CONSECRATED LIFE:
Love for Poverty, Need for Management
and the “Temptation of Power”
Angel Fernandez Artime, sdb
LOVE FOR POVERTY, a witness to the newness of Christ
It was on the occasion of the celebration of the International Symposium on the “Management of Ecclesiastical Goods of the Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life, for the Service of Humanity and the Mission of the Church” (March 8, 2014) that Pope Francis addressed a clear and emphatic call to religious men and women, reminding them that consecrated persons have always been “a prophetic voice and living witness to the newness which is Christ, and that they have to conform themselves to the One who made himself poor so that we might become rich by his poverty.” The Pope went on to say that “this loving poverty is solidarity, sharing and charity and is expressed in moderation, in the quest for justice and in contentment with a simple life.”
I have personally put some words in dark type to highlight not only the keywords but also the attitudes that must accompany our life. For us, to live poverty cannot be solely a matter of thrift or control of oneself or others. This has little to do with the essence of personal freedom with regard to economic goods and with our donating and sharing them. Basic personal and institutional attitudes such as solidarity, sharing, charity, moderation, justice and contentment with a simple life must really find a place in our documents, our personal and institutional ‘examination of conscience’, our ‘accountability to others’, etc.
To keep these things in our mind and heart makes us more free with respect to “the material idols which blur the authentic meaning of life” (says the Pope in this same message). And along with this, he adds another forceful call. A call to ensure that our poverty is not theoretical but in consonance and communion with the poorest of this world. A theoretical poverty is of no use; what is needed is a poverty that we learn by touching the flesh of the poor Christ in the humble, in the poor, in the sick, in children.” The Pope invites us to continue to be for the Church and for the world “the outposts of care for all of the poor and for all material, moral and spiritual poverty, and examples in overcoming every form of egoism through the logic of the Gospel which teaches us to trust in the Providence of God.”
THE HIDDEN TEMPTATION OF POWER
Let me add, dear brothers, a last point for our dialogue. I will be brief in describing it, though I think that it is much more alive and present than we imagine (and dare to speak about).
I personally am concerned about it because increasingly I am beginning to see it more clearly in our religious life as a reality which, almost without our realizing it, can kill us in what concerns our condition as religious. Of what use is it to speak about loving poverty and about our life as a donation and free self-gift if this temptation runs the danger of becoming – I do not know whether to a small or large extent – the blood coursing through our veins?
→ It is becoming increasingly common to find religious men and women leaving aside the most essential aspects of their charism (think, for example, of young people in the case of us Salesians) to involve themselves in the management and administration of projects, ventures, etc.
→ It is becoming increasingly common to find young religious who, as soon as they have completed their years and stages of initial formation, immediately ask about the post they will hold or the office they will occupy.
→ Still more worrying is the clericalism of the Church and of our Congregations and Institutes where to be a priest is an honour and a status that has been achieved, which translates into authority, power, and includes access to financial resources that are to be handled, that can be used to help one’s family, and so on.
→ Still more worrying too is the rigidity of religious men and women who are ready to have lay dependents (such persons are easily accepted) but are not ready to really share the mission of the Institute or Congregation with lay people in a relationship of equality – in connection with the mission – and still less ready to depend as religious on laypeople.
→ This situation becomes even more serious and difficult in situations where our confreres not only wield authority but also make payments. Lay people understand very well that the one who pays is – if not the boss – the one who certainly holds power and can tell them one day that their job is terminated. In this way, their temptation to dominate is satisfied, and the need to be submissive becomes a mode of survival for the others.
→ Not only is there not a decrease but an increase in many parts of the world of cases of religious men and women seeking to take control of institutions, to be the principal or the director of a school, to be the administrator (in order not to relinquish control over money on the pretext that lay people cannot be trusted), or parish-priests who have a deep-rooted conviction of being the owners of the parish…
→ And all these situations are further aggravated when they are disguised with a message which says that such things need to be done out of a sense of responsibility, for the good of the institution, as a guarantee for the future, as a way of ensuring that everything does not collapse, etc.
In my opinion, what is not spoken of and not even listed by the CIC among the other things that ‘violate any of the commandments of the Divine Law’, is that these are certainly situations in dire need of authentic evangelization and conversion.
In the dialogue that we shall have my desire is that we confront these things with our own life-experience and that of our Institutes and Congregations.
Cfr. Continue to read the full text. ITALIANO/ INGLESE / SPAGNOLO / FRANCESE
ROME – THE JUBILEE OF VOLUNTARY WORK AND WORKERS OF MERCY AT THE CHURCH OF ST. MARY MAGDALENE (2-4 September 2016)
The Pontifical Council for the New Evangelisation – which is entrusted with the organisation of the events for the Extraordinary Jubilee of Mercy – has asked us to make available our beautiful Church of St. Mary Magdalene to organise a part of the great event of the Jubilee which will culminate in the Canonisation of Mother Teresa of Calcutta (which is envisaged for Sunday 4 September 2016).
