WORK ON THE REVISION OF THE DIRECTORY HAS BEGUN

The Commission appointed by the General Council for the Revision of the Directory, began its work on February 10, 2023, with a day of prayer at the Shrine of Our Lady Aparecida (San Paolo). It is composed of four Apostles:

1. Sr. Maria Cristina Pievani, General Councilor

2. Sr. Mariette Moan, Our Lady Queen of Apostles Province, USA

3. Sr. Marilda Conti, Clelia Merloni and Sacred Heart of Jesus Provinces, Brazil

4. Sr. Giampaola Voltolini, Mother Clelia Italian Province

Their work continued at UNISAGRADO –Sacred Heart University Center, in Bauru (San Paolo Province, Brazil) until February 17, 2023. Mother Miriam Cunha Sobrinha participated online via Zoom, offering valuable and useful advice for carrying out their task, encouraging us to work with an open heart, through prayer and reflection on the WORD OF GOD, in the spirit of the CHARISM and the voices of ALL the Apostles. The new text of the Directory, added Mother Miriam, has to be in accordance with the Constitutions and adapted to today’s times, respecting our inalienable values and the cultural sensitivity of all Apostles, without damaging our communion. The Directory is the practical application of the principles expressed in the Constitutions. She also urged us to evaluate and collate the Sisters’ proposals on four topics:

• New outline of COMMUNITY PRAYER ad experimentum, proposed by the XVIII General Chapter

• Ways of doing community recreation

• RELIGIOUS HABIT, as a sign of consecration

• Use of SOCIAL MEDIA

The following day, Fr. YUJI SUGAWARA, S.J., a canonist and theologian, spoke to us on-line.

After affirming that the Constitutions contain principles in accord with the charism of the Congregation, whereas the Directory presents practical norms for living the principles, he proposed the following directives:

• In the Directory, it is better to avoid spiritual reflections and exhortations, because the norms have to be verifiable and objective.

• Even if the norms are determined by the Charism, they must be in agreement with the reality of each culture.

• The norms need to pertain to all the members of the Congregation and be approved by the General Chapter.

• The Dicastery for Consecrated Life requires that, in addition to the Constitutions, we also submit a copy of the Directory which, together with the Ratio and the Vademecum, constitute the proper law of the Congregation.

• The norms which are outdated or cannot be observed any longer need to be removed from the Directory.

The Commission has drafted a timeframe for their work and have begun to reflect on various topics, elaborating for each of them an outline of proposals and questions to present to the Sisters, in an orderly and clear consultation. Each topic is introduced by appropriate reflections taken from the Constitutions, Church and Congregational documents, Canon Law and the writings of Mother Clelia. The outlines proposed are intended for the individual sisters, received directly or through the Superiors, without excluding moments of personal sharing. The answers will be returned to the Commission on an online form or (in case of difficulty with that, in a paper document) by July 15, 2023. When the Sisters’ proposals have been collected and the new text of the Constitutions, approved by the Dicastery of Consecrated Life, has been received, the Commission will meet in November, in Curitiba, Paraná, to write the first draft of the new text of the Directory.

Sr. Maria Cristina Pievani General Councilor

Gfasc Journeys Toward Recognition By The Church As A Lay Association Linked To The Apostles Of The Sacred Heart Of Jesus

congregational and provincial levels. However, a preliminary team had to be created in the meantime who would take charge of the preparations. The sisters responsible for GFASC in the various provinces have suggested some names and, together with Sr. Marta Dalcin and the support of Mother Miriam, have formed the first GFASC central coordination team, in accord with the indications received from the Dicastery.

As we all know, the XVIII General Chapter unanimously welcomed and recognized the GFASCJ group (Great Family of the Sacred Heart) as a Private Association of the Lay Faithful linked to our Congregation. This decision was finalized by the Decree of December 22, 2022, signed by Mother Miriam and sent to the Institute and all the members of GFASC. In it, Mother Miriam also communicated that in 2023 the drafting of the Statute of this Association would begin, a task that would involve all the GFASC groups existing in the various nations in which the Institute is present.

