Accueil ->Monde maristes
Lettre
Patrick O’Neil, s.m., supérieur du
district du district du Brésil
écrite le mardi 16 avril 2002
My
dear Friends,
A
late afternoon thunderstorm has just rolled and rumbled its way through the city
leaving in its wake a hot, humid evening. It seems as though the usual autumn
weather in this part of southern Brasil has deserted us for the embrace of El Niño.
It
is hard to imagine that it was only a week ago that I was once again up in Bahia
visiting our community there and seeing first hand the work that they are doing.
As
soon as the Easter celebrations were over I was on the bus Monday afternoon for
Belo Horizonte. Belo Horizonte is Brasil‚s third largest city with around six
million inhabitants. It is also the capital of Minas Gerais State. In this city,
near its northwestern limits we have a house that specializes in pastoral works.
As part of our implantation strategy in Brasil we wanted to avoid only offering
models of parish ministry to our prospective candidates. Even so the need for
priests is so great that the members of the community also help out each weekend
in local parishes. The current community consists of Fr. Paul Mahoney from
Australia, Fr. Marcel Martineau from Canada and one of our professed
seminarians, José Maria, who is having a pastoral experience in the city. Their
work ranges from prison ministry, which is particularly challenging in the
overcrowded and violent conditions that currently exist, to spiritual direction
and retreats for religious communities. José Maria is involved in a special
ministry of visiting the sick and bedridden in their homes and bringing them the
consolation of the Eucharist and a caring Marian presence. In the whirlwind of
the big city and the priorities of overworked priests the sick, unfortunately,
are often abandoned to face their suffering in solitude. However all over Brasil
lay people are being trained specifically for this task.
From
Curitiba to Belo Horizonte it is a 15 hour, 1000 km (800 mile) overnight bus
trip. The journey is relatively smooth as for much of the distance there is a
four-lane highway. The highway is part of a US$ 2 billion infrastructure project
to link the cities of Belo Horizonte and Rio de Janeiro with Porto Alegre in the
south and then on to the frontier with Argentina at Uruguaiana. The hope was
that the highway would eventually link up with Buenos Aires. However with the
current economic situation in Argentina it is difficult to predict when that
will happen. The new roads have made travel safer and helped integrate southern
Brasil with the mega-markets of São Paulo (17 million) and Rio de Janeiro (12
million).
Apart
from visiting the community in Belo Horizonte one of the primary purposes of my
trip was to participate in a meeting of the bursars from each of our houses to
discuss financial matters and to look at some budgeting for 2003. One of the
topics that came up for discussion was the possible formation here in Brasil of
a club to support our seminary. We currently have 15 students in different
stages of formation, including 12 in Curitiba. Some of the students come from
our parishes and parishioners of the University Parish here commented on how
pleased they were to see such a number of students serving during the Easter
celebrations. ( In fact our students helped out in four other parishes nearby as
well.) But as you can imagine twelve healthy young men are twelve very healthy
appetites! In previous years I would go to the supermarket once or twice a
month. Now it is a weekly trip. Our idea was to
have those communities that we serve become even more integrated in our project
not only spiritually but also taking an active material interest in our
students‚ well-being. It is something we will be working on over the next six
months or so.
On Wednesday afternoon, after a
very short visit, I joined Fr. Roberto, our first Brasilian Marist priest, on
his return journey to Bahia. He had come down for the bursars‚ meeting.
The bus from Curitiba to Belo
Horizonte still does not have air-conditioning, but the one from Belo Horizonte
to Guanambi does. It was a relief to slip into our seats after a stifling 55
minute journey from our house to the bus station in a suburban bus that was
overflowing and which roasted its passengers under a hot 30º C sun while it
snaked its way through congested traffic. It was a pity that the comfort of the
bus was not matched however by the quality of the road! The rainy season in the
region has just drawn to a close and much of the two-lane highway on the first
500 km section of the journey has not withstood the combined assault of rain and
heavy trucks. The bus, at whatever speed, constantly shakes and shudders making
any thought of sleep impossible. However, Roberto, who is veteran of Brasilian
buses and roads did not seem to notice and as the orange orb gently sank into
the vast scrub lands of central Brasil he softly snored his way to the next rest
stop. He clocked up in excess of 20,000 km last year on vocations promotion in
the northeastern part of Brasil.
