Meeting of Central European Formation Masters

 

A group of Brothers and Co-workers from the Austrian,Bavarian and Polish Provinces met in Vienna on 23-24 January 2017 to take stockof their Vocations Promotion activities and to discuss various aspects of differentstages of formation.

 

The first part of this inter-Provincial meetings wasdevoted entirely to a number of issues relating to Vocations Promotion. Themeeting was opened by Sr Ruth Pucher MC who presented the “Religious VolunteerYear” project, of which she is the coordinator. This project gives peopleinterested in the Religious Life the chance to take part in the Community lifeof a male or female Religious Institute for a period ranging from 3 months toone year. Unlike short vocational visits, this initiative enables interestedpeople to gain a first-hand close understanding of what living in a Religiouscommunity is all about. At the present time, both young and older men and womenare taking part in the Religious Volunteer Year in search of a more profoundway of living their lives.

 

The second speaker was the Augustinian Fr ManfredKrautsieder, who set out to explain what is the attraction of the ReligiousLife to men and women of our age. According to recent statistics on theReligious Life, the percentage of consecrated men and women over 75 years ofage in Germany and Austria is very high; and it also transpires that in recentyears the number of novices has remained unchanged. The speaker emphasised theimportance of transmitting the “added value” offered by the consecrated lifeand of emphasising the fact that, far from placing constraints on life, consecratingone’s life to God actually liberates it.

 

The 3rd session was animated by 2 mediaprofessionals who addressed “Social Media and Vocations Promotion“ and provideda series of very useful suggestions on how to use Facebook and other modernInternet media. They also illustrated a project on setting up a “Fatebenefratelliblog“.

 

A thorough discussion then took place and a widerangingexchange of ideas and experiences on their vocations promotion activities. Thesecovered a broad range and varied from Province to Province. For example in theCzech Republic, the Order invited young men to attend “vocational excursions” inthe High Tatra Mountains, while the Graz Interprovincial Novitiate in Austria willbe opening its doors in August this year to stage a number of “Hospitality Days”.

 

On the 2nd day, the meeting reviewed thedifferent stages of Formation. The officials reported on the situation in, andthe prospects for, the Prepostulantancy, Postulancy, Novitiate andScholasticate. One encouraging sign of hope that emerged was that there arestill young men in Central Europe, albeit not very many, who feel the call andchoose the vocation of the Brother of Saint John of God. In this connection themeeting also spoke of cooperation with the dioceses is in the field ofVocations Promotion, and a number of international issues regarding Formationin the Order.

 

Brother MagnusMorhardt 



 

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