Assembly of Major Superiors
As scheduled in the
programme for the Sexennium, the Order’s Assembly of Major Superiors convened in
Rome, at the General Curia, on 23-27 October, 2017.
The Assembly was
attended by all the Provincial Superiors, the Vice-Provincial and the General
Delegate and was inaugurated by a celebration of the Eucharist.
In his opening
address, the Superior General touched on various important matters of relevance
to the Order’s future, mainly focusing on the Sexennium theme, “Living hospitality
hopefully and boldly”, and recalled that the Assembly was being asked to address
the sub-theme “The Hospitaller Family of St John of God”. He emphasised the
valuable experiences of the Canonical Visitations conducted this year to the
Order’s Provinces, as “a very special moment
for the General Government to get a first-hand understanding “in the field”,
and a very special opportunity for the
Provinces to share, evaluate and plan their livesfe,
with the help of the General Government… I do not know whether we succeeded in transmitting
hope and boldness, and whether we have all been
capable of growing in hope and fostering boldness in the lives of the
Provinces. I believe we have. But we must we must continually to live our
consecration hopefully and continue to show boldness and courage in the mission
and never allow anything to paralyse us”
On the subject of
the Hospitaller Family, he emphasised the fact that “in recent years, the issue of charismatic families has become one of
the most important topics even in the theology of consecrated life. Practically
all the Institutes of Consecrated Life are working on it and some Congregations
have even gathered together to jointly set up reflection groups to address the
whole issue of charismatic families”.
The first three
days concentrated reflections on charismatic families, led by three external
facilitators, and shared the experiences of Provinces of Korea and Andalusia.
The last two days
were spent in regional groups and exchanging information on the work carried
out by the general commissions, the 2019 General Chapter Preparatory
Commission, and the work at the General Curia during the year.
On Thursday evening, the participants were invited by Fr Gerardo, the Rome Provincial Superior, to celebrate Vespers in the San Pietro Hospital Chapel, the headquarters of the Rome Provincial Curia, and to a fraternal supper in the Community refectory.