austraLasia #2068

GC26 - May the Lord receive Fr Baruffi into his loving arms

ROME: 22nd February 2008 --  Fr Helvécio Baruffi, Regional Councillor for the South Cone Region of the Americas, died last night shortly after his return from his native Brazil.  He had been ill for the past several months, but his doctors were confident enough to indicate he could return to take up his position as a member of GC26.  Unfortunately that was not to be.  Fr Baruffi's condition (he had had a pulmonary condition which had also placed stress on the heart), began to deteriorate on the final sector of the flight from Brazil, between Madrid and Rome.  On arrival in Rome he was brought immediately under medical supervision and the ICU unit at Pio XI Clinic not far from the Pisana, where he died a few hours later.  May the Lord receive him lovingly.
    Perhaps not the brightest note to be beginning what will be a constant stream of news and views on GC26, but also a good reminder that it is the Lord who is in control, not we poor mortals, and a meditation on our fragile hold on life and its circumstances is also useful at the beginning of it all.  Chapter members are streaming into either Rome or Turin at the moment.  You would do well to go to the GC26 site which is available in five languages, to keep up with the GC26 schedule.  ANS will run the official news service for the Congregation - the GC26 site (keep a regular eye on its right sidebar) and ANS are available from one easy location: www.sdb.org or you can go to their separate sites, viz., www.sdb.org/cg26/gc26web/index.html  and www.infoans.org  respectively.  austraLasia will run little tidbits of news and views as they come through, bearing in mind that its coordinator, who will be in and out of the Aula Magna in a 'working' capacity, comes under whatever regulations said Chapter determines with regard to information. But as with the scene six years ago, various people from our region or other regions will want to comment and express views, and we will faithfully reproduce these.  If you have questions for a Chapter member, or a view to pass on, there are any number of channels for doing so, the first being, of course, that your provincial and his Delegate are your first port of call!  The 'Agora' page on www.sdb.org is open to all registered members... if you are not yet registered on sdb.org do so. The aLa coordinator also fixes that side of things up, so he will note your registration and expedite it for you. And then, finally, you can always contact him directly.  
    By the end of today, 22nd, all provincials and delegates of EAO will have arrived in Italy, either in Rome or Piedmont. Only one is missing at the moment.
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 AustraLasia is an email service for the Salesian Family of Asia Pacific.  It also functions as an agency for ANS based in Rome.  For queries please contact admin@bosconet.aust.com . Use Bosconet-wiki to be interactive. RSS feeds - just go to Bosconet, click on austraLasia 2008 in the sidebar. You will see the RSS orange icon in your browser address bar - add it from there.  Avail yourself of the Salesian Digital Library at at http://sdl.sdb.org

Title: australasia 2068
Subject and key words: SDB General GC26
Date (year): 2008
ID: 2000-2099|2068