PASPAC e-Newsletter October 2011

Dear Brothers,

Five months have gone by since the last e-communication to the PASPAC region. Much has been done in each Province, Vice Province, Regional Vicariate and Mission that forms this Configuration.
PASPAC Assembly 2011 Calumpang, the Philippines

Currently, the final preparation for the 2011 PASPAC Assembly are underway. Up until the present time, our Assemblies have been the Leaders meeting with representatives from each unit in the configuration. This Assembly will be very different in that it is the first time that the members of each of the three Commissions, which form the core of our Asia Pacific reconfiguration efforts, shall meet face to face. These three commissions will be at work during the course of the Assembly on concrete projects regarding these three areas of our life: Formation, Personnel and Finances. The prayers of the entire Region are asked that we can successfully meet the needs of our region for the next two years. With consideration of budgets and personnel placements and re-interpreting our goals in regional formation, there is a very great deal to do in a very short period of time. Thus far, it is estimated that there will be thirty-five Passionists attending the Assembly from each of the nations in which religious work in this part of the world.

Vocation Recruitment: A Korean Perspective One of the pressing realities we all face is the whole area of Vocational Recruitment to our way of life and mission. Fr. Daniel Chang, recently appointed Vocational Animator for the Korean Province offers the following reflections: I am Brother Daniel Myung-Il Chang, the Vocational Animator for the Province of the Korean Martyrs. Like other regions around the world, here in Korea we are facing a new reality in religious life in relation to vocational animation. Our society, as time goes by, is becoming slowly more
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aged. There are few younger people considering religious life as a life option. As a result, each of those few candidates who attend our monthly Vocation Discernment meetings is a precious gift to us.

In working with these candidates, I am looking for one thing in them. That is, I am looking for someone who can live happily in a community. We live together and we are all very different individuals. We are from different backgrounds and have different experiences; some of our values may differ as well as those personality traits that define us. As our ages vary, our interests and personal preferences will vary as well. What unites us is, in the terms of Number 4 of our Constitutions, is that: We accept the urgent
Daniel Chang C.P.

demands made on each of us by the personal call of the Father to follow

Jesus Crucified I believe that to the extent that we are capable of dying to our own personal desires as we respond to the call of the Father, our vocational problems will naturally resolve themselves.

How good, how delightful it is to live as brothers all together! (Psalm 133)

This experience alone is what draws young people to our Passionist way of life today this is what leads to them make a commitment to it. Of course, it would be wonderful if many young people were to visit our houses and enter the Congregation. But this is intimately connected to my own attitude towards the brother living in the next room and the extent to which I accept him as a brother.

Jesus had a human fear of the Cross and the suffering that he was led to endure; it was also a road that led to happiness and joy. This was the path the Father of All led Jesus down. Our Passionist life is not meant to be one lived on a large scale, but a way of life that leads us, through own death, to a sense of unity with the brothers with whom we share this life here and now. To the extent that I diminish my own self-centeredness, I find the way that same Father of all is leading me. That is the simple way that we create a new heaven and a new earth that leads us to the joy of community life.

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The Passionist Nuns Our Lady of Hope Monastery Philippines

The Passionist Nuns have been in the Philippines for almost forty years and they have recently made a decision to relocate their Monastery to an area more conducive to their contemplative lives. This small community has struggled with an older building for a long time and this move will not only give them a new house, but a quieter and more isolated setting that will, in the words of the brochure recently printed: This new monastery will be a place of peace and hope, not only for the Nuns, but above all for the people who come to find rest for their souls. It will continue to be a power house of prayer. I am sure that all of the members of our PASPAC region welcome this courageous step as we look forward to the continued support of prayer and contemplation that we need in our daily lives and ministries. Im sure that the Nuns in Marbel would appreciate our continued
Architects Vision of the Future Monastery

interest, support and fraternal joy in this development.

