The USG opened its 82nd assembly on November 27, two days before the papal audience. The assembly began with a totally unique agenda. The participants learned at the outset that for the first time in its long history, a USG meeting was going to conclude with an exclusive audience with the Pope. This gratifying news shaped the agenda of the three-day meeting from the very beginning. The entire time was dedicated to analyzing Pope Francis’ comportment and teachings and their repercussions on religious life. At the end of their discussions, the superiors concluded that “the gestures and teachings of Pope Francis invite us to a ‘conversion’ in our service to our brothers.”
Fraternal Dialogue
On the morning of the 29th the superiors general moved their assembly to the Vatican to meet with the Holy Father in Synod Hall. The meeting was not strictly an audience, with its corresponding discourse by the Pontiff. It was an extended encounter in which, for over three hours, the relgious directed their questions and concerns to the Pope, and he responded to them in a spirit of fraternity.
Francis greeted each of the 120 superiors individually. At the conclusion of the meeting he announced that the year 2015 will be dedicated to consecrated life. As he was about to leave the hall, he said in farewell: “Thank you for all that you do and for your spirit of faith and dedication to service. Thank you for your testimony and also for the humiliations that you suffer.”
The Joy of the Gospel
This 82nd Assembly and the interview with the Pope have been an extraordinary source of inspiration and encouragement for religious superiors, just as they have been for all consecrated persons. All of this is summed up in the influence that we are called to exercise by the recent apostolic exhortation The Joy of the Gospel, published this past November 24, on the occasion of the closing of the Year of Faith. From the first lines of this important document, Francis invites all Christians “to a new evangelizing era typified by joy,” and points out “ways for the Church to move forward during coming years.”
A new era in the history of the Church is beginning, with a new style and new guidelines. The key word in “conversion,” in search of more authenticity and greater fidelity to our proper charism. Augustinian Recollects identify themselves with this process of revitalizing and restructuring. The General Chapter at the end of 2010 set the course to be pursued for the entire sexennium, and the Order has been following its directives during these years since the chapter. Certainly this impulse toward renewal finds in the words and gestures of Pope Francis not only an endorsement; it finds, above all, a new atmosphere, deeper motivations, and perspectives heretofore unimagined in the Church and in the world.