It's almost Christmas again

So Season's Greetings to everybody. I am in Malta at present, just coming to the end of two weeks of Visitation. Like other Capuchin provinces of Western Europe,
Malta is experiencing a downturn in vocations which, together with the ageing process, is causing them to review their ministerial commitments - which is always a painful process.
This morning I went to visit an open centre for refugees a few miles outside Valetta. It was set up by a Capuchin friar, the late Br. Crispin Tabone, who with sound Capuchin judgment saw the growing problem of refugees in Malta and decided to do something about it. He got an old trade school from the Government and it now houses 700 men, almost all of them from sub-Saharan ?Africa. We got a guided tour from the Manager, Ahmed, himself an Evangelical Pastor. As well as sleeping accommodation, it has three restaurants - Somalian, Sudanese, Eritrean - run by the men themselves, with shops, games centre, training centre (for IT and English classes) and a football pitch. Great work. At weekends, the number swells to about 1,500.
The year has been a busy one, with visitations, meetings with the conferences, definitory meetings, commission metings etc. To all I met during the year, and to all who read the Capuchin blogs: Happy Christmas and blessings for 2010. Nollaig shona dibh!

Sorry it's been so long

ROME
I wrote an update the other evening and lost in in trying to publish it! Needless to say, IT is not my forte!
The meeting of the Constitutions' Commission has just finished and a communique will appear shortly. It was during the previous meeting of the same commission that I wrote my last blog, so in a sense we have come full circle!
After holidays in August I went to Algeria to visit the French friars there. Because of circumstances their presence there is a very discreet one, but they have been given permission to act as chaplains to the Catholic students from sub-Saharan Africa who attend the university in Tiaret, the city where the fraternity is situated.

Visitation of the French province in October was an opportunity to revisit Strasbourg, where I had studied many years ago, and also to visit friaries I had never seen before. There are still over two hundred friars in the provinces, but more than one hundred are over eighty years old. But there is still plenty of energy, as witnessed by the new presence in Algeria (which began two years ago), and the preparations for a new multi-cultural fraternity in a poor area in the Paris region. Preparations are underway for the chapter in February 2009.

November saw the entire definitory headed for Dar es Salaam to meet the African conferences, and then on to Bangalore to meet the Indian conference. From there we headed to Penang in Malaysia to meet the Asia-Pacific conference. Each of the visit was very short but gave us an opportunity to have some insights into the the positive and negative sides of Capuchin living in these areas.
Coming from the ageing region of Europe, for me it was very invigorating to see so many young friars, especially in Africa and India. Also fascinating was to see first hand the variety of ways in which the Capuchin charism has been incarnated, while all the time retaining the simplicity and fraternal spirit which characterised our family. It was a great trip, tiring but satisfying, which hopefully has helped to create a new sense of unity and purpose in the wider Order.
Happy Christmas to one and all. Nollaig fe shean is fe mhaise dibh go leir, as we say in Gaelic!

Recent travels

BLOIS : The friars of the Province of France met for their Chapter of Mats at the sanctuary of Notre Dame de la Trinite in the Loire-valley town of Blois from the 9th to the 13th of June. The main item on the agenda was the preparation of the ordinary Provincial Chapter which is due to take place next February. The chapter closed with the celebration of the Perpetual Profession of Br. Jean-Louis. Photo above shows part of the group on a visit to the Benedictine abbey of Saint Benoit -sur-Loire, where the body of Saint Benedict is in the crypt.

BEIRUT was the setting for the closing session of the Chapter of the Vice-Province of the Near East from the 16th to the 18th of June. The main items for discussion were the re-organisation of the friars' presence in Beirut itself, in the rest of Lebanon and in Syria, as well as a proposed statute for the schools in the care of the friars. The cease-fire was just one month old, and fervent prayers were offered that it would hold. The city and the country were en fete for the beatification of the Capuchin friar Br. James of Ghazir which took place in the Square of the Martyrs the Sunday after the Chapter.

I went back to Rome for the week of the Definitory meeting which began on 23rd June. The previous meeting had finished before Palm Sunday so a long time had elapsed. The agenda was packed but we managed to get through all the important points. Then I headed for the Province of Eastern Canada which covers all of the French-speaking part of Canada.

LAC BOUCHETTE, about 250 km north of Quebec city, was the beautiful setting for the canonical chapter of the Province (30th June to 4th July). We had rain, it was not warm and the black stinging flies were buzzing. But none of this prevented the chapter from being a great fraternal exercise at which the friars tried to discern how to use their diminishing resources for the good of the Church in that part of the world. A great source of hope and encouragement for them is the presence of a number of friars from the Province of Saint Francis, Kerala in India (pictured above). The was a very significant moment at the chapter when one of the Indian friars (Br. Manual 2nd from right in photo) was elected one of the definitors.

I am now back in Rome once again where, this morning (14th July), we began the meeting of the Commission for the Constitutions. It looks as though we have three weeks hard work ahead of us in the heat of the Roman July. Orate pro nobis!

