I attended my last CEP conference as Irish Provincial in Piešt’any (Slovakia) at our retreat house from the evening of Friday 7^th to Wednesday 12^th October.  It was also the final such meeting for Elemér Vizi, the Hungarian Provincial: we had attended Provincial School together in Rome in late 2017! Tempus fugit. It was a most relaxed and beautifully paced meeting, in a wonderful setting, under the guidance of President, Fr Franck Janin, so ably assisted by his Socius, Fr Herminio Rico.

Upon gathering, we learned that the Portuguese Provincial, Fr Miguel Almeida, would not be with us: he had undergone surgery for intestinal cancer during the summer.  However, the up-to-date news was excellent: he is recovering really well, and would attend the EMR Assistancy meeting by Zoom on the Wednesday. We remembered Miguel at Mass and in prayer during the Conference – and since. That all be well for him!

The situation in Ukraine also affected us. Oleksii Bredeliev SJ was to join us by Zoom one evening to apprise us of the situation there, out of Kyiv. However, intense bombing during the day meant that all electricity and internet facilities were down, and our meeting could not take place. This was testimony of itself.

Central to the Conference meeting – known as the General Assembly – was the communal discernment as to who might replace the retiring Fr Franck Janin as CEP President from next summer. Franck bequeaths very big shoes to fill!  The President’s Consult will take the fruits of our discernment to the next stage. (Given that I have an ‘extended’ Consult coming up to assist in discerning whom my successor here in Ireland will be – and I wish him all the luck in the world! – this was a timely, most helpful experience.)

On the Tuesday, we had a 90-minute meeting via Zoom with Fr General. Fr Sosa was in Madagascar, and was engaging with us out of the Retreat that he had delivered previously on the vow of poverty. This provided an opportunity to inform him as to how each of our Provinces had subsequently engaged in reflection on the vow, both personally and communally. The discussion was rich, and not devoid of humour. He challenged us all to maintain the intensity of engagement with the transparent living out of poverty.

As well as approving Fr Herminio Rico’s excellently prepared budget for the Conference for the coming year, we also enjoyed an excellent in-person meeting with the Director of JECSE, Agnieszka Baran. She made a thorough presentation of what is happening on the education front in Europe and beyond. She is doing extraordinary work with limited resources. Separately from our meeting with Agnieszka, the Provincial for the Near East, Fr Michael Zammit, presented on the severe challenges being faced in our three schools in Lebanon. The Provincials unanimously proffered support to the schools, to assist in their struggle for survival at this time of desperate financial upheaval in the country. 

The hospitality of the Slovakian Provincial, Fr Jozef ofranko, and his Socius, Jacob (who has perfected his ‘Irish’ English!), and others too numerous to be mentioned here, was extraordinary. On behalf of all, I thank them for their tremendous care and generosity, including the driving of some of us to Vienna Airport very early on the Thursday morning for our travel home.

The days finished with the different Assistancies meeting separately on the Wednesday. Our thanks to the three Assistants who joined us: Victor Assouad, Tomasz Kot and Cipriano Marcos.

A graced week under the gaze of the risen Lord,

Fr Leonard Moloney SJ
HIB Provincial