124/2008-2-12
Canonical Visitation by the Prior General in Africa III

With the visit to the two communities in Burkina Faso (Bobo-Dioulasso and Ougadougou), the visitation of the Prior General, Fr. Fernando Millán Romeral, O.Carm. and Fr. Desiré Unen Alimange, O.Carm. in Africa ended. There only remains the visit to the Commissariat of the Congo, which will take place after the Provincial Chapter of the Italian Province and the Assembly of the Commissariat.
In Burkina Faso, the Prior General met with the brothers, and with the postulants, novices and students, who in themselves represent a great hope for the burkinabé Carmel. The Prior General visited some of the communities of Donum Dei women, and saw in person the social projects that the Carmelites are carrying out in that country. He visited also the prison of Bobo-Dioulasso where the Carmelites have been chaplains for many years.
On his return to Rome from Africa, the Prior General took part in the 72nd General Assembly of the Union of Superiors General (USG). At the end of various discussions, the representatives of the USG for the forthcoming Assembly of the special Synod on Africa were elected. This Synod has been set by Pope Benedict XVI for October 2009 and will address the theme: The Church in Africa at the service of reconciliation, justice and peace.

125/2008-03-12
Community retreat of the General Curia

On Sunday 30th November 2008 the members of the General Curia gathered for a day of retreat at the beginning of Advent. Archbishop Luis Francisco Ladaria Ferrer, S.J, Secretary of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, accepted the invitation to give the retreat. The vast experience of this noted theologian enriched the Curia community leaving a lasting impression, deepening their preparation for Christmas.

A special meeting of the International Formation Commission of the Order took place in Rome, from the 18th to the 19th of November last. The purpose of this extraordinary meeting was to discuss the style, method and contents of the international courses on formation run by the International Commission. In the context of the Six-year Global Plan of the General Council and the recommendations of the General Chapter, the commission began its work by considering the theme of “mystagogy”. Also participating and assisting the Commission in this reflective process, were the Prior General, Fr. Fernando Millán Romeral and Professor Donna Orsuto of the Gregorian University, Rome. Specific programmes were prepared for the next 5 years for formators, and those in initial and on-going formation. The Commission, led by the Councillor General for Formation, John Keating, also considered some of the work that needed to be done regarding the initial responses received from the provinces relating to the revision of the RIVC. The meeting ended with Evening Prayer, supper and discussion on the work of the Commission hosted by the Carmelite formation community of San Martino, Rome. Following the commission meeting in Rome, a detailed programme of the course for those in initial formation in the Holy Land next summer was prepared by Frs. John Keating, Mario Alfarano, Secretary General/Commission Secretary and Alexander Vella, Maltese Provincial. This sub-committee met in Malta on the 21st and 22nd of November.

During the course of a meeting in November of the representatives of the orders and missionary congregations working in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, at which the Carmelites also participated, an Inter-congregational Committee for the Emergency in the Congo (CIEG) was established. The meeting which took place at the headquarters of International Union of Superiors General ((UISG) and the Union of Superiors General (USG) was attended by about one hundred religious, among whom was Fr. Désiré Unen Alimange O.Carm., Councillor General for Africa, together with representatives of different groups and NGO's present in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The CIEG is entrusted with the task of collecting and centralizing information, appeals, news, initiatives, and primarily to put in place a "single strategy and coordination" for the missionary institutes. Among the orders and missionary congregations united at the centre of the CIEG were the Dehonians, the Paulist Sisters, the Jesuit Refugee Service (JRS), the Comboniani, the Saverians, the White Fathers, Barnabites and Carmelites. The houses of our Order are not in the actual critical zone in the East of the Congo.

