June 9, 2014
The 2014 Paulist General Assembly officially adjourned on June 2 at St. Paul’s College in Washington, D.C. Held every four years after a general election, the General Assembly is the highest-ranking body in the Paulist Fathers. Assembly delegates are elected, and their work guides and directs the Paulist community for the next four years and beyond.
“The hope of this assembly is that all the work we have done this week will be adopted by the community and lived out, and not become a volume of assembly documents that get bound and put on a shelf in the archives of our houses,” said Paulist President Father Eric Andrews. “As we continue to dialogue together about where we are and where we hope to go, we can begin to live the hopes and challenges of this General Assembly.”
Assisting Father Andrews in fulfilling the assembly mandates will be Vice President Father John Behnke, CSP, and First Consultor Father Frank Desiderio, CSP in addition to General Council members Father Charlie Donahue, CSP; Father Frank DeSiano, CSP; Father Tom Gibbons, CSP; Father Mark-David Janus, CSP; Father Chuck Kullmann, CSP; and Father Gil Martinez, CSP.
A number of significant documents will come out of the 2014 assembly, according to Father Andrews. Document topics include:
- Radical Paulist Conversion: This document is a call to personal and communal renewal in the Paulist Fathers. Based on a reflection of our Paulist Promises and the Pope Francis’ “Joy of the Gospel,” Father Andrews said the statement urges the community to on-going conversion and reconciliation with God and others, “so that we may live our Paulist Life and mission with greater authenticity.”
“In my opinion, this is the core document of the assembly, which we must return to continuously so we may carry out our mission and the resolutions of this assembly,” he said.
- “A Pilgrim Journey,” an expression of the contemporary Paulist mission, was created by the Mission Committee.
Other documents included statements on senior ministry (retired Paulists), Paulist formation and ongoing formation, and the Paulist constitution.
The assembly delegates also had difficult discussions about the financial status of the community.
“[We talked about] how each of us will need to take responsibility for the significant deficit that is in front of us,” Father Andrews said. “Despite the challenge, there was creative energy among us to roll up our sleeves.”
Father Tom Gibbons, who serves as associate pastor at St. Peter’s Church in Toronto, said the assembly was a positive moment in the history of the Paulist Fathers.
“The assembly was a great opportunity for us to discuss all of the hopes, concerns, prayers, and desires for the Paulist Fathers as a larger community,” he said. “The degree of respect and deference shown to each other – even in the midst of some strongly held opinions – was truly humbling.”