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The week of October 16-21, the Superior General, the General Council, members of the Curia, and the Visitors, Councils, Treasurers, and Secretaries of all the USA Provinces gathered upon St. Vincent’s Seminary for a few days of meetings. For several days, the house was alive with conversation, as old friends were able to reminisce and catch up, while other confreres were able to put a face to the names of those they had only heard about or spoken with by phone. It was a wonderful experience of fraternity, community life, prayer together, and sharing experiences. I, for one, was moved at seeing the seminary chapel filled again with the strong voices of the confreres lifting up their prayer and praise at Morning and Evening Prayer and the Eucharist.

Their wonderful staff, under the guidance of Fr. John Maher, C.M., had everything ready for the arriving guests.  Our visitors felt warmly welcomed!

The purpose of the meeting was. One member of the General Council expressed it this way. He said that a young confrere had asked how the General Council was responding to the call to synodality. The General Council took that question to their meeting and decided to go to each conference of provinces over the next five years, beginning with the USA, to listen to the confreres, to learn about the reality of each province and the challenges it faces, and to ask our opinions about youth today and the secularization of society.

The first item discussed was how we were responding to the priorities of General Assembly 2022, the Lines of Action flowing from those priorities, and the 11 Points that our Superior General asked us to keep before us. The National Council of Vincentian Provinces had already set up a structure for that implementation, and they will reconvene and move ahead with it. The younger confreres of the three USA provinces will be key in that process since they are the ones who will carry those efforts into the future. Ther was significant conversation about ways to integrate international confreres into our works and how that could be a great help both to the USA provinces and to the sending provinces.

Regarding formation programs, the Western Province was happy to report that they have opened their new formation house, while we in the Eastern Province talked about recent changes in our program. The Eastern Province was proud to share the news that Brother Vincent Luong, CM, had made his Good Purposes during the Mass for the opening of our spiritual preparation for the 400th Anniversary of the founding of the Congregation.

The New England Province was well represented, and the confreres spoke about their parishes and the changes that have occurred in their ministries, and the Western Province spoke about their planning process of “discovery,” “dream,” and “design.” They are now completing the dream phase and will soon begin the design phase, which will look at ministries and ongoing formation, among other things.

Fr. Stephen Grozio, C.M., spoke about the ministry being done at CAMM, emphasizing the parish mission catechetical “Beyond Sunday” program, the many pilgrimages and retreats being offered, the virtual outreach being done via social media, and the positive effect of having the Shrine designated a Basilica.

Fr. Aidan Rooney, C.M., member of the Eastern Province council,  gave a very informative presentation about today’s youth, helping all of us to better understand the characteristics of Generation Z, what they search for in life, and how we can connect with them. Following that, we held a brief discussion on today’s secular society.

Fr. Mavrič inquired about the possibility of our universities assisting with the Master’s Program for Vincentian Studies. The eastern and Western Provinces will explore the idea.

The Superior General spoke with each Visitor separately and the General Council had the opportunity to meet with each Provincial Council, also separately. In addition, the Secretary General, Fr. Giuseppe Turati, CM, met with all the Provincial Secretaries, and Fr. Paul Parackal, CM, the Econome General, held a meeting for all the Provincial Treasurers.

In the meeting of the Eastern Province Council with the General Council, the plans for developing a new way to sponsor Vincentian universities, involving a collaborative public juridic person (PJP) in with the Sisters of Charity (who live the Vincentian Family’s charism of charity and evangelization as interpreted for them by Saint Elizabeth and Seton) to ensure the Catholic and Vincentian/Setonian identity and mission of those institutions into the future.

In his final words to us, Father Mavrič encouraged us by saying that our charism and spirituality are needed in the Church. Our charism is for today’s Church. It is a reason why we go forward.  It is not about how many we are or how old we are. It is for all of us, and we are invited to bring it to the next generation.

Fr. Mavrič again asked that we make the General Assembly priorities and the 11 Points alive in the next six years – a sign of hope as we try to focus together, to get to know each other, and to be able to work together. He asked us to revitalize our spiritual life and make it a fire that we can show to all.  It is the foundation of everything we are and do.

Continuing in the spirit of synodality, the General Council has decided the Assistants General will do two visits of their provinces for which they are responsible. One visit will be just a “friendly visit,” which will allow the Assistant to get to know the province, its works, and its members. The second visit will be the canonical visitation which occurs every six years. For our Province, Fr. Rafal Kopystynski, C.M., is planning a “friendly visit,” which may begin in April. We look forward to the reunion!