On 2-3 September 2016 – from 14.00 to 21.00 (non-stop) – our church will also be a place for the catechesis of Mercy, for events involving thought and prayer, and for the celebration of the sacrament of reconciliation, specifically within the context of the Jubilee of Voluntary Work and Workers of Mercy.
THE CAMILLIAN COMMUNITY IN GEORGIA
Francis in Georgia and Azerbaijan (30 September-2 October 2016). On Saturday 1 October – the feast day of St. Teresa of Lisieux, the patron saint of missions – the Holy Father will celebrate a meeting with those who are assisted and agents of works of charity of the Church in front of the help centre of the Camillians.
Programme of the journey of the Pope in Georgia
Fr. Akaki Chelidze is the first Catholic and Camillian religious in Georgia to have made his religious profession after a pause of about two centuries due to the domination of the Russian Tsars and then the Soviet domination of the country. At Tblisi, the capital of the Republic of Georgia, our missionaries, with the cooperation of the ‘Daughters of St. Camillus’, run the Redemptor Hominis polyclinic which every day helps three hundred sick people and has about fifty employees. At the present time, Georgia has about six million inhabitants, the majority of whom are Orthodox. There are about 50,000 Catholics in the country.
The Camillians arrived in Georgia in the year 1998 with the aim of assisting and caring for the sick, the elderly, the handicapped, the most defenceless social groups, those in need and the poor through the distribution of food and medical products and the provision of humanitarian aid and charitable help. The most important areas of activity in Georgia are social rehabilitation and the inclusion of the disabled, in particular children, young people and women; the fight against poverty; and the professional training of medical and nursing staff.
http://www.kamilianie-gruzja.com/PDF/Kamilianie_D.pdf
THE VICE-PROVINCE OF BURKINA FASO
On 9 July 2016, in the diocese of Manga, which is on the border with Ghana, three young Camillian religious were ordained priests. One of them is the first priest to be born in the diocese of Manga. These three new priests are: Fr. Justin Nana (who was born in Manga), Fr. Eric Naré (who was born in Koupela), and Fr. Nayaleguéba Pierre Savadogo (who was born in Ouagadougou/Tikare).
THE VICE-PROVINCE OF BENIN-TOGO
On Saturday 6 August 2016, ten religious of the Vice-Province of Benin-Togo will be ordained priests in the large Parish of St. Michael of Cotonou (Benin) by Msgr. Antoine Ganye, the Archbishop of Cotonou. They are: Constantin Aihinto, Bienvenu Codjo, Hervé Dhadho, Hugues Lauris Gozo, Grégoire Longa, Josué Loko, Ghislain Missiho, Eric Nkusi, Patient Komlan, and Germain Yabe Ali.
ADMISSIONS TO PERPETUAL PROFESSION
At the meeting of the General Consulta of 4 July 2016, the Superior General, with the agreement of the members of the General Consulta, after assessing their requests and the salient elements communicated by those who had provided them with formation, by their formation communities, and by their Superiors, admitted to the perpetual profession of religious vows five young candidates. Their names are as follows:
Melanio Serapio Ancari Alcazar
ed Aécio Honorato da Silva, religiosi della Provincia camilliana del Brasile.
Makpenon Casimir,
Klako Sagbo Ekouè Samuel
e Joubel Stive Gbénande Amagji, religiosi della Vice Provincia camilliana del Benin Togo.
To them go our very best wishes, with the words of Pope Francis spoken on the day of the recent Jubilee of Consecrated Life (2 February 2016): ‘Our founders were moved by the Spirit and were not afraid to soil their hands with everyday life, with the problems of the people, courageously moving along the geographical and existential peripheries. They did not halt in the face of obstacles and the misunderstandings of others, because they kept in their heart the astonishment over the encounter with Christ. They did not tame the grace of the Gospel; they always had in their heart a healthy apprehension for the Lord, a heartrending desire to bring him to others, as Mary and Joseph did in the temple. We too are called today to make prophetic and courageous choices’.
THE DELEGATION IN KENYA
The Camillian Delegate of Kenya, Fr. Aloice Ochar Nyanya, has rectified the date for the celebrations of the fortieth anniversary of the arrival of the Camillians in that country. No longer the 16 July 2016 – as had been communicated previously – this anniversary will be celebrated on 6 August 2016. The event will be held at the hospital of the mission in Tabaka. The Holy Mass will be presided over by the bishop of the diocese of Kisii, Msgr. Joseph Mairura Okemwa.
