Roma online januari 2014 en

ROL 159 - JANUARY 2014

ROMA ONLINE Brothers of Charity First of all, I like to wish all of you a blessed 2014. May the with an architect in order to make a plan for the future Lord bless you in your person and in all your development of our property. Then we inaugurated the solar activities. plantation in Ndera, realized by Enforsa. From now on, our institute Caraes in Ndera can produce partly its own electricity, The second part of December 2013 I visited and we hope in the future to develop more that project.

Nairobi, Rwanda and Burundi. The plan to visit our brothers in the Central African In Burundi we visited our new project in Ngozi, where the Republic could not be realized because of the brothers with the support of a Spanish man are constructing war-situation. The day I had foreseen to enter a small psychiatric center. We visited also Gitega and the country, they closed the airport and there Bujumbura, where we opened in the former community were no flights anymore. I wish the brothers a building of Kamenge our new scholasticate “Saint Francis of Assisi”. Back in Rwanda, we had an open door in our center in Gikondo (Kigali) and we visited Ickysere center in Kigali.

u NEWS FROM THE SUPERIOR GENERAL

After a few days of rest in Kigufi near the Lake Kivu, we lot of courage in these difficult situation and I admire them for continued our visit to Gatagara, Rwamagana and we finished the way they stay together as a community. Let us continue to with a recollection day for all the brothers of Rwanda and pray for them and for the situation in the country.

Burundi. We were with 34 participants!

As last step, we inaugurated a kindergarten in Ndera, In Kenia I visited for the first time our new group, 42 especially for the young children of our co-workers. postulants. I met all of them personally. We also installed the new regional superior for the Blessed Isidore Bakanja region, It was on the evening of the 30th of December that we left Bro. Nepomuscene Gatali, who is succeeding Bro. Gerard Rwanda for a short stay in Belgium, and already on the 2nd Simpamagaye who is becoming the regional superior of the of January we arrived in Rome.

Saint Dominic region in Tanzania. And Bro. Venance Kapita was installed as new novicemaster of our noviciate in Nairobi. The first week was occupied by our general council meeting, Bro. Chrisantus Rwehikiza became the new superior of the and the second week with the follow-up of it. scholasticate.

And now we prepare ourselves for the visit to Congo, the first I had also the opportunity to visit our brothers in Loitokitok. for the new year 2014!

For the moment there are only 2 brothers: Bro. Deusdedit and Bro. Evarist, but the work they are doing towards the people Bro. René Stockman, Superior General with HIV and aids is very nice and also very appreciated.

After giving the recollection to the novices and the young brothers, we left for Rwanda. We started in Butare together

FRATELLI DELLA CARItà • Curia Generalizia • Via Giambattista Pagano 35 • 00167 Roma • Italia t. (+39) 06 66 04 901 • F. (+39) 06 66 31466 • www.brothersofcharity.org Responsable: Communication Service Brothers of Charity • lieven.claeys@fracarita.org

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THE SUPERIOR GENERAL’S VISIT SCHEDULE

22/1: Belgium 27/1: D.R. Congo: retreat and session 12/2: Belgium 13/2: Rome 15/2: Belgium 17/2: Sri Lanka: visit and retreat for novices (+ profession) 1/3: Kenya: retreat for postulants (+ oblation) 8/3: South Africa: visit 12/3: Zambia: visit 16/3: Belgium 19/3: Rome

NEWS FROM THE COMMUNITIES u AFRICA : SAINT AUGUSTINE PROVINCE u Our Lady of Africa Region D.R. CONGO

st. Francis xavier COMMUNity lusambo • On 3 December, we celebrated the feast of St Francis Xavier, patron saint of our community in Lusambo.

He was a Spanish Jesuit, one of the first followers of St Ignatius ; he died at the gates of China (1552).

He studied at the Paris University and shared a room with St Ignatius. They took religious vows together on 15 August 1535 and helped found the Company of Jesus.

When the Pope asked for missionaries to go to India, St Francis offered his service : he proclaimed the Gospel to pearl fishers for ten years till he left for Ceylon ; later he established Christian communities in Japan.

What can we learn from it ? His missionary spirit and dedication to the spread of the gospel. Remember what Pope Francis said : « The delightful and comforting joy of evangelizing, even when it is in tears that we must sow…

And may the world of our time, which is searching, sometimes with anguish, sometimes with hope, be enabled to receive the good news not from evangelizers who are dejected, discouraged, impatient or anxious,

but from ministers of the Gospel whose lives glow with fervour, who have first received the joy of Christ. » • This feast coincided with the commemoration of the death of Papa Luanyi Bernard, 40 days ago, and father of our confrere Henry in the community of Lusanga. Our whole community accompanied him on his funeral visit to Lusambo.

