Q.- What has leading the Order for twelve years meant to you?
A.- For me, these years afforded me a better knowledge of all our communities- around 200-, and I feel enriched from the witnessing of so many exemplary lives of brothers with their holiness of life and their dedication to the service of the Kingdom in missionary, parochial, and pastoral ministry, education, vocational work and formation of the candidates in our kind of life and other various ministries at the service of the Church. Personally I have felt the satisfaction and especially moved during the time I spent with our missionaries. If there is anything I miss, it is the time, the tranquility and serenity to prepare certain activities and documents and to be present in some events and celebrations.
Q.- In what aspect has the Order changed at this time?
A.- All the important events in the evolution of the world in general and of the Church in particular affect in some way the Order. As we all know, during the turn of the century and of the millennium, the changes have been many and very strong: from the disastrous phenomena of nature to the often political, economic and social confusion; the distortion of many religious, family, and human values; the general decrease of vocations and the abandonment of others; the steep evolution of the mass media; the process of de-christianization; the critical and hopefully purifying situation of the Church and many other changes… This reality, together with the lapses in the observance of community life and the difficulties to attend to the assumed pastoral duties, has brought to the many religious and communities deeper sensibility and commitment. Along with the concern and the desire for a radical communitarian and personal renewal, there is the felt need to give priority to what is essential in our way of life: prayer, spirit of poverty and fraternal life. Likewise, there is a need to express with greater clarity our Augustinian Recollect identity in our ministries to make them more credible, dedicating ourselves primarily to the most needy. With this in mind, several provinces have carried out efforts geared towards fulfilling the Church’s mission, according to the peculiar needs of each local church.
Interprovincial Collaboration
Q.- What would you have wanted changed and up to now is left undone?
A.- There is no doubt that all the religious aim at deepening and living the fraternal spirit, but then with the current situation, in which the number of religious is limited, we end up attending to many and varied ministries. Besides, our Constitutions grant to the provinces ample authority to exercise depending on the varied situations. Obviously, this makes a unified running of the Order difficult; the religious logically identify themselves more with the problems, needs and challenges of the province to which they belong than with the global reality of the Order. There have been significant achievements obtained through the provincial and general chapters, congresses and interprovincial assemblies, courses of renewal, jubilee celebrations, but I believe that what is more important is the unity and contribution of the different provinces in the formation of their candidates. This endeavor must be pursued.
Q.- What are the contributions of the Augustinian Recollects to the world and to the Church at this time?
A.- We often quote the Augustinian motto: "We go where the Church needs us". It is impossible to go to all the places where Church needs us and we receive continuous requests; and it is becoming more difficult to attend to the existing ministries due to the decline of vocations and the ageing of our communities. Currently we carry out the following apostolic tasks:
• Missionary Apostolate: 9 mission stations with 83 missionaries in Brazil, Colombia, continental China, Panama, Peru, Sierra Leone and Taiwan. Our religious family has already a brilliant multidimensional missionary engagement.
• Parochial Apostolate: 184 parishes with 420 religious, in all the countries in which we have communities. The socioeconomic level is predominantly middle and low middle income classes.
• Educational Apostolate: 51 centers -including 3 universities- with 146 religious and about 80,000 students. More and more of our schools are getting recognized, seals of quality and great appreciation from both government agencies and the families; there is now an increasing collaboration between the religious and the laymen.
Q.- In which country do you find the Order more dynamic?
A.- It is usually said that comparisons are useless. When it comes to dedication, in all places the religious are dedicated to the service entrusted to them. If this question refers to the strength and the drive of the religious by virtue of their young age and the influence of the social climate then we can say that the Philippines and Colombia, in this order, take the lead. If what is referred to is the spiritual struggle to overcome the barriers in defense of the Faith and the human rights, it is the missionaries wherever they may be who take precedence over all.
Q.- Where do you think the Order is going?
A.- The Order exists to respond to the urging of God, and the voice of the Holy Spirit, whose call continues to resound among the members through the witnessing of the charism. It is meant then to be shared with others as an experience of the Spirit, to be lived, kept, deepened and developed constantly by those who, by the action of the Spirit, are called to participate in the founders’ inspiration and to become bearers of their ecclesial mission.
“There is a need to strengthen the life of prayer, the personal and communitarian witnessing”. Changes
Q.- What do you think are the principal needs of the Order?
