During the day, we have had proclamations from de the new Father General with the reelection of Pedro Aguado and the four General Assistants that will conform the new General Congregation for the six-year term 2021-2027.
The eucharistic of the morning was organized by the Province of Emmaus and presided by Fr Javier Negro; during the homily he exhorted the brothers to ‘stay together and to be constants’ and set the words of Calsanz as a reminder. At 9:15 AM the approval from the Holy See done by the Capitular Fathers was published, so Fr Pedro Aguado could get permission for a third consecutive mandate. During his inauguration, Fr Pedro Aguado said the Creed and swore to be faithful to the Pious Schools and to the Church, in front of the Assembly who started clapping after the dictated was known. Fr General thanked for the trust received and acknowledged the ‘great responsibility’ that this third mandate means.
Later, the circumscriptions by continent got gathered while Fr General was proposing in each one of them a name for the votations for the General Assistants. The consecutives votations for the General Assistants took place in the Chapter Main Room. Fr Carles Gil i Saguer was elected as the Assistant for Europe, Fr Julio Alberto Álvarez Díaz was elected as the Assistant for America, Fr Félicien Mouendji Massongo as the Assistant for Africa and Jószef Urban as the Assistant for Assia. During the meal time we had the traditional toast to celebrate the election of the new General Congregation.
During the afternoon, Fr Samson Ehemba from Western Africa opened the session with a reflection about the four Keys of the Order: The Centrality of Jesus Christ, the Building of the Order, Non-replaceable Ministry and the Piarist that We Need. Fr Ehemba highlighted that ‘the centrality of Jesus Christ is the key that opens all the doors inside our piarist life’. ‘Every piarist-being is nourished by Jesus Christ’, he said. ‘Our life makes sense to the poorest students, they are our reason for living’, he explained. After team-work, the day ended with an exposition of the piarist reality in Indonesia and Timor Leste done by Fr Victor Gil.
