Meeting of the International Commission of Marist Spiritual Patrimony
The annual face-to-face meeting of the International Commission of Marist Spiritual Patrimony took place this time at our house in Manziana, from June 17th to 21st. The participants were Brothers Antonio Ramalho, coordinator (Brasil Centro-Norte), Michael Green (Star of the Sea), Patricio Pino (Santa María de los Andes), Vincent de Paul Kouassi (West Africa), Omar Peña (América Central), Guillermo Villareal (México Occidental), Demosthenes Calabria (East Asia) and Mr. Dyogenes Philippsen Araújo (Brasil Centro-Sul). Brother Ángel Medina took part as representative of the Secretariat of Brothers today, ensuring as always that all the necessary infrastructure was in place. Brother Teófilo Minga (Compostela) was the translator.
There were two contributions from the General Council. Brother Josep Maria Soteras animated a morning of formation around the bicentenary of the Hermitage and Brother Óscar Vicario presented the greetings of the Brother Superior General and topics related to the general government.
By videoconference, the Commission was able to talk with members of the Brother François Rivat Chair at PUC Paraná (University of Curitiba, Brazil) and with Brother André Lanfrey (Lyon, France) about studies and publications on the writings of Brother François, 1st Superior General. The Commission expressed its admiration and support for this valuable, long-standing initiative.
Also virtually, Luiz da Rosa, responsible for the Institute’s communications, shared information about the publication of the document on the Fountains and Springs Symposium in December 2023, as well as other Marist publications and texts on the Institute’s website.
On its agenda, the Patrimony Commission reserved space for the following topics: a reflection on the continuity of the Fountains and Springs Symposium, thinking about a second event; organization of the next issue of Marist Notebooks; organization of the 2025 meeting, which will take place at Notre-Dame de l’Hermitage, in the context of the Bicentenary. The members of the group were also able to find out about the situation of Marist Spiritual Patrimony in the various Provinces and Regions of the Marist world.
