On April 12, the American Conference of Provincials (CAP) was held with the topic Leadership in times of uncertainty. This time, it was attended by the General Superior, Br. Ernesto Sánchez, the General Vicar, Br. Luis Carlos Gutierrez, four General Councelors, Bro. Oscar Martin Vicario, Sylvain Ramandimbiarisoa, Ken McDonald, the Executive Secretaries of the South America and Arco Norte Regions, Bros. Alberto Aparicio and Rodrigo Espinosa Larracoechea, respectively, and the outgoing and incoming Provincials of the 10 Marist Provinces of the American continent.

“I welcome the initiative to be meet here together and, above all, with the topic of leadership in times of uncertainty, ” said Br. Ernesto to open the meeting where current Provincials of the two regions, América Sur and Arco Norte talked about their experiences in the context of the pandemic. “Today we are called to be testimonies of hope for better days. As Pope Francis said in his pascal homily: return to Galilee, there we will meet again and we will start over. That invitation is also for us, a request for us to resume our plans to start over”, he recalled.

Br. Inacio Etges, coordinator of the Permanent Council of the CAP and the América Sur Region, talked about the importance of the support of an open and fraternal dialogue among the provinces: “As leaders today, we are prophets of hope ”.

The meeting had three moments. The first part was an expository approach to the current moment of leadership in these Marist spaces. After the opening, the Executive Secretary of the América Sur Region, Br. Alberto Aparicio, followed the conference, presenting the current status of the networks led by the two Regions: Red Corazón Solidario (Solidarity Heart Network) and Red de Espiritualidad (Spirituality Network).

Leadership in times of uncertainty
In the second stage of the meeting, the Vicar General, Br. Luis Carlos Gutiérrez, gave a reflection on the responsibilities and challenges that the current Provincials must have as a horizon in their daily activities in each Marist space. “The current situation calls for leadership in key of hope, confident, bold and fraternal, together and not isolated, to assume the future with confidence and firm small steps ” he said. “Let’s be a leadership who listens, understands and proposes what is needed in times of uncertainty, ” he concluded.

Division into groups for reflections
The third and last stage of the meeting consisted of dividing groups by language for a brief dialogue on the reflections presented. The provincial animators shared among themselves the main fears and how to face them for the future, where the reality coincided that the American continent has many similarities and riches that can be used together to follow the path of the Marist mission. The next conference will be held on September 8.

We thank Júlia Córdova, América Sur Region, for the information for the preparation of this note.

+ J.M.J.CH. February 22, 2021

Inspired and encouraged by Pope Francis’ Lenten message, on February 22, the Arco Norte Regional Council met by video-conference to continue walking with hope, in “a new present, a better future”, in construction of the North Marist Arch.

In this meeting the “family is enlarged” with the participation of numerous participants. The provincial brothers of the Region: HH. Gérard Bachand (Canadá), Patrick McNamara (Estados Unidos), José Sánchez (México Central), César Augusto Rojas (Norandina), Miguel Ángel Santos (México Occidental), Tomás Briongos (Compostela – Honduras) e Hipólito Pérez (América Central).

We had the joy of the participation of the four new provincial brothers, recently appointed in the region: HH. Orlando Escobar (Norandina), Luis Enrique Rodríguez (México Occidental), Luis Felipe González (México Central) y Dan O’Riordan (Estados Unidos). It was a good opportunity to give them the most fraternal and cordial welcome, while favoring a serene transition process in regional leadership.

João Carlos do Prado and Ken McDonald accompanied us as usual, the brother General Councilors liaison of the region.

Brother Rodrigo Espinosa, in his mission as Executive Secretary, convened, raised the agenda and carried out the session with success, fruitfulness and responsibility.

The most important aspects developed were:

• A moment to share the provincial journey with the following guidelines: How do I feel today? … Some sign of hope and some special situation in my Province.
• Approval of documents: CAP regulations, updated SWOT, Plan of the Hermanos Hoy Team, and Organizations and functions of the Region.
• Presentation, reflection and approval of the new regional logo, with the participation of Jessica Urquiza as coordinator of the Communications Team. We congratulate and thank all the members of this team for their dedication and creativity in this initiative.
• Follow-up and information on the processes in which the region is involved: Province of Canada, La Valla 200 Montagne community (Holguín-Cuba), La Valla Interprovincial Novitiate (Medellín, Colombia) and Marist Life and Mission in Honduras.
• Information from the International Mission Commission.
• Organization of the CAP 2021 meeting.

“That, in this season of Lent, we live with hope, being artisans and witnesses of the new time, for Marist life and mission in the Region, in which God makes all things new”

(cf. Mensaje de Cuaresma 2021, Papa Francisco)

Fraternally,
Hipólito Pérez, fms
Arco Norte Coordinator
Provincial of Central America

Dear Marists of Champagnat!
Greetings from NYC!

I am writing to you once again to share with you information about young people in initial formation from all over the region. With pleasure I present to you some scholastics from the province of Norandina.

As Marists of Champagnat, we thank God and celebrate that there are young people responding to his call to be brothers.

¡Espero que disfrutes leyendo los perfiles! También les pido que recen por ellos mientras que continúan discerniendo su llamada a ser Hermanos Maristas.¡Que Jesús, María, Nuestra Buena Madre, y Marcelino, sigan iluminando y bendiciendo nuestro camino como familia Marista!

Click here to meet the scholastics.

Fraternally,

Hno. Albert Rivera, fms

Arco Norte Regional Team