For the first time since its creation on July 10, 1953, the Andean province (formerly known as the South American Province and the Chile-Argentina Province) has an Argentinian at its helm, yes, the same nationality as Pope Francis! Fr. Juan Carlos MARZOLLA LAIUS was named provincial of the Andean Province for a three-year term that begins on June 1, 2016. The first Assumptionists arrived on the South American continent in 1890 at Mendoza, Chile, in view of propagating Marian devotion in country.
Fr. Juan Carlos was born on February 12, 1973 in Junin (Argentina) to Jorge and d’Ana Maria Marzolla. He was baptized on November 24 of the same year in the Orthodox cathedral of St. George in Buenos Aires. After studies in education (1992-1995) and philosophy at the diocesan seminary of Mendoza (1997-1999), he began his novitiate in Pomaire (Chile) where he pronounced his first vows on January 14, 2001. Residing at the Emmanuel d'Alzon community, he undertook his theology studies at the Pontifical University of Santiago (2001-2003). After making his final vows at Our Lady of Lourdes Basilica in Santiago on March 27, 2004, he was ordained a deacon the following year at the shrine of Our Lady of Lourdes near Buenos Aires, Argentina, and a priest on May 13, 2006, in Mendoza, Argentina by the city's archbishop, Most Rev. José María Arancibia. His first assignment took place in the Assumptionist parish and schools in Lota, Chile until 2008, at which time he returned to his native Argentina to become local treasurer and director of the two Assumptionist schools in Buenos Aires, Our Lady of Lourdes in Santo Lugares and San Román in Belgrano. He was appointed assistant provincial in 2011.
As outlined in the agreement signed between CRS and Assumption on May 6, the goals of the partnership are to promote global solidarity through an institutional partnership between the College and CRS that engages the three core constituencies of the College: institutional, faculty and students. Assumption students can participate as CRS Student Ambassadors on campus and the CRS Faculty Learning Commons program provides numerous educational resources for faculty and student engagement. Finally, an interdisciplinary CRS advisory group is tasked with sustaining the partnership and supporting broad engagement with CRS on campus, including during major global emergencies.
“As a Catholic Relief Services Global Campus, Assumption College joins a worldwide effort to call attention to, and serve, those in the greatest of need,” said President Cesareo. “Through this new opportunity, students and faculty will have access to significant resources such as experts who are addressing pressing humanitarian matters throughout the developed and underdeveloped world. Assumption students are challenged to discover their gifts and talents and use what they have learned in the classroom to improve the world in which they live. I am hopeful that many students will be inspired by the work of CRS and use their knowledge in service to the least among us.”
On Pentecost Sunday, May 15, 2016, family, friends, Lay Assumptionists and the greater Assumptionist community of priests and brothers gathered in the Chapel of the Holy Spirit at Assumption College to celebrate Fr. Claude’s 50th Anniversary of Ordination to the Priesthood. Concelebrants included Very Rev. Miguel Diaz Allon, AA, Provincial Superior, Rev. Peter Precourt, AA, Delegate of the Provincial, priest friends and community members. Among the guests in attendance were classmates from Assumption Prep and Fr. Claude’s college days at Assumption.
In his homily, Fr. Claude preached passionately on the Solemnity of Pentecost, the birthday of the Church. As did the apostles, in coming together with their diversity and limitations in the upper room and then their miraculous ability to go out and preach to peoples of all languages and cultures after the power of the Holy Spirit came in wind and fire, so we, too, are called through our Baptism to bear witness to Jesus and his gospel in our daily lives. He concluded by expressing his heartfelt gratitude to his family, friends and brother Assumptionists for their support and prayers over the years. Of particular significance to Fr. Claude was the quote found in the liturgical aide from 1 Corinthians 15:10, “By the grace of God, I am what I am, and his grace to me has not been ineffective.”
Each summer, Assumption College invites students to develop proposals to receive grants that enable them to explore a particular vocation or to conduct academic research. This summer, Global Studies major Sarah Clancy ’18, of Dedham, MA, will use her High Impact Summer Grant to work closely with immigrants and their children while attaining a better understanding of God’s calling for her in Chaparral, New Mexico.