We arrived in Guanambi, the major
town in the region where we work, at 5:30 am after 13 hours on the bus. However,
as Roberto is also the bursar for the community we had to wait until 10 am for
the banks to open so he could pay the bills and get out a little spending money
for some grocery supplies. We drove the final 50 km to Palmas de Monte Alto,
which is the base for the mission in Bahia. I have visited the town a number of
times but I always enjoy going back. Life is simpler, less cluttered and moves
at a regal pace, not with the hustle and bustle of big city life. After lunch we
rested and dozed in the shade of the large mango tree at the back of the parish
house. Around 5 pm a refreshing wind begins to blow down the valley behind the
town and it is the sign for everyone ˆ both man and beast alike ˆ to begin the
evening activities. Both Alfredo and Roberto have meetings with different parish
groups. I was invited to celebrate the monthly Mass for vocations in the old
church up on the hill overlooking the city. A surprising number of young people
were present. I celebrated the Mass under the watchful eye of a large wooden
baroque Madonna known as Our Lady, Mother of God and of Men. The statue has been
in the church for almost 250 years.
Much later we signed off for the
day with a cool beer and a discussion on the latest happenings in the region.
Michael Mahoney is also part of the community in Bahia, however immediately
after Easter he had headed off for some welcome R&R in New Zealand.
The following day as we gathered
for morning-prayer in the little chapel the door bell rang. It was the first
wave of young people arriving for a vocations weekend in Caetité, which is the
town where the local bishop has his residence, some 120 km from Palmas de Monte
Alto. These young people were arriving in from another parish that we look after
a further 70 km down the road. Over the next hour or so 16 young people
arrived from differing parts of our wide spread mission. All of them interested
in reflecting and praying about a possible religious or priestly vocation. The
vocations weekend (there are a series of five) is a joint promotion
between the Diocese of Caetité and the various religious communities that
work in the diocese. From our region there are 12 young women and 4 young men
participating this year.
After sharing with them a frugal
breakfast of bread, biscuits, cake and hot sweet coffee Roberto manages to
squeeze everyone into the parish pickup for the 120 km journey to Caetité.
Roberto is one of the coordinators and will stay with the group (80 in all) for
the weekend.
The silence that descends on the
presbytery after the roar and the rattle of the pickup fades into the distance
on the cobbled streets is short lived. The cook and the housekeeper arrive, as
do two lay leaders, who are busy preparing for a weekend of formation in one of
the outlying communities called „Casa Velha‰ (The Old House). „Casa
Velha‰ was once the largest farm in the region and the community is made up of
farm workers and their families. Included in this weekend of formation and
community building are other communities of the region including two that are
based on ancient „quilombos‰ - villages that housed runaway slaves. This
fact, perhaps better than any other illustrates just how remote our region of
mission was ˆ and still remains that way today despite the facilities of modern
transport.
As the main room begins to
disappear under a growing mountain of posters and other visual aids Alfredo
takes me down to the site of the new church. It will be the biggest in the
region and will seat 500 people. We often tease him about wanting to change the
seat of the diocese from Caetité to Palmas de Monte Alto! When the plans were
drawn up about four years ago people said that it would be too big, because the
residents of Palmas de Monte Alto are not known for the practice of their faith.
Since 1742 a small church, which holds about 70 people squashed in like sardines
was considered more than adequate. However there is nothing like building
something really big to bring people together. The church has become the symbol
and the driving force behind a rebuilding of the catholic community in Palmas de
Monte Alto. When the residents saw the plans and understood the vision, they
became caught up in the enthusiasm of the project. Although not completed it was
used during the Easter celebrations and to the astonishment of the doubting
Thomases in the community it proved to be too small! Thankfully the church is
surrounded by a large square and so everyone could still participate.
In the evening, Alfredo loaded up
the other pickup with all that was necessary for the weekend of formation. One
of the lay leaders would coordinate the weekend and Alfredo and I (invited in as
a guest speaker) were to speak on Saturday afternoon.
