THE LATIN AMERICAN CONFERENCE BECOMES AN AMERICAN CONFERENCE

The 10th Latin American Conference of Provincials was the first to be held after the restructuring of the Administrative Units of the American continent. The Conference decided to undergo its own process of ?restructuring?, in the sense of regionalisation as proposed by the 20th General Chapter. On the 27th August, the decision was made to widen the conference to include the Provincials of the Provinces of Canada and the United States of America. Thus the conference has changed from being ?Latin American? to being ?American?. The eleven Provinces and the two Districts of the American continent will now have only one Conference of Provincials that will discuss such areas as ongoing formation, mutual support and future projects.
The Provincial of Canada and the delegate of the Provincial of the United States of America, present at the meeting as invited guests, expressed their agreement and their joy at this integration. A revision of the Statutes has been entrusted to ?ELAMAR? (Marist Latin American Team for Support and Reflection) and these revised Statutes will be presented to the Provincials for approval during the next General Conference in September 2005.
Among other decisions made, the Conference of Provincials of America has confirmed the service of the network of Marist Apostolic Spirituality (extending it to the whole of the continent); has approved the projects presented by the Continental Mission Team concerning pastoral care for youth and social action; and it has initiated the processes to assume responsibility for the Marist mission in Haiti and to establish a community in Canada for the pastoral care of youth. This was requested by the Provincial Council of Canada as an attempt to revitalise Marist life and mission in the country.
On Saturday, 28th August, the Conference closed in a spirit of gratitude, renewed brotherhood and openness to the gifts that the Lord continues to grant to this region of the Marist world.