Taking advantage of the congress of federal leaders of all the religious orders, organised by the Congregation for Consecrated Life, at the end of the year dedicated to the consecrated life, the five Carmelite federal leaders (3 from Spain, I from the Philippines and 1 from Italy), along with the coordinator of the monasteries in Brazil and representatives of monasteries in the Caribbean and the U.S.A. were invited by the Delegate General to a meeting that was held from the 3rd to the 5th of February at St. Albert’s International Centre (CISA) in Rome. This assembly was first of all an occasion for getting to know all about the federations and the monasteries outside the federations, and then to promote communication and communion between the nuns themselves and between the monasteries and the rest of the Carmelite Family. In this context, the proposals put forward by the Secretariat for Nuns and presented by Mother Ma. Elena Tolentino (BUR) (see citoc-online 112/2014) were further developed. The 15 participants also shared their thoughts about what emerged from the Vatican congress, beginning with a report on the event given by Mother Martina Simeone (SUT).

Two further moments of great interest were the participation of the Postulator General, Giovanna Brizi, and of the Prior General, Fernando Millán Romeral, O.Carm.  The Postulator General spoke about the causes of nuns underway at this time and the procedure that has to be followed if there is a desire to introduce a new cause. The Prior General shared an amount of information regarding a number of topics, events and initiatives within the Order, and concluded by encouraging the nuns to continue on this path towards greater communion. As a result of the exchanges two important decisions were taken: the holding of the assembly of federal leaders and representatives of non-federated monasteries every three years, and a mode of procedure for the updating of the nuns’ constitutions.

At the end of the meeting, the Prior General made a presentation to the Prior of CISA Míceál O’Neill, O.Carm of the type-writer that belonged to Fr. Bartolomé Xiberta O.Carm. a candidate for beatification, with which Xiberta wrote his great theological works and hundreds of letters to Carmelite nuns.