With vocations continuing to grow in Colombia, this week’s meeting of Viatorian superiors from the Province of Chile and the Foundations of Bolivia, Colombia, Haiti, Honduras and Peru is important.
(L-R) Claudio Rios (General Council), José Luis Céspedes (Honduras), Dudley Pierre (Haiti), Marcelo Lamas (Chile), Benoit Trembley (Peru), Txema Martínez (Bolivia) And Pedro Herrera (Colombia).
Superiors with the Latin American and Caribbean Council, or CLAC are meeting in Santiago, Chile. This international organization was formed in 2001 and is recognized by the Superior General and his Council.
“This is a way of sharing issues related to the foundations, but it also affirms the process of formation and of the numbers of growing vocations in these countries,” says Fr. Robert M. Egan, CSV, Superior General.
CLAC’s stated purpose is to share information about their respective communities and community life, advance mission objectives and generally promote a fraternity between Viatorians in these countries. However, a major thrust is to talk about the stages of initial formation, from postulancy to perpetual vows, since novices from these countries prepare for religious life together.
Viatorian postulants from all but the Foundation of Haiti spend a year of formation at the Latin American Novitiate in Puente Alto, Chile. Their year in the novitiate consists of an intense training process as strong preparation for religious life. Their studies include immersion into community, pastoral, spiritual and academic studies.