Communities of Dialogue for the new Province of Star of the Sea
On the Feast of the Assumption, Instituteâs Patronal Feast Day, the Marist Brothers of Oceania launch the âCommunities of Dialogueâ in preparation for the new province of Star of the Sea, that will be inaugurated in December 2022. Over 100 brothers from 15 different countries of 3 continents took part in the online meeting.
âItâs now up to us to make these communities genuine forums for building familiarity, family and fraternityâ, said Br. Peter Carroll, Provincial of Australia.
The creation and launch of the Communities of Dialogue was the responsibility of the Local Units Future Planning Committee, comprised of Afaese Afaese, John Hazelman, Mark Kenatsi, Tony Leon, David McDonald and Graham Neist. âCommunities of Dialogueâ is a process to start the conversation with all interested Brothers in the Oceania Region to meet in small groups (online) to get to know each other and share dreams and concerns.
âThe joy, the goodwill and the positive energy of the participants are good indications that the journey ahead will be a hopeful sign of being Marists in this part of the worldâ, believed Br. Tony Leon.
The Brothers from Oceania, divided in âcommunitiesâ will meet monthly, till November 2022.
The new Province
The new Province will be inaugurated on 8 December 2022, during the first Chapter, that will be hold in Mittagong, Australia, from 8 to 15 December 2022.
On 10 May 2021, Br. Ernesto, Superior General, communicated to the Brothers of the Province of Australia and District of the Pacific that, from 8 December 2022, the two Administrative Units will be the Marist Brothers Star of the Sea Province. The new Province will be formed by ten countries, with all Marist presence in the Oceania continent.
Province of Australia and District of the Pacific are now moving on to the next stage of preparation for the establishment of the Star of the Sea Province. This involves a series of 11 work groups investigating issues which need to be addressed as they form the new Province. The working groups will provide an interim report at the end of August 2021. The interim reports will give an indication of the Scope of Work for each group and the indicative timeline for completion.