The Generalate community in Rome has officially opened its new pastoral and academic year, beginning a new stage in the life of the house.

The celebration marked a distinct moment in the life of the Generalate, separate from the Curia’s working session held the previous weeks. While that session focused on the work and responsibilities of the Curia, today’s celebration brought together the wider Generalate community: the members of the Curia and the priest student, to begin the new pastoral and academic year together.

The Generalate community is made up of two groups living under the same roof: the members of the Curia and the priest students pursuing their studies in Rome. This year, the student body includes three SMA and four diocesan priests: one from Ghana, two from Zambia and one from the Republic of Benin.

Their presence gives the Generalate a particular character. The house is not only the place where the international leadership of the Society lives and works; it is also a place of formation, encounter and exchange, connecting the Society with the wider Church and with priests from different local Churches.

This year’s opening also comes at an important moment of transition for the house.

For four decades, the Franciscan Sisters of the Presentation of Mary (FSPM) were an integral part of the Generalate community. Their presence and service contributed significantly to the daily life of the house and to its mission of welcome and hospitality.

With the departure of the sisters, the structure of the community has changed. In previous years, the larger Generalate community could be understood as consisting of three groups : the members of the Curia, the priest students and the Franciscan Sisters of the Presentation of Mary. This year, the community is entering a new phase with the two remaining communities living and working together.

The opening of the new year therefore provided an opportunity to express a special and grateful word of thanks to the sisters for their 40 years of service.

Their departure closes an important chapter in the history of the Generalate. Their presence has been part of the life of the house for many years, and their contribution remains part of the story of the Society’s Generalate in Rome.

At the same time, this new situation invites the community to reflect on how the house can continue to fulfil its role as a place of welcome and missionary witness.

In his homily, the Superior reflected on the particular vocation of the Generalate community and its role.

The Generalate has a double character. It is first of all the home of the Society’s international leadership and the place from which many aspects of the SMA’s international mission are coordinated. At the same time, it is a community in Rome, a city of particular significance for the Catholic Church, and a place that welcomes students, friends, visitors and others who come into contact with the Society.

It is therefore a house entrusted with a particular responsibility: to ensure that its life and service remain oriented towards the mission of the Society.

It was precisely this sense of responsibility that the Superior explored through the image of the vineyard.

“The vineyard is perhaps the SMA. God wants it to continue to bear fruit.”

The image also reminds that the Society is not something that belongs personally to those who happen to lead or serve it at a particular moment. It is an inheritance received from God and from those who came before, and one that must eventually be handed on to others.

This responsibility is particularly significant for those serving at the Generalate. They have a role not only in carrying out administrative responsibilities but also in contributing to the spiritual and missionary health of the Society.

The challenge, therefore, is to ensure that the vineyard continues to bear fruit.

Fr François du Penhoat also addressed a particular word of gratitude to the priest students living in the house.

Their presence brings a different rhythm to the community, as well as new ideas, experiences and perspectives. Among them are not only SMAs but also diocesan priests, whose presence strengthens the relationship between the Society and local Churches. The service of local Churches and the relationship between diocesan clergy and the Society have long been an important part of the life of the Generalate. The hope is that these relationships will continue to grow and become more concrete, helping everyone in the house to move towards greater collaboration and fraternity.

The Superior then turned to what he described as another fundamental reason for the existence of the Generalate community: service to the international SMA.

Those who serve the Society at the international level carry a particular responsibility. Their role is not limited to ensuring that structures and programs function properly. They are also called to contribute to a process that helps every confrere grow in holiness and missionary availability.

The aim is ultimately that the Society as a whole may become an ever more effective instrument at the service of the Kingdom of God and the local Churches.

This responsibility requires the Generalate community to look honestly at some of the challenges facing the Society today.

In his reflection, the Superior General identified six areas that deserve particular attention: the need to renew missionary creativity, remain faithful to the commitments made, encourage greater stability in missionary assignments, resist the temptation to live primarily for oneself, exercise authority through listening and consultation, and deepen community and fraternal life.

These challenges, the Superior General stressed, should not be understood as suggesting that the SMA is in crisis or that its history is being reduced to its difficulties. Rather, they are an invitation to examine how the Society can continue to grow and remain faithful to its missionary identity.

Fr François du Penhoat concluded by reminding the community that its members are only temporary custodians of what has been entrusted to them:

“We must not forget that we are only passing through: we will hand on the flame to others. And remember that if the Lord does not build the house, our work is in vain.”

With this spirit, the Generalate community begins the new pastoral and academic year, seeking to care faithfully for the vineyard entrusted to it and to place its life and service at the disposal of the mission of the Society and the Church.

May Saint Francis of Assisi obtain for the community the grace of a deep personal and fraternal life, and may the new year be a time of renewed missionary commitment, collaboration and service.

Brice Ulrich AFFERI