Priere

To speak of “sexual abuses” during a Council of the Congregation is to approach a topic which is of burning actuality in the media. We are thinking quite evidently of the victims and of the disastrous effects on the life of families. There is also the counter-witness of certain clerics which tarnishes the Church. “It is better to forestall than to mend,” such is probably the adage which guided our considerations because, even if the Assumption is not immersed in the heart of the turmoil, it behooves us to be prudent and to reinforce the human formation of the religious. We are fragile beings and our religious vocation cannot be fulfilled except with the grace of God and a good preparation.

The Mission to the East is beginning to arouse new interest among Provincials. Progressively, that Mission is becoming the common property of the international Assumption: “we are opening ourselves up little by little to a reality which is often quite distant from our usual preoccupations” is a remark made by one of us. The Provincial of France who has the direct responsibility for that mission remarks wistfully that he would like this opening up to proceed more quickly, but one must be patient in  raising up a new generation of Assumptionists enthusiastic about the East and ecumenical dialogue. A little progress is noted now and then.
The reading of visitation letters from the Superior general is being appreciated (North America, Africa) . They give a good analysis of the situation of the provinces and each member of the Council can in that fashion better get to know the reality of the Assumption around the world.
Everything comes to him who knows how to wait. Father Jean-Paul Périer-Muzet, the archivist historian of the Congregation is happy with the recent publication of the second volume of the anthology of Father d’Alzon. It’s an instrument which will permit us to appropriate for ourselves the founder’s charism and it will very soon be distributed to the communities.