From 7-11 October, the annual Assembly of Superiors of the Italian Province was held in the St. Paul House at the Generalate, Rome. The gathering revolved around two main conferences, the first on the theme The Daughters of St. Paul: between the bond of fraternity and the exercise of synodality, by Fr. Salvatore Farì, a Vincentian and an expert in consecrated life, who among other things made us once again appreciate the richness of our Constitutions by highlighting some of its articles in reference to the three specifications of the title of the Synod: communion, participation, mission. The second was the talk of Sr Anna Caiazza on the theme Embracing Vulnerability: Guidelines for the Service of Authority, who cited Pope Francis’ address to the worldwide gathering of Women Superiors General during their Congress last May. “Religious life, too, recognizes its vulnerability today,” the Pope said, “although at times it accepts it with difficulty. We were used to being significant in numbers and in our works; of being relevant and well regarded by society. The crisis we are going through has made us feel our frailties, and invites us to assume a minor position….”
What changes is the Spirit urging us to make in this period of history? According to Sr. Anna, it does not concern programming as much as it does transformation, understood as a process of continual conversion, openness to the presence and action of the Spirit….” In her conference, she encouraged the participants to take a careful look at the situation of the Italian Province in view of planning the social year that has just begun. The Assembly was marked by days of fraternity and discussion, aimed at relaunching the provincial government’s service of guiding and animating its communities, taking to heart the words of Fr. Alberione: “To govern is to exercise love in a very extended way.”
