On Wednesday 27 January 2021, the General Leadership teams of the CJ and the IBVM met again. As the restrictions regarding meetings are still strict in Italy, this meeting had to be online. The agenda was long and it was not possible to finish in one afternoon. Therefore, we met again on Thursday 4 February 2021.
It was a joy for us to share about the positive experiences of the Animator-Ambassador collaborative work for CJ-IBVM Union in all the provinces and regions of both congregations. There are many initiatives to get to know each other better despite all the difficulties posed by Covid-19. WhatsApp groups were created, many online meetings took place, prayer partners were assigned and different ways were found to keep in touch. A new Union website and the Union prayer will be launched soon. This will also help to further our process of coming together as one congregation.
The work of the Mary Ward JPIC office was another topic and there was great appreciation of all that Adina CJ and Pauline IBVM were able to do in collaboration with the JPIC animators in provinces and regions on various digital platforms.
The difficulties with the representation of both congregations at the UN was also shared, now that both Cynthia and Janet are still in their own countries doing all the work online, surmounting the problems created by time zone differences. They will be unable to return to New York before November at the earliest. Restrictions due to the pandemic are impacting all areas of our mission.
We usually conclude our joint meetings with supper but we need to wait until this will be possible again.
(text and photos/Elisabeth and Františka)
