The General Council of the Society of the Priests of Saint Sulpice held a meeting in Rome the week of April 13-18, 2015 in order to visits several dicasteries of the Holy See. During the week the Council held meetings in the Congregations for Clergy, Consecrated Life, and Evangelization of Peoples. All the visits were both informative and cordial, and the Council felt greatly affirmed in our ongoing Sulpician ministry of priestly formation.
In advance of the meeting, one member of the Council, Father Argiro RESTREPO, P.S.S., from the Province of Canada, was privileged to represent the Society at a seminar on formation sponsored by the Congregation for Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life for the Year of Consecrated Life. He was placed in the front row of delegates (who numbered 1300!) and had the opportunity to greet the Holy Father, Pope Francis!
Other members attending were: David THAYER (USA), Joseph Ho THU (Viet), Pierre de MARTIN de VIVIÉS (France), and Phillip BROWN, General Treasurer.
Another highlight of the visit was an afternoon and evening at the Pontifical Canadian College, where the Council met with the Rector, Father Éric SYLVESTRE, PSS, who also serves as Procurator for the Society. Part of this meeting involved a visit to the principal cemetery of Rome, where the Sulpicians maintain a burial site, in conjunction with another eleven religious congregations. Father Sylvestre has overseen a very effective restoration of the beautiful chapel and the tombs below, where six Sulpician confreres are buried, along with former employees or acquaintances of the Pontifical Canadian College. The site is now well maintained and is worthy of honoring our ancestors who labored for years in the Eternal City.
At the end of the meeting with the Procurator, the Council attended Solemn Vespers, Eucharist, and a festive banquet with the priest residents of the Canadian College and other invited guests, including Father Pierre BOUGIE, PSS, of the Canadian Province, who has been residing at the CPC on sabbatical. The Superior General, Father Ronald D. WITHERUP, PSS, presided at both the Vespers and the Eucharist.
Below are some photos from the week
