecting the different cultures and being ready to take on any apostolic services that people may need […]”. (MSC Const., n. 24) “Elderly or sick confreres who are unable to work continue to participate in the mission of their religious family”. (MSC Const., n. 25)

John Mulrooney was the day’s host. He reminded everyone that it was the feast of St. Pius of Pietrelcina, more known as Padre Pio

The day continued with the Commission Reports, namely:

• JPIC Commission

Andre Claessens, JPIC Commission

• Internationality & Mission
• Commission Structures

On JPIC, it was discussed whether it could really become a priority for the congregation in the future and how networking could be created.

Regarding the Internationality & Mission Commission, the discussion focused on interculturality and what mission meant for some MSC in a province that was not their own.

After lunch there was a meeting with Tim Brenan for those capitulants who had questions from the previous day about the Safeguarding Commission. In the said meeting, they were able to present more concrete views on this issue and the MSC General Safeguarding Policy Document that was approved the previous day.

The afternoon was devoted entirely to dialogue on the structures of the congregation for the future. One of the most important topics was the Province of Italy.

The day concluded with a Mass presided over by John Chinnapan, delegate of Indian Union, together with Darwin Thatheus, union superior.