The 2025 Enlarged General Council (EGC) gathered in Chevilly for a time of shared discernment, renewal, and recommitment to the Spiritan mission. After eight full days of presentations, prayer, and reflection, delegates undertook the important task of shaping proposals to help the General Council through the next four years, until the General Chapter of 2029.
Organized into five working groups, the delegates focused their energy on developing concrete proposals under a number of themes rooted in the key pillars of Spiritan life: Animation, Finances, formation, leadership, accountability, development and JPIC. These propositions, deeply mission oriented are intended to respond to real challenges with clarity, in a shared Spiritan vision.
Later that evening, the participants at the EGC joined their retired confreres at the historic Chevilly cemetery for solemn vespers. This sacred space, where about 1,000 Spiritan missionaries are laid to rest – the first, B. Blaise in 1849 and the most recent, D. Henry in April 2025), became a place of deep communion and remembrance. Fr. Alain Mayama, the Superior General, presided over by the liturgy and invited all present to pray not only for but with our departed Confreres, whose lives and witness continue to inspire Spiritan mission today. Their legacy serves as a living testimony, reminding us that the Spiritan path is one of service, sacrifice, and grace.
This moment of prayer and presence near the graves was far more than symbolic—it was full of global connotation. Delegates representing the 63 circumscriptions stood side by side, forming a tangible mosaic of intercultural unity and spiritual continuity. In this act, the Congregation reaffirmed that its future must be anchored in shared memory, collective discernment, and Spirit-let structures of collaboration and care.
As the Council’s proposals take shape and lead us forward, the Spiritan journey remains firmly guided by our foundational charism: “Cor Unum et Anima Una”—One Heart and One Soul. This EGC gathering, blending discernment and homage, vision and reverence, has become both a mirror and a map—reflecting who we are and pointing toward who we are called to become.
May we continue to walk this path with wisdom, grace and faithfulness, trusting that the Spirit continues to breathe life into our mission, today and always.