While in Chaparral, Clancy will work with the Religious Sisters of Assumption as an Assumption Mission Associate (AMA), serving as a leader of a summer camp for children of immigrants. Over the years, the Sisters have built a bond of trust with the local people, which has allowed them to help the immigrant community in many different ways. A cornerstone of the mission is the educational and recreational programs offered to children and youth, with an eye to helping them develop leadership skills and a culture of community service. During the summer, the Sisters will welcome groups from other parts of the country and Mexico for three or four weeks of camps; in addition to all the fun, these groups get a chance to learn about the realities of life on the border (Chaparral is located near the U.S. and Mexico border).
April 30, 2016, on the 177th year anniversary of the Foundation of the Religious of the Assumption, the sisters of the US province gathered at the Chapel of the Holy Spirit, Assumption College not only to celebrate the anniversary of their foundation but also to witness the First Vows of Sr. Akeneta, their first vocation from Fiji Islands. Gathered around her were her relatives who came all the way from California, the Assumption family, past and present AMA volunteers, and the friends of the Assumption. Indeed "Purple Reigns!", We were there to celebrate it!
The youth group wants to thank an amazing group of parishioners who ran the kitchen for Cardboard City Friday night and Saturday morning.
Thank you to Jeannette Krans, Bill Krans, Peggy Sorenson, Judy Curboy, Sylvia Gaumond, Colleen Casey, Sandie Kelly, Pat Haggerty, Terry Johnson, Jecenia Figueroa, Pauline Devlin and a big thank you to our overnight volunteer who stayed awake all night, outside with the kids, and manned the fire, Doug Mrotek. Thank you to all those who donate their cans and bottles, especially Incom, for Kids in the Congo.
This event was possible only because of all of you!
From 1993 to 2013, 10 workshops known as "Assumptionist summer universities" (universités d’été assomptionnistes/UAE) have taken place in France
by Bernard Jouanno, A.A.
The first of these workshops took place in 1993 at the Assumptionist-run reception center near Lyon, France. It had as a theme: "Building Cities for Your Children" and as it aim: "an analysis of the place of the city and its mysteries and traditional structures, to uncover urban culture, and in this context, to re-examine the role of the Church."
Behind this initiative of summer universities was a group of men and women religious of the Assumption Family as well as lay friends taken up with Assumptionist spirituality. They hoped to build on similar efforts that had taken place over the years since Vatican II.
Boston University where Fr. Vincent obtained a Master's degree in Theology and had begun his doctoral studies before returning to the Congo in 2013 has announced that it will be establishing a memorial scholarship and lecture in his memory.
This scholarship will be offered to one or more students from Africa, attending Boston University’s School of Theology, with a preference for those who are committed to study and service focused on justice and peace. Recipients shall be selected by the Dean of the School of Theology or her/his designee.
This lecture will address global issues of justice and peace, with a particular focus on the grassroots transformation of society.
Fr. Vincent Machozi was shamefully assassinated this past Palm Sunday. Death seems to triumph. We are all dismayed, traumatized by this event. How are we to understand this chain of massacres, of death and violence? Assumption has already paid a heavy price to the insecurity that has sown terror in North Kivu. Let us not forget our brothers, Edmond, Jean-Pierre and Anselme, who disappeared more than three years ago. Our congregation continues to demonstrate solidarity with the people of North Kivu and our brothers somehow continue their delicate mission there without giving up. It is our way of responding to the heinous attacks that have been terrorizing the Nande people, the largest ethnic group in North Kivu.
An Assumptionist is a man who demonstrates solidarity with the poor and the least among us. This solidarity is not some empty phrase. It also has a price, let us not forget. But an Assumptionist is also a man of dialogue. We are not motivated by a spirit of revenge, but one of justice. We demand that the truth about these massacres be made known and that justice prevail. There must be an end put to complicit indifference.