On Sunday 17 July 2016, the Delegation of Kenya celebrated the temporary profession of religious vows of four novices at the Camillus Community of Karungu: Okwany Gerald Philiph, Evans Juma Wekesa, Mulinge Musyok, Pius. Kamau, Njoroge Paul. The celebration was presided over by Msgr. Philiph Anyolo, the bishop of the diocese of Homabay.
THE PROVINCE OF NORTH ITALY
On 24-26 June of this year the Province of North Italy organised a weekend of formation of a Biblical character on the subject: ‘On the Book of Tobit. In the Jubilee Year of Mercy’. The reflections were entrusted to Don Martino Signoretto – a Biblical theologian from Verona. The objective of these events involving formation – see the three-year plan of the same Province – has been to offer the possibility of examining elements that are connected with our lives of Camillian consecration. Becoming familiar with Biblical wisdom leads us to know about, discover and listen to a ‘mystery’ that constantly regenerates us.
On 4-9 September 2016 our religious brother Fr. Umberto Andreetto will offer to the religious of the Province, at the centre for spirituality of Mottinello (VI), the second course of spiritual exercises planned for the year 2016. This course will have as its subject ‘The Scandal of Mercy in the Gospels’.
THE DELEGATION OF TANZANIA
Shukrani K. Mbirigenda communicates with joy the temporary profession of religious vows of two young men of the Camillian Delegation of Tanzania. This took place on 17 July 2016. They are Emmanuel John Maounda and Patrick Athanas Bouakila.
THE LITURGICAL FEAST DAY OF ST CAMILLUS DE LELLIS IN THE CAMILLIAN WORLD – 14 July 2016
At the following link we offer you a photographic roundup of the major celebratory events that you have sent to us associated with the feast day of our founder saint St. Camillus de Lellis of the year 2016.
Thank you for sharing these photographs with us. A shared event is always a greater and more thrilling event!
Download here the text of the Transit in ITALIANO, INGLESE, SPAGNOLO e PORTOGHESE FRANCESE
TAIWAN
June 25 2016: graduation at the St. Mary’s Nursing college. More than 700 students were graduated. Among the guests, Fr. Emilio Balliana from Kenia and Bro. Jose Emmanuel Cabarlos from Philippines were present.
July 9 2016: feast of St. Camillus at St. Mary’s Hospital. As usual, the Holy Mass was helded at the 11th floor of the hospital, in order to accommodate all the personnel. Before the Mass a parchment sent by the Vice President of the Republic of a China, addressed to Fr. Antonio Didoné for his merit especially towards the sick children, is consigned to him by the director of St. Mary’s Hospital.
June 16 2016: feast of St. Camillus at the St. Camillus garden in Tayin. There is the graduation of few handicapped, some dances by children and old people, then a Solemn Mass.
July 18 2016: the Ambassador of Republic of China towards the Holy See, Mr. Lee comes for a short visit to St. Mary’s Hospital.
THE DELEGATION IN VIETNAM
On 16 July 2016 five young religious made their perpetual profession of vows with the final consecration of their lives to the Lord as members of our religious Order. They were: Joseph Hoang Quoc Huy, Joseph Nguyen Quoc Hung, John Baptist Le Van Thoung, Peter Pham Ba Thang, and Anthony Vu Phi Song.
To them go our very best wishes, with the words of Pop Benedict XVI on the feast day of the Presentation of the Lord on the occasion of the seventeenth World Day of Consecrated Life (2 February 2013):
‘I would like to address three invitations to you, so that you may fully enter through that “door of faith” which is always open to us (Apostolic Letter, Porta Fidei, n. 1).
- I invite you in the first place to nourish a faith that can illuminate your vocation. For this I urge you to treasure, as on an inner pilgrimage, the memory of the “first love” with which the Lord Jesus Christ warmed your hearts, not out of nostalgia but in order to feed that flame. And for this it is necessary to be with him, in the silence of adoration; and thereby reawaken the wish to share — and the joy of sharing — in his life, his decisions, the obedience of faith, the blessedness of the poor and the radical nature of love. Starting ever anew from this encounter of love, you leave everything to be with him and like him, to put yourselves at the service of God and your brothers and sisters (cf. Apostolic Exhortation Vita Consecrata, 1).
- In the second place I invite you to have a faith that can recognize the wisdom of weakness. In the joys and afflictions of the present time, when the harshness and weight of the cross make themselves felt, do not doubt that the kenosis of Christ is already a paschal victory. Precisely in our limitations and weaknesses as human beings we are called to live conformation with Christ in an all-encompassing commitment which anticipates the eschatological perfection, to the extent that this is possible in time (ibid., n. 16). In a society of efficiency and success, your life, marked by the “humility” and frailty of the lowly, of empathy with those who have no voice, becomes an evangelical sign of contradiction.
