Greetings to all!

We began the day with the celebration of the Eucharist (French) during which we remembered the first martyrs of the Church of Rome.

After breakfast, we viewed a brief video about the ministry of the Province of Poland. We all have to confront similar challenges. People suffer from loneliness, sexual abuse scandal in the Church, vocational crisis, decrease in the number of believers. The ministry of the Province of Poland is focused on parishes. In light of the sexual abuse scandal and following the directives of the Holy See, measures have been taken to protect minors and vulnerable individuals. Mission in Benín.

There was a video about the ministry of the International Secretariat for Vincentian Studies (SIEV). During this time there was a description of the activities of the first thirty years: organization of meetings, congresses, Vincentian roundtable discussions, Vincentiana … In 2014, there was a profound revision. New ways of living the Vincentian charism in light of the new cultural situation. At the present time, a course in Vincentian Studies is being offered at the University of Deusto and all members of the worldwide Vincentian Family can participate.

Report of the econome-general, Paul Parackal. The individuals involved in the administration of the finances of the Congregation are: Tom Check (head of the Financial Committee), Rafael Eloriaga (chief financial officer at Adamson University), Teresa George, DC (Treasurer of the St. Louis Province [USA]), Jesús Gilberto García Matta (Provincial Treasurer [Peru]), Roberto Calero (former provincial treasurer [Madrid]), Mickaylo Talapkanych (provincial treasurer of Ukraine). There are three funds: a deposit fund, a mission fund, and a general fund). The report included sources of income and expenses, social responsibility with regard to the management of the portfolio. At the conclusion of report, there were questions and further explanations of the data that was presented.

Father Corpus Delgado, secretary of the Assembly, pointed out some measures that will be taken to provide better air quality, change in the beginning of the sessions, questions with regard to the dining room, etc.

In the afternoon Father Giuseppe Turati presented his report. He presented an overall vision of the Congregation of the Mission, numbers on the various continents, number of candidates entering the Congregation, median age, deaths … data that points out a changing reality.

Father pointed out some changes in the international missions: seven (7) depend on the General Curial and the number of missionaries is twenty-nine (29). Number of confreres during the past six years has increased 11.9% (this increase is due to Vietnam).

Distribution of confreres according to ministry during the past six years: decrease in the number of parishes is observed, the number of Brothers is the same and there in an increase in popular missions (24). An analysis according to continent revealed the uniqueness of each situation. A reduction in the number of confreres from 1408 to 1169. Increase in the number in Asia and Africa … 17 Brothers in Africa.

New APP, reading room, and library. Have initiated some programs to gather together books and articles.

Source: https://cmglobal.org/