VII Chapter of the Marist Province of the Hermitage
The Province of L’Hermitage held its VII Provincial Chapter from 3 to 7 July at Notre-Dame de l’Hermitage in France, with the theme “Looking beyond”. During the event, Br. Gabriel Villa-Real began his three-year term as Provincial and the members of the new Provincial Council were elected: Brothers Jaume ParĂ©s, Xavier GinĂ©, Ramon RĂșbies, AndrĂ© DĂ©culty, Pau Tristany and Rafa EscolĂ . Br Ernesto SĂĄnchez, Superior General, and Brothers JoĂŁo Carlos do Prado and Ben Consigli, General Councillors, attended the Chapter, accompanying the Brothers and lay capitulants.
At the opening of the Chapter, Br Ernesto Sanchez recalled that “service in the province must be done with a prophetic outlook” and invited the brothers to be a beacon of hope in a troubled world.
In his speech, Br Gabriel thanked all the Brothers of the Province, the Superior General and Br Pere FerrĂ©, outgoing Provincial: “Thank you, Pere, for your example of leadership (…). In the most complex situations as well as in the most simple and ordinary ones, you have always shown a special sensitivity and kindness for people. Thank you for everything I have been able to learn at your side,” he said. For his part, Brother Pere also thanked all the people who worked alongside him and assisted him during his term of office.
Global family
Br Ernesto spoke about the challenge facing Marist Brothers and Lay Marists today: “I believe that the great challenge is for us to feel that we are truly a global Marist family. That implies going beyond the local, provincial, even regional vision. We have to see ourselves as a continent, because this work, as Champagnat intuitively understood, is for all dioceses. We are all at the same point!”, said the Superior General in a video message.
For his part, Br JoĂŁo Carlos do Prado, spoke about the meaning of being a global family and what this implies in the Marist world (see video). Similarly, Br. Ben Consigli, pointed out that “we need to go beyond geographical and existential boundaries, where God is asking us to be and to do” (see video).
The lay people invited to the Chapter also had the opportunity to participate and answer the question: ” Looking further ahead, what are your intuitions, what do you think the future will be like? See the video of the participation of the Laity.
During the chapter, the report of the Provincial Council (2019-2022) was released, in which the work of the different governing bodies and the animation of the Province were highlighted; and were made suggestions for the next three years.
As part of the development of the event, the participants had moments of personal and group reflection to share and talk about future perspectives and certainties. There were also moments of prayer, Eucharist and a visit to La Valla.
Photos: VII provincial chapter