- Lastly, I invite you to renew the faith that makes you pilgrims bound for the future. By its nature the consecrated life is a pilgrimage of the spirit in quest of a Face that is sometimes revealed and sometimes veiled: “Faciem tuam, Domine, requiram” (Ps 27[26]:8). May this be the constant yearning of your heart, the fundamental criterion that guides you on your journey, both in small daily steps and in the most important decisions. Do not join the ranks of the prophets of doom who proclaim the end or meaninglessness of the consecrated life in the Church in our day; rather, clothe yourselves in Jesus Christ and put on the armour of light — as St Paul urged (cf. Rom 13:11-14) — keeping awake and watchful’.
ROME – THE CHURCH OF SAINT MARY MAGDALENE – THE JUBILEE YEAR OF MERCY
A group of about thirty Taiwan pilgrims, accompanied by Fr. Felice Chech, celebrated their ‘jubilee’ of Mercy in our rectory of the Church of St. Mary Magdalene, animating with style and devotion the solemn celebration of the Eucharist on the feast day of St. Camillus – 14 July. The Chinese language sounded out in the nave of our church to remind us not only of the universality of our Christian faith but also of the beauty and the fascination that our Camillian charism still exercises today.
ROME – CADIS
The first meeting of the Governing Board
The first meeting of the governing board of the new Foundation CADIS (the Camillian Disaster Service International) took place on 4 July 2016 in Rome at the generalate house of the Order in Piazza della Maddalena.
All the members of the governing board were present, namely: Fr. Leocir Pessini, Br. Jose Ignacio Santaolalla, Fr. Laurent Zoungrana, Fr. Gianfranco Lunardon, Fr. Aris Miranda, Fr. Dietmar Weber, Mrs Anita Ennis (the Vice-President of the general council of the Lay Camillian Family), Dr. Gianfranco de Maio (Doctors without Borders), Sr. Sabine Zida, FSC (a member of the general council of the Daughters of St. Camillus) and Sr. Beth Elarmo, MI (a member of the general council of the women Ministers of the Sick).
During the course of the meeting, the Superior General of the Order, in his capacity as founder of the Foundation, officially appointed another five members of the governing board (Br. Dietmar, Dr. Gianfranco de Maio, Sr. Sabine Zida, Sr. Beth Elarmo, and Mrs Anita Ennis).
Their mandate will end in December 2016. The new composition of the governing board, with a mandate of three years as envisaged by the statutes, will already be effective from the beginning of 2017 with the addition of new members as representatives of the various participating bodies. In addition, the governing board decided to delegate powers for the ordinary management of the Foundation to the President and the Vice-President and also gave the latter the power to take urgent decisions in emergency situations. This was done in order to avoid delays in responding to situations involving an extreme for help.
The meeting was chaired by Br. Jose Ignacio Santaolalla, the first president of CADIS, and by Fr. Leocir Pessini, the Superior General of the Ministers of the Sick (Camillians), who expressed during his opening greetings words of support and hope for the members of the Foundation who through this Camillian ministry will seek to spread the mercy and the compassion of God to those who suffer in the outskirts of the world. CADIS was also born as an attempt to strengthen already existing Camillian forces such as the members of the Camillian family and those who are near to their charism and spirituality in ‘serving the sick even at the risk to their own lives’. St. Camillus himself in his own time had a dream which was to ‘have more arms’ and ‘more hearts in those hands’ so as to be able to offer a better service to people who are the most vulnerable and suffer the most.
CADIS was created in December 2015; on 6 June 2016 it was recognised as having legal status by the Italian government. CADIS is an institutional foundation instituted by the Order of the Ministers of the Sick whose principal mission is to respond to the needs of people afflicted by natural or man-made disasters. The target of the mission of CADIS is the populations that live in countries that have in large part been afflicted by natural or man-made disasters, such as the Philippines, Thailand, Vietnam, Indonesia, India, Taiwan, Australia, Kenya, Burkina Faso, Benin, Peru, Brazil, the United States of America, Italy, Austria, and Germany.
CADIS – the annual conference of the heads of CADIS
Aris Miranda, the member of the General Consulta responsible for ministry, has communicated the indiction of the annual conference of the heads of CADIS (the Camillian Disaster International Service) which will be held on 21-30 November 2016 at the Camillian Centre for Pastoral Care in Bangkok (Thailand). The theme of the conference will be: ‘Constructing the Resilience of the most Vulnerable Communities through Innovation, Partnership and the Building of Networks: Accompanying the First Steps towards 2020’.