After lunch on Saturday we headed
off for Casa Velha with two other members of the parish who also wanted to
support the weekend and its activities. We traveled about 15 km down the long,
narrow ribbon of asphalt which eventually leads to the banks of the Rio São
Francisco and then turned off on to a dusty track that lead through scrub land.
There was plenty of greenery this time and I noticed that some of the water
holes were well stocked. Around these mini-oases the small farmers were carrying
water to a variety of crops. Rolling and bumping our way around a corner
we would surprise a small clutch of huts made of mud and wattle. Perhaps
there was a small community center cum school sitting proudly beside the road.
At one of these little communities Alfredo pointed out the first beginnings of a
little chapel that the community as going to build. It wasn´t going to be much
bigger than the size of a small room. After about 35 minutes of winding our way
through scrub and the occasional cleared farming area we arrive at the community
of Casa Velha.
The church had been recently
painted inside with what I considered extremely poor taste ˆ yellow and pink!
No doubt it was the paint that the community could afford and I was told that
the colour scheme kept a certain type of beetle at bay. When the bug lands and
urinates on your skin it will blister and scar for a long time. The problem is
that you discover that you have been „chosen‰ only 24 hours after its visit!
I don´t know how effective the paint job was because the lay leader who was
coordinating the meeting proudly shown off her battle scars. I suspect that the
beetles were hiding up in the roof that was badly in need of repair. This
particular bug only comes out at night attracted by the bright electric lights.
It was then that I realized why Alfredo had arranged for us to work during the
afternoon.
About 50 people from six
different communities had accepted the invitation to participate in the
formation program. It was pleasing to see that there was a number of young
adults present as well as the older women who are normally the backbone of these
poor rural communities. Training leaders for community formation is vital if the
catholic community is to survive under such difficult conditions. It is
impossible for the priest to celebrate the Eucharist frequently and yet these
are people who have a deep need to express their faith in a community context.
If the Church does not offer them a solid alternative then they will probably
migrate to whoever offers some form of religious worship be it other Christian
churches that are less tied to a clerical structure or even to the
Afro-brasilian cults (Candomblé or Macumba) which are still very present in
Brasil. The dedication of the small parish team in reaching out to these
communities is impressive.
I enjoyed the time I spent with
these people. After my talk on some essential elements of community I was
peppered with all sorts of questions from: „ How long will you stay with
us?‰ to „Why did a loving God ask Jesus to suffer so much?‰ Clearly these
people ˆ a great number of them illiterate and ignorant in a worldly sense ˆ
were struggling to grow in the only wisdom the counts ˆ the Gospel of Our Lord
Jesus Christ. As the sun set red once again on the horizon and the electric
lights came on Alfredo and I made a strategic retreat in order to celebrate a
Saturday evening Mass in another community.
On Sunday morning I was once
again in the Church at the top of the hill to celebrate the 9 am Children´s
Mass. I was really impressed by the way in which the children had been prepared
by their catechists. The responses were enthusiastic, the singing even more so,
and the children who did the readings were impeccable in pronunciation and
diction. While I was preparing to celebrate the Mass and people were
running around trying to find microphones that had mysteriously migrated to the
parish hall I became aware the my every step was being followed by one of the
children. When I asked him his name he replied: „My name is Leandro and when I
grow up I am going to be a Marist Father.‰ Then he started to grill me
with all sorts of questions about our Marist life and charism. His questions
showed that he had more than a passing knowledge of the congregation. Later I
was to discover that our vocation prospect is very committed to his life project
and visits the new Church every day to check up on the progress of the building.
Leandro is ten years old!
Following the custom of the
parish Alfredo and I lunch with a family in the town and as we were returning
around 3 pm we met Roberto arriving back from the vocations weekend in Caetité.
Some of the young people hurried off immediately to catch the last bus to their
towns further down the road, while four of them relaxed a little at the house.
They were from Sebastião Laranjeiras, a parish that Roberto looks after 60 km
from Palmas de Monte Alto. At 4 pm we headed off to that town. I went along
because I wanted, if possible to visit the family of two of our seminarians who
live a further 10 kilometers from there. As it turned out it wasn´t possible
because one of the heavy localized rainstorms that are still frequent at this
time of the year had turned the track into a mud bath. All was not lost however
as their father and one of their other brothers had come into the town to watch
a motor-cross race, that was part of the anniversary celebrations of the town.
