Letter from Coordinator 10 2013

Dear Confreres,
Dear Lay Missionaries of the Most Holy Redeemer,
Dear Partners in Mission,
There were many European meetings in our Conference during this vacation time. This is the goal of this second stage of our work in our CRE. We are trying to be together in order to meet each other, to learn how to cooperate more effectively for our common mission at diverse levels and to adjust to the different cultures by recognising the variety and richness of so many Units in CRE. Based on this experience, we wish to create new common apostolic projects in future.
In this letter I would like to describe only the issues of formation. Most of them were connected to three events which took place in our Conference in the last weeks: “The First Meeting of Formators from CRE”; “The First Common Preparation for Perpetual Vows in CRE”; and recently started by Fr. General “Year for the Promotion of the Redemptorist Missionary Vocation”.
Year for the Promotion of the Redemptorist Missionary Vocation

On the feast of St. Alphonsus, Fr. Michael Brehl officially opened, the Year for the Promotion of the Redemptorist Missionary Vocation. In his letter Father General said that this is an opportunity for a deeper renewal of our identity as Witnesses and Missionaries of Redemption and for a greater love for our vocation, for a more courageous preaching of the Good News to the most abandoned people, especially the poor. This initiative opens the possibility for sharing our Redemptorist spirituality with everybody, especially with youth, focusing on the vocational aspect. Fr. General encouraged the whole Congregation, all Conferences and Units, to start this year as soon as possible. But he gave us a lot of flexibility in planning specific events, celebrations, prayers, catechesis, community retreats, and other creative ways to promote this year.
The General Secretariat for Formation sent to all our Units: the logo of this year, the slogan [Witnesses and Missionaries of Redemption: Jesus calls you by your name (cf. 1 Samuel 3) to announce a year of favour from the Lord (Luke 4:18)], prayer and triptych (the small altar). Each Unit will adapt these elements to their particular conditions in which it lives and proclaims the Gospel.
Our Conference received two triptychs during the 10th European Redemptorist Youth Congress in San Sperate (in Sardinia). Fr. General – preaching the catechesis for young people in the sanctuary of Our Lady of Bonaria in Cagliari – gave the first of these triptychs to the Redemptorists and the youth of the Region St. Gerard from Russia and Kazachstan.
He invited Redemptorists and young people to be creative in expressing the idea of this year in many different forms. 

The detailed schedule of the pilgrimage of these two triptychs in the Units of CRE, will be given during the Assembly of our Conference in Madrid (October 28-30, 2013). Until that time, the second triptych will be given to the Province of Rome, which hosted the Youth Congress in San Sperate.
I wish that this year give us all more possibilities to know, to live and to share our missionary vocation. As witnesses of abundant redemption – let us proclaim the Good News to all people to whom God is sending us.

The First Common Meeting of Redemptorist Formators from CRE
The meeting organised by the Secretariat of Formation of CRE, was held from 12th to 16th July in Krakow (Poland). Thirty-three Redemptorist formators participated in this meeting. They came from: Ukraine, Austria, Germany, France, Great Britain, Ireland, Spain, Portugal, Slovakia, Italy and Poland.
The meeting was focused on the current situation of formation in different local Churches and countries in Europe and on the challenges faced by the Redemptorists.
Until now formation meetings were held in the Regions of Europe, so it was the first common meeting of this kind. It was also an opportunity to meet each other and to learn about the structures of formation in the respective Units. Our formation systems are different. There are a different number of years of initial formation, different shapes of the various stages of formation, forms of pastoral preparation etc. We are getting intellectual formation from different universities across Europe.

During our discussions and workshops we tried to think and to describe a new vision of common formation work in Europe.
The participants consid- ered also the issue of support for formators and how to expand our mutual cooperation in the formation of the new generations of Redemptorists in Europe.
The participants re- flected on, how to prepare our formandees for future common evangelisation initiatives in Europe. The President of the General Secretariat for Formation, Fr Alberto Eseverri gave us information on the second volume of the “Handbook for Redemptorist Formators” and on the continuation of international courses for Redemptorist formators. It was decided that the common preparations for perpetual vows in CRE will be continued in next few years, and that the meeting of Redemptorist formandees from all over Europe will be held in our Alphonsian places in Italy in 2014. The discussions and workshop were enriched by common prayers, which were prepared in different languages and in two liturgical rites: the Roman and Greek-Catholic.

