num. 386 - January 2000

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CANADA, ON THE PATH TO RESTRUCTURING THE PROVINCES... (II)

The November 1999 OMI Info made a rapid presentation of the evolution of the Oblate Prov inces of Canada before 1985. It has been pointed out to us that two details were missing. First of all, the Vice-Province of Labrador-James Bay was suppressed in 1977 and “its responsibilities” were then shared between three Provinces: Saint Joseph’s, Notre-Dame-du-Rosaire and Saint Peter’s. In 1983, the Vice-Province of Whitehorse was attached to Saint Paul’s Province.

Let us start then with a deion of the situation today. The personnel statistics are those of December 31, 1998, the last published. As of that date, the Oblate Region of Canada had 877 Oblates: 671 priests, 184 brothers and 22 Oblates in first formation. The Region is made up in the following way:

The French-speaking Saint-Joseph Province has its Provincial house in Montreal and numbers 281 Oblates. The communities are mainly in the civil provinces of Quebec (Montreal, Rouyn, etc.) and of Ontario (Ottawa, Moosonee, etc.). The Notre-Dame-du-Rosaire Province, also French-speaking, has its Provincial house at Sainte-Foy, in the periphery of the city of Quebec. It covers most of the civil province of Quebec and has 150 Oblates.

The English-speaking St Peter’s Province has its Provincial house in Ottawa. It has 94 Oblates with 60 in Canada and 34 in Peru. The Oblate communities are in Ontario and in the Maritime provinces. St Paul’s Province, also English- speaking, has 88 Oblates with its Provincial house in Vancouver. The communities are in British Columbia, Alberta and in the Yukon Territory.

The Province of Manitoba, traditionally French-speaking, has 86 Oblates, of whom 13 are part of the Delegation of Hudson Bay. Its Provincial house is in Saint-Boniface, close to Winnipeg. The communities are in the civil province of Manitoba, and partly in the Northwest Territories and in Nunavut. The Grandin Province, initially French-speaking and now bilingual, has its Provincial house in Edmonton. It counts 102 Oblates, mainly in Alberta and in the Northwest Territories.

The recent work of restructuring has its starting point in a Plenary Session of the General Council, which met jointly with the “leadership” of the eight Canadian Provinces, at Cap-de-la- Madeleine in September 1996. This joint session had as its theme: “Daring to live the Oblate charism in the Canadian context.” Although not formally on the agenda, the possibility of a restructuring surfaced in the free discussions.... Following this session, the Superior General, Fr ZAGO, addressed a letter to the Oblates of Canada: “At a time when so many appeals are being heard, you see your manpower decreasing. It is thus thanks to even more extensive regional collaboration, and to a restructuring of your works – even of your Provinces – that you will be able to ensure the effectiveness of the mission and the survival of your more important works. Our mission demands the participation of all; each one can contribute to it according to his gifts and his possibilities....”

A first meeting took place at St-Norbert (Manitoba). The two French-speaking Provinces from the east took part as observers. The Assumption Vice-Province indicated that given the orientation of its ministry, it also wished “to have the status of observer, without necessarily taking part in an eventual restructuring.” The five other Provinces, St Peter’s, St Paul’s, Manitoba, Grandin and St Mary’s, committed themselves to continuing the process.

An initial document entitled: “Leave Nothing Undared – Coming Together?” was addressed to all Oblates of these Provinces, inviting a written answer. “As the persons in charge of the government, we want to launch a dialogue on our vision. The reduced number of vocations seems to indicate that we have to study the possibility of joining together in one bilingual Province.” The document presents the reasons which seem to urge a reorganization: “an aging and shrinking personnel (in 25 years, Oblate personnel decreased by half); shrinking possibilities for ministry; fairness and justice toward our young Oblates; to give hope and to support the mission and the community; the regionalization and the internationalization of the Congregation; need for redefining priorities for our ministries.”

This questionnaire was addressed to the individual members, asking them to express their fears and their view of things. It also called for community reflection, in particular on the ministries, on the urgency of restructuring and its possible stages, on the consequences for finances and the patrimony of the Provinces....

The answers were studied and presented at a joint meeting of Provincials and their Councils held in Edmonton in January 1998. We quote from the report of this meeting: “It is understood that any restructuring will be made in stages. It will respect the structures of our ministry, our history, our language, our culture and our identity. The importance of strengthening the local communities will always have priority. The role of Oblate associates will be important in the process, and we will always keep in sight the feelings which accompany any change.”