Sunday Mass that day was to be in
the main square of the town. Roberto had been reluctant to agree to the request
from the mayor because he was afraid that the Mass would be disrupted by the
small bars around the square and the loud, very loud music the flows out from
them to compete with boom boxes in cars. The mayor assured him that for the
duration of the Mass everything would be asked to shut down. Roberto finally
agreed because the mayor and his wife are regular church-goers and they have
always supported the it when it needed help. Later, as we walked in the from the
Church to the square enveloped by the darkness and heavy sultry air Roberto
began to worry about the possibility that the mayor, celebrating the anniversary
of his town, might use the Mass for a bit of political propaganda. As it turned
out his fears were groundless and everyone cooperated. From the stage that had
been set up it was possible to see that about 350-400 people were actively
participating in the Mass. That must have been some sort of record for Sebastião
Laranjeiras. Normally about 35 people turn up for Mass in the town center on
Sundays. The outlying communities are far more active and alive. Hopefully the
experience in the square, which was very good, will convince a few more to
practice their faith regularly. We finally headed back to Palmas de Monte
Alto around 9:45 pm. The drive back has to be done with care and the lights on
high beam because there is always the possibility of running across (and
sometimes into) cars without lights! Traffic rules are not respected in this
part of Brasil. The road itself is narrow and in some places full of large
pot holes. Due to the rain the bush, scrub and grass have already begun to
encroach on this vital artery. However the summer sun will soon clear the road
once again. We arrived in at 11pm.
Monday, as you might imagine was
a rest day. We decided to have a midday barbeque and so Roberto headed down to
the local butcher‚s shop to buy some sausages and a few steaks. Around 11 am
we came together under the mango tree and prepared a caiparinha ˆ the famous
brasilian cocktail made from crushed limes, sugar, ice and cachaça (a Brasilian
white rum) or vodka. It was time to relax and watch the sun lizards playing up
and down the wall and feel the light breeze wafting through the leaves. As I
have a reputation for being a barbeque cook I was designated to prepare the
sausages and the meat. Controlling the temperature of the charcoal is the key to
the success of the operation. In Brasil the traditional form of the barbeque,
known as churrasco, requires that you serve the meat piece by piece so that it
is nibbled over time, along with helpings of potato salad and other salads, that
are prepared especially for the occasion. The fact that one doesn‚t have to
hurry over the meal leaves plenty of time to talk and chat about 1001 things.
The locals, in general, respect
this day of rest but towards the end of the day there are often people at the
gate wanting to speak to a priest about some problem.
Early on Tuesday morning Roberto
took me back to Guanambi to catch the bus south to São Paulo and then onto
Curitiba. The entire journey (1800 km) takes around 30 hours. It is a chance for
me to reflect on how important the journey has been. At times I find myself
almost as a prisoner in my own house with the responsibility of helping to form
another generation of Marist. Many of them can be very demanding as they
work through their personal difficulties to discover God‚s Will for them.
However a trip such as this reminds me for whom we are training these young
people ˆ the „anawim‰, God‚s poor. Even if at the end of the journey my
legs are stiff and my back is sore I return to the ministry of formation with a
renewed spirit, ready journey with the young people of Brasil in their discovery
of a Marist vocation.
Every blessing in this Easter
Season and may the Spirit renew in each one of us the missionary spirit of our
Baptism.
Yours in Mary,
Paddy O‚Neil, SM
(j
Rome
L’administration générale a
annoncé le 19 janvier 2002 la fermeture du district missionnaire d’Amérique
du Nord établi au Dakota du Sud en janvier 2001.
Une analyse amorcée par l’administration précédente a fait ressortir les difficultés liées au projet qui n’aura eu
qu’un an d’existence. Il semble
que les vrais besoins du secteur n’étaient pas spécifiquement ceux d’une
nouvelle évangélisation. Les
quatre maristes qui formaient l’équipe sont rentrés dans leurs provinces
respectives.
Le P. Justin Taylor
fait désormais partie de la communauté de la maison générale.
Tout en gardant quelques cours à l’École Biblique de Jérusalem, il
travaillera à la maison générale où il sera responsable des études maristes
et supervisera les confrères qui viendront faire de la recherche dans ce
domaine.
