Pallottine Reflections

POLAND!!! It’s been a long time coming but after a 10 hour flight from O'Hare in Chicago and a seven hour difference in time we arrived greeted by Christopher, a deacon from the seminary in Ołtarzew. Why were we in Poland from August 22-27, 2005? The first UAC General Congress since the General Statutes were approved by the Vatican was held at the Center for Mission Animation in Konstancin, (near Warsaw). The theme was "Now is the time for a new ‘creativity’ in charity." Prior to leaving we were asked to do a prayer-novena each month for spiritual preparation. Twenty-six countries participated and 5 major languages (English, German, Polish, Portuguese and Italian) were spoken. Ten members from the US National Conference were represented. As the laity, religious and clergy arrived you could feel their excitement and anticipation ready to make St. Vincent Pallotti’s dream come true.

At the first session Fr. Czesław Parzyszek welcomed everyone followed by Fr. Seamus Freeman who opened the Congress. Fr. Derry Murphy, the Secretary General of the U.A.C., along with members of the general secretariate moderated the Congress. It was Fr. Marek Gulbinowicz who gave us the practical information, like where to find the bathrooms, the food etc. and could be found always with camera in hand taking pictures of everything and everyone throughout the week. We were invited by all of the speakers to discover the ideals of Vincent Pallotti, listen to others, be enriched and enter into the spirit of communion with each other. Most important was to get to know each other - to learn from each other and in this way strengthen our Union - TO COLLABORATE.

We were asked to review the General Statutes, bring the statutes to life. Many countries have not actually read the statutes and we were asked to review them with our UAC Cenacles. We need to deepen our understanding of them. We have until 2008 to look them over to see if we need to make any revisions. Other areas to be looked at are formation materials, local coordination councils, and national coordination councils. There are 48 Countries where Pallottines live but so far there are only 18 NCC’s.

Our meeting room had a large stained glass image of Mary Queen of Apostles as a back drop so it was easy to envision ourselves beginning each day at prayer in the Cenacle. Because the various presenters did not always speak our language, we all wore headsets that were connected to translators who listened to the speakers and then translated their words so that each person heard the talk in their own language. After each speaker, small language groups gathered together to share thoughts and ideas on the talk given. Collaboration, formation were priorities for most groups as we came together to share what had been discussed. We were also impressed with a deep love of St. Vincent and the Union found in the group sharing. We got to know each other, we were enriched.

Each of the Speakers presented us with a challenge. The First day was a prayer day – reflection on the Scripture. We were called to be apostles as in the cenacle – the thrust of the challenge here was to bring what we learn to cenacles at home – we are sent as apostles. Each country was asked to bring their flag which was displayed in the courtyard and a picture or statue of Mary which had a special meaning for our country. A procession was held on Tuesday evening, August 23rd to the chapel where these were placed in front of the altar. The image chosen by the U.S. delegates was the Immaculate Conception. Under this title she was named our Patroness, dedicated in the 1800’s by the 3rd Plenary Council and located in the National Shrine in Washington D.C. After the closing Liturgy on Saturday, August 27th each country picked a name of a Madonna from a different country and we were asked to take the statue or picture home and pass it to everyone in our Union Group and to pray for the Union throughout world.

Wednesday evening the countries did a presentation of their customs, songs, dance, etc. The evening was fun, relaxing and a chance to get to know each other. It was very impressive. From the United States we chose to sing two songs, America the Beautiful and Take Me Out to the Ball game. It was a neat and fun experience.

On Thursday morning Mr. Andy Thompson from the United States spoke on "Poverty, how it affects human dignity, created in the image of God, and how it touches the Church and the union. Andy’s challenge for us was to understand poverty not only as a lack of goods but also to recognize what might be called an intellectual poverty, or a lack of openness to diversity in ways of thinking.

Thursday we enjoyed a fun and relaxing afternoon as we took a bus to Warsaw’s downtown. Seeing the sights of Warsaw together, buying souvenirs we even stopped for an ice cream cone. We ended the day with a Eucharistic Celebration at the Provincialate of the Pallottine Fathers and Brothers. Each day we celebrated Eucharist in a different language. It was enriching to celebrate the Mass in various languages and especially to see so many priests concelebrating.
Father Hubert Socha, SAC made some outstanding comments on the General Statutes on Friday. His challenge to us was to put life into the Union. He encouraged us to use our lived experience to enflesh the skeleton of the General Statutes. Another speaker Mr. Corrado Montaldo of the “Comunita V Dimension” spoke of his own experience in being nervous about performing some ministry until he took the focus off of himself and realized he was doing it for Christ.
Some of the proposals made on Saturday were to look into ourselves and community, take away the prejudices in our lives, to build communion on all levels, and cooperate. Don’t be just a listener but a doer. Make the UAC known with a logo or some kind of symbol. Each group gave suggestions as to where they would like the 2008 or 2009 General Congress to be held and Rome and Brazil were the favorites.

Saturday the Congress ended with a Eucharistic Celebration. During the Liturgy the members of the UAC made a renewal of their Apostolic Commitment. At the closing the Sign of Peace was extended and it was hard to say good bye and there were so many tears and hugs. No one wanted to leave. It was very touching and emotional. A lot of e-mail and home addresses were exchanged to keep in touch.

It was quite an experience meeting and sharing our thoughts and ideas about St. Vincent, his spirituality, charism and how we as Union members can make Pallotti’s dream come true. Being together bonded by a deep love of St. Vincent Pallotti helped us to strengthen our unity and keep his dream alive, real apostles.

Sunday we had an option to take a pilgrimage to Our Lady of Czestochowa (Black Madonna) which some of us did. It was a fun four hour bus trip there. When we arrived we began with a Mass in one of the smaller chapels, presided over by our UAC Pallottine Priests. There was a long line to see the Black Madonna but when you saw her the emotions that flowed through you is unexplainable. After the Liturgy we had lunch at the Pallottine Shrine in honor of the Mercy of God within walking distance of the Pauline Monastery where the Madonna is venerated. We later walked back to spend more time at Czestochowa. We had time to see the small village surrounding her and to buy souvenirs and of course had an ice cream cone. Poland has yummy ice cream. Four of us did not return to as we were going to continue to see other sights of Poland so our farewells had to be said at the bus and once again there were hugs and tears.

We wish everyone could have shared the rich experience of being at the General Congress in Konstancin.

Betty Reichertz and Fr. Greg Serwa