General Assembly

2012 CRC General Assembly

The Canadian Religious Conference (CRC) will hold its 2012 General Assembly May 24-28, 2012. The theme is: What time is it? Imagine!

The theme has a question mark and an exclamation mark. "What time is it? This is a way, explains the CRC's Executive Director, Yvon Pomerleau, OP, to suggest that our meeting be a place to raise substantive issues on our religious life at this moment our history. But asking this question does not assume a gloomy answer. On the contrary, with an exclamation full of enthusiasm the meeting offers an invitation to creativity, to make something new: Imagine!"

The two invited speakers are Patricia Wittberg, SC, and Gilles Routhier, a diocesan priest. Patricia Wittberg will invite us to recognise "the time that is ours: a call for intergenerational dialogue" while Gilles Routhier will propose that we live fully today the exhortations of Vatican II.

The General Assembly will be held at the Sheraton Montreal Airport Hotel in Dorval. Close to 300 people will be participating in this event which is held every two years.

Biographical notes of the two speakers: Patricia Wittberg and Gilles Routhier. Here is a preview of their talk: Brief Summary

The CRC invites media representatives to attend the morning session of the Assembly on May 25 and 26, from 9:00AM to 11:30AM. You will be able to listen to and meet the two General Assembly keynote speakers, Gilles Routhier and Patricia Wittberg.

The 2010 CRC General Assembly Declaration

At their first meeting held in September, the new Administrative Council adopted the 2010 CRC General Assembly Declaration. The 284 CRC members present at the Assembly strongly re-affirmed that it is in God’s love that religious find the energy to live the vows of consecrated life within the context of universal solidarity and of the new cosmology which highlights the interdependence of all life. The Declaration will guide the CRC in its reflection on religious life and on the choices Canadian religious are called to make in the face of the challenges of today’s world.

The 2010 CRC General Assembly Declaration

Preamble

Energised by the theme Seize for God the Energies of Love: Choose to Live the Vowed Life, two hundred and eighty-four members of the Canadian Religious Conference met in General Assembly in Montreal from May 27 to 31, 2010. The Assembly strongly re-affirmed that it is in God’s love that religious find the energy to live the vows within the context of universal solidarity and of the new cosmology which highlights the interdependence of all life.

At this critical juncture in the history of the universe, the future at once holds great peril and great promise (The Earth Charter). All choices made today have a direct impact on tomorrow's world. Our Christian faith in the incarnation urges us to create a future marked by gospel values. We believe that our religious vows free us to make a covenant of cooperation (Elaine Prevallet) with all of creation.

Declaration

Strengthened by the wisdom of the past and the dynamism of younger generations, we strive to read the signs of the times in new and prophetic ways. We will continue to think, to learn, to change. We will look for audacious ways of interpreting our faith and our life so as to embrace the new vision of the universe. We will go forward.

We can and will be pathfinders and bridges (E.P.). The Holy Spirit, the Great Connector (E.P.), leads us on paths of dialogue and collaboration. It is our role as leaders to hold that vision, to pave the way so that our communities will have the strength and freedom to live it in hope.

Photo Album of the 2010 General Assembly

Photos of the General Assembly are available at this web link: http://s100.photobucket.com/albums/m7/crcphotos/General%20Assembly%202010/