The primary focus of the third day (November 30) of the Major Superiors Meeting was a presentation by Fr. Heiner Wilmer, superior general, on “Leadership of the Major Superior.”
“You are leaders, you are experienced, you are wise and each one of you cares for the many brothers and people the Lord has entrusted to us and our mission,” said Fr. Heiner.
Fr. José Ornelas Carvalho, the previous superior general, often referred to the Major Superiors as the “Senate” of the congregation.
“I like this idea from Fr. Ornelas very much,” said Fr. Heiner. “It means that we share in the same leadership. We share in the same vision defined by the last General Chapter, our supreme authority.”
Fr. Heiner spoke of the common concerns of major superiors. At the top of the list is formation, in particular, formators themselves.
“Tell me how your formators are and I will tell you what your province will look like in a few years.” The quote, said Fr. Heiner, is from the former Jesuit superior general Fr. Adolfo Nicolas.
“You must always focus on the formators,” he said. “How are they prepared, and how are they spreading the charsim? Formators must meet regularly with each of those in formation, and you must meet regularly with the formators.”
What is “regularly?” “Formators should meet individually with their students for an hour at least once a month,” he said.
Parochial ministry
Fr. Heiner talked about parish ministry and warned the major superiors not to allow it to become the focus of their entity’s work. “We, the General Council, are not against parishes but we have to remember that Fr. Dehon stepped out of the parish structure to focus on mission, the formation of priests, social work, education, media,” he said. “If we run a parish, how is it Dehonian? Does it focus on education, outreach to the poor, spiritual work? There must be a Dehonian focus or we risk losing our charism.
“How much energy do we invest in thinking and planning beyond parish work?”
Parish ministry as a Dehonian also means living in community, “and doing our ministry based community,” he said. Vital to community life, he emphasized, is the “common purse.”
Migration
“Migration is the theme of our century,” said Fr. Heiner. “Its impact is different in each country but we must react. Put it on your agenda, on the agendas of your local communities and at the level of your entity. Our response to migration may be different but we cannot avoid the theme. Each entity must give a concrete response to migration.”
Fr. Heiner concluded by emphasizing the need to reach out to youth, to collaborate with the laity and to promote the Dehonian Family. He affirmed the importance of missionary availability and international experiences for those in formation. Vocations must be promoted “through the investment of energy, people and media to promote the Dehonian way of consecrated life.” Each continent should seek common lines of action for vocational development.
And finally, Fr. Heiner urged that each entity have a person responsible for communications, either an SCJ or lay person.”
Click here to access photo albums from the Major Superiors Meeting.
Welcome secretaries!
Note that Wednesday ended with a welcoming celebration for the entity secretaries who arrived in Rome for their week-long workshop. Click here to access a photo album from the evening.
