XXIII General Chapter - July 6th

2007-07-06 6 July 07

We proceed from day to day, from stage to stage….

Today we are at the end of the first stage: the stage where we looked again at the reality of the congregation, our lived experience, and our evaluation of the goals given to us in 2001. In the Chapel of the Arrupe Centre we assembled to gather up the fruits of this stage, to express our feelings, our thanksgiving and our desires for the future of the congregation. It was an impressive celebration.

Already this morning we tried to define the themes on which we wish to work, the priorities for the next six years. This is so that we can respond better to the needs of the world …and offer the Tenderness of God to the women and men of the present time. For this stage of our work new groups were formed; we worked in language groups so as to facilitate the exchanges. The make-up of the groups change according to the stage we are at in the process.

In order to help each one to integrate this first stage an afternoon of free time was given which was welcomed with joy and gratitude. Some chose to go to the beach, to San Sebastian, to the Chapel of Our Lady of Olatz etc…
Mother Nature is part of our lives here. We are surrounded by magnificent mountains, fresh and green, a cloudless sky and radiant sunshine (for the past two days!) How did Ignatius ever leave such a beautiful countryside!!

Mr Chabert (our Canadian expert for economic/demographic affairs) left this morning with his wife for a tour of France. We wish them a happy holiday.