As part of the Easter celebration, the Superior General Father Rogério Gomes, addressed to each of the Congregation’s Conferences with a personalized message. In his letters, he offers a faith-based reading of the current moment the Institute is experiencing and invites his confreres to continue with hope on their missionary and consecrated journey.
The messages sent to Europe, North America, Latin America and the Caribbean, Asia-Oceania, and Africa-Madagascar from the heart of the Easter message: Christ is risen. With Him, every human reality can be transformed. From this perspective, Father General encourages each Conference to view its challenges not as signs of failure, but as opportunities for renewal and creative fidelity to the Redemptorist charism. The messages also fit into the Congregation’s ongoing journey of reconfiguration, emphasizing the importance of communion, co-responsibility, and openness to new forms of mission in a world marked by profound change.
Europe: missionary tradition and the challenge of renewal
For the European Conference, Father General recognizes a complex situation, marked by secularization and a decline in vocations. However, he also highlights clear signs of hope: a solid missionary tradition, well-organized structures, and growing collaboration between units. He particularly emphasizes the ongoing restructuring process, experienced as a true “Easter season,” in which greater dialogue, communion, and the desire to journey together are evident. He also values missionary work with migrants, young people, and the most vulnerable, as well as the witness of confreres who remain faithful even in times of war or suffering.
North America: “Liminality” as an Easter Opportunity
To the brothers and lay people of North America, the Superior General proposes the concept of “liminality”: a time of transition between what has been and what has not yet fully manifested itself, experienced as an Easter moment that invites transformation. He highlights the reconfiguration of the units, with the upcoming creation of the new Seelos Province, the sound institutional organization, and the cultural richness of the mission, particularly in the accompaniment of migrants. He acknowledges the challenges of social polarization and secularization, but encourages a deepening of community life, ongoing formation, and the balance between mission and fraternity.
Latin America and the Caribbean: Fidelity in Fragile Contexts
In Latin America and the Caribbean, the message highlights a transforming Conference that has made significant progress in its reconfiguration. Father General expresses gratitude for the missionary fidelity in contexts marked by poverty, violence, and instability, where the Redemptorists continue to stand alongside the most abandoned. He also emphasizes the clarity of the pastoral plan, centered on the poor, the family, and young people. While acknowledging the decline in vocations and some clericalism, he emphasizes that this moment is a call to deepen our identity, strengthen community life, and renew our missionary passion.
Asia-Oceania: vitality, brotherhood, and intercultural dynamism
In the Asia-Oceania Conference, Father General identifies signs of vitality: fraternal communities, a profound spiritual life, and great missionary creativity, even in challenging contexts. He emphasizes the richness of interculturality, the commitment to interreligious dialogue, and the ability to adapt to challenges. The internal organization, with secretariats and commissions, reflects a dynamic and mission-oriented Conference. He also points to the challenges related to formation, economic sustainability, and vocational promotion, but reiterates that the restructuring represents an opportunity for interior renewal and deeper communion.
Africa and Madagascar: Growth, Youth, and Hope
The message addressed to Africa and Madagascar is marked by a tone of hope and gratitude. The Superior General highlights the growth of vocations, the vitality of youth, and the numerous initiatives of formation and shared mission. He emphasizes the richness of interculturality and the commitment to the poorest in contexts often marked by conflict and injustice. At the same time, he calls for strengthening formation, economic sustainability, and governance structures. Restructuring appears here as a journey of unity and co-responsibility, in which the generosity of the confreres, especially the younger ones, becomes a profoundly Paschal sign.
A common appeal: communion, conversion, and missionary boldness
A common vision emerges from the five messages. Father General invites the entire Congregation to experience this time as a true “Easter Passage”: to navigate change with faith, leaving behind security and opening ourselves to the newness of the Spirit.
Among the shared elements are: restructuring as a path of missionary fidelity; the centrality of community life as the first witness; collaboration with the laity as an essential dimension; the need for solid and ongoing formation; and a renewed option for the poorest and most abandoned.
A common conviction resounds throughout the Conferences: the mission is not our work, but that of the Redeemer, who continues to guide history and open new paths. For this reason, the Father General’s Easter message becomes an invitation to active hope: to walk together, strengthen communion, and proclaim with renewed fervor the abundant redemption in the world’s diverse contexts.
Confreres, those in formation, lay people and other members of the Redemptorist family who wish to receive one of these letters can write to us at: scalanewscssr@gmail.com or seg.gen.cssr@gmail.com .
Fr. Edward Chacón, CSsR.
General Secretary
