Message | P. Alejandro Welcomes Delegates

Welcome Address by Father General (Augustinian General Chapter)

Dear brothers in St. Augustine:

With joy and gratitude, I offer you a most fraternal welcome to this General Chapter. We welcome you with the same affection and closeness that I, along with my Council, have shared with you in the Order's various jurisdictions, where we have experienced moments of fraternity, prayer, and hope. Both during our visits and while participating in the Chapters, we have always felt welcomed with great affection and fraternity. We too: the General Council and the officials of the Curia and the College of Santa Monica, wish to make you feel at home. Therefore, you are all welcome and enjoy the time you will spend with your brothers and this beautiful city during these days in Rome.

Today, more than ever, the Church asks us to place our gifts at the service of the common good. Each brother present here has received talents and charisms that, united in diversity, become a treasure for the Order and the Church. For this reason, we invoke the Holy Spirit: may he enlighten and guide us, make our work fruitful, teach us to listen and dialogue, and help us discover, in the plurality of voices, the unity of the Body of Christ.

We cannot remain indifferent to the signs of the times. Today's world cries out for peace, justice, and fraternity. Humanity faces many challenges: violence, forced migration, the loneliness of so many young people, indifference to faith. As Augustinians, we are not called to provide easy answers, but to faithfully live the attitude of our Father, Saint Augustine: to seek the truth together, cultivate interiority, and offer the world the testimony of a fraternal and hope-filled life.

Allow me to recall here the words of Leo XIV, son of Saint Augustine, which forcefully remind us: "The love that unites us is stronger than any border, because whoever has found his peace in Christ cannot fail to build it for others as well." These words are a stimulus for our journey and invite us to renew our dedication.

Dear brothers, I sincerely hope that these days of the General Chapter will be a truly graced time. May they be days of mutual listening, shared prayer, and enlightened discernment. May friendship and unity be our hallmark. And may we emerge from this meeting renewed in spirit, more fraternal, more bold, and more willing to serve.

With the intercession of Saint Augustine and Saint Mary, Mother of Consolation, we confidently undertake this journey. May the Lord bless our Order and may the Spirit guide us at all times.

Thank you with all my heart.