• Our monthly recollection was done by the Brothers, the teaching personnel of the « Groupe Scolaire » on 7 December. The theme was, “Advent as a time of expectation, of personal meeting”. Advent is the proper time to remind us of our vocation as pilgrims and friends of the Lord : vigilance is the slogan of this period. We concluded the day with a soccer match : Dinang Institute beat the Technical (ITP) 2-1.

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u Saint Francis Xavier Region RWANDA - BURUNDI We are glad to send you some news from our region.

From 15 to 30 December we had the pleasure of receiving Brother General among us and to celebrate Christmas together. During his canonical visit he visited all the communities, works, and made useful contacts for our apostolate in our region for new projects.

• Between 15 and 17 December, we exchanged Christmas and New Year wishes with the prefect, study directors, school directors, and the teachers of ITP. We expressed our wishes and dreams, appreciation and prayers for a prosperous 2014. Looking back on 2013 we see that there were ups and downs ; but we concentrated rather on the luminous than on the sombre events.

• On 18 December, we celebrated the birthday of our confrere, Eric Kasamba.

On 17 December we inaugurated the use of our solar energy so that part of the Ndera Neuropsychiatric Hospital and of other services of Humura Centre, and of Twizere Centre could be provided with electricity.

Op 18 December we travelled to Burundi, where we met the political authorities and other politicians of Ngozi and visited the new project that is being constructed.

The plot and money for building this centre has been donated by a Spanish benefactor.

On 19 December we had a general meeting of the CNPK, which was followed by the inauguration of St Francis of Assisi Scholasticate in Bujumbura. Five Brothers are doing their studies at present.

On 20 December we held an open door day at HVP Gikondo. Our aim is that Virgin of the Poor Home become a rehabilitation hospital. The process of signing the memorandum of understanding with the Minister of Health is in progress. We hope that HVP will benefit of the subsidies of the government.

On 28 December we had a recollection day animated by Brother General: 34 participating Brothers of Burundi and Rwanda profited of the opportunity.

• We celebrated Christmas for the first time in Lusambo with all the parishioners. On the feast of the Innocents we celebrated the founding of our Congregation by P.J. Triest : we gave thanks to God for the Incarnation and asked His blessing over our engagement as religious.

Bro. Bernard Ntambwe

Two days later we inaugurated a kindergarten for the children of our co-workers and of the surroundings.

This answers a local need.

Finally, we had a good start of 2014. We wish a Happy New Year, full of peace and hope, to all our readers.

Bro. Deogratias Rwabudandi

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u AMERICA : OUR LADY OF GUADALUPE PROVINCE u Saint Martin de Porres Region NICARAGUA - PERU

nicaragua Community life in Nicaragua. Since the beginning of December we do not have H. Mass at our chapel any longer, because our chaplain was given another function.

This coincided with the departure of Br Antonio Rodan for a task in Peru.

As we are only two Brothers at present, we have to plan our activities for 2014. We have to rethink our order of the day, our recollection days, outings, meetings with the Vincentian family.

We will soon celebrate the 5th year of the Brothers in Nicaragua. It is time we structured the vocation pastoral care for young people so that we can share our charism with them. Our Congregation should take root in this country – it is one of our challenges.

Another challenge is to find funds according to the measure of Nicaragua, a poor country. We will have to rely on Providence and the Congregation to keep us alive. We need your help.

We conclude by wishing you a happy and blessed New Year, in imitation of Jesus who has called us to His service and Paradise.

Bro. Richard Bardier

PERU On 9 and 10 December in the house of Lima was organized an intensive evaluation of the work of Fracarita Peru since the beginning with the directors of the three institutions. Fracarita Peru Office does not take vacation; it is busier than ever with the final reports of the year and the implementation of the new programs and reforms for the year to come especially in Cepetri and Escuela de Vida. For instance the facilities of Cepetri will be used to offer complementary programs in the afternoon. For the time being the families and students are on vacation until March but the collaborators will implement the educational plan 2014 from January 13 on.

In December in Peru we seem to celebrate more than other countries do: celebration of Our Lady of Guadalupe on 12th, of the end of the school year, celebration of the “confraternidad”, of the “hermandad”, of the closing of the institutions for the holidays. We organize fairs for the families, picnic days with the collaborators, meals and distribution of gifts and panetones. Moreover an extra salary is paid which helps the people to organize family feasts. There is also a traditional “chocolata y paneton”. Therefore Br Jimi, who is involved in three institutions, and a member of “hermanadades” and “confraterninades”, superior of two houses, etc, has been celebrating more than his share.