The Province of the Holy Spirit Australia / New Zealand / Papua New Guinea As I am sure you are all aware, this past July saw a Provincial Chapter in the Province of the Holy Spirit. I would like to take this opportunity to offer thanks and congratulations in the name of all of the members of the PASPAC region to re-elected Provincial Joachim Rego and his consultors Brian Gleeson, John Curtis, Keven Hennessy and Thomas McDonough. Brian Gleeson has the distinction of being the oldest every elected From Left to Right: Thomas in our region to a Council, being a young 75 years of McDonough, Brian Gleeson, the age. The Superior General opened the Chapter reminding the capitulars: Jesus assures us of his Superior General, Joachim Rego, John Curtis, Kevin Hennessy and Denis presence and his support: Do not be afraid! He tells his disciples and he tells us Do not be afraid! rather Travers. we are to rest in Him and not be overcome by our concerns. We also must trust in his presence in this Chapter, confirmed by the words of yesterdays gospel for Sunday, 3 July: Come to me you who are weary and find life burdensome and I will give you rest. (Mt. 11:28)

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The Regional Vicariate of St. Thomas the Apostle India There are big changes on the horizon for this regional vicariate, currently under the Province of the Holy Cross, Chicago, U.S.A. In the not too distant future, India will join the ranks of the Vice Provinces of the Congregation. During a recent Assembly (May 2011), moderated by Provincial Donald Webber, the current Vicar (Antony X. Thararyil) and Council (Paul Cherukoduth and Sebastian Konnully) were reappointed and preparations were initiated that will ultimately lead to the establishment of a Vice Province in the relatively near future. Also of note is the new Passionist residence in Bhopal as it comes closer to completion. Originally scheduled to be finished by this time, it should be ready soon for a blessing and the move of the Passionist Formation Community to a new, larger building.
The Vicariate of St. Thomas the Apostle gathered in Assembly May 2011

The Mission of Papua New Guinea Fr. Tom McDonough is normally to be found in Port Moresby, PNG where he serves as the pastor of St. Josephs Parish. He wrote recently: We have had a great parish celebration for our PNG Saint, Blessed Peter Ato Rot, which was a marvelous Mass. (We also had) a special celebration for Remembrance Day, a special Mass for Bible Month, Confirmations for our Catholic College and last weekend Confirmations for 80 of our parish children. In the meantime, our young aspirants have entered the cyber age with SKYPE classes with our religious (in Australia), Fr. Tiernan, Fr. Kevin and Fr. John Auram. We have had joint classes with our International Novitiate in Adelaide, so the students up here are getting to know the young men in formation down there. We have also had some prospective aspirants visit, one for two weeks (for the) Come and See (program), the others more casual. Since our Archdiocese did not organize anything for World Youth Day, we decided to organize our own Pope Benedict said the heart of world youth day is the encounter with Jesus, and we figured we could do that here in Moresby in union with all the pilgrims in Madrid. A Sunday a week ago we had a

Tom McDonough with some of our Young People in Port Moresby.

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youth Mass, barb-b-q and an evening of orientation. Each weekday night we had 1 and a half hours of catechesis, adoration (and) testimony. On the Friday evening while the Stations were on in Madrid, we had our own Stations of the Cross with the young people miming each Station. Then on Saturday an all night vigil, an YWD Mass Sunday morning, a big feast for lunch and then everyone back to the Church Sunday night where our parishioners had erected a huge screen and set up the aerials to live stream from the Popes Mass in Madrid we had a church full of people. It was an extraordinary effort by our kids, helped by the promise of food every night. But it is not all that safe even for them to be walking home in the dark. Their faith was just so moving to experience. While the parishioners were sharing the experience of World Youth Day in Port Moresby, a Passionist native of Papua New Guinea, John Auram was on the ground in Madrid with the pilgrims gathered for the event. He wrote: Altogether, my pilgrimage has been a very Spirit-filled experience, an experience of a life-time for me. I cherish every single moment of it, and I would like to thank you, my brothers of our Holy Spirit Province, for giving me the chance to take part in such a wonderful and amazing event. I certainly have received a great deal from this beautiful experience. It was simply inspiring to see the thousands and thousands of youth braving the heart to take part in organized activities planned for each day in the city of Madrid, and to see how passionate they were about expressing their faith. Through hearing about their faith-journeys and sharing my own faith with many young people I journeyed with, I would like to recommend World Youth Day to any of my brother Passionist brothers who are thinking of going to the next World Youth Day in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, in 2013. It is truly an experience and a journey you wouldnt want to miss, should you get the chance to go.

