Last week’s Fourth Viatorian General Assembly was a time of interculturality, multi-lingual cooperation and collaboration, and a sign of the ways we can continue to learn internationally from one another to live out our Viatorian charism.
We caught up with a handful of English-speaking delegates to ask them for a greeting we could send back to our English-speaking Viatorians and Viatorian communities in the United States. And here it is!
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“One thing I would highlight is being a catechist,” Br. José Javier García García, CSV, of the Province of Spain, said. He is an English and Spanish teacher at Colegio Fátima in Madrid who assisted with interpretation between all three languages at assembly. “We are educators of different subjects, but we are educators of faith. The teachers of the school and the collaborators, families, and students must see in us that we are following Christ. When we live this out in the footsteps of Fr. Querbes, we can be witnesses.”
Associate Richard Fiola of the Province of Canada is principal of a small French school in central Canada near the border of Manitoba and Saskatchewan, and he sees our charism in the diversity of the school and its staff. “In our school, we have teachers from Vietnam, Morocco, and Benin. Even at this far distance from big cities, we have immigration, and this is another way to embrace differences and incorporate people into our community,” Richard said.
Fr. Pedro Herrera, CSV, of the Foundation of Colombia, was the first Colombian to become a professed Viatorian. While serving the assembly as an interpreter providing English translations of Spanish presentations, he witnessed the joyful diversity of our community. “This has been a nice experience of a big group of Viatorians from Africa, Europe, and North, Central, and South America,” Fr. Pedro said.
Hear from more Viatorians at the Fourth General Assembly in Ep. 98 of Viatorian Voices on YouTube, Spotify, or Apple Podcasts.