Afrique
(Cameroun)
Un pré-postulat a été ouvert
à Bambili dans le nord du Cameroun ; il
accueille actuellement 5 jeunes qui y font un apprentissage de la vie mariste.
Le secteur anglophone du district d’Afrique semble s’engager sur la
voie du recrutement et de l’expansion.
Un mariste espagnol, le père
Rafael Ramila, 55 ans, est entré au service du district d’Afrique en janvier.
Ce district devient de plus en plus international.
Europe
France
Les
rencontres inter-congrégations maristes créent de l’émulation dans le
domaine de la recherche historique et dans le partage des données dans ce champ
d’étude. Un atelier d’études
maristes s’est tenu en février à Saint-Genis-Laval, chez les Frères
maristes. Beaucoup de documents inédits
jusqu’à ce moment ont été présentés ;
ils piquent la curiosité des chercheurs.
Irlande
Les pères et les sœurs maristes
irlandais avec l’assentiment de l’archevêque d’Armagh ont décidé de
prendre en charge une paroisse en Irlande du Nord dans la perspective de la
nouvelle évangélisation. Trois pères
et trois sœurs y ont été nommés. On
croit que le charisme mariste peut apporter un élément de grand intérêt dans
la revitalisation de la foi chrétienne en ce pays qui a si horriblement
souffert de conflits religieux et qui a besoin de réconciliation et de miséricorde
pour que survivent les fragiles accords de paix.
Région du Pacifique
Nouvelle-Zélande
Le P. Denis O’Hagan a été élu
provincial en remplacement du P. Craig Larkin.
Ce dernier, on le sait, lors du dernier chapitre a été élu au conseil
général où il occupe le poste de vicaire général. Le P. Denis O’Hagan est âgé de 57 ans.
Dans la province, dans la
perspective de la nouvelle évangélisation, on mène un engagement pastoral
inter-provincial (Australie, Nouvelle-Zélande et Océanie) auprès des Moris
dans une région au sud d’Auckland. La
collaboration inter-provinciale dans des projets missionnaires implantés dans
chacune des trois provinces se pratique avec un bon taux de satisfaction.
Cela semble une voie d’avenir.
Province
d’Océanie
De 5 à 7 candidats se sont pointés pour les séminaires maristes de Suva et de Bomana. 5 novices ont fait profession le premier décembre. Une douzaine ont commencé leur noviciat à la mi-décembre. Le problème de la relève en Océanie en est un de persévérance. Les candidats viennent en nombre suffisant, mais il n’est pas simple de les retenir. N’empêche que la province s’indigénise à bon rythme.
(décembre 2000-mars 2001 )
curavit Paul-Émile Vachon, s.m.
ADMINISTRATION GÉNÉRALE
La préparation du prochain chapitre général se poursuit activement. Après que le comité général de
rédaction eut digéré les rapports en provenance de toutes les provinces et districts (1999) et
constitué une synthèse de cette masse de documents, un comité de procédure dégagea ce qui parut
un agenda probable du chapitre et le fit circuler dans la Société (2000). Enfin en janvier 2001, le
supérieur général nommait un comité pré capitulaire dont le mandat est de définir un ordre du jour
provisoire pour les journées d'ouverture du chapitre et de prévoir tout autre préparatif jugé nécessaire.
Pour le long terme afin de faciliter la communication de l'information et la circulation des idées,
l'administration générale projette de créer un site Internet pour l'ensemble de la Société de Marie.
Depuis octobre 2000, l'Intercom est expédié par Internet aux provinciaux à charge pour eux d'en
assurer la circulation dans leur province.
AFRIQUE
Alors que nos églises ici paraissent désespérément trop grandes, voici qu'à Saint-Paul de Grand Yoff
dans la banlieue de Dakar, les maristes jonglent avec le projet de bâtir une immense église qui
pourrait être le lieu des grands rassemblements pour le diocèse.
Il s'agirait d'un édifice pouvant accueillir 2000 personnes assises. Elle s'ouvrirait sur un parterre où
pourraient prendre place de 3000 à 5000 personnes. Cet édifice imposant comprendrait encore une
sorte de centre paroissial grand format, avec une salle de mille places pour les activités paroissiales.
