Province Begins Extraordinary Visitation

Province Begins

Extraordinary Visitation

By rule, every 6 years each province in the Salesian Society is to be visited by the Rector Major or someone he delegates.

Ordinarily, the provincial formally visits each house and meets with each confrere annually.

In either case, the visitor meets with each SDB and with the local council, reviews the community's apostolic and religious life in their many aspects, etc. At the end the visitor prepares a report of commendations and recommendations.

The extraordinary visitor also meets with the province's leadership and, naturally, prepares a report for the province as a whole, which he'll bring back to the Rector Major and general council.

This year our visit is being conducted by our regional councilor, Fr. Esteban Ortiz (photo), whom we know well. He arrived Friday evening, and the formal visit began this afternoon when he met with the provincial council. It will go on until late May, with a 2-week interruption in late March-early April, when the general councilors return to Rome for some meetings.

On this visit Fr. Ortiz is being assisted by Fr. Nestor Impelido, a Filipino SDB who happens to be a professor of Church history, and a friend of mine from several meetings of Salesian historians. In fact, he chaired the session when I presented my paper in Turin on Fr. Michael Rua and the Eastern U.S. in Oct. 2009 (see post date 11/15/09).

The 2 U.S. provinces are taking advantage of Fr. Ortiz's presence also to hold their annual interprovincial councils meeting with him on Monday and Tuesday at the Marian Shrine in Haverstraw.