December has been the month of visiting the Brothers of the three houses; Br Roli spent a few days with his family in the North to celebrate the end of the academic year at the university. In Lima we exchanged meals with the Sisters who share part of the house and we received a few collaborators for the evaluation of the year and implementation of the coming year. There were also celebrations with the associate members, with families and with individual friends of the Brothers.

ROL 159 - JANUARY 2014 - p. 5 The 24th was the summit for all the Brothers of Charity in Peru with a long night of celebration in Comas on the occasion of the 84th birth anniversary of both Br Bernard Boulay and the 2013th of our Savior. Christmas night is underlined by a lot of fireworks exploding everywhere to feast the light of the world.

We experienced a water shortage; in Lima our water pump gave up after unspeakable distressing groans.

In Comas the water level got too low and it has been painful for the people in our Escuela de Vida’s rehab program. The board of direction of this institution just decided to implement a reform to better operate the three phases of the program. For the time being the institution implements the second step of standardizing accounting processes.

Do you know the expression “right foot”. When you step out of the bus in Lima at an unofficial bus stop, the driver only slows down to let you out, and the helper tells you repeatedly to use the right foot (“pie derecho, pie derecho”) because he knows that if you use the left one you will certainly stumble and fall. Try it if you do not believe!

Bro. Donald Joyal

u Saint Anna Region CANADA

It is now less than a month since the basement (east wing) was installed. Before the floor was made of hard material covered with a carpet. Now it consists of polished cement, adapted to tidying up. Br Origène did a good job : congratulations!

10 December : on that day we celebrated the anniversary of Br Arthur Barrette. Besides having been a superior, he is now in his 33rd year as conductor of the parish choir.

12 December : we did not forget to celebrate the provincial patron feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe.

26 December : a big feast at St Sulpice as Br Benoît Poulin turns 90 years of age! It is a record in view of his health situation (3 dialyses per week for the past 9 years – quite a performance). Our prayers accompany him.

Here at St Vincent we prepare to move to St Sulpice.

We wish it to take place on 31 January 2014. Things are progressing : part of the private possessions of the Brothers involved have been transferred already : some are « on sale » via Internet; all the archives are practically numbered in PDF so that empty files can be sold, kitchen utensils are available at a discount, etc. Br Gilles Rivard is in charge of this sale.

Meanwhile « Dame Nature » sees to it that the lawn is covered by a white blanket. Consequently, the streets are snow-covered and snowploughs hinder the traffic and pedestrians. Talk to Br Rolland René about it, who keeps to his 2-hour walk every day. He has become so well-known that a restaurant offers him every day pastry when he passes there.

Our regional superior is sometimes occupied with clearing the snow from the roof of St Alphonse chalet on pain of reviving the effort of the past winter of which we still have a photograph.

Happy New Year 2014 to all our readers!

Bro. Jacques Bellemare

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u ASIA : SAINT THOMAS PROVINCE u Our Lady of Sheshan Beijing • CHINA

During the first week of December, Bro. Adrian was visiting our confreres in Vietnam.

On December 16, one of our Associate Members, Fr. Joseph Guo, came to visit us in Beijing to give lessons, recollection, and spiritual direction to our postulant John Gan. The next day, we welcome back Bro. Jose Yuan who returned from Belgium after completing his two-year formation at Canon Triest Institute’s Special Education program. He came back from Brussels together with his former classmate Sister Alice Min who also graduated from the same program.

Just a few days before Christmas, our postulant John went home to attend the wedding of his elder brother in Shandong Province. Our Christmas Day mass was celebrated together at St Joseph’s Church of Wangfujing, the main shopping district in Beijing.

On December 30, we had our own community’s Christmas mass and dinner together with Fr. Peter Reedy CM from Australia; and Fr. Alexander Agung OCarm and Fr. Erik Tjahjana OCarm of Indonesia.

We would like to wish you all: a Happy and Peaceful New Year 2014. May God bless all of you abundantly as always....!

Bro. Adrian Hartotanojo

u Our Lady of Lourdes PAKISTAN

We wish a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to all the Brothers, associate members, co-workers and good will people who walk with us to spread and carry the message of Christmas to others. Christmas brings us the good news that our Savior and Redeemer, Son of God, brother and friend of all of us, was born in the world, a place for animals’ living and unexpected for human to live there. Son of God, Saviour of the world and King of kings He chose to be born in a stable and give meaning to that place. The birth of Jesus tells us the simplicity and humility of His life in a way that is acceptable in the eyes of God and is very good for us and for the whole world. The simplicity and humility of Jesus’ birth in the crib draws all the joy and happiness of the world to that place. The shepherds and the magi of the east adore Christ Jesus, Son of God in that place and the angels of God sing hymns of homage and praise and spreading the good news to the people far and near with the exaltation of the lowly crib.

We are celebrating Christmas in the same spirit of being heralds of Jesus Birth and spreading the good news to the world to share the same joy and happiness with them. Let us continue to transmit the message of Jesus’ birth to the world taking the responsibility of the angels and bringing people to Jesus, to the crib where people can find real joy and happiness.

The renovation work for Holy Rosary Community in Gujrat has been completed last month. The community has been established with new furniture, repair work and painting of the building. We have installed a new chapel in the community where the Brothers pray every day and meet Jesus in their daily prayer to get strength to serve Christ in daily life.

Miss Christina Siraj, the associate member of Brothers of Charity in Lahore, renewed her promise for three years in November. The Brothers and Associate Members participated in the prayer ceremony and all present

ROL 159 - JANUARY 2014 - p. 7 were invited to a small reception after the renewal of the promise.

Brother Victor Hugo, animator for Pakistan, visited Pakistan on 1 December. He visited all the communities and met all the Brothers and Associate Members. He strengthened them in their spiritual life and guided them to step forward taking their responsibility seriously and work for the development of the region. He went back to Sri Lanka on 13 December. We hope that his visit to Pakistan will produce good fruits.

December 19, Brothers were invited by the Franciscan Missionary Sisters of Christ the King (FMCK) to a Christmas program at St. Paul’s School and shared lunch with the staff and the guest.

December 20, St. Raphael‘s boys hostel of Brothers of Charity in Narowal organized a sportsday program for the hostel students. The students participated in the races and played a cricket match. Some Brothers joined the students playing cricket with them. A reception was given to the students and co-workers of the house and small gifts were shared with the students. The students went to their families for the Christmas Holidays.

Archbishop Sebastian Shaw of Archdiocese of Lahore arranged a Milan Party (Christmas gathering) for the clergy, brothers and sisters of the diocese on 30 December.

Brs Peter Anwar and Samuel Yaqub participated in the party. The joy and happiness of Christmas was shared with each other participating in some games and singing Christmas carols. The Archbishop overviewed the progressive report of the diocese and invited all the guests to share a Christmas meal.

Bro. Peter Anwar

u International Novitiate House Katugastota • SRI LANKA December is always a month of many activities together with showers of blessings of God. As one family of Brothers of Charity, we would like to share our activities with all our beloved colleagues.

On 30th November, it was our monthly recollection.

We took this day as an opportunity for the Advent preparation. Our community spent this day in silence and meditation in order to prepare for Christmas properly by welcoming the newborn Christ. The theme

was about “Being the Beloved of God”. This time, Br. Hugo gave us the chance to listen to a conference of Fr. Henry Nouwen by watching a movie. It was really an inspired conference. Being the beloved of God is the basic and fundamental element in our life as Christians.

On 1st December, the first day of Advent, after breakfast, we went to the chapel to light the first Advent candle as an opening mark for the new liturgical year. It was meaningful for each one of us. We know Advent is always another chance in our life to prepare for the coming of our Savior. After the ceremony, each one of us, by chance, took the name of one brother from our community, to pray for during the time of Advent, and also prepare a gift as an expression of love to him on Christmas Day. At the same day, our novice master, Bro. Victor Hugo, left for Pakistan for two weeks to perform his task as General Assistant who is in charge of Pakistan. We prayed for him and wished him the fulfillment of his task.

From 23th December to 5th January 2014, we enjoyed our holidays. We all were longing for these days to refresh ourselves so that we might perform better in the coming year.

On 24th December, at midnight, we went to the parish church for carol singing and thereafter we sang the Christmas Mass. It was well appreciated by the parishioners. The Church was crowded and well decorated. The Mass was said in three languages. It was quiet long but we were all happy and excited. After that, we had Christmas celebration in our community.

It was amazing and well organized. We received many gifts from one another and from our formators. Thank God for all the blessings through the year, every single moment He is with us.

On 27th December, all the members of the community had an outing to Colombo, capital city of Sri Lanka. We visited some important places such as the Independence Tower, Colombo National Museum, National Harbor and the beach as well. By this outing, we could see and know more about the country where we are living. Thank God for a safe and joyful outing.

On 28th December was great day for our congregation, the day when our congregation came into existence. It has been 206 years and still growing all over the world, bringing the love of God, our charism to those who are in need. In order to make this day more meaningful, our community organized a Mass with intention for our congregation, and we had a celebration in the afternoon

ROL 159 - JANUARY 2014 - p. 8 by lighting 31 candles representing the 31 countries where the Brothers of Charity are laboring.

u Blessed André Phu Yen

Ho Chi Minh City • VIETNAM

From December 6 to 11, our General Assistant, Brother Adrian Hartotanojo, paid his work visit to our communities in Vietnam.

On the second day of his visit, he accepted the profession renewal of Br. Nicola Nguyen Tuan Phong during a Eucharistic celebration at the Lavang community in Ho Chi Minh City.

The ceremony was extremely meaningful, we could reflect more deeply on our call as a Brother of Charity.

Thank God for all the blessings and thank the Servant of God, Rev. Fr. P.J. Triest, for the gift he received. On this occasion, we also invited our neighbors for a lunch as a thanksgiving because of the good collaboration towards our community. Br. Janvier explained to our guests a little bit about the history of our congregation with examples of who we are as consecrated religious Brothers of Charity. What was amazing is that one of the guests got up to say something: “Dear Brothers, we are one despite that we are from different religions, I do believe that even me who is a Buddhist, when I do good things towards others then unknowingly I am working for Jesus.” We prayed for them so that God may bless them all the time.

On 29th December, we organized the birthday celebration of our beloved Br. James. We were all happy because we could share with one another the great gift of life from God. We wished him and his family all the best.

May God continue to shower His blessing upon James.

The next day, accompanied by Br. Dominic Minh De, Br. Nicola Nguyen Tuan Phong, and Br. Vincent Tuan Bao Nguyen, he went to Dalat by car. They stayed overnight at the Bishop’s house there, and they had the opportunity to talk with the Bishop concerning our new community and mission in Baoloc. Then they continued their journey to Baoloc, to see the Brothers’ house in the mid of a coffee plantation, as well as to meet the local parish priest and the local dean of Baoloc.

Today, Feast of the Holy Family, as part of the Christian community we sang again at the parish church as a way of helping our Christian community to pray well.

We close off by wishing you a Happy New Year 2014, full of the wonders of the Lord.

Novices Michael, Simon and Vijay On December 9, he had a meeting with the local council of Vietnam, in which they discussed several relevant topics concerning our Brothers and their apostolate in Vietnam. Among others were the topics concerning the

ROL 159 - JANUARY 2014 - p. 9 construction plan for the Brothers’ residence and the small psychiatric rehabilitation project in Baoloc; the preparation of the postulants who will be sent to the Philippines by the end of February 2014 to start their intensive English course; the preparation of the opening of our new apostolate in Lavang community, namely the educational service for autistic children that will be started probably in March 2014; the administrative matters such as reports (monthly, annual), budgeting, strategic plan for Fracarita, etc.

On the last day of his visit, Br Adrian had a chance to visit the Sisters of Charity community in Ho Chi Minh City; he also visited Br Dominic Maria Huu Minh Tam who was undergoing surgery at a local hospital, as well as Sr Teresa Bach Thuyet (the former general superior of the Dominican Sisters Congregations in Vietnam) who was a great helper in starting up our mission in Vietnam, but who is now suffering from cancer.

Bro. Adrian Hartotanojo

the Christmas Celebration in order to be present in our community on Christmas Day.

ST. GIUSEPPE MOSCATI PSYCHO-SOCIAL REHABILITATION CENTER Sivagangai, Tamil Nadu On 4th December, Social Work Department students came for practical work and they will continue to come for the practice with our Residents. On 6th December, the Sisters of Presentation, Coimbatore, who live in Ariyakudi came to perform programs and presented new clothes to our Residents. They celebrated this Christmas with our residents. On 14th December, all the family members of our residents came to visit the residents. Some of our residents went on Christmas and New Year holidays; they are expected to be back here on 2nd January 2014. On 22nd December, CSST (Carmel Sisters of St. Therese) came to perform some programs for our residents. It was a nice performance!

u Father Constant Lievens Region INDIA

ST. JohN DE BRITTO COMMUNity Sivagangai, Tamil Nadu The whole month was full of a mood of Christmas preparation! On 2nd December, we started to decorate everything for the preparation of CRI (Catholic Conference of Religious, India), Christmas Celebration.

On 7th December, Rev. Rt. Dr. J. Soosai Manickam, the Bishop of Sivagangai and all the priests, Brothers, and Sisters came to celebrate this festivity as a family of CRI. With a lot of preparation and works, we could count 180 persons who participated in the celebration.

On 9th and 10th December, we have had the visitors from Belgium, who came to study, what can be done for the self-financing activities. On 10th December, Rev. Bro. Emil Bara arrived safely in our community and we gave him a warm welcome program so that he felt at home. Two of our Brothers went home on a visit before

ST. ALPHONSA MUTTATHUPADATHU COMMUNity - Ranchi On 6th December, Brother Telesphore Tirkey who is studying in Kenya arrived safely at St. Alphonsa Muttathupadathu, Ranchi-Jharkhand community.