John Auram C.P.

The Passionist Nuns in Malang, Indonesia On Sunday August 7, in the Passionist Monastery of Malang Indonesia, Sister Yasintha of the Sacred Heart of Jesus professed vows. Fr. Sabinus Lohin, Provincial Superior of the Passionists in Indonesia, presided at the celebration. Our entire region welcomes and congratulates Sr. Yasintha for her generosity in responding to the Lords call. May she walk along with us as we all attempt to follow in the Lords footsteps.

Sabinus Lohin, Provincial with Sr. Yasintha of the Sacred Heart of Jesus and concelebrants.

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Recent Deaths in PASPAC and Beyond The Province of the Holy Spirit in Australia has had three deaths this year. The passing to eternal life of Charles Corbett has already been mentioned in these e-newsletters. Since then two further religious have died in this Province. Namely, Fr. Mark Nugent (1932 11 August 2011) and Fr. James Wood (1919 23 May 2011). We offer our prayers for their eternal rest and remembering their generous Passionist lives. Mark Nugent is remembered for his pastoral skills and effectiveness as a counselor and friend to countless people over his long and fruitful life. He was particularly interested in ministry to the Aboriginal peoples of Australia. His funeral was attended by over one thousand faithful and his family. He is buried in the monastery plot located in Glen Osmond, South Australia. He died following unsuccessful heart surgery in Adelaide. Here Mark is pictured at the July Chapter of the Holy Spirit Province, where he served as a teller.

James Wood, a wise and gentle man, served for many years as Novice Master, Missionary in Papua New Guinea, confessor and faithful Passionist who was an inspiration not only to his Passionist brothers but to those who came to him for counseling and the sacraments. He lived the last 17 years of his Passionist life in Oxley, Queensland, where he was able to be active to the end of his life. May he and Fr. Mark rest in peace with the Lord they so faithfully served during their lives here on earth.

For those who attended the PASPAC Assembly in 2009 in Bangalore, India, they will remember the Italian Passionist, Fr. Fernando (Nando) Valsecchi. He was present as a member of the Justice and Peace Commission of the Congregation. Nando died suddenly on 17 June 2011 in Italy. He was originally from northern Italy, being born in 1960, and entering the Passionists in 1988, being professed in 1989. He was ordained a priest in 1995 and served various social apostolates in his home province of CORM (Province of the Immaculate Heart of Mary). May he rest in peace and may we be thankful for his witness to the social apostolate and how it can serve as a venue for Passionist mission today. India The First Silver Jubilarians The Regional Vicariate of St. Thomas had a very important celebration on 15 May 2011 at Cochin. Frs. Sebastian Konnully and Paul Cherukoduth celebrated 25 years of vowed Passionist life. They are the first native Indian Passionists and this event gives an indication of the maturity of the Vicariate and its readiness to be elevated to the next step of independence from the mother Province. They currently serve not only as classmates, but also are the
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Council for the Vicariate, serving the Region Vicar, Fr. Antony Thararyil. Congratulations, Sebastian and Paul! May you both continue to be the blessings that you are for your brothers in India and beyond. Speaking of India reminds us that the Mother Province spoken of is the Province of the Holy Cross, headquarted in Chicago, U.S.A. Fr. Donald Webber is the current Provincial of this Province, and he will be joining us in the PASPAC Assembly in Calumpang in November. Holy Cross Province has played a major role in Asia over the past 90 and more years. First in China from the 1920s onward, then in Japan (1953), Korea (1964) and finally in India since the early 1990s they have shepherded these entities from their infancy through to their adulthood as a Province and Vice Provinces. Members of Holy Cross Province have also served in the Philippines as well. With the elevation of India to the status of Vice Province they will have accomplished what was begun by members of this Province so many years earlier. With deep appreciation on our part as a region, Dons attendance will mark the last time a Provincial of Holy Cross Province will attend a PASPAC Assembly. That is until the next time that Holy Cross Province decides that is called once again to be of service to the Churches of Asia and the Pacific!

