Welcome to Secretariat of Formation webpage
INTRODUCTION:
During the second semester of the year 2022, September 11th to October 7th, the Congregation will be celebrating its XXVI General Chapter. Reflections on initial formation of the XXV General Chapter are reflected in Decision #s 29 to 37. Especially noteworthy is Decision # 30, which states:
The General Government will task the Secretariat for Formation to work with the Executive Secretary for Formation and each Conference Coordinator to ensure that during this Sexennium, every Unit and Conference will engage in a complete and detailed analysis of its initial formation program at all levels, ensuring coherence and compliance with the Ratio Formationis Generalis of the Congregation and to determine whether its current program is truly preparing future Redemptorists for the mission of the Congregation as embodied in the missionary priorities of the Conference.
In response to these decisions of the XXV General Chapter, the General Secretariat for Initial Formation began a series of processes that include the updating of the Ratio Formationis Generalis of 2003 and the gathering of articles, videos and other resources as aids to the setting up of programs for each stage of formation. The Secretariat has also reflected and petitioned the collaboration of experts on each of the topics pointed out the by Chapter. These efforts will lead to the publication of new volumes of the series, REDEMPTORIST FORMATION. Finally, the Secretariat programmed a procedure for collaborative reflections and activities which included physical visits to many of the formation houses and the formators in the different Conferences.
Unfortunately, as with other Congregational and Societal projects, the coronavirus (COVID-19) situation and its consequent restrictions have obligated an interruption of some of the processes and projections.
To respond to the necessary processes of Initial Formation before the XXVI General Chapter, one of the strategies is that of creating a new, exclusively dedicated web page for this preparation. The address of this web page is: https://www.cssr.news/formation.
This new webpage will have three sections, each of which will be in an official language of the Congregation (English, Spanish and Italian).
The main section is that of essential and important documents and power-points that will support the different processes. Anther section is practical is practical resources for formation (referred to as “tools for formators”). Other sections are short videos of formation-related topics and a reference area to other formation content websites.
The objective of this website is that it serves as a sort of “data-bank” for the documents and resources needed as we prepare for the next General Chapter.
The information on formation in this webpage will be of particular importance to the Coordinators and the five Conference councils, the Conference and Unit Secretariats of Formation, the major superiors, the Congregation’s formators, and formandi and the members of the General Chapter.
As of now, we place this initial formation project and the next General Chapter in the hands of Blessed Gaspar Stanggassinger, C.Ss.R., who besides representing the highest values of formation is also a worthy model for our formators.
Thank you for your attention to this communication,
The General Secretariat of Initial Formation
