Meeting in Bratislava (19-23.09.2010) – Secretariat for Brothers in CRE

Meeting in Bratislava (19-23.09.2010)

Secretariat for Brothers

On the 19th to the 23rd of September 2010, the traditional conference of Redemptorist brothers from Northern Europe was held in Bratislava, the capital city of Slovakia. The topic was “Renewed hope, renewed hearts, renewed structures for mission”. About 41 brothers from all over the former region of Northern Europe attended this conference.
The mornings were given over to work. However, the main topics, which reflected the contemporary situation of our Congregation and the decisions of the last General Chapter, were presented later in the day by the Vicar General, P. Enrique López, and by the Munich Provincial, Edmund Hipp, on the topic of “Seven guiding principles”.
For the two Vice Provinces of Slovakia, P. Martin Macko presented the report for the Roman-Catholic Rite and P. Atanáz Mandzák for the Michalskú Rite (Greek-Catholic). The first report analyzed the history of the Vice-Province of Bratislava and the second report dealt with the history of the Redemptorists in Slovakia at the time of communism and of Blessed Methodius Dominic Trčka, C.Ss.R. There were also sessions for sharing in the different language groups: English, German and Slovak.
Although we stayed in hotels, we were able to visit some of our houses, in particular the Provincial house in Bratislava, where there are dormitories for students, and the monastery in Kostolná-Záriečie near Trenčín, approximately 120 km north of Bratislava. In our church in Bratislava, SS Cyril and Methodius, the Vicar Provincial of Bratislava, P. Václav Hypius, welcomed the participants on behalf of the Vice- Provincial. He also celebrated Mass. Near Trencin, P. Enrique López and the delegates celebrated Mass in the monastery chapel, consecrated to the Mother of Perpetual Help. This day in particular was very joy filled. After sightseeing in the city of Trenčín and the celebration of Mass, a very good buffet and grill took place in the big monastery garden.
There are almost 180 castles in Slovakia, and on the penultimate day of the conference, the brothers visited one of these, Devín castle, beside the Danube on the Austrian-Slovak border. In the evening, Mass was celebrated in the Eastern rite at a pilgrimage place called Marianka, near Bratislava
On another evening there was an opportunity to see the film about our Redemptorist brother from Vietnam, Marcel Van.
Fr. Peter Slobodník deserves a special word of gratitude for organizing all this. We are also very grateful for the great support and motivation we received from Br. Michael Duxbury and Fr. Edmund Hipp, Provincial of Munich Province. It was they who came up with the idea of holding this last meeting of the Northern European brothers here in Bratislava.
Fr. Rastislav Dluhý, C.Ss.R.