Pope Benedict greets new Superior General, Fr John Hannan

Dear Fr Hulshof, "The Holy Father was pleased to learn that the twenty-eighth General Chapter of the Society of Mary is taking place here in Rome from 1 to 23 September. He sends his greetings to those taking part in the Chapter and joins all the members of the Congregation in giving thanks to the Lord for the witness of their religious consecration and missionary zeal.

Kindly assure the Newly Elected General, the Reverend John Hannan, of a remembrance in the Holy Father's prayers.

As you gather to discern the Lord's will for the Congregation for the coming years, His Holiness encourages you to reflect upon your consecrated life as a call to "witness to the primacy of God through free obedience to his will, and to live [your] yes to the Lord in joy" (Instruction, the Service of Authority and Obedience, 3).

As sons of Mary, the model of your own joyful response to Jesus is his mother's Fiat. Attentive to her example, you will find that it is "along this via amoris that the flower of listening and obedience blooms" (ibid, 4)

Entrusting the Society of Mary to the continuing protection of the Blessed Virgin, Mother of the Church, His Holiness cordially imparts his Apostolic Blessing.

With fraternal good wishes,

I am Yours Sincerely in Christ
Tarcisio Card. Bertone
Secretary of State

The former Superior General, Fr Jan Hulshof, and New Zealand Provincial, Fr Brian Cummings shake hands at the conclusion of the Chapter.

Following the official ceremonies, the capitulants and ancillary staff celebrated the Eucharist. Fr John Hannan presided and the members of the new General Council concelebrated. After packing up, the capitulants will enjoy a special dinner in the evening to celebrate the conclusion of the Chapter.

The capitulants released this statement at the end of the Chapter.

At the finish of this 28th General Chapter of the Society of Mary, rejoicing in being Marists, we give thanks for the grace of the Chapter which is an event of the whole Society.

We recognize the beauty of Mary's little Society and its many positive aspects, and we acknowledge with some pain its present weaknesses and difficulties. We have tried to discern the way forward through our prayer and mutual exchange. We recognize the urgency for change especially in the ways set out in the chapter documents which touch on many aspects of our life.

We make a call to all to embrace wholeheartedly our Marist identity so that as one body we can faithfully fulfil our apostolic mission of building a new church in the spirit of Mary. This is a call to the heart and mind of each Marist to take up and live more authentically our Constitutions and to begin with freshness to live the full- ness of our vocation with confidence in God and Mary.

Let us dare to "Sing a New Song".

The members of the Chapter strongly support the position that La Neyliere is "a place of great significance to the whole Society of Mary" and that in terms of its "mission or task, the provision of personnel and finances", the provincial of Europe will work in close collaboration with the Superior General and other major superiors.

The Chapter also expressed support for mandating "the Superior General to explore the possibility of re-opening the cause for the beatification of Jean Claude Colin".

The latter part of the morning was devoted to giving the capitulants time to consider how they were going to implement the decisions and recommendations of the Chapter following their return to their home provinces or districts. Sr. Christine Anderson, one of the facilitators, encouraged the capitulants "to access an open mind, an open heart and an open will".

Capitulants also met in groups to share their personal experience of the Chapter before reporting back to a plenary session.

In the afternoon the capitulants considered a message to all members of the Society.

The two postulata discussed this morning concerned the administrative responsibility for La Neyliere and the reopening of the cause for the beatification of Jean Claude Colin. Both postulata were given extensive consideration. The capitulants will return to the postulata tomorrow for final decisions and recommendations.

The presentation and discussion of the first version of the final documents took place in the afternoon. The individual documents which had come from the Topic Groups of the Chapter had been discussed already in draft form. The editing committee worked with considerable energy to enable the Chapter to vote on the final documents. It is the intention of the Chapter that each capitulant will be able to return to his home province or district with a copy of the decisions and recommendations made by the Chapter. An official and edited document will be produced in due course .

The day concluded with the acceptance of the Finance Committee report and a revised and updated Decreta Capitularia

A desire to promote a genuine sense of working together, with deep listening and open dialogue throughout the Society, was evident. Today, the capitulants engaged once again with the topic of Context and Mission and the work of the other Topic Groups. Careful and thoughtful consideration was given to Recruitment and Formation, Strategies for a Positive Future, Sharing Resources for Mission, In Collaboration and Communion with Marist Laity, and Communion for Mission.

The morning session was devoted to a report and some discussion about the Legislation Committee's recommendations. This was followed by discussion about Governance. It was also announced that an Editing Group had been established to look at the documents as a whole. The editing group will ensure there are no repetitions or contradictions in the final text of the Chapter. The editing group is composed of Jim Strasz (USA), Tim Duckworth (NZ), and Kevin Duffy (Europe).

Friday, Rome time, is a rest day.

Pope Benedict said: "I greet the participants in the General Chapter of the Society of Mary - Marist Fathers - and I assure them of my prayer that, faithful to their original charism, they can commit themselves with a renewed impetus to the work of evangelization."