February 2016
Prophecy, Proximity and Hope.
The Canonical Erection of the Camillian Province of India
We would like to share with you some suggestions that Fr. Vittorio Paleari, the Provincial Superior of the ‘Mother’ Province of North Italy, and Fr. Leocir Pessini offered, respectively, as a message of good wishes and as a homily during the celebration of the Eucharist in the afternoon of 2 February 2016 in Bangalore, India.
Fr. Leocir – with a certain emotion – defined the new Province as ‘shining star, in the sky of Asia, in the eastern part of the world; a star that shines sending out new hope, the freshness of youth and enthusiasm in charity and compassion’. Speaking with reference to the daily style of our Indian religious brothers who are very involved in providing direct assistance to the sick, Fr. Leocir invited us to rediscover the value of the practical exercise of works of corporeal and spiritual mercy which constitute the incandescent and magmatic core of the Camillian charism.
The Providence of the Lord has really worked wonders in India: young religious who have grown with enthusiasm and passion and who are able to create in an inventive way prophetic synergies of cooperation with the Church, with other Provinces of the Order and with other religious institutes.
He ended with a wish, citing Pope Francis’s words that were spoken during his meeting with religious in Rome on 1 February 2016: the three pillars on which we should build and build anew, and constantly convert, our consecrated lives are prophecy (to be, in the world, those who point to the advent of the Kingdom of God and the construction of human fraternity); proximity (to live in fullness the feelings of the heart of God who hears the cry of the poor and becomes their neighbour in the incarnation); and hope (to be men who dissipate the shadows that oppress and depress men, that impede them from living up to their vocations as loved sons).
Fr. Vittorio Paleari in his augural greetings to the new Province, which today has officially taken on the responsibility for its own spiritual and charismatic maturity, laid strong stress on the need for we religious to ‘imitate Jesus, who in order to reveal his true identity as God the Father accepted the logic of the incarnation to the point of its extreme consequences: the cross, death, the descent into hell, so that no man could from then on feel abandoned by the compassion of God’. ‘Do not hesitate to offer up yourselves as a free gift to God and other men. Our consecration to the Lord will be fertile if we manage to extract love from our hearts, whose potentiality we will be able to know only starting with an intense spiritual and fraternal life’.
Ministerial choices for the poor should also be monitored constantly: ‘the choice of the poor should be lived not so as to appear grand in front of other people or to control the freedom of others with programmes, projects…where there is self-worship, self-exaltation, there is neither evangelisation nor humanisation’.
Only when the level of love and compassion reaches a burning temperature in our religious lives will people be able to say sincerely: ‘look at how they love each other and look at how much they love people’. And he ended with a healthy and evangelical provocation which applies to every disciple of Jesus: ‘I pray that the mercy of God be extended in a limitless way in our lives: may it not find resistance in our hearts, in our security, in our comfort, in our lives…Those who offer/lose their lives for other people, for their freedom and dignity, will discover a new life, rich in meaning, in peace…’
In the imitation of Christ, which cross will we accept? Into which ‘human hell’ will we agree to descend in the imitation of Christ, and freely remain so as not to abandon any man who has been relegated to it, and work with them, and for them, while awaiting the Resurrection? May God continue to bless India and all of the Great Family of St. Camillus!
MANFREDONIA
2 FEBRUARY 2016: the Feast day of the Presentation of Jesus at the Temple and the Feast Day of the Conversion of St. Camillus de Lellis (2 February 1575)
Laurent Zoungrana, the Vicar General of the Order, took part in the annual solemn celebration of the conversion of our Founder St. Camillus de Lellis, together with our Camillian religious brothers of Monte di Macchia Sant’Angelo and the Bishop of Manfredonia-Vieste-San Giovanni Rotondo.
VERONA
On the occasion of the annual celebration of the feast day of the conversion of St. Camillus, Fr. Pasquale Anziliero, webmaster and industrious animator of the site www.camilliani.it, made available to the general public – in the modern digital form of an e-book – a classic text of Camillian bibliography: San Camillo. Un messaggio di Misericordia (‘St. Camillus. A Message of Hope’ (G. Sommaruga – A. Brusco).
To insert: photo of the book and link to the site
ROME
Closure of the Year of Consecrated Life: ‘Prophecy, Gospel, Hope’
2 February is the special day dedicated to thought and prayer for all consecrated men and women so that they may be increasingly faithful to their vocation which is to represent those forms of life – that is to say chaste, poor and obedient to God – that Jesus, the Son of God, chose for himself.
This year this feast day took place on the same date as the solemn and festive closure of the Year for Consecrated Life which was called by Pope Francis to revitalise the dignity, the awareness, the spirituality, the identity and the apostolic dimension of men and women religious in the Church and in the world. Various Camillian religious brothers of ours took part in the final liturgical events, and in the events involving dialogue, that were held in Rome.