THE INTERNATIONAL MEETING OF CAMILLIAN CHAPLAINS
On 4-6 November 2016, at the generalate house of the Brothers of Christian Schools (Lassalians) in Rome, The International Conference of Camillian Chaplains will take place. This meeting will revolve around the theme: ‘Hospital Chaplaincies: at the Heart of Camillian Ministry’.
Cf. INVITATION ITALIANO / INGLESE
FORMATION – THE LATIN AMERICAN MEETING
The major Superiors and Delegates of the Camillian religious met on 27-30 June 2016 in San Paolo, Brazil, for their annual meeting.
The opportunity for this meeting was offered by the annual Encontro Latino Americano de Formação Permanente. The theme that the Camillian men and women religious addressed was: LA MISERICORDIA EN EL CAMILO DE HOY (‘mercy in the Camillian religious today’). The next meeting was planned for the second week of the month of August 2017 and will be held in Bagota (Colombia).
MESSAGE OF THE SUPERIOR GENERAL TO THE CAMILLIAN MEN AND WOMEN RELIGIOUS WHO TOOK PART IN THE LATIN AMERICAN MEETING ON ONGOING FORMATION ITALIANO/ SPAGNOLO/ PORTOGHESE/ INGLESE /
ROME – THE PONTIFICAL COUNCIL FOR HEALTH CARE WORKERS (FOR HEALTH PASTORAL CARE)
In Poland, in the morning of 13 July 2016 – the eve of the feast day of St. Camillus de Lellis – Msgr. Zygmunt Zimowski, the President of the Pontifical Council for Health Care Workers, passed away at the age of 67. He had been ill for some time.
The Order of the Camillians, in union of prayer to the God of Life, is grateful to Msgr. Zimowski for the good that he did in service to the sick and the dignity of the poor and in helping all those people who with learning and conscience attend to the suffering of man.
ROME – THE GENERALATE HOUSE
On 5-7 September 2016, at the generalate house in Rome, the fourth meeting was held of the Central Economic Commission of the Order (Fr. Lorenzo Testa, Fr. Giovanni Contarin, Fr. Mario Kozik, Fr. Giustino Scatolin, Rag. Massimo Iannacchino, and Dr.. Emilio Servando Villar Pernas), with the presence of the Superior General and the coordinating role of Br. José Ignacio Santaolalla, the general financial administrator of the Order. We thank them for their generous readiness to help and we wish them fruitful work in achieving increasing ‘vigilance and transparency in addressing economic-financial questions’.
THE DIARY OF THE SUPERIOR GENERAL AND THE GENERAL CONSULTA
On 4-11 June, the members of the General Consulta Fr. Aris Miranda and Fr. Gianfranco Lunardon met individually all the religious of the Camillian communities of Burkina Faso, looking forward to the meeting of the major Superiors which will be celebrated in Ouagadougou in October of this year. On 15 June 2016, at the house of the Church of St. Mary Magdalene in Rome, they dialogued with the Camillian religious of Burkina Faso who live and work in Rome and Viterbo. On 16 June they went to the Camillian community of religious from Burkina Faso in Florence and on 5 July they also met the religious from the same country who live in Pescara and the hospital in Chieti.
MESSAGE OF THE MEMBERS OF THE GENERAL CONSULTA FR. ARIS MIRANDA AND FR. GIANFRANCO LUNARDON TO THE RELIGIOUS OF THE CAMILLIAN COMMUNITIES OF BURKINA FASO ITALIANO/FRANCESE/INGLESE
On 19-21 June 2016, together with Fr. Gianfranco Lunardon, the Superior General met our Polish religious brothers of the Camillian community of Berlin.
MESSAGE OF THE SUPERIOR GENERAL TO THE CAMILLIAN COMMUNITY OF BERLIN ITALIANO / INGLESE
The Superior General, together with Br. José Ignacio Santaolalla, the general financial administrator of the Order, were in Spain on 22 June to 3 July 2016 to meet the Camillian religious of that country.
MESSAGE OF THE SUPERIOR GENERAL TO THE COMMUNITIES OF THE CAMILLIAN PROVINCE OF SPAIN ITALIANO / SPAGNOLO / INGLESE
On 10-25 July of this year, Fr. Leocir Pessini, together with Br. Ignacio Santaolalla, went to Brazil and visited the religious of the Camillian communities of the North, North-East and East of the country.
On 15- 20 July, Aris Miranda visited the Camillian religious of Kenya, for the envisaged, and then postponed, celebrations for the fortieth anniversary of the arrival of the Camillians in that country.
The Superior General, together with Br. José Ignacio Santaolalla, the general financial administrator of the Order, will take part on 15-18 August 2016 in the general assembly of the Vice-Province of Peru which will be held in Lima.
On 19-24 August 2016, the Superior General will take part in Milwaukee (USA) in the meeting of the Delegation of North America.
