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THIRD AND FOUTH DAY OF FORMATORS’ MEETING – BRAVETTA Print E-mail
Written by Fr. Albert Kathare, imc   
Monday, 01 September 2008
29th-3Oth August 2008

On Friday 29th August 2008, we began our day with the mass animated by the formators from Mozambique and South Africa. In our prayer we remembered these two countries which have got different historical realities. We prayed in a special way for peace and reconciliation in South Africa for what took place some months ago (xenophobia). It was also a moment to remember our two late confreres (Fr. Alexius Lipingu and Fr. Joseph Rurunga) who have worked in these two countries and they were also formators. We believe that they intercede for us from Heaven.

In our morning assembly, fr. Antonio Rovelli, IMC gave us some inputs on the attitudes and dynamic of Inter-culturality.

Our day was concluded with a visit to the Basilica of St. Paul ‘Fuori le Mura’. It is a Papal Basilica and the entire complex includes a very ancient Benedictine Abbey, restored by Odon of Cluny in 936. This Abbey remains active even today under the direction of its Abbot who retains his ordinary jurisdiction. The Benedictine Monks of the ancient Abbey, founded near the tomb of the Apostle by Pope Gregory II (715-731), attend to the ministry of Reconciliation (or Penance) and the promotion of special ecumenical events. It is in this Basilica that every year on the feast of the Conversion of Saint Paul, January 25, the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity solemnly closes. The Pope has specified two privileged tasks for this Papal Basilica: the Sacrament of Reconciliation (or Penance) and the development and organization of ecumenical initiatives.

On June 28, 2007, Pope Benedict XVI visited the Basilica and announced that the following year would be designated the “Pauline Year” to commemorate the bimillennium of the birth of Saint Paul. Thus, the “Pauline Year” will run from June 28, 2008 to June 29, 2009.


Today 30th August 2008, we began our day with the mass animated by the formators of Colombia-Equador and we prayed for all our missionaries and students of this region. The morning session of today began with the input of Fr. Francesco Pavese, IMC, on the theme: ‘Allamano and his Pedagogy as a Formator’. As a formator, Allamano was conscience of his responsibility to educate and he had educative method and means. He had also individual contacts which are clear in his skills of welcoming the person, paying attention to particular situation, the pedagogy of encouraging, the freedom and the maturity of the person and finally he had a strategy of letters. In his conferences, he was communicating himself (he was authentic), involving and paying attention to the individuals in the conferences. His attitude was like that of somebody meeting his sons and daughters (and not like that of a rector). He was capable of making present to his audience the experience of missionaries who were many miles away in the mission. For Allamano, the community was the place of formation. He was not separating the individual and the community because the quality of the individual corresponds to the quality of the community. The community gives the authenticity and it facilitates the growth of the individual. These are briefly some aspects of Allamano as a formator which was widely presented to us by Fr. Pavese.

In the afternoon, we have discussion in groups on the following points: New forms of formation, formation in small communities, insertion of the formation house in the life of the people and the formative community (formators).


The formators’ meeting continues…….
Last Updated ( Sunday, 31 August 2008 )