PASPAC International House of Formation: Manila The word from Manila is good Fr. Rene Ventajar, the local superior and also director of Students in Loyola Heights, reports that the three Chinese candidates are slowly but surely learning to master the English language. While the process is always a bit painful they have the objective of preparing for their novitiate year due to begin in February next. Please keep these young men in your prayers as they take the first steps in their Passionist Vocations. Fr. Rene continues in his report to the PASPAC Assembly: It seems that the focus of the whole program is for the PASPAC students to learn English. It is very important because English is the dominant language of business and learning. Most Philosophical and Theological literature now are written in English. Since our PASPAC students aim to study for the priesthood and be part of an international community they need to learn English. The most immediate concern however is for our PASPAC students to be able to get a minimum score of 4.5 in the IELTS for them to qualify for the Novitiate in Australia. In speaking of the preparation being made for the novitiate: The topics that I gave last year are the following: Human Religious Experiences, Introduction to Religious life, the Vows, Introduction to Passionist Life and the 4th vow, Passionist Saints especially the Life of St. Paul of the Cross and his Charism. I taught them Prayer Methods and we have discussions of each individuals vocation story. It is important that in teaching religious life to the Asian students, awareness of the rich religious cultural context of Vietnam or China is integrated. For instance, the Buddhist monks and monasteries and temples can be a point of comparison of religious life in Roman Catholic Christianity.
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PASPAC International House of Formation: Adelaide Currently there are three Novices in Adelaide. One of them, Erick Niyiragira began his novitiate in January. Erick is a novice of the Australian Province. He is accompanied by Nguyen Ngoc Tuan (Joseph) and Trinh Cong Tue (John Baptist) of the Vietnam Mission. Tuan and Tue were vested in the habit on April 9, 2011 with members of the local community attending the simple ceremony. The Presider at the ceremony was Fr. Tiernan Doherty, local superior of the Glen Osmond community. Being led by Frs. Willy Estraza and Tomy Kanjirathinkal through the novitiate experience they are looking forward to profession next year in late January in Ericks case and in April in the case of Tuan and Tue. You will recall that a third candidate from Vietnam, Dien Minh Trinh, due to his lack of success with the IELTS examination, was allowed to enter the novitiate of the Philippine Province. Between the PASPAC novitiate in Adelaide and the novitiate in Lagao, the Philippines, there are nine young men who are going through this more intense year of discernment in the Passionist life. Please continue to pray for them and encourage them if you meet them. Over the next year or two these numbers will begin to slowly increase, with more candidates being ready to begin the novitiate experience from Vietnam and China. The Korean Province has recently made the decision to send future novices to the PASPAC novitiate as well as candidates that originate in Papua New Guinea. Perhaps other areas of PASPAC will make the same decision in the future. One of the challenges facing our upcoming Assembly is to discern the future as well as the Holy Spirit will allow us. With a thankful heart for this very tangible sign of the Lords desire to plant the Passionist vocation on Asian and Pacific soil, we can only give thanks to the Father of All for His kindness to us. In Conclusion With just a few brief words I bring this missive to a close. Following the upcoming PASPAC Assembly there will be another edition of the e-newsletter informing you of the results then. Your brother in the Crucified always, Bro. Laurence M. Finn, C.P. Executive Secretary - PASPAC
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