If you want to go over the various stages of this special Year, the most important speeches of Pope Francis on the subject, the initiatives of the Congregation for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life, and the most up-to-date publications on Consecrated Life, you can visit our page and see the box created during this year to bring together and describe the salient facts of this Year!
MEETING OF THE HOLY FATHER FRANCIS WITH THOSE TAKING PART IN THE JUBILEE OF CONSECRATED LIFE
INDIA
The canonical erection of the new Camillian Province of India was solemnly celebrated on 2 February in Bangalore, India. In addition to our India religious brothers – nearly all of whom were present – there was a strong representation of our religious brothers from the mother Province of North Italy as well as from the Provinces of Thailand, Austria, England and Ireland, and Poland, and from the Delegation of Vietnam.
Message of the Superior General to the Province of India ITALIANO INGLESE
Homily of the Superior General offered during the solemn celebration of the Eucharist. ITALIANO INGLESE
The message of welcome of the new Provincial, Br. Baby Ellickal ITALIANO INGLESE
Canonical Erection of the St. Camillus Province of India
SPAIN
On 23-27 March 2016, at the Centro San Camilo di Tres Cantos – Madrid, the Camillian Province of Spain will celebrate Easter of the Young. This is an event above all for young people aged sixteen and over who want to have an experience of prayer, adoration and service with other young people during the Year of Marcy.
BRAZIL
The Camillian Province of Brazil has ended the first stage of the organisation of its Provincial archives and the digital copying and archiving of the historical photographic records of the Province. You can follow the ambitious project of conserving and allowing the possible use of the material on the site: http://www.acervo.camilianos.org.br/
On Monday, 1 February 2016, the Camillian Province of Brazil celebrated the first religious profession of Damião José do Nascimento. On the same occasion Gabriel Anderson Barbosa and Edson da Silva Pires began their novitiates
Thirty-six Camillian religious brothers of Brazil took part in the annual spiritual retreat organised by the same religious Province. The spiritual discussion and contents were animated by the Emeritus Auxiliary Bishop of the archdiocese of Brasilia, Dom Marcony Vinicius Ferreira.
THE PHILIPPINES
On 23 January 2016 a number of our Camillian religious brothers of the Philippines took part in the fifty-first International Eucharistic Conference celebrated in Cebù (the Philippines).
During the Holy Mass that was celebrated in the cathedral of Cebù they encouraged the faithful to open themselves up to the Word of God and the Spirit in order to achieve a society that is more open, especially to the poor, the marginalised and those in prison (in line with the spirit of works of corporeal mercy).
MADRID EXCHANGE
On 21-24 April 2016, at the Centre for the Humanisation of Health of Tres Cantos (Madrid), the international meeting of directors of centres for pastoral care in health and Camillian universities will take place. The aim of this meeting is to establish and strengthen cooperation between centres for formation and universities of a Camillian character in order to promote health and the protection of the right to access to care and treatment.
TAIWAN
As happens every year, on 18-25 January the week of prayer for the unity of Christians was celebrated in Taiwan.
For the first time, in our parish of Hansi, which has above all Christians of native origins, an ecumenical prayer meeting was held of the various religious denominations of the area. The Presbyterian pastor proposed a commentary on the first letter of St. Paul to the Corinthians. In particular, reference was made to 1Cor 12:12: ‘For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ’.
In addition, an ecumenical meeting of employees, many of whom are Protestants, was organised at St. Mary’s Hospital.
On 24 January a new road was inaugurated which had been built with the help of both Protestant and Catholic benefactors. It was built in order to give everybody the possibility to reach the church as well as to meet the immediate needs of families.
. On 11 February 2016 Giuseppe Didoné celebrated the World Day of the Sick in our Church of St. Mary Magdalene in Rome, together with a number of priests and about twenty pilgrims from Taiwan on the occasion of their pilgrimage to the tomb of St. Peter for the Holy Year of Mercy.
THE PROVINCE OF ROME
On 14-21 February 2016 the precious relic of the heart of St. Camillus will be welcomed in the city of Campo Salentini, in the Province of Lecce. The figure, the charism and the spirituality of St. Camillus will be the propulsive heart of the popular mission of evangelisation and the comforting of sick people that the Camillian religious brothers of the Province of Rome, the Daughters of St. Camillus, and a large group of young people will try to achieve during this week.
PERU
On 9 January 2016 the Vice-Province of Peru accompanied with hope the entrance into the novitiate of two candidates for Camillian religious life: Edinson Perez Davila and Luis Manuel Garcia Minga.
