The Report of the Conference of Redemptorists of Europe for the General Chapter and the First Phase of the General Chapter in Toruń (5-13 April 2016) were the main topics of the 20th Ordinary Meeting of the Council of the CRE.
The coordinator (Fr. Jacek Zdrzałek), the consultors (Fr. Johannes Roemelt, Pedro Lopez Calvo) and the secretary of the CRE (Fr. Piotr Sułkowski) met from 18th to 20th January in San Gioacchino in Rome.
The Report of the CRE, which will be presented during the “Canonical Phase” of the General Chapter in Thailand, is being prepared in several stages. During the past months, the fifteen European Redemptorist Units and the secretariats and commissions of the CRE sent their reports to the coordinator. The responses were then collated. The Council has prepared a draft evaluation of the apostolic life of the CRE in fidelity to our Redemptorist mission and the signs of the times: reflected on common experiences, missionary priorities and new pastoral situations. This draft will be discussed and completed during the First Phase of the General Chapter. The Report is composed of five main parts: statistics; apostolate; consecrated life; formation, administration & leadership.
The Council started preliminary preparations for the audio-visual presentation from the CRE also for the Phase II of the Chapter. The presentation will contain: an overview of the current reality of the Conference; a comparison of the reality of the conference in 2009 and in 2016; the impact of the 7 Guiding Principles of Restructuring on the Conference in the areas of pastoral priorities, mission activities, vocation and formation, lay collaboration, solidarity, and hopes and challenges for the future.
Considerable time was dedicated to preparations for the first phase of the General Chapter, which will be held in Torun in Poland from 4th to 13th April 2016.
Other topics discussed at the meeting were: the vision of common formation in the CRE, the Interprovincial Community in Albania, projects of various secretariats of the CRE for 2016, World Youth Day in Krakow 2016 and the finances of the CRE.
Fr. Jacek Zdrzałek CSsR
