Provincial Administrators in an International Institute

From 11 to 15 October the General House hosted a meeting of  Provincial Economes from all over the Institute, with the objective : To know one another, become conscious of being  part of an International Institute and discuss topics of common interest.

Certain testimonies of those taking part, taken from the evaluation of the meeting, describe the experience of these days : « An experience indispensible for moving ahead as an Institute – The discovery of the Mission, immense, gigantic, marvellous, gives my work more meaning – It is interesting to meet other economes and share certain difficulties of our administration – Fraternity, support and mutual encouragement. »

On the first afternoon, BrAfonso Tadeu Murad shared the knowledge, experiences and  conclusions formulated in his book : « Administration and spirituality, a half-open door. This topic accompanied the group’s life during the days of the meeting. In their evaluation, the participants expressed deep satisfaction at having integrated the spiritual dimension in management.

In order to foster the vision of the Marist Institute which is found in various cultural, legal and economic realities,  participants gave brief presentations of the internal and external scenarios of their administrative units based on a common schema.

The programme also touched on other topics with administrative content : The presentaion and analysis of the financial reports of each AU to the General Government using the web site prepared for this – The economic and financial information of the General Administration, which includes the economic means for the animation and the General Government, the programmes of ongoing formation, the support of solidarity projects and the maintenance of the General House. And finally, the subject of the new Model of Financing of the General Administration was also part of the programme.

On the last morning, Br Emili, Superior General, greeted the participants and gave them a message posing a clear challenge in view of the future vitality of the Institute : to operate as an International Institute which makes its own the attention to the Montagnes of today in becoming involved in favour of the needs of the children and young people of this time, in acting on all occasions as signs of contradiction and challenge in the face of today’s culture and in presenting the Marial face of the Church. (LINK)

Internationality, at the level of administration, means to look at and go beyond the provincial frontieres, in sharing goods, persons and knowledge in a fashion of solidarity. And the dimension of the Marial face of the Church requires looking at the administration of goods with a sensitivity to solidarity, service, simplicity and attentive listening to the Spirit, like Mary.

Finally, we appreciated the response of all the Administrative Units by their presence at this meeting, which allowed us to experience meeting one another, knowing one another as persons and as provinces. Thus we were able to perceive our belonging to an international Institute.

Our gratitude goes also to the personnel of the General House for the services rendered, from the welcome at the airport, the attention to accomodation and the participation, on Saturday evening, in the eucharistic celebration and the festive meal where we shared an Argentinian barbecue.

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Victor M. Preciado R.
Econome and Councillor General