From 19 to 24 April, Father General Carles Gil, Sch. P., carried out his visitation to the Piarist presence on the Caribbean island of the Dominican Republic, belonging to the Demarcation of Central America and the Caribbean. In the country, the Piarists are present in two religious communities, in Santo Domingo and La Romana. The Father General was accompanied by the General Assistant for America, Fr Julio Alberto Álvarez Díaz, Sch. P.
Both were warmly welcomed in the communities and in the schools. We thank the young people who guided Fr Carles Gil and Fr Julio Alberto on a presentation tour of their Colegio Calasanz in Pueblo Bávaro. We thank the leadership team, teachers and pupils of Colegio Calasanz San Pedro, who, with the presence of more than 800 pupils, offered a warm presentation with singing and dances. We also thank the pupils of Colegio Calasanz Pablo Mella and Colegio Calasanz Santo Domingo, who, in their greetings at the beginning of classes, showed their affection in welcoming the one who represents Calasanz in the Order of the Pious Schools.
During this visitation, Fr Carles Gil and Fr Julio Alberto Álvarez met with the religious of the Santo Domingo community: Fr Francisco Montesinos; Br Edmundo do Santos Costa, Sch. P.; Alain Fadeau Poudy, Sch. P.; Fr Javier Brines, Sch. P.; and Fr Mauricio Valdivia, Sch. P. They also met with the community of La Romana: Fr Rogelio Gimeno, Sch. P.; Fr Héctor Sánchez, Sch. P.; Fr Léster Adolfo Sánchez, Sch. P.; and Fr Adrián G. Guerrero, Sch. P. Both communities accompany an extensive and fruitful mission distributed across four Colegio Calasanz schools: Santo Domingo, Pablo Mella, Pueblo Bávaro, and La Romana San Pedro / La Romana San Eduardo–Politécnico Calasanz; the Calasanz Cultural Centre in La Puya; four parishes — San Eduardo, Christ the King, Our Lady of Peace and Saint Joseph Calasanz — with their six chapels; and the Calasanz Cultural Centres of non-formal education in La Romana, located in areas of very high social vulnerability.
At the end of the visitation, the Father General presided over the meeting with the Provincial Congregation, composed of Fr Juan Alfonso Serra Mora, Sch. P.; Fr Francisco Montesinos, Sch. P.; Fr José Luis Colmenárez, Sch. P.; Fr Esteban Barrantes Grant, Sch. P.; and Fr Jesús María García de Eulate, Sch. P. During the meeting, they discussed where the Demarcation brings life to birth, so that the Piarist presence and mission may continue to be Good News today and tomorrow. Fr Carles Gil and Fr Julio Alberto Álvarez expressed their gratitude for the way in which the Keys of Inspiration become a dynamic of deep discernment in favour of children and young people.
Likewise, they underlined the beautiful witness of work and accompaniment offered by the Santo Domingo community with the young people of the Calasanz Movement, Calasanz Nos Une, the pupils of the Calasanz Centre of La Puya, the non-formal education centres in La Romana — places of high social vulnerability — as well as the beginnings of Colegio Calasanz Pablo Mella and Colegio Calasanz Pueblo Bávaro. They gave thanks for the fraternal encounters with pupils of the early years, primary and secondary levels in the four schools; with the Fraternities of both La Romana and Santo Domingo; and with the enlarged parish council of the four parishes in La Romana. They also gave thanks for the Eucharists in which both Father General Carles Gil and Fr Julio Alberto Álvarez joined in communion of faith with the parish community and the educational community. Thanks were expressed to Fr Héctor for these parish encounters and for his pastoral service in the many areas of parish ministry.
Finally, the visiting fathers expressed their gratitude for the fraternal meeting with the community of the Piarist Sisters in La Romana and, above all, listened with affectionate attention to the beautiful and outstanding presentation by the secondary students of Colegio Calasanz San Eduardo–Politécnico Calasanz in La Romana, who offered a practical demonstration of what they have received in their technical and professional formation.
At the same time, they inaugurated the new facilities that will serve their technical and professional formation; these were blessed and opened by Father General Carles Gil together with the fathers of the La Romana community. Thanks were expressed to Fr Adrián Guerrero for supervising the works at Colegio Calasanz and for preparing this beautiful programme with the secondary students.
We express our special gratitude to Fr Juan Alfonso Serra for his kind and fraternal accompaniment throughout the whole visitation, joining the discernment sessions in order to continue accompanying and discerning the Piarist mission with those who foster and unfold the joy of the Gospel through the charism and mission of Calasanz.