At the beginning of the new liturgical year the Carmelite Order unveiled its newly revamped website at www.ocarm.org. This is the third time that the site has been completely updated. This revision is undertaken periodically so that the site meets the needs of its various visitors.
The Order’s site is in three languages: English, Spanish and Italian. The first page of the site appears in English for no other reason than that is the most widely spoken language in the world. Visitors can, of course, choose another language immediately, even while navigating.
The main logo is attractive and represents the shield and hills of Carmel. Navigation is made easy through three menus, a horizontal one for interactive options and two side bars. The left hand one for general information about the Order and the right hand one for news of current activities. In the centre of the page the latest issue of CITOC-on line appears with news of the Carmelite family. CITOC on line will continue to be sent separately as an email for those who wish to receive it directly. The site offers many interesting pages and one of the most popular is that dedicated to lectio divina, a daily reflection on the day’s gospel from the Mass.
Visitors will now find an attractive, elegant and easy-to-read site, where they can find a wealth of material to read. Since the previous site was made up of hundreds of pages and the process of transfer is ongoing, there are still some empty pages. We are also thinking of offering new services, such as access to the Carmelite Library catalogue.
Already in the first week of operation an impressive 111,500 pages have been visited and the webmaster has received many messages of support and congratulations. This shows how alive the Carmelite charism is in the hearts of many Christians and how many others desire to drink from this spiritual fountain.
The Carmelite website appeared on the internet for the first time on 28 February, 1997.It has been edited by Fr. Anthony Cilia O. Carm. from its inception, with the technical assistance of Mr. Donald Bagalà.

The Elective Chapter of the Carmelite Monastery of Onteniente, Spain, was held 9th of November 2008. The following were elected:
Prioress:  Sr. Ma. Magdalena Pla Tortosa, O.Carm.
1st Councilor: Sr. Ma. Virtutes Jorda Abad, O. Carm.
2nd Councilor: Sr. Ma. Margarita Medina Armas, O. Carm.
Director of Novices:  Sr. Ma. Magdalena Pla Tortosa, O. Carm.
Treasurer:  Sr. Ma. Concepción Mico Guerola, O. Carm.
Sacristan: Sr. Ma. Lourdes Font Font, O.Carm.
 
Electoral Chapter of the Monastery of Vilafranca del Penedés, Spain
The Elective Chapter of the Carmelite Monastery of Vilafranca del Penedés, Spain, was held 30th of October 2008. The following were elected:
Prioress:  Sr. Ma. Josefina Amigó, O. Carm.
1st Councilor: Sr. Anna Maria Xirinacs, O. Carm.
2nd Councilor: Sr. Josepa Francesca Castells, O. Carm.
3rd Councilor Sr. Ma. Juliana Kanini, O.Carm.
4th Councilor Sr. Ma. Caterina Mwikali, O.Carm.
Director of Novices:  Sr. Anna Maria Xirinacs, O. Carm.
Treasurer:  Sr. Ma. Caterina Mwikali, O. Carm.
Sacristan:  Sr. Ma. Cristina Ngami, O. Carm.

During the last General Chapter, the Titus Brandsma Memorial Project (TBM) in Nijmegen was announced and shown on DVD. All the Provincial Superiors agreed to encourage their local Carmelite Communities to cooperate financially, putting their names on the memorial wall. Most of the Provinces and Commissariats have responded generously. Also the Carmelite Monasteries of cloistered nuns and many Congregations of Carmelite Sisters have given their donations and their names to be put on the memorial wall.
Donations received so far have reached the amount of 51,000 Euro. The Board of the TBM foundation expresses their heartfelt thanks to all members of the Carmelite Family who have responded so far and with such generosity.
Since then, the Bishop of the diocese of Den Bosch has transferred the property of the Titus Brandsma Memorial Church to the Dutch Carmelite Province.
The municipality of Nijmegen is cooperating in every way so that the project will have the necessary permits to get the construction of the project started early in 2009.

In the middle of November the new Central Committee of the Institutum Carmelitanum met in CISA in Rome. There were many items on the agenda, among which the need to relaunch research and publications about the spiritual and theological tradition of Carmel. The committee set out a programme of studies on contemplation and other themes. Among the new initiatives it was decided to open a web site for the Institutum Carmelitanum and the commencement of an on line Carmelite bio-bibliography. The committee is still working on a revised list of fellows and there is also a plan to institute various grants in order to stimulate research. Another essential topic that was dealt with was co-ordination with other research institutes of the Order around the world.

