Twenty Oblate Bishops renew their call to mission during visit to Rome
As the Oblates of Mary Immaculate celebrate the congregation’s 200th anniversary, 20 missionary Oblate Bishops from 12 countries gather in Rome to renew their call to serve as “Pilgrims of Hope in Communion.”
Twenty Oblate Bishops pray together at the OMI General House in Rome
Twenty Bishops from the congregation of the Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate (OMI) met at the institute’s General House in Rome on May 18-21.
The gathering brought together Bishops from 12 different countries as part of the institute’s jubilee celebration of the 200th anniversary of the papal approbation of the congregation’s Constitutions and Rules by Pope Leo XII in 1826.
The theme of the meeting, Oblate Bishops as Pilgrims of Hope in Communion, reflected the theme adopted by the last General Chapter in 2022, Pilgrims of Hope in Communion.
At the invitation of the Superior General, Fr. Luis Ignacio Rois Alonso, OMI, the Bishops gathered in Rome to celebrate the jubilee and reflect on their double vocation, as members of the congregation and as bishops, so as to strengthen the bonds of communion with the congregation.
The Bishops began their reflections by focusing on the life of the institute’s founder, St. Eugene de Mazenod, who was himself was a Bishop.
They were invited to consider how they themselves are living the charism. Bishop Neil Frank, OMI, of Mariannhill Diocese, South Africa, led this reflection.
Other presentations included interventions on episcopal ministry in three different contexts—in a situation of war by Bishop Radoslaw Zmitrowicz, OMI, Auxiliary Bishop of Kamieniec-Podolski, Ukraine; in the context of secularism by Bishop Pierre-Olivier Tremblay, OMI, Bishop of Hearst-Moosonee, Ontario, Canada, and in the context of a minority community by Archbishop Bejoy D’Cruze, OMI, of Dhaka, Bangladesh.
Bishop Guillermo Steckling, OMI, former Superior General and bishop emeritus of Ciudad del Este, Paraguay, gave the final reflection, focusing on the contribution Oblate Bishops make to the larger charismatic family.
In his closing remarks to the meeting, the current Superior General, Fr. Rois Alonso, thanked the Bishops for their presence at the meeting and for their witness to the charism.
He reminded them that even as diocesan Bishops, they remain members of the congregation and have the obligation to witness to the charism, giving preference to the poor and those on the margins in the ministry.
He concluded his remarks by sharing with them his hope that they may be prophets, missionaries, mystics, and saints.
During their time in Rome, the Bishops participated in the Wednesday General Audience with Pope Leo XIV and had the opportunity to greet him.
They also paid a courtesy visit on Archbishop Filippo Iannone, O. Carm, Prefect of the Dicastery for Bishops.
Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle, Pro-Prefect of the Dicastery for Evangelization, joined the Bishops for dinner at the General House on Wednesday.
On the same day, the Bishops celebrated Mass at the church of San Silvestro al Quirinale. It was in this church, in 1832, that the founder of the Oblates, St. Eugene de Mazenod, was ordained a Bishop.
Reflecting on the experience of the meeting, Bishop Mark Edwards, of the Diocese of Wagga Wagga, Australia, remarked that the meeting reminded him of the vast expanse of the Oblate congregation’s outreach.
On the personal level, he said, “the meeting served as an opportunity for renewal in the desire of give of my best in my ministry.”
The meeting concluded with the festive celebration of the Mass on May 21, the feast of St. Eugene de Mazenod, in the chapel of the General House, in the company of the community and of the Oblates living in other communities around Rome.
Fr. Raymond M. Mwangala
Source: vaticannews.va/en