FMA Past Pupils World Confederation Assembly

Rome (Italy). On 28 March 2021, the World Confederation Assembly of Past Pupils of the Daughters of Mary Help of Christians took place for the first time in online mode.

Participating were more than 180 associates belonging to 78 Federations of the 80 constituted and of 14 Federations that are being constituted, along with the Mother General  of the Daughters of Mary Help of Christians, Sr. Yvonne Reungoat; the Councilor for the Salesian Family, Sr. Maria Luisa Miranda; the World Delegate, Sr. Gabriela Patiño Osorio; the President of the World Confederation of FMA Past Pupils, Mrs. Maria Maghini; the Confederal Council; some members of the Auditors; the College of Arbitrators; and the Delegates of Federations.

After the initial greetings and the welcome of the participants by the President, Mrs. Maria Maghini,  Mother General thanked the Confederation for the commitment in preparing the online Assembly through a work of reflection and sharing, a sign of the desire to respond creatively to new needs that have emerged, in part, coinciding with the new reality. Recalling the path of the 113 years of life of the Association, in the wake of which many Past Pupils  brought and bring to the world the Salesian spirit of Mornese with the characteristic trait of joy, she said: “All of you are bearers of a specific vocation to be ‘presence’ and ‘proposal of values’ in daily life, in the workplace, in the family, in the local Church, among friends and colleagues”.

Mother took up the 1^st article of the Statute, which emphasizes the renewed commitment “to form a great worldwide charismatic network with the Institute of the Daughters of Mary Help of Christians”, and this is the sign of the desire to “strengthen the profound relationship between us and open a horizon of a fruitful future. At the same time, it manifests the profound link between the Institute and the Association of Past Pupils, called to be expressed in an active, visible, and effective network”.

The objectives of the convocation were: the approval of the rules for the online Assembly with electronic voting; the approval of the new text of the Confederal Statute, and the approval of the criteria for determining the annual fee.

The meeting took place within the historical framework of the Association and the presentation of the fundamental principles of the Statute,  and ended with the online voting.

The modifications to the Statute highlighted were: the insertion of the word “Mornese” in the denomination of the Confederation, which will be called “Mornese World Confederation of FMA Past Pupils”, to recall the charismatic origins and value the person of Mary Domenica Mazzarello, a lay woman committed at her time to the territory.

Another modification to the Statute concerns the presence of a lay person as a collaborator of the FMA Delegate, who will, if necessary, be included in the Federations. She will be appointed by the Provincial and her role will be defined by a specific regulation issued by the FMA Province.

At the end of the Assembly, the President, Mrs. Maria Maghini, encouraged a renewed enthusiasm:

“And if one day we realize that the warmth is about to end, the light fades, and life risks not burning, together, we Past Pupils and FMA, let us give ourselves the gift to say it, let Mother Mazzarello’s words resound, ‘It is time to rekindle the fire’ and let’s start again with enthusiasm, so we can write together another wonderful page of history”.