(Brazil) From November 30 to December 3, 2021, the General Assembly was held in Curitiba/PR, at the Santo Afonso Redemptorist Center. It brought together the three units (Manaus, Campo Grande and Porto Alegre) that will form the new unit in the future. There were 112 Redemptorist Missionaries present. The meeting began on Monday, November 29th with the arrival and lodging of the confreres who stayed in Redemptorist houses and also in hotels near the Perpetual Help Shrine.
During the days of the meeting, various moments took place which provided the opportunity for the integration of the three groups. Many confreres did not know each other yet and this time was opportune. Videos were shown about the history of each unit, so that everyone could know a little bit about each reality. There was an excellent talk by Professor Joaquim Andrade on “Interculturality”. Provincial Superiors of each unit, Frs. Vitor Edézio Borges, Edilei Rosa Silva and José Amarildo Luciano da Silva, presented the Apostolic Plan and the Reconfiguration Project, based on the meetings that they had at the Conference level and also at the level of the General Government of the Congregation. It was an important moment of clarification on all the steps that are being taken in view of the reconfiguration. There was good participation from the confreres. The juridical commission in persons of Frs. Dirson Gonçalves, Edezio Borges and Edson Ulanowicz presented the Electoral Law and the Statute prepared for the future new unit. Some changes were made and the text was approved to be sent to the General Government for approval.
The formators of the Formation Commission presented the new Directory of Formation, which still has to be approved by the General Government in order to regulate the progress of initial formation in the new unit. There was a good participation of the confreres in the sharing and questioning about this material. We also had an afternoon meeting of the three units separately. On Friday 3rd, the last day of the assembly, the closing and sending forth Mass took place in the Shrine of Our Lady of Perpetual Help. During the same celebration, the juniors renewed their temporary vows. The Assembly ended with a delicious and fraternal lunch.
In short, the Assembly was excellent. The evaluations coming from the confreres were very positive. It was a time of meeting, knowledge, fraternity, integration, integration and exchange of experiences. We placed all these realities in God’s hands, under the intercession of Our Mother of Perpetual Help and St. Alphonsus.
Fr. Dirson Gonçalves, CSsR
