THE CENTER
FOR
REDEMPTORIST SPIRITUALITY

 

Contacts

The Directors:

Félix Catalá, C.Ss.R.
(fcatala@cssr.com)

Ivel Mendanha, C.Ss.R.
(imendanha@cssr.com)

Origins and objectives

The General Council established the Center for Redemptorist Spirituality in 1998 in response to a recommendation of the XXII General Chapter of 1997. The Council wished to establish a new structure that would assist the units of the Congregation in carrying out the theme of spirituality during the sexennium. The Center was to develop a renewal program for the confreres based on our Alphonsian and Redemptorist roots. Fr. Félix E. Catalá, C.Ss.R., from the Province of San Juan, Puerto Rico, was appointed director. The Center's objectives were articulated in May, 1998. By September, 1998, Fr. Catalá was in Rome to begin implementation. The strategies and activities of the Center were worked out by the end of that year. In January, 2001, Fr. Joseph Ivel Mendanha, C.Ss.R., from the Province of Bangalore, India, was appointed assistant director by the Council. The General Council, following the recommendation of the XXIII General Chapter of 2003, to deepen the reflection on spirituality, reappointed both Frs. Felix and Ivel to continue the work of the Center for Spirituality for the new Sexennium (2003-2009).

The main objective of the Center is to contribute effectively to a deeper knowledge and living of Redemptorist Spirituality throughout the Congregation and among members of the greater Redemptorist Family. The Center's main purpose is to serve and support the units of the Congregation. This objective entails several specific goals:

·  To encourage the confreres to live creatively the theme of the sexennium.

·  To give special attention to the needs of superiors and formation directors.

·  To support the permanent or ongoing formation programs of units in the Congregation.

·  To open avenues of communication with regard to the theme of the sexennium among the units of the Congregation.

·  To promote regional efforts and structures that contribute to the realization of the sexennial theme.

In order to achieve its objective and goals, the work-plan envisioned the following strategies:

·  To work closely with the Secretariat for Spirituality and other General Secretariats.

·  To offer workshops, retreats and conferences on Redemptorist Spirituality.

·  To contribute to the formation of regional structures (Spirituality Commissions, for example) and support to already existing structures that work to promote the theme of spirituality.

·  To facilitate communication on the theme of the sexennium and a sharing of documentation fundamental to our Spirituality.

·  Contribute to the formation of confreres who will become resource persons for their respective regions.

·  Set up working relationships with other Congregations and Institutes that will benefit a common and ongoing search for renewal and inculturation.

Activities during the current Sexennium

- Courses, workshops, retreats and experiences of spirituality:

a.   In Italy (Rome and the Alphonsian places)

Two annual workshops: one for ongoing formation and the other directed specifically to formation personnel.

b.   Regionally

To support regional efforts in the realization of the sexennial theme, promoting a regional organization that will provide on-going formation and the development of formation personnel. Personal and material resources that serve to support regional or unit programs will be offered.

- Internet presence: the objectives of the web site of the Center for Redemptorist Spirituality (www.copiosa.com) will be:

a)  to provide helpful materials and information;

b)  facilitate the exchange of information.

- Publications related to the theme of spirituality: The Center will produce a program of community reflection on the theme of redemption and Redemptorist religious life, similar to the Charism 2000 project, based on the Redemptorist Constitutions and Statutes and the Communicanda on Plentiful Redemption.

- Publication and circulation of other useful materials for activities and meetings of Redemptorists, including translations of texts that articulate something about our Redemptorist Spirituality.

- Always and when possible, participate in meetings of other organizations (for example, Secretariats, regional meetings, etc.) of the Congregation with the intention of promoting and integrating the sexennial theme with all the other activities of the Congregation.