A second document entitled “Visioning for the future”, was then sent to all. The preamble indicates that “any structures created must be in view of better serving the Oblate mission. What is needed is a process whereby we can reflect on our core values, especially in terms of mission, community life, ministry and personnel.” Some guiding principles were also added: “In moving forward we bear in mind that this is a project of six Oblate Provinces in Canada, that this project must be carried out in stages, it must guarantee that our choices concerning mission and ministry have precedence over structure, that it will underline the importance of our Oblate history, our language, our culture and our identity, that it will enhance the strength of the local community, that it will include the involvement of non-Oblate associates, finally that it will be sensitive to the feelings that accompany all change.”

The questions relate to the various fields indicated above. Here are some of them. On the mission: “What do you most value about the current mission of the Oblates of your Province?” On community life: “What would be your hopes for community in a new Canadian Oblate reality? What would be your fears about this?” On ministry: “In your opinion, are there ministries that could be created in your Province? Why?” On personnel: “ What are your hopes for your brother Oblates as we move toward coming together?” One identical question concludes each topic: “What are, in your opinion, the positive and negative aspects our history, our language, our culture, our identity as a Province that would affect our mission, our community life.... in this process of restructuring?”

A synthesis of the answers was presented to a meeting of the six Provincials and their Councils January 25 and 26, 1999. Three Oblates were then named to a “Restructuring Committee”, Frs Glenn ZIMMER (of St Mary’s, president), Tim COONEN (St Paul’s) and Leo MANN, Provincial of St Mary’s. The following steps are foreseen. A new meeting of Provincials and their Councils in February 2000 should lead to a statement to be presented for consultation to all Oblates “to better understand what the members want, and to see if there is consensus.” It is expected that this will lead to a “Charter Proposal” in 2001, allowing – if all goes according to plan – the inauguration of the new Province in 2003.

As for the French-speaking Provinces of eastern Canada (Saint-Joseph and Notre-Dame-du- Rosaire), here is what the September Informations oblates of Notre-Dame-du-Rosaire wrote under the significant title: “What we can do together, let us do!” “June 15 and 16, the two Provincial Councils of Quebec and Montreal met in Cap-de-la-Madeleine. The climate of the talks could not have been more constructive. As one participant put it in the evaluation: ‘We are really making the unification of our Provinces from the ground up, at the level of our ministries. We have gone beyond the stage of simple formation. It is up to us to dare even more!’ The exchanges of these two days related mainly to the need to unify our efforts on the level of youth ministry and to concentrate even more on the various stages of first formation.”

From the St Peter’s Province newsletter dated October 4: “From Friday August 27 to Tuesday the 31st, all Oblate candidates in first formation in Canada met with their formators at Villa Maria Retreat House in St-Norbert, Manitoba. The sessions were in French and English. The major focus was to look at the Chapter documents and to reflect on how they affect our young Oblates in Canada today. Three Provincials, Frs Chris RUSHTON (St Peter’s), William WALKER (St Paul’s) and Jean-Paul ISABELLE (Manitoba), were in charge of guiding the reflection on the various parts of the documents, which were then studied in groups to discuss their implications.”

The Bulletin of Western Canadian Publishers (June/July 1999) published a short study by Mr. Claude Roberto, of the University of Alberta: “The Missionary Oblates and the preservation of native languages.” “The role of the Oblates in preserving the various Amerindian languages, and thereby the preservation of Amerindian culture, still remains little known. Yet Frs Albert LACOMBE (1827-1916), Emile LEGAL (1849-1920), Valentin VÉGRÉVILLE (1829-1903), Emile PETITOT (1838-1917), Laurent LE GOFF (1840-1932), Joseph DOUCET (1847-1942), Jean-Louis LE VERN (1871-1960), Léo BALTER (1873-1948) and Jean LESSARD (1911- 1966) are among those Oblates who made possible the preservation of native languages....”

“We cannot fail to note the important place of Oblates in the publishing industry in Western Canada.” Several periodicals using Assiniboine or Cree are mentioned. “The Oblate books in native languages were a significant element in the preservation of native languages and cultures in the Indian missions and residential schools... Teaching the Christian religion in Amerindian languages to the children of the residential schools was a priority for the Oblates....”

“The Oblate missionaries learned the native languages thanks to continual practice with the Amerindians. Moreover they assimilated the native languages even before the Amerindians started to learn the European languages....”