Rome, December 8, 2004



Prot. N. 396/2004





Dear brothers,


Cordial greetings and best wishes for a wonderful preparation for the celebration for the birth of our Lord.


As General Council we have just completed a series of meetings, occuring both before and after the meeting of the Major Superiors. Before leaving Rome for a new round of visits to the Congregation, we wish to convey news of some of the matters we looked at and of some decisions we made, either taken directly as Council or resulting from indications we received from the Superiors’ meeting.



1. Makeup of the Council and Redistribution of Functions


For the remainder of the term it was decided to continue to serve the congregation as General Administration with a council made up of four men by re-structuring the oversight of provinces, regions, and sectors that had been assigned to Fr. Peter Mckenna. Fr. Madya Srijanto will maintain contact with the BH province and Fr. Claudio Dalla Zuanna will maintain contact with the US province and CAN region.


The activities’ sectors will be restructured as follows:


Spirituality: Frs. A. Madya Srijanto and C. Weber

Formation and Vocations: Frs. C. Weber and A. Madya Srijanto

Justice & Peace / Social Concerns: Frs. Z. Bogacz and C. Weber

Culture / Communications: Frs. C. Dalla Zuanna and A. Mielgo Domínguez

Mission and Missions: Frs. C. Dalla Zuanna and Z. Bogacz

Dehonian Family: Frs. A. Madya Srijanto and C. Weber

Structures and Administration: Frs. Z. Bogacz and M. Stoklosa

Finances: Fr. A. Mielgo Domínguez (assisted by the GFC)



2. Visits by the Superior General and Council


Presently, Fr. General, along with Fr. Bogacz, is visiting the IM province. From January through March, in company with Fr. Claudio Weber, he will visit VEN, Equador, CH, BS, and make a quick pass through Argentina and Uruguay.

Other councilors will make trips to various entities for which they have oversight in the next few months. The general treasurer will participate at the provincial assembly in the Congo in January and at the beginning of March will meet the treasurers of Africa in South Africa along with the General Finance Commission (GFC).



3. Presence at Rome


All the members of the general administration will return to Rome around March 11 for council sessions and preparations for the beatification and stay until the end of May.



4. Theological Commission


The theological commission is meeting currently in Rome. It has the task of advancing reflection on the theological-spiritual values of the Dehonian charism and finding language more readily understood by people today. Additionally, it shall provide planning for formation programs for training our young religious as well as for ongoing formation and become the mechanism for deepening our spirituality through the organization of seminars or conventions.



5. Courses for Formation Directors


The course for SCJ formation directors will take place in Rome, in Italian, from October, 2005 on. In part it shall be organized by the International College and in part by various Institutes like the Claretianum and the Pontifical Salesian University. In addition to formational contents, a great emphasis shall be placed on the experience of SCJ community lived with the brethren at Rome.

Those who need to learn Italian should arrive in Rome in time. We are looking at the possibility of organizing a course in Italian in August and September at an SCJ community in Italy.

To those entities which have not yet given us names of their candidates for this course, please let us know by January 15.



6. Formation for Men in Parishes


During the meeting of the Major Superiors, it was noted that the six year plan paid no attention to the men who work in a parish setting. We have thought about putting together a project that gives attention and formation to this sector, beginning with supporting the initiatives that already exist at province and geo-cultural levels.



7. Missions: General Conference


The next General Conference – its theme: Mission and Missions – will be held in Poland in May, 2006. Over the next few days, the preparatory commission will meet and work out the means for involving every community and entity in the congregation to prepare for it. This commission consists of the following people: Fr. Paul Sugino (IN), Fr. Eduardo Aguero (PHI), Fr. Leopold Mfouakouet (CM), Fr. Jerzy Sedzik (CM) who will all be coordinated by Fr. Claudio Dalla Zuanna (CU).

The General Conference convocation letter shall be sent out the next time the entire general administration gets together in Rome.



8. Vietnam Project


Contacts and information coming to us up to this moment lead us to conclude that we ought to begin an SCJ mission in Vietnam as soon as possible. Immediately after the meeting of the major superiors, there was a meeting of entities already somewhat involved whose goal was to set up a format for coordinating the project. It is clear that an SCJ community must be established in this country, that coordination of the entire project should be committed to the Asian geographical area, that we should continue to receive candidates in the Philippines for the sake of SCJ formation and, therefore, we should strengthen the formational structures of the PHI district. Over the next few months we shall explore contacts aimed at achieving this new presence in Asia.



9. Web Page


A new web page has begun. There are email boxes available with the domain name: <dehon.it> for any entity that requests one.



10. Founder’s Beatification


While we are awaiting a firm date for the Leo Dehon’s beatification, we continue to prepare related services, among which we highlight studies regularly published on the Web page. We should not lose the opportunity for spiritual renewal and a biblical and theologically-based development of our spirituality which is linked to this particular moment in the life of the church.



11. The Financial Area


  1. It was decided to begin application in January, 2006 through 2008 of a three-year financial plan sought by the last chapter. Each entity must send in a copy of its three year plan by December 31, 2005.


  1. To assist the preparation of this three-year plan, the GFC will hold meetings for the various treasurers of entities in the different geographical areas throughout 2005: in March in South Africa, April in Brazil (Curitiba), October in Indonesia (Jakarta). The precise dates will be communicated to those involved as soon as possible.


  1. To face up to the many demands of the congregation and to the new requirements of our mission, particularly in countries enduring grave financial problems, we need to make progress toward financial self-reliance, in objective and transparent administration, in financial and administrative decisions made together and in the solidarity of “one for all and all for one”.

It is not an easy task to come up with concrete ways to contribute in justice and in solidarity as previous chapters hoped for. At the meeting of major superiors, the general administration ventured to present a proposal of a contribution of 1% of what was fiscally left over from the previous year. The majority of those present considered this method more than adequate to the needs of the various entities and the mission and formation plans of the congregation. Faced with the need to put something in place along these lines and trusting in the sense of co-responsibility that all have, the general administration is suggesting that all the entities orient their contributions for 2006-2008 by applying the 1% criterion of money available from the previous year (2005-2006-2007). For 2004-2005, we can continue as we have done until now.


  1. Let us remember the projects that need presentation to the General Aid Fund (GAF), in light of requests submitted to this Fund, should be in the hands of the general treasurer by 31 December. The same applies for the Study Grants.


  1. During the month of July, 2005, a training course for treasurers will be held in Spain. It is aimed at provincial, regional, and district treasurers – and, if there is room – local treasurers. Those who wish to attend should be presented by their major superior by January 15. Another training course in English is foreseen for 2006 at a time and place yet to be determined.


  1. Michelangelo Project: this is the name given to a plan to lease a part of unused property belonging to the Curia for an cultural activity that revolves around the great artist, Michelangelo. Whether this is feasible is still being studied. The major superiors in Rome gave a positive vote, provided that the contacts with the company show promise.


  1. The monthly rent for SCJ students at our college in Rome has been increased. From January on, it shall be 500.00 € and will be adjusted for inflation each year.


As we conclude this year, we are grateful to God for all the good things that each of you is doing in service to the Kingdom of the Heart of Christ; we express our best wishes for a Happy Christmas and a blessed New Year.


In the Heart of Christ,


Fr. José Ornelas Carvalho, scj

Superior General

and his council



PS -

As an attachment to this communiqué, we are sending along the complete dossier of the Major Superiors’ meeting, in an Editio tipica, for the benefit of those who participated.