BURKINA FASO
Father Gianfranco Lunardon, the Secretary General of the Order, on 15-23 January of this year visited a number of Camillian communities in Burkina Faso, with a view to the organisation of the next meeting of the Superior General and the members of the General Consulta with the major Superiors of the Order which will be celebrated in Ouagadougou (Burkina Faso) in the middle week of the month of October 2016. The date and the place are very significant: on the fiftieth anniversary of the beginning of the presence of the Camillians in this region, the canonical erection of the new Province of Burkina Faso will be celebrated!
THE UKRAINE
There is no formal Camillian presence in the Ukraine but the spirit of St. Camillus is very much alive in that country. Fr. Arnaldo Pangrazzi, a lecturer at the Camillianum of Rome, for many years has been meeting periodically – through the mediation of a number of former students of the Camillian itself – a number of animation groups of the health-care world, offering them internships for human, professional and spiritual formation.
THE WORLD DAY OF THE SICK
The XXIV World Day of the Sick. Entrusting oneself to the merciful Jesus like Mary: ‘Do whatever he tells you’ (Jn 2:5)
Message of Pope Francis for the XXIV World Day of the Sick
THEOLOGICAL-PASTORAL Programme for the XXIV World Day of the Sick
The XXIV World Day of the Sick – liturgical programme
The XXIV World Day of the Sick in the Camillian’s World
INDIA: FRATERNAL VISIT
Leocir Pessini arrived in India, together with the members of the General Consulta Fr. Aris Miranda and Fr. Gianfranco Lunardon, on 31 January of this year to take part in the celebrations for the canonical erection of the new Camillian Province of India. He took advantage of this trip to visit over the following days (that is to say 4-8 February 2016) the four Indian Camillian communities that he had not been able to meet during his previous visit of April 2015. After going to the Provincial house of Bangalore, he met our religious brothers of the communities of Nagpur (a minor seminary), of Hyderabad, where he inaugurated the laboratory for professional and occupational reintegration for people with HIV; and of Eluru, where he spent time with young seminarians – those attending the philosophy course – of the minor seminary; and of Aluva, a community for helping and treating people with HIV and a centre for the animation of prayer and spirituality for the whole of the State of Kerala. In this last community he inaugurated a chapel dedicated to HESED (mercy in Hebrew): this will be a point of reference for a permanent group of lay faithful who meet every day to pray for the abundant gift of the Mercy of the Father for every situation of pain, of suffering and of death!
MESSAGES OF THE SUPERIOR GENERAL AT THE END OF HIS FRATERNAL VISIT TO CHILE, BOLIVIA AND COLOMBIA-ECUADOR
As was announced in the previous newsletter, Fr. Leocir Pessini, the Superior General of the Order, between the end of the year 2015 and the first weeks of 2016 travelled to meet the Camillian religious who live and work in Bolivia, Chile and Colombia-Ecuador.
Below you can read the messages of thanks, good wishes, encouragement, and incitement to growth that Fr. Leocir sent to our religious brothers on these countries at the end of his presence amongst them.
Message of the Superior General to the Delegation of Colombia-Ecuador ITALIAN SPANISH PORTUGUESE ENGLISH
Message of the Superior General to the Camillian Delegation of Bolivia ITALIAN SPANISH ENGLISH
Message of the Superior General to the Delegation of Chile ITALIAN SPANISH ENGLISH
A HISTORICAL CURIOSITY FROM CHILE
Camillo Henriquez, known by everyone as ‘the brother of the good death’, studied in Lima, Peru, in our religious house de la Buenamuerte and was one of the leaders of the movement for the independence of Chile. He also lived in Ecuador and in Argentina. He is seen as one of the founding fathers of Chile and also as the father of modern Chilean journalism. He was the founder of the review Aurora de Chile. Together with him two other Chileans studied in Lima in the same religious house: Br. Nicasio Gonzales and Br. Antonio Herrera Gomez.
Otayza Carrazola – Biografía y escritos de Fray Camilo Henríquez
INTER-CONGREGATIONAL MEETING
On 11 February 2016, the liturgical memorial of Our Lady of Lourdes and the World Day of the Sick, there took place once again the experience which had already been begun last year: the organisation of a meeting between Fr. Leocir Pessini, Mother Zelia Andrighetti, and Mother Lauretta Gianesin – respectively the Superior General of the Camillians, the Superior General of the Daughters of St. Camillus, and the Superior General of the women Ministers of the Sick, and their respective general councils. This meeting took place in Grottaferrata at the generalate house of the Daughters of St. Camillus. After a significant period of time dedicated to Camillian formation and spirituality, there was a dialogue on concrete situations and opportunities as regards the possibilities of implementing cooperation between our religious communities throughout the world.
AGENDA OF THR SUPERIOR GENERAL
After his intense voyages in India (30 January to 9 February 2016), on 12-18 February 2016 Fr. Leocir Pessini will visit our religious brothers of the Camillian community of Guadalajara – Mexico.
