Meeting of the two Iberian provincial councils

The provincial councils of Portugal and Spain met for the first time in Madrid. The meeting took place on September 17-19. During the first two days they met separately. The last day was given to the joint meeting. This was the third such meeting; the first two had been held in Portugal, in Santarém and Lisbon.

Fr. Carlos Alberto Nunes said that “these meetings aim at answering the invitation of the 17^th General Chapter of 2009 to reflect better and together on our mission in Europe today and to try to live in better communion between Comboni provinces.”

From left: Fr. Alberto de Oliveira Silva, superior provincial of Portugal; Fr. Ramón Eguíluz Eguíluz, superior provincial of Spain; Fr. Silvério Simões Malta; Fr. Carmelo Del Río Sanz; Fr. Antonio Del Pozo Alvarez; Bro. Roberto Misas Ríos; Bro. João Paulo da Rocha Martins; Fr. José Amaral Boaventura; and Fr. Carlos Alberto Nunes.

In order to reach these objectives, the two councils reflected on the possibility of forming an Iberian community (with members of both circumscriptions) as a living sign of communion and of Comboni Missionary activity. Meanwhile, it was decided to put into action a better cooperation between the secretariats of evangelization and of mission promotion and to unite the two commissions of Ongoing Formation.

In the spirit of the celebration of the 10^th anniversary of the canonization of St. Daniel Comboni (October 5, 2003) it was decided to organize a gathering, open to all the members of the two provinces, to reflect on the Rule of Life, which is next year’s general topic for the entire Institute, and to foster mutual understanding. This meeting will take place in Fatima in June 2014.

From left, provincial council of Portugal: Fr. Carlos Alberto Nunes; Bro. João Paulo da Rocha Martins;
Fr. José Amaral Boaventura; Fr. Alberto de Oliveira Silva, superior provincial; and Fr. Silvério Simões Malta.