“A dream that makes us dream”.
There goes our Patriarch Dominic!
Accompanied by the fire of the Word,
the predicate with his very person,
thus becoming the Living Gospel
that engenders and shapes this great Dominican family.
There goes our Keeper Dominic!
Accompanier who models, edifies and encourages
the spiritual journey of friars, nuns and lay people.
Instructs with its
of availability, trust and freedom,
thus nurturing the growing Dominican spirituality
There goes Preacher Sunday!
An indefatigable companion
with actions that awaken the person
towards their spiritual configuration to Christ.
A few days ago a dream came true: the Dominican School for formators in Latin America and the Caribbean. It took shape step by step, little by little: in various meetings of CIDALC and CODALC, in table conversations, in the dialogues of friars, sisters and nuns, in the corridors (2024.10.30).
The “straw that broke the camel’s back” was the course organised by the above-mentioned entities in August in Lima, Peru (24-30 August, 2024). It was addressed to sisters and brothers who are contributing to the service of initial formation in the Order. The central theme was: “Beware of Abuse! Let’s create safe and healthy environments for our formandi and formandi”. At the end of the course, and as a concrete fruit of it, the creation of the school was formally agreed, the commission that would push the project forward was formed and the first year of formation took shape. This commission is made up of: two Dominican brothers, a sister of contemplative life (Mexico), one of active life and one of CODALC, a friar of CIDALC and a formator, Bro Juan Manuel Hernández, OP (Socius of the Master of the Order for Fraternal Life and Formation), who will be the adviser in conjunction with the Formation Centre for Consecrated Life “Saint Thomas Aquinas” (Argentina).
It is a specifically Dominican school. Its online modality has enabled the participation of more than 200 people from the continent, and some from Europe. It has several training modules. The first one (consisting of 12 meetings at a frequency of fortnightly) is dedicated to “Spiritual accompaniment in the Order of Preachers: Testimonies and theological foundations”, led by Bro Germán Pravia, OP. We wanted to begin with this topic because we want to be guided and learn from those masters of spiritual accompaniment in our Dominican tradition who are essential references for those of us who are formators today. There is a Dominican “way” of spiritual accompaniment and a Dominican “spirituality” that integrates faith and life, “to contemplate and to give to others what is contemplated” (as St. Thomas taught us). And this is what we want to transmit as a specific characteristic of this school.
May the Lord, through the intercession of our father Dominic, inspire us to help “the brothers to be more mature as men and believers, as religious and preachers” (RFG 4). And may we accompany processes of formation of authentic preachers of grace and true witnesses of Christ.
Let us continue to dream that the joint journey as Dominicans and Dominicans was, is and will continue to be possible!
Coordinating Committee
