5rd International
Coordination
of the LAY
MSC of the Chevalier Family
Present: Sister Barbara, Rita CLEUREN, Marie-Blanche CORDONIER, Angeles
FONDEVILLA, Gerda HEGEL, Sister Suzanne, Louis JOLY, Sue KIMBERLEY, Mimi van
POPPEL, Alicia (translations).
Word of welcome by Rita
1- REPORT OF THE MEETING OF
NOVEMBER 17-18, 2001
LOGO: report of the “Media” meeting of February 25, 2002.
Basic elements are: the Cross, the Heart, the World. The artist will propose
two logos that contain the elements mentioned. The logos will be introduced at
the meeting of the Three Generalats in June 2002. No adjustments so far.
2- EXCHANGING INFORMATION WITH THE
WORLD.
Sue talked about the Lay MSC during their meeting in October. People
were very interested. She also talked about them to Laymen with a strong
commitment in local parishes. This group was asked to get in touch with the Lay
MSC, but, since they are so committed in their parishes, they asked some time
to think about it. In the month of May, Sue will travel to Ireland to represent
the Lay MSC on the MSC Provincials Chapter. Father Nick HARNAN is counselor to
the Lay MSC.
Since 2001, a group of 12 women come together under the guidance of
Sister Stéphanie ORLOWSKI. They meet in a town about 100km from Münster. It is
their wish to:
have
spiritual experiences without their husbands/families
get in close
contact with a religious Family.
They have met four times. The first two meetings, they got acquainted;
the next meeting they met Rita and Mimi and the last time they met, they went
to the “House of the Sisters/Provincialats” to pray together. Two sisters shed
a light on the history of the Congregation and offered the women a guided tour
of their “house” and their hospital. The Sisters told them about their
vocation, their religious lives...The women for their part told the sisters
about their day-to-day worries…
A fifth gathering is planned in the month of May. On the agenda: the
“discovery of the Spirituality of the Heart” as it was taught by Jules
Chevalier.
In the Year 2000, a group of 40 former MSC Sisters came together. The
two gatherings were a great success, they were all eager to continue the
meetings.
The Jean-Marie Vandel Group: has stopped its activities in December
2001. One member has joined the MSC Fraternity (another member is still
thinking about joining the Fraternity).
MSC Fraternity: decided to continue its activities (during its
meeting in December 2001). Some members will be intrusted with the writing of
the monthly newsletter. The number of members is diminishing. Hard to find new
members.
Alain de Boismenu Community: Difficult situation due to the closure
of the Miribel House in July 2002.
- There was no meeting of the Lay MSC Counsil in February. The closure
of the Miribel House leads us to the following question: “What will become of the Lay realities strongly linked to the Miribel
House and what will become of the Lay Movement in the Province?” It has
been 6 years now that the Lay Counsil has been trying to create a communion
between the different groups. This resulted in “The Charter of the Sacred Heart Lay Missionary”.
- During the preparatory General Assembly of the MSC Religious of the
France/Swiss Province in Miribel last February, the MSC Religious decided:
To close
down the Alain de Boismenu Center at the end of the month of July 2002
That the
members of the Alain de Boismenu Communauty should experience their MSC
spirituality together with the MSC Fraternity of which the statutes have been
acknowledged by Rome.
The problem now is that decisions, which are of great concern to the Lay
MSC, are taken by the Province Counsil of the MSC Religious. The Lay MSC
Counsil has no say in these decisions! The Lay MSC vocation and the reality of
the Lay MSC Branche - as it was introduced by Father Jules Chevalier - are
called into question.
Remember:
that the MSC
France/Swiss Province requested the Alain de Boismenu Center to organise the
Issoudun meetings of ’97. The second meeting in ’99 was organised at the
request of the Generalats of the Chevalier Family.
The “Lay MSC
Charter” is the soul text drawn up by the Lay MSC. This document is a primary
text capable of improvement.
THE NETHERLANDS
Tilburg: no changes. Is preparing the celebration of the 150th
anniversary of the MSC Congregation. Two Lay MSC have joined the FNDSC.
Arnhem: New group: closer contacts. Motivated people; futur looks
bright.
Sittard: no close contact between the members of the same group. One
sister, a former member of the Lay MSC Counsil, has moved. It is her wish to
keep in touch and to start up a new group in her new home. It is hard to find
new members.
Wishes to organise an activity in order to give more publicity to the
Lay MSC.
Ponte Vedra:
Angeles is responsible for the two groups. One group is expanding, the
other one is stable. They are about to start up a NGO that will depend upon the
Missionaries.
Angeles went to Central America to visit Nicaragua, Salvador and
Honduras. She was struck by the plight in which the population is living. MSC
people offer education, offer medical aid and food. These projects are all
financed by the MSC Fraternity.
Angeles has met Lay MSC in Salvador. In Nicaragua, a new group is to
start its activities.
Madrid: number of members is growing; meet on a regular
basis
Valencia: new group is about to start its activities.
The Lay MSC are in general responsible for their own activities, however
with strong support from the MSC Fathers: one father in each group and two
fathers in the Lay Council.
Two Lay MSC participated – as mere observors – in the MSC Provincial
Chapter: the Lay MSC are equally responsible for creating a so-called “ground
for vocation”. The Lay MSC task: finding out a way to reach people that do not
belong to the institution “Church”. This theme will be discussed at the Lay
Chapter in July 2002.
