The “Augustinian Recollect Family” is presented like a tree with many branches: friars, contemplative nuns, sisters of active life, secular fraternity, parents and relatives of the religious, brothers and sisters of the Order, all of whom and according to their own state of life, share in the ecclesial mission of the people of God. In line with this the concerns of the Pastoral Ministry of Vocations and the Youth were treated with realism and much hope.
The Prior General, Javier Guerra, on his part presented his report on governance as a form of brotherly service for the fraternal life of the religious. While Archbishop Francisco Javier Martinez of Granada exhorted the Chapter participants to work with enthusiasm during the Mass celebrated on the 22nd day of the month.
Different Commissions studied the topics that were discussed in the Chapter hall in view of possible ordinances for the next secennium.
Statistics
Numbers speak, and not only of economy; numbers speak of things, they reveal situations, relate states of affairs, portray realities, and describe scenarios. In this modern world we cannot but live with numbers: passport, telephone, house number, car plate, postal address, credit card, bar code, hospital room, protocol, PIN, password, hour, minute, second, day, date of birth, anniversaries…etc. Numbers are cold, they can be boring and even dramatic, much more so when they are painted red.
Configuration
The 1,136 religious of the Order are distributed by country of residence as follows: 318 in Spain, 129 in Brazil, 129 in the Philippines, 108 in Columbia, 74 in Mexico, 72 in the United States of America, 58 in Venezuela, 56 in Peru, 31 in Argentina, 31 in Panama, 26 in Italy, 22 in Costa Rica, 17 in the United Kingdom, 14 in the Dominican Republic, 14 in Guatemala, 11 in China, 11 in Chile, 9 in Taiwan and 6 in Sierra Leone, Africa.
The Chapter
The participants of the Chapter are distributed, according to place of birth, as follows: 21 Spaniards (55.2%), 6 Filipinos (15.7%), 3 Brazilians (7.8%), 3 Columbians (7.8%), 2 Mexicans (5.2%), 2 North Americans (5,2%) and 1 Irish (2.6%).
The picture changes when we distribute them according to the place of work: 14 in Spain (36.8%), 7 in Italy (18.4%), 5 in the Philippines (13.1%), 3 in Columbia (7.8%), 3 in the USA (7.8%), 2 in Brazil (5.2%), 1 in England (2.6%), 1 in Argentina (2.6%), 1 in Mexico (2.6%), and 1 in Venezuela (2.6%).
If grouped by age, we get a different picture: 1 religious is beyond the age of 80; 5 are between the ages 70 and 79; 12 are between 60 and 69; 9 between the ages 50 and 59; 7 between 40 – 49 and only four are below 40 years of age. The eldest is Fr. James MacGuire, born in the year 1929, and he is 81 years old. The youngest is Fray Jose Jakosalem, born in 1973. He is 36 years of age.
By Provinces, the following is the distribution of religious: St. Nicholas has 8 religious (21.05%); St. Thomas 7 (18.42%); St. Ezekiel has 6 (15.78%); St. Joseph with 5 (13.15%); Candelaria. St. Augustine, St. Rita and the Consolation have 3 each (7.89%).
As far as number of attendance at General Chapters is concerned, we have the following: 2 religious have participated 6 times; 1 has been present in 5 Chapters; 3 in 4; 3 religious were present in 3; 9 religious have this as their second General Chapter; and 20 are first timers.