Passionist International Bulletin

Passionist LifeThe Vicariate of the Congo ready to become a Vice-ProvinceThe Vicariate of Christ the Savior (GABR Province) of theDemocratic Republic of the Congo, are in the midst of importantdevelopments in Passionist life in that country: shortly it will beelevated to a Vice-province. In order to arrive at this point, theVicariate as well as the Belgian province are working at achievinga certain economic, formation and apostolic stability prior toestablishing autonomy. In the magazine “Le Lien”, a publicationof the Vicariate, the religious were informed about the nominationof an internal commission to prepare for the transition.Currently the Vicariate, which forms part of the Province ofGABR of Belgium, consists of seven communities, dispersedamong three dioceses of the country. The Vicariate has beennotably affected by the civil war that has been plaguing the countryfor more than five years. Today more than 50 Passionist religiousminister in the Congo. The next issue of the PIB will offera detailed report by Fr. Vital Otshudialokoka, General Consultor,on the life and apostolate of our brothers located there.Conclusion of the 75th anniversaryof the Passionists in VenezuelaIn the last issue of the PIB we noted the celebrationof 75 years of Passionist presence inVenezuela. Now we report that during the monthof November the conclusion of the jubilee year ofthe Vicariate of Our Lady of Coromoto took placein Caracas, which included the presence of Fr.General and Fr. Fernando Rabanal, Provincial ofSagrada Familia Province of Spain. On Sunday,23 November, the religious of the Vicariate,together with numerous laity, gathered for a concelebratedMass at which the principal concelebrantwas Fr. Ottaviano. Additionally, Fr. Generalused the occasion to make a fraternal visitation ofthe communities of the Vicariate.Stauros Italia:The Spirituality of Art in the 21 st CenturyFr. Jack Douglas, rector, incensesthe commemorative monumentFrom October 4 th to November 11 th , theStauros Museum of Sacred ContemporaryArt at the Shrine of St. Gabriel, Gran Sasso,hosted an exhibition entitled: LaSpiritualità dell’Arte nel XXI Secolo -Linguaggi a Confronto (“The Spirituality ofArt in the 21 st Century: Languages that challenge).The contributors were artists who, over theyears, dedicated their work to the improvement ofhumanity and society at large. The central messageof the exhibition was that of focusing on the “confronto”(challenge) among artists of various generationswho work with various means of communicationand who have in common respect for time andwho labor in rigorous silence both aspects whichenable their complete artistic freedom. The catalogof the exhibition perhaps sums up best the realitythat the artists tried to convey by their work: “We livein a very complex historic moment with all aspects ofhuman values. An overwhelming confusion, anentanglement of materialistic feelings that point outonly one road with only one concept: the way of theprofit and power… It is time that forces us to discoverour true identity… but to respect time, the onlytrue patrimony that belongs solely and totally toman, we need silence— there it is too much noise inthis world.”Community ofJamaica,New York dedicatesMonumentsOn Mission Sunday, October19, which coincided with the Feast Day of St. Paulof the Cross, Fr. Jack Douglas, Rector, and thereligious of the Monastery of Jamaica, New York,dedicated two new Memorial stones in the nearbymonastery cemetery. The Memorials commemoratethose Passionist Missionaries of St. Paul ofthe Cross province who died and are buried in thePhilippine Islands and in Jamaica, West Indies.It is an attempt on the part of PAUL Provinceto prayerfully remember these religious whosegraves they are not able to visit because of thegeographical distance. These memorials also offerthe living relatives of the deceased religious anopportunity to re-associate with the Passionistcommunity when they visit this site.31