Moving forward with courage, audacity and hope!
From the 26th until the 30th December 2006 the II Provincial Chapter of IbĂ©rica was held at Lardero (La Rioja). On the 26th, after having constituted the committee formed by the eldest and the youngest brother in the group and listened to the greeting of Brother Seán, present at the Chapter, the letter from the Superior was read in which he made public the re-election of Brother Samuel HolguĂn for another mandate of three years as Provincial of IbĂ©rica. In the setting of this meeting, numerous brothers and friends celebrated the jubilees of Brother JesĂşs GarcĂa Garayo and JĂ©sus Leante, 50 years of religious consecration, Dionisio PĂ©rez, Aquileo Manciles, Esteban Villalba and Cruz Bujanda, 60 years, and JosĂ© González del Amo, 70.
The 27th started with the presentation of the six seculars invited to the Chapter: Marta and Xabier (Bilbao), Carlos and Julio CĂ©sar (Guadalajara), Maite, (Pamplona) and Octavio (ChamberĂ). We then consecrated a session to evaluating globally the three year period through the information of commissions, where we saw the richness of the activities that the brothers and laypeople of the Province realise daily.
During the morning of the 28th we studied the subjects proposed to the Chapter: vocation ministry, the Marist vocation, the conclusions of the Provincial Meeting of young people and the documents ?Sueño y Tarea? as well as the vitality of communities. In the afternoon we analysed the document of educational centres as places of evangelisation and formation of their personnel. There were five lines of action that intertwined: evangelisation and education, the Marist identity met in the educational Project, the legal setting of centres, Provincial co-ordination which guarantees the cohesion and the good functioning through on-going formation, the processes of quality and pedagogical innovation.
In the afternoon we reflected on the shared mission between brothers and laypeople, starting with a question: shared mission or shared work? The responses helped to clarify the doubts, the difficulties and the reticence and from that we asked for the audacity and enthusiasm to innovate, share and move forward together. The day finished with an analysis of the Provincial structure, done by Brother Samuel, highlighting the great work realised in the last three years to construct the Province of Ibérica.
On the 29th, we studied the proposal of the master lines, on the basis of the enquiries made of the brothers and the laypeople. After the discussion and the votes, the four lines proposed to the new Council were:
1. ? Strengthen the vitality and the accompaniment of the brothers and the communities of the Province.
2. ? Strengthen the evangelising aspect of our works with a special sensitivity towards the most impoverished young people.
3. – Deepen (intensify) the life and shared mission between brothers and laypeople.
4. ? Intensify and accompany the vocation process through educational and ministry campaigns where we are present.
And then the assembly suggested some strategies to apply these lines of action.
The afternoon was consecrated to the study of the Regulation for the III Provincial Chapter and the Rules of the Province. Then we passed onto the election of the seven Councillors for this three year period. Thus, Brothers Ambrosio Alonso, MoisĂ©s Alonso, Alfonso Fernández, Abel Muñoz, Alberto Oribe, JosĂ© Luis SantamarĂa and Ernesto Tendero will accompany Brother Samuel.
The II Provincial Chapter, that same evening, finished with a speech by Brother Seán, who thanked the Province for its generosity, in economic aid as in the offer of brothers, and insisted on important subjects including restructuring, vocation ministry, formation, Marist laity and mission. He urged those present to ?build the future that God wants for everyone and for the Marist pathway of life? and to behave ?in such a way that it could be said of the brothers and the laypeople of Ibérica that they are moving forward with courage, audacity and hope.?