On 4-14 September 2016, Fr. Leocir Pessini, together with Fr. Aris Miranda, will visit the religious of the Camillian community of Sydney (Australia).
On 15-26 September 2016, Fr. Leocir Pessini will visit the religious of the Camillian communities of the Province of Sicily and Naples.
THE NEXT MEETING OF THE SUPERIOR GENERAL AND THE MEMBERS OF THE GENERAL CONSULTA WITH THE MAJOR SUPERIORS OF THE ORDER
The next meeting of the Superior General and the members of the General Consulta with the major Superiors of the Order will be celebrated in Ouagadougou (Burkina Faso) on 9-16 October 2016 at the Centre National Cardinal Paul Zoungrana (CNCPZ), which is located in the centre of the capital city and near the ‘Centre Médical S. Camille’ of Ouagadougou.
This meeting forms a part of the celebrations for the fiftieth anniversary of the arrival of the Caamillians in Burkina Faso. The jubilee spirit will also be the context to celebrate together the Canonical Erection of the Camillian Province of Burkina Faso (a celebration that is envisaged for 13 October 2016).
The jubilee celebration (‘thanksgiving’) is envisaged for 16 October 2016, with an invitation to take part extended to all those religious who have made possible the presence of the Camillians in Burkina Faso over the last fifty years.
Our Camillian religious of Burkina Faso have already commenced the Jubilee Year of Mercy and celebrations for the arrival of the first Camillians fifty years ago with a series of spiritual, formation, vocational and liturgical initiatives placed together under a fragment from the gospels (Lk 5:4): ‘Witnesses to Mercy. Set out into Deep Water (Duc in Altum)’. This will also be the spiritual stimulus that will accompany our meeting!
Cf. LETTER OF INVITATION ITALIANO / INGLESE
TWENTIETH PAN-AMERICAN MEETNG OF PEOPLE PROVIDING FORMATION AND ANIMATORS OF VOCATIONS
On 1-5 September 2016 in Buenos Aires (Argentina), providers of formation and animators of vocations of the Camillian pan-American world (Camillian religious, Daughters of St. Camillus, women Ministers of the Sick, women Missionaries of the Sick Christ the Hope,…) will come together for the twentieth meeting of this ‘sector’ and will discuss a number of general topics: vocational discernment, the accompanying of candidates, the humanisation of relationships…
Fr. Laurent Zoungrana, the vicar General of the Order and the member of the General Consulta responsible for formation, will also take part in this meeting.
THE NEW EDITION OF CAMILLIANI/CAMILLIANS
Camilliani/Camillians is the periodical of the Ministers of the Sick edited by the Secretary General of the Order. The pages of Camilliani Camillians, a quarterly in English and Italian, contain information and news about the Camillian world divided into special columns: the thoughts of the Father General; pastoral visits; by the General Secretariat for Formation: by the General Secretariat for Ministry; by the General Secretariat for Missions; by the General Secretariat; and by the Communications Office.
Online you can consult the latest edition of Camilliani-Camillians: n. 204, April–June 2016.
DIARY OF GENERAL MEETINGS FOR THE PERIOD 2014-2020
As a small aide-memoire, we offer below an overall summary of the most important meetings for our Order for the six-year period of 2014-2020.
Events and meetings are envisaged for sectors and areas that are very different from each other bur which reflect the kaleidoscope which makes up the great reality of our Institute: ministry in its various facets (chaplaincies, parishes, the Camillian Task Force, …); formation and the animation of vocations; the supply of expertise to be animators in the world of health and illness (the Camillianum, universities of a Camillian character, centres for formation and pastoral care…); the administration of the possessions of the Order in line with transparency and homogeneity; the meeting of the major Superiors and the general government of the Order; and the indiction of the Provincial Chapters and the General Chapter (in May 2020).
Cf. MEETINGS OF THE CAMILLIAN ORDER FOR THE SIX-YEAR PERIOD 2014-2020 ITALIANO / INGLESE
THE DAUGHTERS OF ST. CAMILLUS
A collection of photographs to commemorate the seventieth anniversary of the arrival of the Daughters of St. Camillus in Brazil.
THE WOMEN MINISTERS OF THE SICK OF ST.CAMILLUS
Thirty-five women religious of the women Ministers of the Sick will take part on 1-30 September, at their generalate house in Rome, in a course of formation for the providers of formation.
General goal
To help women who provide formation to become more aware of their own pathways of self-formation so as to be an effective mediation between the heritage of their Congregation and the people that are entrusted to them.
Specific objectives
To improve the quality of the ministry of women providers of formation in order to involve young women in their pathways of formation and make them protagonists of those pathways.
To strengthen awareness of the fact that the community (the formation team, the local community, the Congregation, the ecclesial community) is the protagonist of the process of formation.
