Courageous breaks, fruitful continuities, vital innovations
The IV Provincial Chapter of « Cruz del Sur » began on the afternoon of Sunday 18 November. The Brother delegates settled the priorities for the next three years and elected the Provincial Council which will accompany Br Provincial in his tasks of animation and government.
The Chapter was preceded by three important events :
* On Friday, the Assembly of the Provincial Teams and Directors or Co-ordinators of the Marist Works.
* On Saturday, the Assembly of the Brothers of the whole Province – The two Assemblies reflected on the contributions of the evaluation of the three years, which covered the three levels : personal, works and geographical areas.
* Finally, on Sunday, the celebration of the jubilarians and the renewal of Br Horacio’s mandate as Provincial.
More than 70 Brothers and laity from all over Argentine and Uruguay took part in Friday’s Assembly. In a climate of fraternity, they reflected on the contributions from the local Assemblies and made proposals to be presented to the Chapter (they can be read in Spanish by clicking on the link below).
The Saturday Assembly was also a fraternal gathering for more than 60 Brothers. In a climate of discernment we reached, in the afternoon, conclusions equally dealt with by the Chapter.
Sunday began with a warm celebration organised Anima Marista (Team of the Fraternities) in honour of the Brothers celebrating Marist anniversaries. The Mass in thanksgiving for the lives of the jubilarians was celebrated at midday. At the end, Br Josep M. Soteras, Councillor General, presented Br Horacio as Provincial of « Cruz del Sur » for a second term.
The Provincial Chapter started around 5.30pm. The 37 Capitulants elected met around round tables, following the methodology of the last General Chapter, which searches for a fraternal and deep dialogue aimed at respecting minorities and achieving as representative a consensus as possible.
On Monday 19 the second day of the Chapter began. Work centred on the contributions from the provincial assemblies of the Brothers and Provincial Teams and Directors/Co-ordinators of Works.
Inspired by texts from Jeremiah and Joel, we discerned at the personal level on the courageous breaks, fertile continuities and vital innovations to be adopted by the Province, our gaze fixed on 2017, on the occasion of the 2nd centenary of the foundation of the Marist Brothers.
The activities were pursued in work groups (round tables) where we searched for consensus and reflected on the three main challenges (breaks-continuities-innovations). The work was hard, but the coincidences and agreements we arrived at were very strong. A little work group was charged with giving shape to this data in view of a final message.
On Tuesday 20 we considered the « letter » to the Province, which had to be readjusted following the observations received. To do this, a commission of four Brothers was formed. The Brothers of the District of Paraguay presented a very rich and complete report on the life and mission of the District. We were able to ask questions and request clarifications, then they notified us of their agreement not to take part in the election of the Provincial Councillors, which the Chapter accepted.
The election of the Councillors then took place. After three votes, these Brothers were elected : Juan Ignacio Fuentes, Demetrio Espinosa, José Kuhn, Gerardo Accastello, Eutimio Rubio and Damián Provens.
In the afternoon, we got down to revising the Norms of the Province and the Rules of the Chapter.
We approved the final message of the Chapter to the Province, with the new draft presented by the Commission, and chose an inspirational motto for the stage leading up to 2017.
The Chapter closed at last with words from Br Horacio and Brothers Josep Maria Soteras and Eugène Kabanguka of the General Council. The closing Eucharist allowed us to celebrate the rich experience lived during this Provincial Chapter.
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Texts in Spanish: