From the 26th to the 28th of November, just gone by, the Prior General, Fernando Millán Romeral, O.Carm., took part in the 84th Biannual Assembly of the Union of Superiors General (USG) in Rome, the theme of which was, “Towards new relationships for a culture of encounter”. On the first day, various speakers, both lay and religious, shared their experience of the extraordinary synod on the family and they evidenced the different challenges that became very clear in the synod. The second day was devoted to a study of the 1978 document, Mutuae Relationes, on the relationship between bishops and religious in the Church. This was with a view to a possible renewal or perhaps a re-writing of the document, as Pope Francis had suggested in the meeting he had with the General Superiors in 2013. The reflection on this was given by Mons. Gianfranco Gardin, OFMConv, Secretary of the CIVCSVA from 2006 to 2009 and current bishop of Treviso, and Robert P. Geisinger, SJ, Promoter for Justice of the CDF.

The third day was spent in working on a synthesis with which to continue the reflection on both of these topics, since there will be further work on both of them in the near future in different Church gatherings, including the ordinary general assembly of the Synod which will take place in October 2015 and for which the USG elected its ten representatives for presentation to the Holy Father, at this meeting.