Burkina Faso (África), 03/09/2022, Sr. Chantal Ouédraogo.- This year, our Vice-Province had the grace of receiving the General Government for the canonical visitation as recommended in our documents. It was a great moment of sharing, of fraternity, of giving and receiving, from December 27, 2021 to February 12, 2022.
As our Vice-Province is made up of various cultures, we had the opportunity to participate in a formation session on interculturality. This session took place on December 30 and it was an enriching experience for us. It was attended by all the sisters from the communities of Burkina Faso and one sister from Ivory Coast. Indeed, plurality and multiculturalism is one of the great richness of our Congregation. However, it requires from each sister a change of mentality to go beyond her own borders. Inter-culturality must be lived in a spirit of synodality in order to live together the different processes of restructuration in the Congregation with maturity. This is a challenge of our time that requires: interior openness, self-denial, solid spirituality and the joy of living together to build the Kingdom of God.
The simplicity and creativity of our sisters of the General Government have allowed us to live these moments of sharing with joy and in family spirit. We experienced concrete moments of communion in interculturality through the sharing of bread and the performance of traditional African dances.
On December 31, Sr. Maria and her Council offered to the local superiors of our Structure a formation on "leadership". We remember that to be a leader is to have the freedom of the Gospel. The leader is the one who has the ability to influence others through the authenticity of her life and there is no authenticity without holiness. Her mission is to guide and direct others. Christ himself is the leader par excellence and we have inherited this quality from Christ in order to serve better. May the Lord keep us far from the ambition of power and the abuse of authority, allowing us to exercise it with simplicity.
On January 2, 2022, the sisters of the Council began visiting the communities of the countries that make up the Vice-Province: Burkina Faso, Ivory Coast, Cameroon and Chad.
After the visit of the different communities, the sisters of the Vice-Province and the General Government gathered for an Assembly on January 29. This assembly was just as wonderful. Sr. Maria reminded us of the challenges of the 2019 General Chapter inviting us to go beyond borders and to live restructuration with concrete expressions with a renewed spirituality, care for community and fraternal life, value the other in living interculturality, youth ministry, revitalization of the mission, ecological commitment (care for the common home), among others. She also exhorted us to walk together in synodality through the three fundamental aspects: communion, participation and mission.
At the end of our meeting, we had the joy of seeing the photos of the different changes made at the Mother House and the new house of the General Government in Rome.
On February 3, 2022, Sr. Maria Escayola Coris, Sr. Scholastique Bei and Sr. Evelyne Ouédraogo (Vice-Provincial Superior of Africa) began the visit of our sisters in Congo Brazzaville. In the afternoon, Sisters Diana Gisela Dolorita, Herminia Marin Rincon and Ana Patricia Londoño Florez journeyed back to the Generalate in Rome.
In summary, we can say that this canonical visit of Sr. Maria Escayola and her Council has benefitted the Vice-Province and each sister. It has given us encouragement. We appreciate the personal and community sharing, their availability and support, different moments of meaningful prayers, which helped us to revitalize our consecration, also our fraternal and missionary life.
May the Lord strengthen our steps in this synodal journey for spiritual fruitfulness in our Congregation and the world.