The spiritual groups ask the following question: “Why don’t we organise
a joint activity?”
Information is passed on very well and there’s a good relationship with
the International Coordination.
Asks whether there exists a “model for expressing the engagement” for
Lay MSC living in a communauty.
Awaits the 2nd Formation year on the Internet. The first
formation year was a great success.
Regularly sends its Newsletter to Louis.
According to the MSC Provincial, Italy has no organised group.
Wishes to maintain the contacts established via the Internet: advocates
the idea of spreading an International Information Letter through the
“E-group”. The USA would like to know the place and the date of the next
International Meeting.
Father Mark McDONALD reports on the Formation meeting in Venezuela. This
meeting was accessible to all members of the Chevalier Family.
3- FUTURE OF THE INTERNATIONAL
COORDINATION
The closure of the Alain de Boismenu Center has raised a few questions:
Meeting
place for the International Coordination
The Website
and its update
Finances
(account)
3.1 Meeting place:
Several propositions:
Louvain,
Münster: House of the MSC Sisters
Brussels
3.2 Website/Treatment and centralization
of the correspondence
A. Website: the website of the Alain de Boismenu
Center is maintained, it will get a double entrance. We will need to:
Update the
entrance page
Keep its
autonomy, with a close link, however, to the website of the Rome Generalat.
The subscription for the name of the website has been
renewed for one year.
B. Correspondence: Louis will remain responsible, for the
time being.
C. Finances: each country is asked to check the
conditions for opening an account.
D. Exchanges
with regard to the International Coordination:
In order to
encourage unity and in order to suggest basic Formation elements (in
concertation with Cor Novum), the Continental Coordinations and the
International Coordination were started up in Issoudun ’99.
International
Coordination: only European members were chosen in order to limit travelling
expenses and distances.
A more
appropriate therm would be: “Commission
of International Communication”
All
objectives of the International Coordination, which were put first at the ’99
Issoudun meeting, have been achieved by now.
New objectives: preparing the 2003 European meeting
passing on
the information via the Internet Website
In fact, it
would be advisable to have a meeting of the 3 Generalats and of the
Coordination of the Chevalier Family.
There’s no solution whatsoever to the closure of the Miribel House. It
is our conviction, however, that the International Coordination should continue
its activities, irrespective of the meeting place. We do regret the decisions
taken by the Provincial Counsil of the France/Swiss Province, because Miribel
was a symbolic place and a reference point for all Lay MSC from all over the
world. Miribel was accepted and acknowledged by all.
We ask Louis JOLY to remain responsible for the International
Coordination. He is asked to inform the Provincial MSC Counsil of the
France/Swiss Province of his decision during their meeting.
4- EUROPEAN MEETING OF 2003
Date: from August 6 to August 10, 2003 in Issoudun
Two crucial elements:
spiritual
reflection
composition
of a European “Communication Team” (before 2003, we will have to start up a
Continental coordination team for Europe. (Afterwards, and only when necessary,
we could consider the installation of a European Chapter for Lay MSC).
The meeting ought to be organised in consultation with competent people
(Help from Cor Novum).
Important to have a pleasant meeting place.
Chosen issue:
“To be the
Heart of God, in the World today”
“Etre sur
Terre, aujourd’hui, le Coeur de Dieu”
“Ser el Corazon de Dios, en el mundo, hoje”
It is essential to bear in mind that this meeting will be the start of a
European Continental structure. It would be wrong, however, to focus on this
theme. The meeting will also discuss other important issues.
Programme:
The
spiritual/education/witnesses (cfr. CR meeting of November 17 and 18, 2001)
European
Coordination
Report on
the Cuskelly Symposium
Reception/Entries
in consultation with Issoudun
PREPARATIONS
Each country
reflects on the first two items of the programme
Meeting with
Cor Novum: Rita, Sue and Mimi who will participate in the Cuskelly Symposium
will take up this task.
Each
European country should think about the following question: “What do we wish to
start up in Europe: a team, a coordination, a counsil?”
Each country
should be informed of the meeting date and place.
5- CUSKELLY SYMPOSIUM FROM SEPTEMBER 15 TO SEPTEMBER 27, 2002
THEMES:
The
Life of Cuskelly: what
has he said and done for the Chevalier Family?
Spirituality
of the Heart:
- origin
- how did it develop?
- how will it develop in the futur?
Feelings
of the Heart:
- Justice, Peace, Reconciliation, Mercy
- Witnesses: “How do we experience these
feelings in daily life?”
Our
Lady of the Sacred Heart
- part of our inheritance
and tradition
- how can we make Our Lady of the Sacred Heart better known in the world?
70
participants
presence of
the 3 Generalats and their Counsil
much more
than a simple meeting, a burning fire…
spoken
languages: English, Spanish, French
one speaker
who does not belong to the Chevalier Family, will throw a theological light on
Mary.
6- VARIOUS
Bookkeeping:
Regarding the
Coordination members that pay for their own travelling expenses and in order to
keep the account analyses as correct as possible, it was decided to take up the
“travelling expenses” in the bookkeeping, and to put these sums under “gifts”.
LOUVAIN (BRUSSELS)