Eastern Province and Commission on Charism and Culture in Asia Pacific

Fr. Baiju A. Chittuparamban, Executive Secretary, APVC, sent the following report from the Assia Pacific Visitor’s Conference Commission on Charism and Culture.

Eastern Province service to the Asia Pacific region

The Eastern Province has a long history and relationship with the Asia Pacific region. Fr. Biju lived with the Eastern Province Confreres at St. St. John’s while he was earning his doctorate in the United States He now serves as President of the only Vincentian University in India. In similar fashion, Fr. Labitag lived with the  Confreres at De Paul University. The Eastern Province has  played a

Bishop Rolando Crisostomo Santos, C.M., Bishop of Alotau-Sideia, Papua New Guinea,  prepared for the priesthood at Mary Immaculate Seminary, Northampton, PS. Over the years a number of confreres from the faculty at Mary Immaculate Seminary served in an exchange program with the seminary in Australia.

Fr. Tom Hynes, currently at St. Vincent’s Seminary in Germantown, served five years (1993-1998) in the Solomon Islands. Fr. Tom Sendlein served in China for approximately a quarter of a century. Of course going back even furhter the Province sent many confreres to missions in China. The most notably one was Bishop. John O’Shea. His sotry is a story in itself.

The following confreres from the regions are presently living and working in our Eawstern Province.

• Dominic Vu Ngoc Thach         studying as part of the Eastern Province Scholarship
• Joseph Linh Anh Nguyen       studying English living at the Miraculous Medal House
• John Doai Kim Dang             ministry at Niagara University
• Peter Hung Van Le                ministry at St. Mary’s Parish, Greensboro, NC

• Paulus Dwintarto                studying as part of the Eastern Province Scholarship
• Gregorius Kukuh Nugroho    Studying at Niagara University

The following report provides a wonderful interview of the situation in the Asia Pacific region.

Asia Pacific Report

The Asia Pacific Visitors’ Conference (APVC) held its annual meeting for 2017 at Durando Philosophical Institute, Dalat, Vietnam from Feb. 17-24, 2017. Fr. Venerando Agner (Visitor, Philippines), Tomichan Joseph (Visitor, Southern India), Vijay Kumar Nayak (Visitor, Northern India), Augustine Huu Gia (Vice Visitor, Vietnam), Manuel Edi Prasetyo (Delegate, Indonesia), Ferdinand Estareja Labitag (Delegate, China), Peter Reedy (Delegate, Oceania), Paulus Suparmono (Mission Superior, Solomon Islands International Mission), Emmanuel Valmoria Lapaz (Mission Superior, Papua New Guinea Internal Mission), Mathew Kallammakal (Asst. General) and Baiju A. Chittuparamban (Executive Secretary, APVC) attended the meeting.

The APVC Commission on Charism and Culture (CCC) also held its annual meeting at the same venue and interacted with the Visitors and delegates of the APVC concerning the future activities of the commission. The CCC members are Peter Reedy (Chairman, Oceania), Jenson Kalloor (Secretary, Northern India), Joseph Loftus (member, China) and Paul Hoang (Member, Vietnam).

Each Visitor/vice visitor and the delegate presented reports of the respective province that included the history, mission, and specific activities and programs. The APVC also discussed specific inter-province collaborative programs. The annual meeting also provided the visitors/ delegates and the CCC members opportunity to visit formation houses and various missions of the growing vice-province of Vietnam.  The decisions of the APVC 2017 includes the following:

APVC Commission on Charism and Culture (CCC)

The Commission on Charism and Culture coordinates programs that aim at inculturating the Vincentian charism in the Asia-Pacific region.

1. The current team of Peter Reedy (Oceania), Joseph Loftus (China), Jenson Kalloor Northern India), and Paul Hoang (Vietnam) will continue as the core team of the CCC while Southern India, Indonesia and Philippines will nominate a confrere each to the Commission on Charism and Culture.
2. The APVC decided to revise the “statues of the CCC” and separate from the statues the plan of action. The revised draft of the CCC statues and the plan of action will be presented in the APVC 2018 meeting for approval.
3. The APVC will include in the agenda of the future APVC annual meetings the report of the Chairman of the CCC.
4. The CCC will meet annually to plan its workshops and maintain and update the APVC website.

APRF 2017 (Indonesia)

Asia Pacific Regional Formators (APRF) come together biennially from each province and vice province of the region to know and collaborate in the formation of the candidates to the Congregation of the Mission.

5. The APVC decided to hold the Formators’ Meeting of 2017 in the province of Indonesia and the formation in-charge of the Province will organize the event this year (2017) with full responsibility. And from the next time onward, the CCC will organize the Formators’ meeting in collaboration with the host province.

Common Initial Formation (APVC)

6. Based on the agreement arrived at the 2016 APVC meeting held in Chicago, the 2017 APVC meeting decided to have the Common Initial formation program for the Internal Seminarians of the Provinces/vice province of the APVC. The program will be held in the Province of Philippines from May-June 2019 onward and each province will send minimum two students to the program. The 2018 APVC meeting will decide the Director and assistant director of the program.

Solomon Islands International Mission

7. The signing of the Agreement on Solomon Islands International mission is postponed till the draft is rearranged based on the discussion between the Curia, Province of Oceania and Province of Indonesia.

Regional Popular Mission

8. The APVC decided to organize a Popular Mission experience and sharing program for the confreres of the region. The APVC Commission on Charism and Culture (CCC), in collaboration with the Province of Indonesia, will organize the event in 2018.

APVC Solidarity Fund

9. The APVC decided to create an APVC Solidarity Fund to support the provinces/vice province of the region in times of disaster. Ten percent (10%) from the annual subsidy of the member provinces/vice province to the APVC Account at the Curia will be credited to the Solidarity Fund. The President of the APVC, with the executive secretary, will manage the Solidarity Fund.

Ongoing Formation of Vincentian Priests.

10. The APVC decided that its Commission on Charism and Culture (CCC) will organize in 2020 an on-going formation program for those confreres ordained between 5-10 years.

Baiju A. Chittuparamban

Executive Secretary, APVC