Argentina. The Educating Communities of the three Provinces of the Daughters of Mary Help of Christians of Argentina – St. Francis de Sales of Buenos Aires (ABA), St. Francis Xavier of BahÍa Blanca (ABB) and Our Lady of the Holy Rosary of Córdoba (ARO) – continue on the path, which began in 2018, towards the unification scheduled for December 2022.

In the months of August and September 2021 four Work Teams – animated by the three Provincial Councils, with the participation of FMA, lay people, and young people – met through an online platform to work together and help define the face of this new reality. The four areas are: Spirituality – Vocation Animation; Animation and government; Animation by sectors; Administrative – Legal.

In September 2021, the three Provincial Councils reached the Educating Communities with a letter to share the steps taken so far by the Teams and the other steps planned until the end of the year:

  • the Nucleus Spirituality – Vocational Animation defined three stages which have the Book of Ruth as their guiding word. The common thread is the testimony of Noemi and Ruth, two women who make a journey in search of the fulfillment of God’s promises, accompanying each other, listening to each other and returning to their native country. The first stage was dedicated to “grateful memory”, in which to celebrate what is lived and gathered in every local and provincial reality.
  • Il Nucleus Animation and Government  is working on the choice of the name and see of the unified province. In the first stage, there was a consultation sent to the Educating Communities, the results of which are being studied by the Commission and will subsequently be sent to the three Councils for discernment.
  • The area of Coordinators and Referents of the Province Pastoral Animation Sectors, which constitute the Sectors Nucleus, in the course of three meetings  elaborated a proposal that contains the criteria with which future decisions will be taken to articulate the areas. The proposal is inspired by the four principles that Pope Francis in the Apostolic Exhortation Evangelii Gaudium, invites us to put into action in the pastoral choices of the Communities: “Time superior to space”; “Unity prevails over conflict”; “Reality is more important than the idea”; “The whole is greater than the part”.
  • The Nucleus Administrative – Legal  is committed to defining a project for the administrative and legal management of the new FMA Province in Argentina, mission-oriented, and in the key of solidarity in communion, according to the Guidelines for the Management of Assets of the FMA Institute. The work involved the collection of data and the comparison with the criteria on the juridical norms, on the models, and on the practices put in place for the management of the Communities and of the works in the three Provinces in order to arrive at a convergence.

The richness of the various contributions, the interest and responsibility shown, the research and insights, the debates, and the willingness to confront with which the members of the Teams are carrying out the process, are a sign of passion and generous dedication to give life to something new for the good of many, many young people

The three Provincial Councils expressed in the Letter  gratitude to the Educating Communities for the sense of belonging and the commitment to undertake the journey, “thus maturing a true experience of synodality, to write together this new chapter of history that God entrusts to us”.

And they concluded by inviting all to remain united and open to the Holy Spirit, “who continues to manifest Himself in the today of history” and asking “that the Help of Christians, Mother and Teacher, be the sure guide and constant presence that accompanies this present and future journey of every life and every community, especially in this time of renewal of the XXIV General Chapter”.

LEAVE A REPLY

Please enter your comment!
Please enter your name here

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.