Marist Network of Provincial Volunteer Coordinators commemorates 2 years

On the 29th of November, the WCC Department organised, together with the members of the Marist Provincial Volunteer Coordinators Network, a videoconference meeting to commemorate 2 years since the foundation of the Provincial Volunteer Coordinators Network (VPCs). The meeting was attended by members of the Network with other people strategically involved in the coordination of Marist Volunteers, Interprovincial and Local, representing different Administrative Units and the six regions of the Marist world. Valdícer Fachi, Director of CMI, underlined: “In these two years of walking as a Network of PCVs we have built a greater sense of belonging and of a global body collaborating for the construction of a global charismatic family“.

The meeting opened with a common prayer, the greeting of Br. Luis Carlos, Vicar General, and the commemoration of what has been done in these 2 years of life of the Network, the priorities followed, the meetings held between the PCVs of the different Administrative Units and Regions, and the situation of the volunteers in times of pandemic.

This was followed by a moment of dialogue divided into groups, at the end of which the respective representatives presented the results and ideas that emerged. Among the main reflections, the importance of having walked together in these 2 years, often finding common ground, the sharing of experiences and challenges to be taken up together, the need to look for new ways of continuing to keep Marist volunteering alive and to overcome the impact of the Pandemic, both in person and virtually.

Many then underlined the importance of working in a new and ever greater way on accompaniment, on the formation of Volunteers and volunteer leaders, as well as questioning how to involve as many volunteers as possible, especially young people and Brothers, promoting Marist Volunteering with ever more concrete testimonies of life and mission.

Matteo Cavicchioli, a member of the CMI team, sums up these two years of the PCV Network in this way:

“The Network has given a common sense of unity in the charism and in joining a mission without geographical or cultural boundaries in times of closures and challenges. We have always continued to encourage each other, seeking in every way moments of encounter and sharing. Together we have matured the awareness that the journey together as a network is necessary to face and respond to the needs of a world that will be different from what it was before the foundation.”