It was a very busy afternoon
at the Oblate house in Vermicino (Rome) that saw the birth, on May 20, of the
new Mediterranean Province, composed of the former provinces of Spain and Italy
and their respective delegations and missions: Senegal, Venezuela, Uruguay,
Romania and Sahara.
The first part was dedicated
to showing the many members of the Oblate Family who were present the various
areas of the Oblate mission in which the two former provinces have been engaged
until now: evangelization and secularization; evangelization and youth;
evangelization abroad; evangelization and the poor.
Then there was the celebration
of the Eucharist in the languages spoken in the territories of the new
province: Spanish, Romanian, French and Italian.
At the beginning of the
celebration, the two ex-provincials of Italy (Fr. Nicola PARRETTA) and Spain
(Fr. Otilio LARGO) addressed the assembly. The former affirmed that, during
these years that led to the unification, he had the distinct sensation of being
guided by the Spirit. The latter emphasized that it is certainly a moment of
great joy with exciting possibilities, even though each one is being called to
lose something of the past. He added: “Now it’s up to us to live according to
the expression of St. Ignatius of Loyola: Pray
as though everything depended on God and work as though everything depends on
you.” From their statements, it remained clear that, although the
unification of the two provinces might have been the result of reduced numbers,
the signs of hope abound.
Father Louis LOUGEN, Superior
General, then read the Decree of Erection of the new province, adding at the
end a bit of humor: “I am not the creator of this marriage, but only the
celebrant.”
In his homily, commenting on
the phrase from the Gospel of the Solemnity of the Ascension, “Go into the
whole world and proclaim the Gospel to every creature,” (Mark 28:19) Fr. Louis
said, among other things: “As Oblates of
Mary Immaculate, our missionary vocation has its origin in these words of
Jesus. We hear this call and seek to respond to it with our entire being. Like
our Founder, Saint Eugene de Mazenod, we have personally experienced the
gracious and unconditional love of Jesus the Savior in our own lives. It is
this experience that we have discovered is Good
News and we are sent to share this experience with others. We want people
to know Jesus […] You, the Oblates of Italy and Spain, have Saint Eugene’s
spirit of bold daring in choosing life and seeking new ways to respond to the
present reality. You have done this to remain faithful to the Oblate charism
and for the good of the mission. I have no doubt that God has guided you in
this choice.”
The celebration was enriched
by many symbolic gestures. A letter from one of the Spanish martyrs was carried
to the altar at the beginning of the Mass. During the offertory, on the other
hand, there was brought forward a strawberry plant as a symbol of the union of
the provinces of Spain and Italy. This Mediterranean plant is in fact the
symbol of the city of Madrid and also, according to the Italian poet Giovanni
Pascoli, symbol of the Italian flag because of its unusual characteristic of
having at the same time green leaves, white flowers and red fruit. Into the earth
around this plant presented during the celebration was mixed earth coming from
the first two Oblate communities in Spain and Italy: Diego de Leon and Santa
Maria a Vico. Then there were presented bread and honey, symbols of the
promised land.
Fr. General also gave the
first obediences for the Mediterranean Province to Fathers Enzo MACCHIA and
Lucian BOSOI and to Brother Valentin VRINCEANU. As a surprise, he also gave
another obedience: to Fr. Saverio ZAMPA, currently from the Vercelli community,
who will be the first superior of the new community at Aix-en-Provence.
The celebration concluded with
a greeting and words of thanks from Fr. Alberto GNEMMI, the new and first
provincial of the Mediterranean Province: “The Eucharist just concluded
summarizes the significance of this moment. It speaks to us of the unity of the
body. God, who from two peoples makes one, appeals to us: to remember Jesus
Christ, who is our treasure and whom the world desires, without even having met
him, in the face of a Christianity that -- let’s admit it -- has shortness of
breath.”
Working with Fr. Gnemmi will
be his Provincial Council: Frs. Gennaro ROSATO, Ismael García, Adriano TITONE, Eutimio González, Aldo D’OTTAVIO, Alberto Ruiz and Ciro ANDREOZZI.
