The Superior General de la Order, Javier Guerra, officially opened the XVI Chapter of the Province of Our Lady of Consolation with a concelebrated Eucharist.
At this very moment the Province has 17 men less than at the beginning of the last triennium. According to the outgoing Provincial, Alfonso Lorda, “the Province, urgently and without any delay needs to be restructured to balance the number of ministries with the numbers of available priests to care for them.” Fr. Lorda believes that one of the main tasks of the chapter is to “ enable the new Provincial to close those ministries where we cannot guarantee a presence because of the lack of personnel.” Once the report on the actual state of the Province had been read out the moderators invited the group to give their opinions and offer any relevant comment on the topic.
This issue regarding restructuring was abundantly debated in the room. Some pointed out that “restructuring cannot be reduced to simply downsizing ministries by closing houses and regrouping people into new communities. Restructuring has to be part and parcel of a much bigger project that implies and takes into account the revitalizing of the structures of the Province making them more dynamic, functional and efficient.”
The formation of the friars, spirituality and vocations promotion were among a number of other themes touched on by the delegates to the chapter which will end with the election of the new major religious superior for Guatemala, the Dominican Republic, Panamá and some ministries in Spain.
New Provincial
On the 16th April Fr. Manuel Beaumont Crespo was elected the new Provincial Prior for the next three years , 2010-2013. Fr Beaumont is 65 years old and comes from Armañanzas (Navarra, Spain). Up until now he was Vicar Provincial in Spain and Headmaster of the Colegio Agustiniano in Madrid.