He spent three days in the community with the Brothers; then he went to visit his relatives. On 9th December, Br Anuranjit Kullu arrived at St. Alphonsa Muttathupadathu, Ranchi, Jharkhand from Calicut, Kerala community of Bl. Pier Giorgio Frassati in order to arrange his visa to go to Rome in January 2014. On 10th December, we celebrated the birthday of Br Subodh Ekka. The assistant Parish Priest came to say Mass in the evening and we had the birthday dinner with a few guests from religious communities. On 16th December, Br George Tirkey arrived safely from Belgium. Our residents organized a welcome program on his arrival and they were very happy to see Br George. From the

ROL 159 - JANUARY 2014 - p. 10 beginning of Advent Brothers and our residents were very enthusiastic to prepare for Christmas and to decorate the house, making cribs, distributing cards, and sweets. We had a very nice celebration of Christmas together with our best friends, and co-workers.

residents participate in all the activities, and they have no rest by day, because they take a good rest at night. On 25th December, there was Christmas celebration and each resident received their Christmas gift. They were very happy and satisfied.

PARAM MITRA SADAN - Ranchi

bl. KURIAKOSE ELIAS CHAVARA COMMUNity - RANCHI

On 11th December, four students from the Central Institute of Psychiatric (CIP) came to our Rehabilitation Centre, Param Mitra Sadan for a one-day program as well as for their working experience; a second group of six students came on 13th December, organized the activities and had a talk with our residents. On 17th December, our residents celebrated the birthday of Mr Verender Singh Jaipal who is the most senior member in our Rehabilitation Centre; his family members came to share the joy and to congratulate him on this occasion.

On 19th December, Dr. Anil Kumar visited our new residents and the older ones too. At present we have 11 patients in our Rehabilitation Centre and three patients are in Bl. Kuriakose Elias Chvara Community with the Brothers. Two patients went home for the Christmas celebration.

bl. PIER GIORGIO FRASSATI COMMUNity - Calicut, KErala We started Advent in preparation to the Christmas.

We attended the Holy Eucharist in the morning at the Cathedral, where the Parish Priest insisted on celebrating the birthday of Jesus. On 8th December, Br Anuranjit Kullu went to Ranchi, Jharkhand in order to prepare his papers for a visa. We have had a good sendoff celebration together with all our Brothers.

On 13th December, we welcomed Br Swamynathan Wilfred, the Regional Superior for the consultation meeting together with the Community members. On 18th December, there was a get to gather in the Dioceses of Calicut, Kerala: all the Priests and Religious spend time with men Religious and Clerical Priests. Some Brothers went to participate in the Christmas gathering.

On 24th December, some Brothers went at night for the Vigil Mass to St. Xavier Parish Church. There reigned a welcoming atmosphere, and it was very good Christmas celebration. It was a memorable event for us.

JEEVAVIHAR COMMUNity Calicut, KErala We have 10 residents and they are doing well. We are still having the same residents and we want to do more. We have the doctor’s consultation whenever necessary. The

We are all fine and busy preparing Christmas cakes and Christmas cards. Brother Ranjit and one of our residents, Mr. Kuldeep, went home on a visit. We all want to wish you Happy Christmas and Happy New Year 2014. We have had a good celebration of Christmas and New Year.

ST. PETER’S SCHOOL - RANCHI All of us, students, teaching staffs, and non-teaching staffs are keeping fine. The 2nd internal written assessment started on 9th December and ended on 16th December. It was a good and peaceful time. All the students were present. On 19th December, we presented their progress report. Most of the students improved their rank. Some of them are the same. On 20th December, we celebrated a Christmas gathering with the parents, students, teachers, and non-teaching staff.

There were many programs presented by the students. It was very meaningful and a fantastic day. The school will be closed from 21st December to 5th January 2014. Still new students are coming for admission to our school.

TRIEST house - Ranchi We wish you all a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year 2014. We were invited by Jesuit priests on the occasion of the feast of St. Francis Xavier on 3rd December, at St.Xavier’s College in the evening to share a festive meal. Bro. Praween and Bro. Alphonse took part in the Religious Final Profession of the Sisters of Charity Jesus and Mary on Sunday 8th December, at Nirmala College

ROL 159 - JANUARY 2014 - p. 11 Ranchi, Jharkhand. Fifteen Sisters pronounced their perpetual vows. His Eminence Cardinal Telesphore P. Toppo, Archbishop of Ranchi, Jharkhand presided over the Eucharistic Celebration which was followed by congratulations and lunch.