The First Common Preparation for Perpetual Vows in CRE
The common stage of the preparation of the formandees from CRE for perpetual vows was finished in Tuchów on August 5th. Our students from the Province of Lviv, Warsaw, Rome and Naples participated in it. Redemptorists from the Warsaw Province, who celebrated their 10th anniversary of perpetual vows, also participated in this course.
The everyday conferences and meetings with special presenters were also connected to the prayers in different languages and different liturgical rites.
Themes of the lectures and the workshops:
 “To be a Redemptorist in the XXI century.” (Fr. Janusz Sok – Warsaw Prov.)
 “New Evangelisation; Collaboration with Laity.” (Fr. Rastislav Dluhy-Bratislava Viceprov.)
 “Theology of the CSSR Constitutions.” (Fr. Ronald McAinsh – London Prov.)
 “The vocation ministry and the methods of vocational work.” (Fr. Witold Baran – Warsaw
Prov.)
 “The reality and the new initiatives of the Conference of Redemptorists of Europe; The
challenges of Religious Life today.” (Fr. Jacek Zdrzałek – Coordinator of CRE)
 “CSSR Parish Missions; Working with migrants; Redemptorists of the Eastern Rites.” (Fr.
Andriy Oliynyk – Lviv Prov.)
 “Missions in Bolivia and in other mission countries.” (Fr. Józef Bunar – Bolivia Prov.)
 “Moral Theology – St. Alphonsus and the Redemptorists; Characteristics of Redemptorist
spirituality.” (Fr. Alfonso Amarante – Naples Prov.)
 “Pastoral work with married couples (dialogues, crises).” (Fr. Andrzej Migacz SI).
The last days of the course were dedicated to the human dimension of the formation and its emotional aspects and to the theme: “how to be faithful to Religious chastity today”. These workshops were conducted by Mrs. Jadwiga Juros from Opole (Poland).

The participants said that this common time of preparation helped them in a better way to understand other cultures and rites in which we are live and work as Redemptorists. It was time not only to experience our cultural diversity in Europe but also to be more open and more familiar with the new common initiatives and work in CRE.
Every day of this course had its own Redemptorist patron. So it was also a good opportunity to remember not only the history of the lives of our saints, blessed and servants of God but also their spiritualties and specific features. The last part of the preparation for final vows was of course the eight-day spiritual retreats. These retreats took place in the respective Units of the participants because the ceremonies of Final Vows are in different times and places.

Our future formation meetings in CRE:
1) Meeting for Brothers from the CRE:9-13.09.2013(Vienna/Austria)
2) Meeting of the Secretariat for Formation of CRE:19-20.09.2013(Rome/Italy)
3) Common Preparation for Perpetual Vows in CRE:14.07-5.08.2014(Tuchów/Poland)
4) Pilgrimage of Formandees from CRE:17-24.08.2014(Alphonsian places in Italy)
5) Common Preparation for Perpetual Vows in CRE:14.07-5.08.2015(Tuchów/Poland)
6) Second Common Meeting of Redemptorist Formators from CRE: 2-6.09.2015
(Dublin/Ireland)
7) Common Preparation for Perpetual Vows in CRE: 14.07-5.08.2016 (Viceprovince of
Bratislava)

Memento for the participants of the Assembly of CRE
“The Sixth Assembly of CRE” will take place in Madrid (Spain) from 28th to 30th October 2013. We will start our work on 28th October (about midday) and we will finish on 30th October in the evening.
I wish you all a beautiful spiritual experience of The Year for the Promotion of the Redemptorist Missionary Vocation.
Fr. Jacek