Dear Confreres, Sisters, Lay Partners and Friends,
Warm greetings from Rome to all of you! Next Sunday, September 11, the delegates to the Canonical Phase of the 26th General Chapter will gather at the Carmelite Retreat Centre in Ciampino. With the Mass of the Holy Spirit on September 12, we officially open the celebration of the Canonical Phase. Thanks to the incredible efforts and hard work of the Central Preparatory Commission, we are almost ready!
For four weeks, the 91 capitulars will continue the synodal process of prayer, encounter, listening, discernment and decision-making, which began more than two years ago. During the second week, September 18 – 25, five lay delegates will join us in this process. 20 support staff will assist the Chapter as moderators, notaries, translators, communications, and canonical advisors. As you are aware, this process will continue with the Third Phase in each Conference in 2023 for the implementation of the Chapter directions.
As we prepare to begin the Canonical Phase, I write to invite you to accompany us daily with your prayers, especially in our communities. In this period of great change, we believe that God is calling us to re-imagine our Redemptorist identity and mission, faithful to our Charism, and in the spirit of St. Alphonsus and our ‘ancestors in the Congregation’, and open to the voice of the Spirit speaking to us through the ‘signs of the times’ (C. 108).
As you accompany us with your prayers, I also invite you to remain in communion with us through the regular communications, updates and links which will be available to you through ScalaNews and the General Chapter website.
The Canonical Phase of our General Chapter is a historic and important moment in the life of the whole Congregation, in every (V) Province, Region and Mission, as well as for the whole Redemptorist Family, including our Sisters and Lay Partners throughout the world.
May God bless us all through the power of the Holy Spirit. May Mary, our Mother of Perpetual Help, accompany us and inspire us to follow her Son wholeheartedly today and into the future!
In Christ our Redeemer,
Michael Brehl, C.Ss.R.
Superior General
Rome, September 3, 2022
