European Marist Conference

On October 14, 2014, the meeting of the EMC (European Marist Conference) was held in the General House in Rome. Those taking part were the Provincials of the 5 Administrative Units and one delegate per Province, as well as the General Councillors Antonio Ramalho and Ernesto Sánchez. We give details of three of the topics treated.

1) One of the points of the order of the day was the review of the documents and work plans of the four European Commissions directly dependent on the EMC: the Mission Commission presented its work plan for 2014-2017; the Commission Brothers today presented its for 2013-2017, plus the evaluation of the first European retreat for Brothers from the different European Provinces; the European Vocations Commission presented the activities carried out in the course of 2013-2014; finally, the Commission of Brothers and Laity presented the minutes of its annual meeting and activities planned for the future.

2) One important point of the meeting was the time devoted to a topic of great relevance for the Institute: the new international communities. In the presentation, it was evident that the subject is not a new one, but that it appears with more force, new opportunities and new perspectives at the present time. We heard the echo of the words of the former Superior General, Brother Seán Sammon, who summed it up in these words: "we have been an international Institute for more than a century, but we have not always acted as such". This topic is now appearing in many documents of the Institute, such as in the General Conference of 2013 and the recent Mission Assembly in Nairobi. The EMC takes note of the urgency "of   internationality" and will come back to the theme at the next meeting in May, in Beirut. There is an openness to these international communities, but the problem needs to be thoroughly studied so as to see how to act so that this call of the Congregation can be made concrete ever more naturally. The example of the international communities of "Ad Gentes", in the current District of Asia, can be a good one for guiding us in the construction of this type of community in Europe too.

3) Another of the important points discussed was the last stage of the II International Marist Mission Assembly which will be the Regional Assembly. It was felt that this Assembly must include the three principal elements of the message of the Nairobi Assembly: the invitation to all Marists to be prophets, mystics and creators of communion. A date was proposed for the Regional Assembly of Europe: 13 to 16 April 2015, at the Hermitage. Together with the themes of Nairobi, there was also the mention of another coming event in the life of the Institute, the celebration of the Bicentenary, with a clearer idea of living and shaping a celebration orientated towards a new beginning, as indicated by the Superior General: "2017: a new beginning".   Marist Europe wishes to respond: “Present!” to this invitation from Br Emili Turú.

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Br Teófilo Minga, Secretary of the EMC