From October 13 to 17, we had two successive meetings at Soavimbahoaka, in our administrative house: the meeting with Graciela ETCHART, Director of the Oblate Office for the Sustainability of the Mission (OOMS), and the annual meeting of the superiors, economists, and school leaders of the Delegation. There were 22 Oblates participating.

Meeting with Graciela

She arrived in Madagascar on October 3, 2024. She had the opportunity to visit some communities in Toamasina city and Mahanoro with our treasurer, Fr. Grzegorz JANIAK OMI, before the meeting. Her meeting with the superiors, economists, and school directors, from the afternoon of October 13 to Tuesday, October 15, taught us a lot. The first day of the meeting coincided with the consecration of the new bishop of Ambatondrazaka. The Superior of the Delegation went to attend this event.

Thus, it was Fr. Grzegorz OMI who gave the welcoming words before Graciela's presentation. Graciela began her presentation and instruction with financial management training, which plays a crucial role in our religious life and is linked to our vow of poverty. This training is, among other things, very important for the implementation of financial autonomy in Madagascar.

For the first time, the school directors were invited to participate in this annual meeting, which has traditionally been dedicated to superiors and economists. It was an extended Council "for better participation of all in life and mission..." (C. 108).

We began the meeting with a sharing from each community, but before that, Fr. Alphonse RAKOTONDRAVELO OMI, Superior of the Delegation, expressed his appreciation for each person's work, collaboration, and efforts for the well-being of the community and the Delegation. The sharing was an opportunity to exchange fraternally about the life and realities of each community (community life, pastoral life, achievements, projects, challenges...). After this sharing, we continued with the themes or points according to the agenda.

Reflection of Fr. Alphonse

He reminded us of the three foundations of our life: spiritual life, community life, and conversion. He emphasized the importance of his visit, which could be canonical, fraternal, or extraordinary, during which he insists on mutual listening, dialogue, and exchanges. His only goal is to weave the community life together.

He shared his vision of the current state of life in the Delegation. He started with the statistics. We are currently one hundred eleven (111), including twelve (12) prenovices, nine (9) novices, thirty-four (34) scholastics, one (1) brother, and fifty-five (55) priests. Then, he laid out points of hope. In short, our Delegation is alive; we are proud to be Oblates. This is evident in personal, community, pastoral, and vocational formation areas. Some dioceses are inviting us to settle in their territories. After this, he spoke candidly about the areas of concern, acknowledging that there are also serious problems that must be addressed, but we can face them by returning to the source (CC. 19-23) and focusing on the three foundations : spiritual life, community life, and conversion. It is important to pray, as we are religious. The community is our home, our first place of life (C.91, R.91a). Conversion means a change of mentality.

First Formation and Formation Commission

Fr. Etienne RANDRIANASOLO OMI, Superior of the Scholasticate and President of the First Formation Commission, shared the life of the community at the Scholasticate. This year, we will receive three scholastics from Cameroon. We have sent scholastics abroad (Sco. Davie and Sco. Ismael to Poland, Sco. Soasaotse OMI to Rome, Sco. Manampy OMI to the United States), and Sco. Jacques will be going to the Philippines. All members of the Delegation are responsible for our young people in formation. The report after the internship is necessary and must be clear and objective. As a reminder, we have sent our new scholastics in philosophy to the Salesians of Don Bosco starting this academic year 2024/2025.

	CAMEROON		Pologne		Pologne
	Soasaotse in Rome		Manampy in the United States		Jacques to the Philippines

Fr. Gildas BEARIVOZAFY OMI, the Master of Novices, was unfortunately ill, so we were content with the sharing of a confrere from his community.

Fr. Christian RAKOTONIAIANA OMI, Director of the first stage of formation, explained the process of recruitment, candidate selection, and especially the admission of young people to the prenovitiate and post-prenovitiate stages.

The assembly decided that during the feast of St. Eugene de Mazenod, each mission and parish will now collect funds for our houses of formation, apart from the other ongoing activities.