Sisters of Mary Immaculate, Tharpakhna, Jail Road, Ranchi invited us to tea on the feast of the Immaculate Conception – the titular feast of their Congregation.

Jharkhand Assembly of Religious Brotherhood (JARB) executive committee had a meeting at Triest House Ranchi on 7th December in the afternoon in order to arrange the Christmas gathering.

We stopped our lesson from 19th December to 12th January 2014. Next day we went to celebrate Christmas gathering at St. Peter’s School. Aspirant Nitish Kerketta was sick; hence we had him admitted to a nursing home; after two days he was discharged.

Brs Praween and Alphonse attended the Christmas gathering of the Jharkhand Assembly of Religious Brotherhood on 22nd December, at St. Aloysius’s School (Montfort Brothers) Purulia Road Ranchi.

We went for Christmas Vigil Mass at St. Anne convent Circular Road, Ranchi. After Holy Eucharist we had cake and coffee; then we danced and came back to the community.

On 26th December, the aspirants went on a family visit of two weeks. Mr Bulkan, a co-worker, went also home and returned on 29th December.

u Rama Sandjaja Region INDONESIA First of all we want to wish you all a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year 2014. Joy, Peace and Love of the newborn Christ always be with us always and especially also for the year to come. May the blessings of our Lord be poured out upon us, that we may bring His Love to our neighbor.

Secondly: we want to share the news from Indonesia that happened during the end of the year of 2013.

Wonosobo

As realization and follow-up of the international meeting Fracarita International in Sri Lanka during the month of October, Rama Sandjaja Region organized meetings in Wonosobo from 2nd to 7th of December.

The meetings were about a new strategy program for the Congregation. The meeting group was called by name Group Fifteen (G15). The meetings were attended by Fracarita International, Fracarita Indonesia, the Brothers who are responsible for the unit: general education school, Special education school, mental health unit, Chairman of Karya Bakti & Pius Foundation, the local superiors, representative of young and elder brothers.

Christmas and New Year Celebrations for Religious People in St. Paul Wonosobo Parish on 2nd January 2014 by doing a pilgrimage to Mother Mary Grotto in Tritis – Wonosari. We continued the journey to enjoy the beautiful view of Baron beach Yogyakarta. Brothers of Charity were represented by Brs. John and Agustinus.

Purworejo Evaluation meeting of the year 2013 for Rama Sandjaja Region Vocation Promotion Team held in Purworejo on 22nd December. Regional coordinator for vocation promotion, Bro. Patricius led the meeting who

ROL 159 - JANUARY 2014 - p. 12

Yogyakarta

was attended by all the members of the team: Bro. Appolonaris, Brs. John Baptista, Honorius Suryadi, Cornelius and Peter. The meeting focused on the evaluation of the programs during the year of 2013 and on planning programs for the year of 2014. We are looking forward to make a book as a guide on vocation promotion system.

The next day, on 23rd December, the other meeting on formation team for Associate Member took place in same place (Purworejo). We spoke on issues around the formation plan program for our Associate Members in Indonesia and several planning for the further formation for the new candidates of Associate Members.

Purwokerto

The Morning Eucharist on Christmas Day was in St. Alfonsisus Nanda Parish – Yogyakarta enlivened by choirs of Karitas Elementary and Junior High School Nandan – Yogyakarta school run by Brothers of Charity with Br. Robert as choir master. After the Eucharist, the feast continued with having garden party, music performance and Drum Band marching from Elementary school of the Brothers of Charity.

Bro. Peter J.W. and Bro. Yohanes

u Sacred Heart Region International Novitiate • PHILIPPINES We wish you all the a joy, peace and happiness of Christmas and wish you a happy and prosperous New Year 2014. The month of December was very memorable for us as the report will show:

Every year, the Brothers of Charity in Indonesia celebrate the anniversary of its foundation by coming together and organizing the annual meeting. On 28th December 2013, the celebration took place in Purwokerto Community. The celebration started with a social gathering on the Regional Strategy Plan by Br Marcellinus Putrosumarto, Superior Regional of Indonesia; after that we continued with a Eucharist celebration presided by Fr Yohanes Suratman and attended by most brothers. The celebration closed by having lunch together.

December 8th to 14th we made an educational tour around Manila. The trip was so very agreeable and our entire group reached our destination safe and sound. We thank the Brothers who organized this 5-day program.

All novices were happy to see the capital city of the Philippines, Manila. After travelling a long distance from Tabaco to Manila, we felt very tired and preferred to rest a bit.

On December 9th, Monday, we began the day in the name of Jesus. All of us attended H. Mass followed by Morning Prayer. After Mass we went to the canteen for breakfast. We started our educational tour in the City.