On 21-23 February 2016, Fr. Leocir will visit the Camillian communities of Cremona, Como and Besana Brianza (the Province of North Italy). The morning of 23 February will be dedicated to a meeting with the general assembly of the Province for a fraternal exchange of ideas, projects, and aspirations about the present and the future of our Camillian consecrated lives.
TUESDAY 23 FEBRUARY 2016 – CAPRIATE SAN GERVASIO – BG
Timetable of the shared day:
– 9.30: Arrivals/Welcome. The possibility of breakfast in the refectory of the religious house.
– 10.00: A subject for thought: ‘Mercy and Compassion: Ways of Humanisation’.
Speaker: Fr. Gianfranco Lunardon, member of the General Consulta, Secretary General.
Place: theatre room of the nursing home.
– 10.45: Break, coffee at the bar of the nursing home.
– 11.00: The floor given to the Most Reverend Father General, followed by questions etc. from those taking part.
– 12.00: Concelebration of the Eucharist in the Church of the nursing home.
– 13.00: Convivial lunch in the refectory of the nursing home – end of the meeting.
On 8-19 March 2016, Fr. Leocir together with Fr. Laurent Zoungrana, the Vicar General, will visit our religious brothers of the Camillian communities of Madagascar, Central Africa and the Ivory Coast.
THE DAUGHTERS OF ST. CAMILLUS
On 16 January, at 9.30, at the office of the chancellery of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints, the formal opening took place of the official documents of the process concerning the purported miracle attributed to the intercession of the Blessed Giuseppina Vannini.
Msgr. Giacomo Pappalardo, the Chancellor of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints, in the presence of the Vicar General of the Daughters of St. Camillus, Sr. Rosanna Priore; of the General Councillor of the Order, Sr. Sabine Zida; of Sr. Afra Marcolongo; of Sr. Fernanda Bongianino; and of the Postulator Sr. Bernadete Rossoni, formally opened the seals of these documents which had been consigned to the Chancellery of the Vice-Postulator who had followed the process at the diocese of Sinop in Brazil.
Here is a new site to accompany the journey towards the 125th anniversary of our Institute (the Daughters of St. Camillus) (You are all invited to cooperate in shaping its contents through your valuable contributions. Send us a programme of events and all your photographs and they will be published immediately!!!).
Thank you for your cooperation and happy journeying to everyone!!!
A READING SUGGESTION
Recently there appeared in the REB (Rivista Ecclesiastica Brasiliana) one of the latest published works of our Superior General on a subject of controversial ethical and bioethical contemporary relevance.
You can download here the article by Fr. Leocir Pessini and by Prof. William Saad Hossne, ‘Distanásia: o tratamento médico fútil e/ou inútil. Da angústia à serenidade do equacionamnento bioético’ for the review REB (Revista eclesiástica brasileira) Vol. 75, n. 300, Out./Dez 2015
DECEASED MEN AND WOMEN RELIGIOUS
‘See, now they vanish, the faces and places, with the self which, as it could, loved them. To become renewed, transfigured, in another pattern’ (T.S. Eliot)
The Camillian religious of the Vice-Province of Peru announce the death of their religious brother Fr. Victor Miranda Cirilo Huaringa which took place on 22 January 2016. The funeral was held in the Church de la Buenamuerte and his coffin was taken to the Campo de Fe de Huachipa cemetery.
Obituary Italian Spanish English
The Camillian religious of the Province of Rome announce the death of their religious brother Br. Giovanni Grigoletto. For may years Br. Giovanni was a Camillian missionary amongst the poor and the sick of Burkina Faso. He also devoted a great deal of energy as a faithful and precise helper of the general secretariat to the generalate house.
Memories of Brother Giovanni Grigoletto Press E-mail Written by Marisa Sfondrini
The Daughters of St. Camillus ask for prayers of suffrage for the death of Sr. Pierina Gemme, which took place on 20 January 2016 at the their community of San Paolo (Brazil), and for Sr. Carmen Huergo who died on 7 February at the ‘Residencia Hijas de san Camilo’, Santa Marta de Tormes, Salamanca (Spain).
The women Ministers of the Sick of St. Camillus on Sunday 7 February announced the news of the death of Sr. Lucina, which took place on 6 February at the community of Casa Betania, in Lucca.
‘Now they live in Christ whom they met in the Church, followed in our vocation, and served in the sick and the suffering. Trusting that the Lord, the Holy Virgin our Queen, St. Camillus, the Blessed Luigi Tezza and the Blessed Giuseppina Vannini, and our deceased religious brothers and sisters, will welcome them in their midst, we commend them in our prayers, remembering them with affection, esteem and gratitude’.
PREGHIERA DEL GIUBILEO IN LINGUA