S'ajoutent à cela les locaux pour une université populaire, un centre de formation technique,
bibliothèque, médiathèque, etc. Les autorités diocésaines voient d'un bon œil cet ambitieux projet et
seraient toutes prêtes à le seconder.
Pour ne pas être en reste avec le Sénégal, au Cameroun on est aussi en train de construire. C'est
l'église de Bambili, actuellement le chœur du district anglophone d'Afrique. Ce temple est davantage
dans le gabarit classique, mais il est un signe de vitalité. Quand le bâtiment va, tout va !
AMÉRIQUE DU NORD
Boston
Deux missionnaires ayant longuement servi à l'étranger sont rentrés dans la province qui les accueille à bras ouverts. Il s'agit de Roland Lajoie qui œuvrait en Afrique et de Rémi Coolong qui était au Pérou depuis neuf ans déjà.
La province se réjouit également de l'ordination sacerdotale du père Michael Flynn, 45 ans, ordonné prêtre par Mgr Pearce le 03 février.
Europe
À West Wickham, en banlieue de Londres, du 18 au 23 février, réunion des provinciaux pour planifier la création d'une future province d'Europe. Certaines provinces actuelles désireraient devenir des secteurs de la nouvelle entité. Certaines restent en retrait ( l'Allemagne et l'Irlande ) ; d'autres ont déjà opté pour la délégation définitive (Espagne). Reste quand même un noyau important pour constituer la future province européenne : la France, l'Angleterre et les Pays-Bas.
L'objectif que l'on se propose dans l'immédiat, c'est de favoriser la connaissance les uns des autres, de permettre l'échange de points de vue sur l'expérience concrète du charisme mariste et de faire naître le désir de projets communs.
ANGLETERRE
La province est devenue, serait-ce sur une base provisoire, la délégation de Grande-Bretagne. C'est le père Alan Williams qui a été nommé délégué par le supérieur général après consultation auprès des membres de la délégation. Le P. Williams est âgé de 50 ans.
RUSSIE
Le père Michael Ryan, un mariste anglais, est curé de la paroisse Notre-Dame de l'Espérance à Moscou. Fondée en 1934, la paroisse dessert essentiellement la population étrangère présente dans la capitale. Si l'on excepte quelques catholiques russes autochtones, cette population est constituée de diplomates, de représentants d'affaires, d'étudiants et de touristes.
Des fidèles de plus de quarante pays fréquentent cette église qui n'a pas d'édifice en propre. Elle célèbre dans des locaux d'emprunt où on l'accueille obligeamment. De deux à trois cents personnes fréquentent la paroisse aux messes dominicales célébrées l'une en français et l'autre en anglais.
Pacifique Sud
OCÉANIE
Après avoir accueilli dans ses rangs huit nouveaux profès le 28 décembre, la province a accepté huit autres jeunes hommes pour leur formation initiale à la vie religieuse mariste. Nous avions déjà annoncé l'ordination de cinq jeunes maristes au cours des mois de décembre 2000 et de janvier 2001.
Îles Salomon
Mgr Adrian Smith, s.m., archevêque d'Honiara, résume l'année 2000 en ces termes : " Ce fut une bien triste année au cours de laquelle les tensions ethniques ont montré leur hideux visage de haine et de violence. Massacres, destructions et plaies profondes, voilà le sinistre bilan de l'intolérance et de la jalousie. " La paix est maintenant rétablie, mais elle n'est pas unanimement acceptée et reste fragile.
NOS DÉFUNTS
11-30 Struminsky, Robert, Boston : 57 ans
12-01 de Nantes, Jacques, France : 77ans
12-04 Garcia, Miguel, Espagne : 74 ans
12-1- 2001 Ricossa, Piergiorgio, Brésil : 64 ans
01-09 Licher, Franz-Josef, Allemagne : 67 ans
01-15 Roy, Jude, Boston : 86 ans
01-16 Brogley, Charles, Atlanta : 83 ans
02-07 Staunton, John, Irlande: 85 ans
02-18 Moynihan, Arthur, Australie : 77 ans
03-01 Bücker, Albert, Allemagne : 87 ans
Autres nouvelles internationales
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