Chronicle: 9 September 2025

Ordinary General Chapter, 2025
Chronicle, 9th of September, 2025 (Tuesday)

We began the day with Mass, presided over by Fr Jose Marcelo Sepulveda OSA, the delegate from Bolivia, who, in his homily, focused on the gospel of the day, taken from Luke 6, 12-19. He reminded us that the mountain is the place for encounter with God and also for taking important decisions. Just like Jesus withdrew to pray and to have intimacy with the Father, we must look for our own spaces to have intimacy with God. Prayers is inseparable from the life of Jesus. The General Chapter is a place for taking important decisions, that are taken through prayer, under the guidance of the Holy Spirit. As disciples of Jesus, each one of us is also called personally by his name and surname. Christianity will always be a personal response to the initiative of God, a relationship that is from “you to you”, renewed from this perspective of personal relationship. Even with our weaknesses, God continues to call us. Therefore, we must humbly place all of our hope and trust in God.

The morning session was moderated by Fr Anthony Pizzo OSA. After the prayer invoking the Holy Spirit, the President of the Chapter brought to our attention the need to reconstitute the team of tellers, presenting the name of Fr Peter Jones OSA, which was approved. The whole morning was given over to the study of the theme of Vocations, Initial Formation and Constitutions, following the text of the Instrumentum Laboris, first by language groups, and then in a plenary session. In the plenary session the reflections of the groups were presented, several of which were related to the corresponding capitular proposals. Then we entered more in to the theme and various proposals were made, whose content will be presented to the presidency and to the redaction team. A recurring theme is the identity of the charism and the spirituality of the Order, linked to community life as a witness of life and the promotion of vocations, not just for religious life as such, but also for all of the vocations in the church. The necessity of working out a concrete proposal on vocations was emphasized. This is a fundamental theme that the Chapter has been dealing with. Concretely, what is sought is support, in financial terms and in terms of personnel for vocations in the emerging circumscriptions. The theme of the promotion and formation in the area of vocations is closely linked to that of the sharing of goods in the Order and deserves more attention. Furthermore, the promotion of vocations must take account of the reality of digital media and the importance of working on the web, and in a network.

The morning concluded with praying of mid-day prayer and lunch. The afternoon session began, as usual, at 4pm. The assembly was moderated by Fr Martin Davakan OSA. As we began we were visited by Fr Gioele Schiavella OSA who is celebrating his 103rd birthday. In his heartfelt greeting he welcomed the capitulars and exhorted them to work in an atmosphere of peace, fraternity, and respect, wishing them an increase in the number of members of the Order, and also a growth in holiness. May the Chapter also carry out its work according to God’s will and for the good of the Order. After this some missionary experiences were presented.

Fr. Jose Alberto Escobar OSA gave us a brief overview of the history of the Augustinian presence in Cuba since 2006, offering a general panorama of the work carried out, the challenges faced to maintain this presence, that runs the risk of disappearing unless decisive action is taken. Currently, the responsibility for the Cuban delegation falls on to the Province of St John of Sahagun, but the efforts of the whole Order are necessary to ensure its future. This challenging reality must be faced with an authentic missionary spirit, without looking for immediate results. It must be seen as being at the service of the Kingdom – this is its fundamental motivation.

Frs Barnaby Jones OSA and Adnan Ghani OSA presented the missionary outlook in Pakistan, under the initiative of the Province of California. Currently, there are two Augustinian friars from Pakistan. They expressed enthusiastically the possibility of the stable presence of the Augustinians in the local church in this country, mentioning also the care of a parish, and the running of a retreat house. The prospects for vocations are good, with young people interested in the Augustinian way of life.

Finally, Fr Martin Davakan OSA, the Provincial of Belgium, informed us about the presence of the Augustinians in West Africa. Of the 8 francophone countries, the Order is present in two of them: Togo and Benin. There are ten Africans affiliated to the Order in the Province of Belgium. The formation house in Togo is trying to carry out the formation process the richness of the local culture, despite the fincancial limitations. He also called on the whole Order to participate in this promising field of missionary, social, pastoral and vocational work.

After the break, the fourth vote for the election of the Prior General was carried out. Finally, after a lot of expectation, three fifths of the votes were achieved for the election of the new Prior General, Fr Joseph Farrell OSA, previously Vicar General of the Order and President of the Chapter. He accepted the responsibility of serving the Order as Prior General during the next 6 years. He was welcomed with a heartfelt standing ovation.

After this the psalms of vespers were prayed solemnly, presided over by the Secretary of the Chapter, Fr Pasquale di Lernia, who welcomed the profession of faith of the new Prior General. After the singing of the Te Deum and the Magne Pater Augustine, the brothers present went to greet the new Prior General and promise their obedience to him, welcoming him with a fraternal embrace. After the ceremony, having concluded with a Marian invocation, we had a celebratory supper, with moments of gratitude and applause and a photo session with the Prior General.