A.- There is a need to strengthen the life of prayer, the personal and communitarian witnessing, the attention to vocation and formation, the generous dedication to the service of the Kingdom and the firm hope in Him who is almighty, always trying to fulfill his will.
Q.- What is that re-structuring being announced during the General Chapter preparatory activities about?
A.- In some way, yes, in all the chapters, both general and provincial, there have been talks about this issue and some decisions leading to the authentic re-structuring have been made. In simple words, it is all about trying to program the life and the ministry of the communities of the Order according to the demands of the present life and of the Church following the missionary spirit. Only God knows how this restructuring of the Order will come about.
Q.- Will there be substantial changes in the Constitutions of the Order?
A.- No, there are not going to be substantial changes in the upcoming re-visit of the Constitutions. Yes, we expect and foresee the integration of the relevant contributions of the religious during the past six years enriching the Constitutions with Scriptural and Augustinian citations, together with the documents of the Church about the consecrated life during the past 30 years.
Next Superior General
Q.- For the religious who will succeed you in the reins of the Order during the next six years and who will try to shore up the ordinances of the General Chapter, what qualities do you think he needs to have?
A.- Aside from the conditions stipulated in the Constitutions for the exercise of his functions (prudence, knowledge, religious observance, love for the Order and other virtues…), I dare to mention patience, good health and the drive to preserve it, apt for the pace of life of the office. We cannot miss the fact that in the exercise of authority and for important decisions he is always accompanied by six persons who make up the general council, each responsible over certain area, namely, spirituality, formation and vocations, educational, missionary and ministerial apostolates, procurator before the Holy See and others.
“Almost all our bishops work for the Kingdom and exercise their pastoral work in mission and socially poor areas”. The Bishops and the Lay
Q.- The Augustinian Recollect bishops are strongly engaged in the social issues of their own territory, especially in America. What kind of help do they receive from the Order?
A.- I find the calling of some of our members to serve as successors of the apostles a good reason for satisfaction for the Order and sign of trust on the part of the Church; currently we have 19 bishops. All of them fulfill their ministry with true zeal and missionary spirit, following our tradition immortalized in history and as they learnt from their religious formation. Almost all of them work for the Kingdom and exercise their pastoral work in mission and socially poor areas for many years. Some continue to live in their own Augustinian Recollect communities. They often receive personnel assistance for the regular ministerial work and occasionally for special services. In those most depressed areas, they receive significant financial help from the Augustinian Recollect NGO Haren Alde whose headquarters is in Madrid.
Q.- What is the role of the lay Augustinian Recollects now?
A.- Our legislation insists that efforts be exerted in all our apostolates to bring about a mature Christian laity, forming them for the catechesis and other Church services, since only in the active participation of the lay persons can a faith community enjoy the fullness of life. In fact, there are joint efforts between the lay and our religious with varying degrees of involvement so much conditioned by their availability and the limitations of the place. In this way they proclaim the gospel, contribute to the construction of a more just world and make the Kingdom of God present in the Church and in the world of today, so much in need of these values.
The Secular Augustinian Recollect Fraternity has its rule of life and its own ritual and it has now about 4,000 members, spread in 15 countries.
“The presence of Saint Augustine in our world is growing each day”. St. Augustine
Q.- What are the values that San Augustine can propose to the modern men and women?
A.- It might possibly sound to many a bit weird and vulgar the expression that we have fondly heard over the years: "No homily is without Augustine just as there is no soup without pork". Nowadays, neither the Sunday homily nor the traditional soup as references for culinary art makes sense. But then it is easy to understand that at some point in time both served as aid in order to obtain the desired outcome. If however on one hand the traditional soup has been shelved in history as a decorative museum piece or simply as a remembrance, on another the witness, doctrine and spirituality of St. Augustine of Hippo , an African who lived during the 4th and 5th centuries, have gained ground through the years and are indeed forceful and appreciated these days.
Q.- Is there an element in the life of St. Augustine that can serve as our reference?
A.- The presence of Saint Augustine in our world is growing each day and for many reasons: his time is very much like ours, the no nonsense search that filled all his life, the lively and familiar language used in his writings, the compelling ideas transmitted to us… and for another reason, which is not usually emphasized but which provides life and sense to everything: prayer. St.Augustine knew how to pray and he truly prayed. He was getting richer from what God gave him and not from men. All his life, after his coversion, was practically a prayer. But then it is a prayer that is truly personal and proper only of Augustine.