To strengthen in women providers of formation a process towards a healthy experience of themselves and a suitable affective balance in order to foster in young women who are receiving formation an acquisition of their truest identities as Christian women consecrated/directed to following Christ.
To deepen experience of God that matures in prayer, in listening to the Word of God, and in readiness to allow themselves to be accompanied so as to be authoritative companions of young women on their journeys of faith and gradual self-giving to God.
To read anew their lives and ministry in the light of the charismatic experience of their foundress.
To enter into dialogue about certain emergent questions of the socio-cultural context and religious life with reference above all else to the formation of young women who are receiving formation (interculturality, mass media, etc.).
PUBLISHING SUGGESTION
Brother Ettore: What saves life? A wound that is not treated!
The new book by Emanuele Fant on the Camillian who was a friend of tramps.
L’invadente. Fratel Ettore, la virtù degli estremi (San Paolo edizioni) (‘The Invasive Brother Ettore: the Virtue of Extremes’) is the second book by Emanuele Fant on Brother Ettore. The author himself in the foreword to the text explains what he wants to tell us about in this second narrative account of the ‘Camillian of tramps’.
‘Amongst the personal documents of the Servant of God Brother Ettore Boschini I found an old article of tragic news. The whole of the space available on the margins had been used to pen painful and illuminating reflections. That episode, which nobody remembers, constituted a tragic question mark in the life of this Camillan, as well as an opportunity to push his human and spiritual explorations to the extremes. In my account I authorise myself to imagine the before and afterwards, taking something from the truth’.
DECEASED RELIGIOUS
‘See, now they vanish, the faces and places, with the self which, as it could, loved them. To become renewed, transfigured, in another pattern’ (T.S. Eliot)
NIK HOULIHAN (1960-2016)
Religioso Camilliano della Provincia Anglo-Irlandese
Nik was born on the 1st of May 1960 in Bridgewater, Somerset, England. His parents were Denis and Evelyn. His father was from Cork Ireland and his mother from Bridgewater, England. Nik was the 3rd of 4 children. John, Vincent, Nik & Maria.
Nik joined the Order in 1985 from our house in Hackney, East End of London. He studied at the Order’s student house in Blackrock and spent the next eight years doing his studies of philosophy and theology as well as his novitiate in Killucan. He made his first Profession in 1989 and was Solemnly Professed in 1992. Nik was ordained in 1993 and posted to Western Australia. He was present there for almost three years, working as chaplain to Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital. He returned to Ireland in 1996 and came to Killucan where he was based for the last 20 years. He worked for a number of years at St Luke’s Hospital in Dublin.
Nik was always a caring and compassionate person, particularly for the sick and those in distress. His kindness shone forth and he was able to empathise. He wanted to show the kindness of Christ through his own example, particularly in the hospital when he worked as chaplain. Nik had a great deal of difficulties with his own health problems that caused him a lot of suffering, but he always tried to keep the best side out. He had endured health problems since his late teens.
Nik was very enthusiastic about life and people and about what was going on around him.
He wanted to bring the love of Christ to all people, especially suffering humanity. He always had a kind word, a smile and a thought for those who may be in difficulty. Particularly those in any kind of distress.
Recently he was told by his doctors that he could no longer drive a car which must have been a great difficulty for him to lose such independence at such a young age. He also developed vision problems and he said just two months before he died that he had no peripheral vision and that his distance vision became a blur after a certain distance.
Nik had great enthusiasm for life and the things of life. When his health was good he would be quite enthusiastic and fervent about so many things.
In his homilies he kept it simple and always wanted to focus on the love of God for all. If you were having a difficult time, Nik was on your side.
The suddenness of Nik’s untimely death has brought us to a sudden halt and reminded us once again of the shortness and fragility of our life.
Nik had many friends in England Australia and Ireland. He was well loved and will be greatly missed by his Community, the Province, his family and his many friends. May his soul rest in peace
‘Now they live in Christ whom they met in the Church, followed in our vocation, and served in the sick and the suffering. Trusting that the Lord, the Holy Virgin our Queen, St. Camillus, the Blessed Luigi Tezza, the Blessed Giuseppina Vannini, and our deceased religious brothers and sisters, will welcome them in their midst, we commend them in our prayers, remembering them with affection, esteem and gratitude’.