The regional meeting of superiors of Asia-Australia-Oceania was held at Saint Joseph Carmelite house in Bali, Indonesia, from November 21-25, 2008. Those who attended the meeting were: Wayne Stanhope and Bruce Clark (Australia), Mario Esposito (SEL-Vietnam), Artimeo Jusayan and Christian Buenafe (Philippines), Mathew Sojan Neendoor (St.Thomas, India), Jacob Robin (Indian Latin Rite), Augusto Sampaio (Timor Leste), Heribertus Heru Purwanto (Indonesia), Bernardus Teguh and Leonardus Djawa (Commissaries of Indonesia), and Albertus Magnus Herwanta (General Councilor for Asia-Australia-Oceania).
Having listened to the message of the Prior General, the meeting began. All participants were actively involved in dialogue and discussion on formation, JPIC, and the building up of a Carmelite family in and for the region, as well as for the whole Order. Our missions in Kenya, Vietnam, East Timor, and Papua New Guinea were also presented and discussed. The meeting agreed:
(1) to train Carmelite formators in guiding formandi to become prayers, vocational accompaniment, how to ground our formation programs in our Carmelite spirituality and biblical tradition, understanding a new generation of candidates, helping formators address the human agenda, (2) to build communication among  the formators using media, especially a "chat" program to share, discuss, plan our formation materials, files, photos, and information, (3) to continue studying and exploring the possibilities of establishing a community in Singapore and Hong Kong. On November 23 all participants went sightseeing in Bali. The meeting was very positive, communicative, and constructive. Those attending were very grateful to the Saint Joseph community who hosted the meeting and to Ag. Paryono and Frans Sulistyo, the secretaries.

On 18 December there was a meeting of the two General Councils (O. Carm and OCD) in Rome in the OCD Curia house. These meetings take place on a regular basis, twice a year, to discuss issues of common interest and to share ideas and concerns. This was the last meeting with the present OCD council since in April they will be celebrating their general chapter in Fatima.
Among the various topics raised, was the possible translation of the Dizionario Carmelitano into English and Spanish, various courses and congresses both branches are preparing and the next meeting of ALACAR (Latin American Association of Carmelites) in Colombia next October. As is the custom, both councils exchanged gifts and recent publications. The meeting ended with a fraternal lunch in an atmosphere of joy and sharing.

03-12-08 P. Gerard Buijvoets (Neer)
07-12-08 P. Gregory Moore (Aust)

CHRISTUS NATUS EST NOBIS! VENITE ADOREMUS!
NATALE HILARE ET ANNUM FAUSTUM
25.XII.2008
FERNANDO PRIOR GENERALIS ET DOMUSQUE GENERALIS COMMUNITAS

Last Saturday, 20th December, the closing session of the Diocesan process for the process of canonization of the foundress of the Congregation of the Carmelite Sisters of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, the Servant of God Asumción Soler Gimeno took place. This solemn act was presided over by Mons. Fidel Herráez Vegas, Auxiliary Bishop of Madrid, delegate of the Cardinal Archbishop Antonio Mª Rouco Varela. The act of closure took place in the auditorium “Ángel Herrera Oria” of the Paul VI Foundation, part of the Pontifical University of Salamanca, based in Madrid. There were nunerous Carmelites present from all the provinces of the Iberian region, sisters of the Spanish Congregations and a fine represantation of Carmelite laity.

Professio Temporanea
03-11-08: Esmeralda Awil Lasola (DUM)
08-12-08: Emily Mbinya Muthusi (ZAR)
 
Professio Sollemne
14-11-08: Francis Xavier Chinh Nguyen (SEL)
 
Ordinatio Sacerdotalis
29-11-08: Juracy Barbosa (Pern)
13-12-08: Cleidimar Vilela Roquim (GerS)
20-12-08: Christopher Iannizzotto (SEL)
21-12-08: Atanael Lima de Almeida (Flum)
27-12-08: Shiju George Njaralampuzha (Ind)