Passionist International Bulletin

The Curia InformsThe house consists of about twenty roomswith private bathrooms. Presently there are twoPassionists permanently in residence: Fr. GianniSgreva and Fr. Juan Llorente (FAM) (the GeneralArchivist of the Congregation until severalmonths ago), as well as several lay people whospend short and medium-length periods of timethere, sharing in the life of the community.Future plans?Based on the responses to the letter of Fr.General, there is a consensus that we retain apresence in Bethany, a presence that shoulddevelop in a project for the well-being and thepeace of this wounded and divided people thatinhabit the land of Jesus, as well as for the localChurch, the Mother Church of Jerusalem, for theMiddle East, for our Passionist Congregation inits geographic and cultural entirety, and extendedto all the members of the Passionist family (menand women religious, Passionist nuns and Sisters,and laity).The suggestions that have been offeredaddress the situation of that land which is currentlyexperiencing the Passion of Jesus as playedout in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, on the roadthat descends from Jerusalem to Jericho.Precisely at the gate of the house there are examplesof this conflict. Therefore it is important tomaintain a presence that is characterized by peaceand communion with the local people, by meansof personal dialogue and various small projects.Attention also needs to be given to the Churchof Jerusalem, the Mother Church of all Churches,which welcomes the Passionists and offers themthe opportunity to keep alive the memory of thePassion, Death and Resurrection ofthe Lord that took place in Jerusalem,and which extends to this very day.It is important that the religious ofthe local community have knowledgeof or are willing to undertake learningArabic and Hebrew, at least on a basiclevel and, as a common language incommunity, have an adequate knowledgeof English. Treasures to bereceived and offered, in addition toEcumenical ventures, would not onlybe knowledge of other faiths,Churches and Christian rites, but alsogreater understanding of Judaism andIslam.With a little bit of imagination we might thinkof Bethany as a community that, in collaborationwith others, has the possibility of becoming aninternational center for formation and the renewalof the charism of the Memoria Passionis for thePassionist religious and for the Passionist family(religious, Passio-nist nuns and Sisters, laity) inkeeping with the restructuring of the entireCongrega-tion, so that "there might be a greaterflow of life from one part of the Congregation toanother", and that there be greater spiritual andcultural growth as a result of "thinking more as aCongregation and less as a Province."The scope is that of seeing the Congregationof the Passion within a global vision which, whiledeepening and promoting unity, values and promotesthe richness of diversity. In this way wecan discover the unity of one charism and the soletheology and spirituality of the charism of thePassion even amidst the diversity of expressionsand within the wealth of specific geographic andcultural expressions. Thus, the possibilities thatare being considered for the renewal of Bethanyare international as much as the Congregation isinternational in its geography and culture.It's a dream! But we have sought and havebeen given permission to dream of theCongregation of the future in this phase ofRestructuring in which we are presentlyinvolved: "the reformulation today of ourPassionist vision for the world of tomorrow forthe purpose of addressing the changes that Godhas placed before us." (Commencement Letter ofFr. General, 20 March 2005)We are seeking religious who are willing tomake this dream a reality!Israeli wall dividing our monastery garden13