By Fr. Dennis Gallagher, A.A.

I recall a conversation at a local pub with a faculty friend within the first year of Benedict XVI’s pontificate. Taking the measure of Benedict and John Paul II, he observed that John Paul was a seminary professor in his former life, Benedict a university professor. The significance of the comment arose from a sense, early on, that Benedict’s writings and speeches were different from his predecessors, less encumbered by official Church language, somehow freer in their purpose of reaching a wider audience of those disposed to reasonable discourse. And so it was: throughout his eight years as Pope, he was the teacher par excellence, always ready to give an account of the hope that was in him (1 Peter 3:15), in words that people could understand, for the revitalization of the Church’s witness.

In this issue:

Audience with Benedict XVI
“Foundational texts: some treasures from Saint Marie-Eugénie
“Voyage to America: I had a dream”
Education a Birthmark
The AA Library, d’Alzon and the O.A.
The Blessing of the new library!
The Office of Development and Solidarity. The effort continues.
The ISEAB and with your support!
The patrimony in the Assumption. A re-reading of the Rule of Life and the Capitular Rules
The feast of the blessed Martyrs and the celebration of the 150 years of the Near East Mission at Plovdiv
Ordinations to the priesthood and diaconate at Tuléar
Three Congolese Missionaries in Madagascar
Serving God in the Assumption

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In this issue:

Vatican II: A Council to Celebrate
The Lay-Religious Alliance at Work
A Call to Courage and to Perseverance
From the Rapids of the Congo to the Great Lakes Region
Foundation at the Heart of the Strategic and Volcanic Goma
The ISEAB Launches Its Construction
N ovices and Novitiates
Placing oneself in the service of Him for whom no detail is vain
Announcing the Gospel through Popular Songs
Joseph Delvordre, an Old Missionary with a Young Spirit
A Missionary in Chile for 10 Years! An African in the Heart of the Andes
Two Congolese in Mexico. Nande in the Land of the Mayans
Among the Youth in Riobamba
Convictions and Hopes Reaffirmed at the Moscow Meeting
The Gifts to the Assumption. A Re-reading of the Rule of Life and the Capitular Rules
An African Successor to Saint Marie-Eugénie

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Dear Brothers,

At the end of this 2^nd Plenary General Council composed of the Superior General, his Council and the Provincial Superiors, we want to let you know about the major subjects on which we have shared and have made decisions about in the course of these ten days.

The Plenary General Council is a new experience that surprises us, provokes us, harries us, questions us and at the same time imposes on us the responsibility of mobilizing the whole of the Congregation. We firmly believe in the action of the Holy Spirit of God that we felt very present in our discernment and in making our decisions.