Ongoing Formation and Specialization

Formation continues until death. We must constantly train ourselves to preserve and care for our precious religious and priestly vocation. This can take various forms: refresher courses, studies, sabbatical years, and all kinds of sessions, both within and outside the community.

This year, Fr. Joseph RANDRIANANDRASANA OMI is studying accounting and finance in Antananarivo (Essca), while Fr. Tojo ANDRIANJAFY is studying Church history in Rome (Gregorian University).

Pastoral

This year was marked by the establishment of a new post at Sahakevo, an annex of the Marolambo mission, in order to facilitate and develop pastoral work in this vast area. Fr. Pascal RABEMANANTSOA OMI and Fr. Léonce ANDRIAMAMONJISOA OMI received the assignment to take charge of this new post.

In the Diocese of Mananjary, we also took on a new mission called Mahavoky. The installation took place on September 8, 2024 (see the article).

The Congregation of the Sisters of St. Joseph of Aosta officially settled in Befasy on September 22 to manage the school, the women's promotion center, and to assist in pastoral work as well. Our two Congregations collaborate for the good of society and the Church.

Other pastoral entities/commissions are in place and functioning well: the pastoral commission, youth ministry with Fr. Lucien RAKOTOARISOA OMI, the Apostolate of the Sea with Fr. Olivier ANDRIANARISOA, the Catholic University Chaplaincy (ACU). The lay association AMMI, the OMI Bulletin, the collaboration between parish priest and vicar, and missionary animation in Canada (Assumption Province), La Réunion, and beyond… all these are important for our life, pastoral work, and international relations.

Finance and Financial Commission

The economist of the Delegation, Fr. Grzegorz JANIAK OMI, shared the current state of our finances. He raised several important points, including unexpected expenses in management, various ongoing projects (Ampapanambo, Befasy, Tsarahonenana), those to be resumed (presbytery in Sahalava), and those to be completed next year (School in Ambinanindrano, novitiate in Ivoloina, Church in Volobe…). He emphasized the care and maintenance of our properties, the reports with photos of donations received, the reports to the parish, and the recognition and rights of our staff.

The Superior of the Delegation asked the assembly for feedback regarding our land (the 60ha donation) in Ambalavotaka (Masomeloka), so that it can serve as a source of funding and also have a positive impact on pastoral work. He also proposed the idea of creating a Reserve Fund, sourced from annual contributions from each mission and parish, to secure the future. He raised the importance of constructing another tomb, considering the long distances between the various communities in different remote regions…

Miscellaneous, Sharing, and Group Work

Fr. Alphonse OMI reminded us of the events that marked the year 2024: the visit of Fr. Asodo Henricus OMI, General Assistant for Formation, the joint session in Senegal, the priestly and diaconal ordinations, the perpetual vows (in Congo), the establishment of the Marolambo annex at Sahakevo, the installation of the community at Mahavoky (Mananjary), the Famadihana or exhumation (see the article). The canonical visit of the Provincial, Fr. Marek OCHLAK OMI (from November 16 to December 6, 2024), will also mark this year.

For the year 2025, there will be : the Oblate Youth Congress in Rome, from July 22-29, 2025; the in-person meeting of the lay associates in Aix-en-Provence from August 3-10, 2025; and the inter-chapter in India in August 2025 (the Oblate Charismatic Family Congress in 2026). 

After the presentation of various events, the participants were divided into groups to exchange on areas of hope and areas of concern within the Delegation, especially regarding financial autonomy. According to each group’s report, the short-term and long-term solutions to the problems or difficulties are conversion; spiritual direction, prayer, confession, sharing and openness to other confreres, a spirit of belonging, a solid and stable community life, the effort of each in all things, and a rejection of interference from others in our community life… The role of the superior and the economist within the community remains fundamental.

After these reports, Fr. Alphonse OMI concluded the annual meeting with words of thanks and recognition for everyone who attended and actively participated in the two meetings, and for all the efforts we are undertaking. He is optimistic for the future, but it requires conversion—specifically, a change of mentality and practice.

Fr. Dorlis TSARAMILA
Fr. Bruno RANDRIAMAMPIANINA