VINCENTIAN MARIAN YOUTH

International Secretariat

Madrid

Madrid, February 11th, 2007

Feast of Our Lady of Lourdes

To the Presidents, Advisors,

And all the members of the VMY

NationalCouncils.

Dear Friends,

May the grace of Our Lord be always with you!

Greetings from the International Secretariat in behalf of the VMY International team, who is with you in this experience of sharing the joy of life in Jesus!

From January 18th to 21st, the International Council met in Madrid to evaluate the last year’s achievements and to plan the activities for 2007. This encounter was full of the Holy Spirit’s presence and the communion that is born from God’s love. Throughout this year, the International team would like to place the basis for the carrying out of the decisions of our 2nd International Assembly, held in Paris, in August, 2005. We would like to share with you the priorities of this year, with the conviction that this projects will become true as long as each member, Center and Council of the Association collaborates in the building of a VMY, attentive to the young people’s needs and able to respond with audacity and efficacy to the moments’ challenges.

1. Communication

We verify the need of continuing making the communication closer between the laypeople and advisors of the National Councils, with the International Secretariat to get a better knowledge about your achievements and difficulties.

We wish VMY International News Bulletin to be a means to share not only the news of our National Associations’ life, but also an ideal space to make public the way we live our ecclesial, marian, vincentian and lay identity. The Council has decided to reduce its publication’s rhythm (5 times per year), to change its format and to give it a younger style.

We hope to update our International Web site. We wish it to be a more lively interactive space for the experiences, testimonies, worries and material interchanging; in a special way, we want to get information and testimonies about the Marian Consecration’s experience, the collaboration with the Vincentian Family and the Missionary experiences.

We wish to reinforce the visits to the countries as an instrument to favour the personal approach with the National Councils as well as the formation and the leaders’ motivation.

2. Spiritual life

We thank all the countries that have sent us their answer about the Marian Consecration survey. We hope those who have not sent it yet, to do it as soon as possible. I would also ask you to send the materials you use to prepare that consecration. This compilation will help us to value the available material and to elaborate some catechesis that help laypeople and advisors to join this important stage in our members’ life.

The final document has invited us to empower inside our centers, a pedagogy of prayer. It is necessary that our groups assume as a priority the intimate encounter with Jesus, so that, life and service have their basis in the experience of Jesus Christ Following.

3. Formation

We are looking forward to "compiling existing formation materials" in the different countries and create a data base in the Secretariat which may allow us to encourage possible interchange among countries and continents. We count on you to make this hard but essential work possible, to improve the quality of our catechetical materials.

Many countries already know and use the document “Formation Processes and Endways in VMY”, however, there are some French, English and Portuguese copies left (2 euros each). We hope that during this year with the creation of a Commission on Formation in each country, it helps us to elaborate or -to check- the formation processes we offer to our young people, leaders and advisors. I invite you to sent to the International secretariat the names and e-mails of the people-in-charge of this Commission in your country, in order to contact them, to enrich ourselves with their experiences and join them in this task.

At the end of 2007, we will organize the Encounter of Europe and Middle East National Councils in Slovakia. The aim will be “to make aware, to deepen and to make dynamic the lay’s mission in VMY”. It will also serve as an early preparation for the 3rd. General Assembly 2010. We will inform you timely, about the rest of the Continental Encounters.

4. Collaboration with the Vincentian Family

Although the National or Provincial Councils participate (or help to create where it does not exist yet) in the “Vincentian Family Councils”, we have as a task sharing the lived experience to help other countries to promote steps towards an authentic team work. We would like each country to send us information and testimony on this line.

In August, 2006, the CM General Curia has published a special edition of “Vicenciana” that clearly presents the International Vincentian Family reality. We have sent all the countries some copies; we are sure it would be a valuable formation and making aware instrument. There are some copies available; I thank you to place your orders soon.

During the meeting of International VF people-in-charge, we have decided to get deeper in strategies that help the needy people to go out of the poverty, according to the gospel and the Vincentian tradition. We shall be sending more information about during the next months.

The Australian Vincentian Family organizes a Vincentian Young people Encounter, in the frame of the World Youth Day (Sydney, July, 2008). When we have their first circular, we will forward it to you. We hope many VMY members can attend this Encounter of Church and Family.

5. Auto-financing and economy

To help you to face the auto-financing challenge, at the end of the year the International Council is going to publish a document about “How to work in VMY in a project way”we think it will be an instrument to start assuming this methodology as a constant in the planning and organization of the Association’s life.

We thank the countries that have answered with generosity to our proposal of annual contribution to collaborate with the International Secretariat maintenance and those who have sent their annual economical balance. I encourage the countries that haven’t done this task, to walk towards this economical co-responsibility. Fr. Pedro will write you about this topic in few days.

After sending the document “Orientations for the economical management in VMY” to all the National Councils, last year, the International Secretariat will post you a brief report on the economical management of VMY, in an International level, during 2006. We hope this transparent gesture is an invitation to the National Councils to send to the Director of the Secretariat (Fr. Pedro Castillo) your Association’s economical report in a confidential way, as we approved it in the 2nd. General Assembly, in Paris, 2005.

This year the Secretariat initiated an interesting project wherein each National Council may be able to collaborate: Selling of typical objects or artistic articles during the different encounters of VMY Spain. It is a simple way of collaborating. We request you to send us simple and typical objects from your countries so that in this manner we may be able to help in maintenance of the international structure of the Association. 

6. Service and Mission

The visits to different countries, as well as the VMY Encounters, have help us to discover the richness and the diversity of service experiences that VMY carries our around the world. The Exservi from Venezuela, the missionary and service communities in Spain and the Elders’ project “Margarita Nasseau”, from San Pedro Sula are only some examples of the hundreds of creative ways to respond to the young and poor people’s shout!We have the challenge no only of sharing testimonies and information, but also of offering a really transforming service and some concrete service projects in which the poor people are the main characters and our evangelizer.

7. National Statutes

During 2006, the Secretariat has got four requests of first approval of the National Statutes in countries where the Association is not canonically placed, and other four requests of National Statutes corrections approval from countries where VMY has been working for several years. We invite the countries which are starting the revision of Statutes’ process, to follow the “Orientations to the National Statutes revision” (Cfr. “formation” section in or web site). Moreover, we remember the importance of getting in each country the approval of the Episcopal Conference as “Believers’ Association with an International range” as well as the civil approval. You can ask us for concrete orientations and formulas on this topic; it will be a pleasure to offer you this service.

We celebrate this year the 160th anniversary of the Association’s official acknowledgement by the Pope Pius IX. May this time be for us an opportunity to rediscover our role in the Church, our mission of assisting especially the young people who are in a difficult situation and to create with our fellow a charity net that responds in an organized way to the multiple needs of our brothers and sisters and takes them to discover the God’s Love.

May God illuminate us so that we share the joy of life in Jesus effectively and affectively, offering our richness and poorness for this requested by Mary Association to continue being a prophetical and transforming presence in the different countries where the church needs the beauty of our Vincentian and Marian Charisma. You can count on the prayer of all the members of the VMY International team; we place at your service to continue the wish of Our Immaculate Mother Mary.

Yasmine Cajuste

VMY International President