ORIENTATIONS OF THE PROVINCIAL CHAPTER 2011

            ORIENTATIONS OF THE PROVINCIAL CHAPTER 2011

A. FUNDAMENTALS

MAN OF FAITH

1.      Rehabilitation and construction of oratories or chapels in communities where they do not exist.  It is important to frequent them according to a well established schedule, posted in each room, to keep them clean (care and beauty) and to equip them. Bells should reappear in our communities to in order to remind the beginning of community activities 10 minutes before their beginning.

2.      Local Superiors should strongly interpellate all latecomers and recidivist religious

3.      Necessity to promote and deepen chaplaincy services for schools, prisons, hospitals, catholic movements, without forgetting pilgrimages. Our chaplains and couriers (guides of pilgrimages) constitute a work and animation team which regularly meets.

4.      Evangelization and formation through Radio Moto de Butembo and Radio Moto d’Oicha must be taken into consideration.

5.      Oremus (A leaf for Sunday homilies), a page for evangelization and faith promotion, should be rehabilitated in collaboration with Radio Moto for 100 copies for the time being. Frs. Jean Baptiste Kataheruka, Linalyogha Oswald, and Kambere Vincent should collaborate with Fr. Mayani Adelard, its editor. Oremus team will consult, in view of ecumenism, pastors from other confessions for commentaries of Sunday biblical texts. Oremus will search for its partners. Its publication resumes at the beginning of the New Liturgical Year.

6.      The obligation to pray in our communities for our benefactors, those who are still alive, and those who are dead.

MAN OF COMMUNION

1.      Call to rediscover the meaning of religious obedience and the meaning of authority.

2.      The leaders of the province, especially the Provincial Superior and the Provincial Secretary master French and English. The official texts of the province will be published in the two languages.

3.      Formation communities organize language workshops and/or laboratories (cassettes, dictionaries, DVD, etc) for self-formation

4.      All the communities of the province should have in the two languages of the province the texts of the Divine Office, prayer of the congregation, , and the Order of the Mass. The chapter calls for personal and community efforts for Language Days according to the two languages of the congregation.

IN SOLIDARITY WITH THE POOR AND THE LITTLE ONES

1.      Necessity to form religious in management in the domain of common weal, of elaboration, management, and evaluation of projects.

2.      The appointment of bursars should take into consideration the obligations of that responsibility: a term of at least 3 years in order to allow one to plan and project the local community or province economic life, and a sense of initiative in order to help the members to be more sensitive to economic stakes.

3.      Take into consideration benefactors and national funds in search for help for local development projects.

4.      To reinforce the Justice and Peace Commission for the defense of the poor. An office will be open at the Provincial Bursary but always in collaboration with diocesan Commissions.

5.      The sensibilization of our confreres on the topic of cleanness in the domain of ecology. The community will be rigorous about it. Each year a certain amount will be kept, from the community funds, at the Provincial Bursary in view of life framework preservation.

6.       The question of help to the families of religious is left to each community’s discernment in link with the provincial authority.

B. COMMUNITY ORGANIZATION

1.      To continue deeply with the collaboration with Madagascar towards an intense communion: in new foundations (West Africa, Goma – Rwanda, Kampala), in different formation places (Nairobi, Sokodé, Kinshasa, Butembo, Antananarivo, Fianaratsoa, Toliara), by intensifying workshops in common (formation policy, self-reliance, on going formation, etc).

2.      Creation of the Western D. R. Congo Region:

a.       Creation of the Western D. R. Congo Region on the East African Region model

b.      Elaboration of the Erection Statutes of that Region by September 20, 2011 in view of their study by the Plenary Provincial Council in October 2011, their probation by the General Plenary Council in December 2011. Fr. David Milonde, in collaboration with two other religious, will do it.

c.       This Region will be opened on September 1, 2012.

3.      Creation of the Eastern D. R. Congo Region

a.       Elaboration of the Erection Statutes of this Region not later than September 20, 2011 in view of their study by the Plenary Provincial Council in October 2011, their probation by the General Plenary Council in December 2011. Fr. Thierry Kahongya, in collaboration with two other religious, will do it. 

b.      This Region will be opened on September 1, 2012.

c.       The Regional House will function at Beni, at the Communauté du Centenaire, the Provincialate being maintained at Butembo, Maison Quenard.

4.      Collaboration with West Africa: The province will continue to participate actively in formation by sending formators. The exchange of students could start within two or three years. The possibility of commitment to the pastoral of  faith  proclamation is open

C. OUR APOSTOLIC CHOICES

           

            MOBILIZING WORK

            The province of Africa will collaborate in ISEAB and in all the other mobilizing works targeted by the Congregation, within the limits of its means, especially in human resources.

YOUNG AND VOCATIONS

-          All Responsibles for vocation awareness and recruitment in our parishes should be committed Assumptionists, parish priests in order of preference. Chaplains should also work on it.

-          Young people who desire to join our Congregation should be in contact with the Region which is nearer to their place of origin.

-          The Education Commission will deepen the question of twinning between our schools and those in the Western world.

-          All our educative institutions are places where we can welcome volunteers. The very first thing to do is to make our African Province known in the whole scope of the Congregation insertion.

-          To invite volunteers to visit the province in order to experience African realities  during vacations (Computer sciences, ADL, PALMBA, Kambali High School, Radio Moto, languages, etc) by exploiting the web site of the province. Fr. Adelard, in collaboration with Brs. Musangania, W. Kibanda, François Nzanzu, and Wilson Waweru…) will lounge the advertisement of our works of the web site to be created as soon as possible.

ON GOING FORMATION

-          Given the fact that it is a real need, the Provincial with the consent of his Council will establish, without waiting, a commission for on going formation. Suggested names: Frs. Kombi, Kalekene, Katabu, Zacharie, Kighoma, Sitone, Br. Charles Muvunga...

-          To encourage the experience of organized and oriented sabbatical years.

ALLIANCE LAY – RELIGIOUS

-          Whenever possible, we will organize the formation of religious and lay together, in view of mutual enrichment, respecting our respective vocations.

-          We will collaborate with the Lay, according to their expertise and competence, in formation in our schools, in the animation of workshops, recollections, retreats, workshops, language teaching, etc.

POSTULATION

-          To study the possibility of holding workshops like those held during the Bicentenary Year.

-          To foresee times to pray in union with our Bulgarians Martyrs, Very Reverend Frs. Picard and Pernet.

-          To have radio programmes, Echo of the Assumption, broadcasted by our two radios and an Alzonian thought in the Oremus.

-          Faithfulness to the prayer for the beatification of our Founder, Fr. Emmanuel d’Alzon

OUR GOODS – RESOURCES – MANAGEMENT

-          In parishes: application of the pastoral guidelines of the directory for Assumptionist parishes

-          To appoint Assumptionists to head our self-reliance projects

-          A monthly Balance sheet to each religious from September 1.

-          A lot of animation to be done and transparency in finances

-          Regular meetings of superiors, bursars, parish priests to be held at the level of each Region, three times a year.

-          Rational and rentable exploitation of our properties

-          The province will collect all the surplus of our self-reliance works at the end of the fiscal year.