The presiding table: on the left, Fathers Fiorenzo Salvi, Manuel Barbiero, Vittore Boccardi, and Gabriele Di Nicolo, president of the Chapter; on the right, Alberto and Eva Frassineti, who assisted us with their approach to the work
First Session
Malmantile, 7-10 April 2026
From 7–10 April 2026, the first session of the 26th Provincial Chapter of the Province of Our Lady of the Blessed Sacrament was held at the Hermitage of Lecceto in Malmantile (FI). Present were the members of the Provincial Council, delegates from the communities and the Province, the Superior General, Fr Philip Benzy Romician, and the General Consultor for Europe, Fr José Antonio Rivera Ruiz. Seven lay people (from Malmantile, Modugno, Piano di Sorrento, Ponteranica and Prato) also took part in the proceedings, representing all those who, in various ways, share in the life and mission of our SSS communities. To these we may also add Mr and Mrs Frassineti, Alberto and Eva, who were present as ‘facilitators’ and, in collaboration with the Presidency Council, guided and led the proceedings of the Chapter.
The Chapter began on the afternoon of Tuesday 7 April: following the formalities and the brief opening address by the Provincial, the General gave a talk, inviting us to situate our work within the journey the whole Congregation has been undertaking in recent years in light of the mandate of the last General Chapter: “Called to the Cenacle to live the Eucharistic mystery fully in prayer, fellowship and service”. Furthermore, looking at the decline in the number of members of the Province and the various closures of communities in recent years, he invited us to open ourselves more decisively to the experience of internationality, for a fruitful collaboration between the Provinces of our Congregation.
Following his address, the Provincial Superior took the floor again in order to present, on behalf of the Council, the report on the “state of the Province”. He retraced the journey our Province has undertaken over the past four years, in its endeavour to put into practice the guidelines from the last Provincial Chapter, which called on us to be communities open to hospitality and mission, like the house of Bethany. It was within this context that
the process of “redesign”
launched at the beginning of 2024 was situated, a process which required, first and foremost, the identification of urgent issues requiring to be addressed without delay. The report presented a realistic view of the Province, yet one marked by hope, in the certainty that consecrated life still has much to offer the Church and the world today.
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The proceedings on Wednesday 8 April opened with the first part of the Provincial Treasurer’s report on the situation of the Province, followed by a discussion in the assembly on his report and that of the Provincial. In the afternoon, work began on the “redesign” using the working document prepared for the Chapter in the light of the contributions provided by the communities (and in many cases also by lay people) during the visit of the Provincial and a consultant last autumn. Divided into groups, we worked first of all on:
- the “framework of reference”, that is, on the ecclesial and social reality in which our journey is situated,
- focusing also on the four “criteria for the redesign”:
- the witness of life that flows from the Eucharist,
- meaningful relationships with the laity,
- active presence in the Church and in society,
- and shared responsibility in the management of assets.
On Thursday 9 April, in the morning, the groups worked on the three main themes set out in the Working Document:
- fraternity, to be lived out first and foremost within our religious communities;
- collaboration with the laity, which is called to become ever more a sharing and communion of life and mission;
- the Eucharistic charism, handed down to us by our Holy Founder, which we pledge to continue to make shine forth in today’s world.
In the afternoon, still divided into groups, we worked on the section of the Working Document dedicated to ‘operational choices’, sharing reflections, ideas and proposals based on reflections regarding continuing our ministry, renewing it, and initiatives to be undertaken.
On Friday 10 April, we worked again on the “operational choices”, with two large groups called “tables of trust”. Each table took up the work done by the groups the previous day on this theme and analysed it, with a view to identifying, above all, the elements most widely agreed upon by the groups. Similar work was carried out on Friday afternoon, with three “tables of trust”, each comprising ten people: each table worked on one of the three themes (fraternity, laity, charism) on which the six groups had worked on Thursday morning. In the second part of the afternoon, during the plenary assembly, the results of this work were presented and discussed. At the end of the afternoon, the Provincial declared the first session of the Chapter closed.
The material produced over these days has been handed over to an editorial group tasked with organising it and, in due course, sending it to all the capitulars so that they may read, reflect on and pray over it in preparation for the second session of the Chapter, which will take place from 4 to 8 May, again in Malmantile. This draft will also be sent to the laity (who will not be participating in the second session), in order to gather their contributions (reactions, reflections, impressions...) in preparation for the resumption and conclusion of the Chapter’s work.
Father Flavio Fumagalli, sss
Provincial Vicar