Update

I have been heartened recently by a number of negative remarks I received about this blog and about how dilatory I am in keeping it up to date. It showed me at least that three people are reading it!
Since the defintiory meeting in March, I have had a failed trip to Algeria (could not get a visa), followed by a meeting of CENOC in my home town of Dublin. It was a great occasion, hardworking but relaxed, with a nice trip around Dublin as well as a visit to the Capuchin Day Centre for Homeless People and to the Overseas Mission heritage centre in Church Street. A festive meal that evening, hosted by the Provincial Minister, Br. Terence, brought the meeting to a close.
March 30th saw me heading for Quebec, for the first time to the Capuchins in that part of the world. Evidence of winter was still around, low temperatures with the odd snow shower. It was a great trip, meant to help me to understand some of the issues which will surface at the Provincial Chapter in Late June. I look forward to going back to meet the friars again - and to higher temperatures!!

On 12 May I arrived back in Europe, to Salzburg in Austria, for the business chapter of the new province of Austria which was created just a year ago by joining the Provine of Vienna and the province of North Tyrol. Much progress has been made in the past year, with a great spirit of unity and fraternity among the friars who gathered in the Pallottinerhaus overlooking the beautiful city of Mozart. Work, weather, food , fraternity - all 10 out of 10.

From Austria I went to the chapter in Holland, which began on Monday 19th of May. Twenty friars gathered in a former Capuchin theologate in the south of the country to talk about Capuchin life in that part of Europe and to elect new ministers. Discussions were serious but serene, and a new provincial team was elected this morning headed by the provincial minister Br. Piet Hein van der Veer.

Next week I will go to Great Britain to conduct a pastoral visitation of the province. I look forward to meeting the friars there.

Life has been busy since Christmas.
Immediately after the Feast of the Epiphany, we had the first Definitory meeting of 2008 at the General Curia. It lasted for two weeks and was followed by another week's meeting, this time with the new Ministers of the Order. This latter meeting is an annual event, but does not take place the year of the General Chapter. Therefore, this time we had the Ministers elected during the last two years, which made a group too large to meet in the house of ongoing formation in Frascati. So we met instead at the International College. All were pleased with the meeting, which afforded the new ministers the opportunity to meet and to exchange on common problems, as well as the opportunity to become acquainted with the various services of the Curia and the friars involved.

The next three weeks I spent in the Arabian Gulf, an area of the world confided to the Capuchin Order. Over the past number of years, the number of immigrant workers in this area of the world has rocketed. Many of them are Catholics from India and the Philippines, anxious to continue to practice their faith in a society which is almost exclusively Muslim. The friars have established parishes in the various Emirates and countries of the Arabian Peninsula and work very hard to cater for the huge numbers which come to the Masses and other services offered. I was most impressed by the faith and devotion of the people and the commitment of the friars.

The last week in February was the annual opportunity for the fraternity of the General Curia to go on retreat to the friary in Frascati. In the hills overlooking Rome, the friary provides a wonderful locus for prayer and reflection: it is beautiful, it is quiet, it is peaceful. The animator this year was fr. Constantino from the province of Venice, who based all his inputs on the Book of Revelation. All returned to the Curia renewed and refreshed.

Sunday 2nd of March saw the entire definitory, together with some other firars, head for San Giovanni Rotondo for the exhumation and recognition of the remains of Padre Pio. The ceremony began at 10 pm on the Sunday night with the celebration of the Office of Readings, and included addresses form the Provincial Minister of Foggia and from the local Archbishop, as well as the reading of innumerable official documents. The remains of Padre Pio are being sent for special treatment for the purposes of conservation and will be presented for the veneration of the public from 25th April onwards.

At the moment we are in our second week of a Definitory meeting which began on the morning of 4th March, looking forward to finishing before Palm Sunday.

May the joy of the Risen Lord be with you all.

Holy Land

BETHLEHEM: On a visit to the friars in Jerusalem, we were privileged to spend an afternoon in Bethlehem and to celebrate Mass at the Grotto of Saint Jerome, just behind the Grotto of the Nativity. There were not many pilgrims there that day. Access to Bethlehem has been made more difficult in recent times by the wall built by Sharon, which separates Bethlehem from Jerusalem.
At Bethlehem we prayed for all parents and young people, and for vocations to the Capuchin way.
Shalom to all for Christmas. Pace e bene.

Visit to Sri Lanka

Mawila (Kinakele Estate) is where the friars have built the new novitiate for candidates from the Vice Province of Pakistan. It is situated about 60 kms. due north of Colombo, the capital of Sri Lanka. The opening ceremony and blessing was on 8th September, in brilliant sunshine, and attended by many local clergy and religious, as well as a large numbers of local residents.
My principal reason for being in Sri Lanka was to discuss a revision of the formation programme. It was a pleasant bonus to be there for the joyful and memorable ceremony. This year there are 4 novices from Pakistan. 2 from Karnataka (India) and 1 from Sri Lanka.