Everyone was very interested to learn from the activities and visits over there.

On December 10th, we went sightseeing again and visited some historic Churches and Museums. We

ROL 159 - JANUARY 2014 - p. 13 observed many things about valuable church materials like liturgical clothing; we proceed to the Mall of Asia.

It is a wonderful place that teems with small and big businesses.

On Wednesday, December 11th, at 9:00 am we had good time with the disabled children and their parents.

They were very happy to see us in the local community of Pandacan-Manila. There we shared food and soft drinks, and performed cultural songs and dances.

On Thursday, December 12th, after morning prayers and the Eucharist, we left for Tagaytay. There we visited the palace in the sky, the public ark. We really enjoyed that place, where we experienced cool weather different from Manila’s. From that place we went to visit the Sisters of Charity (SCJM). We fraternized with the novices and Sisters. They were amazed to see us because many of us were new to them, coming from foreign countries. After leaving the Sisters community we went to visit our new house in Tagaytay. Then, we had dinner in a restaurant before returning to Manila.

On Friday, December 13th, we had a day of sharing. This program began after evening prayer. It was a wonderful time with Brothers of the Manila community. The following day we travelled to Tabaco-Bicol.

During the past month we were very busy preparing for Christmas like putting up decorations in our community and organizing celebrations for the coming of Christ. In order to prepare ourselves very well, we received the Sacrament of Confession.

On 24th December, the formator team organized and evening program in the form of a Bible quiz. The Novices were divided into 4 groups; they competed for the one and only prize.

On 25th December, we had a very good time. We attended Christmas Mass in Tabaco. We gathered in the recreation room. It was a happy hour for everyone.

In this month also we had birthday celebrations namely for Novices Mathew (Pakistani), Rohit Joachim (Indian).

The same day we commemorated the founding day of the Brothers of Charity, December 28th 1807.

We thank almighty God for sending us the newborn Jesus to protect us from all evil and harm, and we ask Him to be with us in all the time.

God’s blessings to you all. Happy New Year 2014 Shine, Jesus, shine!!!

Satyadeep Kujur and Calixte Ndikumana

u EUROPE : SAINT BENEDICT PROVINCE u Saint Vincent Region BELGIUM From December 2012 to the summer of 2013 was a period of reflection within St Vincent region. After a long period of preparation, the Regional Council managed to submit the policy plan for 2013-2018 in October during two meetings of Brothers and Associate Members.

This policy plan is the result of combined search for our identity, the charism, our mission as a Congregation in the coming years.

Preparations are now as good as finalized; the planning is being refined for the coming five years.

Six domains were formulated, each with their basic goals and subgoals:

Domain 1:

Spiritual life and prayer: engaging in spiritual flowering.

1.1. Measuring our religious life up to the Rule of Life, individually and communally in dialogue with the present situation and culture.

1.2. Stimulating and offering opportunities to different forms of spirituality life based on the charisma of the Brothers of Charity.

Domain 2:

Formation and vocation: formatingly called to faith.

2.1. Implementation of the congregational formation plan.

2.2. Taking initiatives on the level of permanent formation for Brothers and Associate Members, attuned to the provincial level.

2.3. Spreading a spirituality of vocation.

ROL 159 - JANUARY 2014 - p. 14 Domain 3:

Mission, apostolate and engagement: contemporarily sent from the charisma.

3.1. Stimulating the Brothers to live their mission and, adapted to the present circumstances of the local community, to take up an (apostolic) engagement.

3.2. Where possible, supporting, inspiring and orienting the organization on regional and local level.

Domain 4:

Community and welfare: sound, vivid communities.

4.1. Taking to heart the quality of life of the Brothers in the different phases in life on bodily, material, relational and spiritual level.

This policy plan is not the last word about the guiding ideas that will lead us in the activities of the Region. Its starting point is the good and beautiful that is happening and has happened in our Region. We are grateful for it and appreciate it fully. This policy plan neither be the last word for the present policy period. We will evaluate the working in the course of this period and adjust the policy plan when needed.

This policy plan is an instrument to work purposefully on the task which the community has given to the Regional Management.

Domain 5: Associate Members: supportively united.

5.1. Continued support to the development of the identity and the relevance of associate membership..

5.2. Clarifying and facilitating the relation between the community of Associate Members and the community of the Brothers.

Domain 6:

Management of the region: transparency in dialogue.

6.1. Applying the principles of good management.

If you know Brothers, associate members or sympathizers who do not receive Roma Online, please send their email address to lieven.claeys@fracarita.org Many thanks beforehand.

The texts for the next Roma Online are expected to arrive here before 1 February 2014.