Grottaferrata 25 luglio 2016 –
La Comunità delle Figlie di San Camillo comunica il decesso della cara sorella, a 87 anni di età e 57 di Professione religiosa, SUOR JOSEPHA Schäfer, lunedì 25 luglio 2016, nella nostra Casa di Düren (Germania)
THE HOLY YEAR OF MERCY
PRAYER OF THE JUBILEE IN DIFFERENT LANGUAGES
XTRAORDINARY JUBILEE OF MERCY
JUBILEE FOR THE SICK AND PERSONS WITH DISABILITIES
HOMILY OF HIS HOLINESS POPE FRANCIS
St Peter’s Square – Sunday, 12 June 2016
“I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but it is Christ who lives in me” (Gal 2:19). In these words, the Apostle Paul powerfully expresses the mystery of the Christian life, which can be summed up in the paschal dynamic of death and resurrection received at baptism. Indeed, through immersion in water, each of us, as it were, dies and is buried with Christ (cf.Rom 6:3-4), and remerging, shows forth new life in the Holy Spirit. This rebirth embraces every aspect of our lives: even sickness, suffering and death are taken up in Christ and in him find their ultimate meaning. Today, on the Jubilee day devoted to the sick and bearers of disabilities, this word of life has a special resonance for our assembly.
Each of us, sooner or later, is called to face – at times painfully – frailty and illness, both our own and those of others. How many different faces do these common yet dramatically human experiences take! Yet all of them directly raise the pressing question of the meaning of life. Our hearts may quietly yield to cynicism, as if the only solution were simply to put up with these experiences, trusting only in our own strength. Or we may put complete trust in science, thinking that surely somewhere in the world there is a medicine capable of curing the illness. Sadly, however, this is not always the case, and, even if the medicine did exist, it would be accessible to very few people.
Human nature, wounded by sin, is marked by limitations. We are familiar with the objections raised, especially nowadays, to a life characterized by serious physical limitations. It is thought that sick or disabled persons cannot be happy, since they cannot live the lifestyle held up by the culture of pleasure and entertainment. In an age when care for one’s body has become an obsession and a big business, anything imperfect has to be hidden away, since it threatens the happiness and serenity of the privileged few and endangers the dominant model. Such persons should best be kept apart, in some “enclosure” – even a gilded one – or in “islands” of pietism or social welfare, so that they do not hold back the pace of a false well-being. In some cases, we are even told that it is better to eliminate them as soon as possible, because they become an unacceptable economic burden in time of crisis. Yet what an illusion it is when people today shut their eyes in the face of sickness and disability! They fail to understand the real meaning of life, which also has to do with accepting suffering and limitations. The world does not become better because only apparently “perfect” people live there – I say “perfect” rather than “false” – but when human solidarity, mutual acceptance and respect increase. How true are the words of the Apostle: “God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong” (1 Cor1:27)!
This Sunday’s Gospel (Lk 7:36-8:3) presents us with a specific situation of weakness. The woman caught in sin is judged and rejected, yet Jesus accepts and defends her: “She has shown great love” (7:47). This is the conclusion of Jesus, who is attentive to her suffering and her plea. This tenderness is a sign of the love that God shows to those who suffer and are cast aside. Suffering need not only be physical; one of today’s most frequent pathologies is also spiritual. It is a suffering of the heart; it causes sadness for lack of love. It is the pathology of sadness. When we experience disappointment or betrayal in important relationships, we come to realize how vulnerable and defenceless we are. The temptation to become self-absorbed grows stronger, and we risk losing life’s greatest opportunity: to love in spite of everything!
The happiness that everyone desires, for that matter, can be expressed in any number of ways and attained only if we are capable of loving. This is the way. It is always a matter of love; there is no other path. The true challenge is that of who loves the most. How many disabled and suffering persons open their hearts to life again as soon as they realize they are loved! How much love can well up in a heart simply with a smile! The therapy of smiling. Then our frailness itself can become a source of consolation and support in our solitude. Jesus, in his passion, loved us to the end (cf. Jn 13:1); on the cross he revealed the love that bestows itself without limits. Can we reproach God for our infirmities and sufferings when we realize how much suffering shows on the face of his crucified Son? His physical pain was accompanied by mockery, condescension and scorn, yet he responds with a mercy that accepts and forgives everything: “by his wounds we are healed” (Is 53:5; 1 Pet 2:24). Jesus is the physician who heals with the medicine of love, for he takes upon himself our suffering and redeems it. We know that God can understand our infirmities, because he himself has personally experienced them (cf. Heb 4:15).
The way we experience illness and disability is an index of the love we are ready to offer. The way we face suffering and limitation is the measure of our freedom to give meaning to life’s experiences, even when they strike us as meaningless and unmerited. Let us not be disturbed, then, by these tribulations (cf. 1 Th 3:3). We know that in weakness we can become strong (cf. 2 Cor 12:10) and receive the grace to fill up what is lacking in the sufferings of Christ for his body, the Church (cf. Col 1:24). For that body, in the image of the risen Lord’s own, keeps its wounds, the mark of a hard struggle, but they are wounds transfigured for ever by love.
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