Fr. Jeff Kirch, C.PP.S.
Throughout the year our moderator general, Fr. Bill Nordenbrock, C.PP.S., and the general council spend time meeting together in Rome to plan different events for the Congregation and taking care of much of the routine “behind the scenes” business of the community. In addition to these meetings our Normative Texts (S51) call for all major superiors, the moderator general, provincial directors, and vicariate directors, to visit the members of their units at least once in their term.
For vicariate directors and provincial directors this might mean that they visit from 15 to 120 Missionaries over the course of their term. These members are usually located within one country. However, for the moderator general, this means that he needs to meet with all 545 Missionaries scattered across twenty countries. Needless to say this takes much planning and time to accomplish.
The official visitation of the moderator general gives both the individual Missionary a chance to share with the moderator general any concerns he has in terms of the life and governance of the Congregation, but more importantly, the individual Missionary has a chance to share his own apostolic and spiritual journey with the moderator general. On the other side, the moderator general is able to briefly share in the community life of various C.PP.S. houses and get a first hand experience of the health and vitality of the individual missions, vicariates, and provinces. These visitations are also an opportunity for the the moderator general to encourage missionaries and units to continue to work on implementing the vision statement from the general assembly in their local context.
During April, Fr. Nordenbrock and Rev. Emanuele Lupi, C.PP.S., the vice-moderator general, made the official visitation of the Italian Province, including the parish of S. Maria di Gesù Inferiore in Messina, Sicily. Rev. Amaladoss Mariasusai, C.PP.S., who is ministering on the island of Pantelleria, journeyed to Messina as well.
Originally posted on the C.PP.S. Generalate website.