When GFASC has been approved by the Church, the members will need to elect, in assembly, their team of coordinators, at the

In fact, one of the directives of the Dicastery was to entrust the coordination to the laity, leaving to us Apostles the role of consultor, animator, guarantor of the charism and accompaniment.

Currently, the central coordination team is drafting the first draft of the Statute together with the provincial coordination teams of the provinces. In the meantime, meetings have been held with the sisters and coordinators of GFASC, first at the provincial level and then at the local level. They are studying what it means to become a lay association linked to our Institute and what its Statute should include. Now, accompanied by their respective provincial teams, the local coordinators will have to inform the members of their GFASC groups, in order to prepare them to accept the work of the revision of the Statute with peaceful responsibility.

The desire of the central coordination committee and myself as the Apostle who accompanies them at this level, is to conclude the writing of the Statute by the end of this year and have the approbation of the General government of the Institute, so that in the first months of 2024, the year of the 30th anniversary of GFASC, we can present it to the Church for its approval.

On the occasion of the anniversary of Blessed Clelia Merloni’s birth, all the Apostles and all the members of GFASC received a letter from the central coordination team, in which they

Coordinators:

Maria José and Claudemir

Luiz Sordi (Paraná- Brazil)

Vice-coordinators:

Maria Rosaria and Massimo Passaretti (Italy)

Secretaries:

Valeria and Claudio Mastrogiovanni (Italy) asked that we daily recite a prayer, composed for the purpose of asking the light of the Spirit during the discernment process that GFASC is living.

As those who guarantee the charism of our beloved Foundress, that the members of GFASC have been living for a long time, as lay persons, we have a great pastoral and charismatic duty to accompany them in this journey!

Trusting in the support of all the Apostles, I present the members of the central coordination team (we still have to elect the couple who will be treasurers):

Councilors:

Mônica Tereza and João

Luiz Leinecker Turchenski (Paraná - Brazil)

Councilors:

Volunia and Waldir Caldeira (São Paulo - Brazil)

Councilors:

Zunilda and Víctor Tapia (Cile)

CLELIAN YOUTH MOVEMENT: A DREAM THAT WANTS TO BECOME A REALITY

The XVIII General Chapter, having listened to the suggestion of the Synod of Young Apostles, revived the recommendation to “begin a journey for the creation of the Clelian Youth Movement (CYM) in the Institute”. We know that in the preceding six-year term it was not possible to do so because of the numerous tasks involved in the beatification of our beloved Mother Clelia and the task of updating our Constitutions. In this Clelian Year of Evangelization we hope, with the grace of

God, to be able to plan youth and vocational ministry according to our Clelian charism and thus journey toward this much desired CYM. First of all, I wanted to know and listen to our sisters involved in CYM in their respective provinces. For that reason, between the month of February and the first days of March, we met with each group of CYM. Beginning with the Gospel text of Matthew that we are following in this Clelian Year of Evangelization, we shared our reflections and the hopes of each province, regarding the possibility of a CYM. It was wonderful to gather so many profound and challenging expectations for all the Apostles, and for the laity and priests who accompany us in this beautiful ministry! From this enriching time of listening, emerged the theme of the encounter which took place Saturday, March 25, open to all: “Youth ministry in the light of vocations”. In fact, the main purpose in these first steps of our journey together is to become aware of the need to carry out our youth ministry in a vocational key, responding to the calls of the Church and the needs of young people, as true sons and daughters of Mother Clelia. In these coming months, we are all invited to deepen our understanding of this theme and to listen to young people committed to discovering the wells of today, where they are present. The young have the right to be evangelized and we have the duty to bring the tenderness of the Heart of Jesus to them, to announce that there is a God who is Love and who is waiting for them so he may give meaning to their lives. Knowing that they are loved tenderly and mercifully by the Heart of Jesus, the young will be able to trust God and open their hearts to the specific vocation to which He calls each one individually, that they may be persons fully and deeply happy. We have a long journey ahead of us, let’s undertake it together!

Fernanda Trucco Alemán General Councilor