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Myanmar Mission: 2020 Permanent Formation Program

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The Mission of the Province of Our Lady of the Rosary in Myanmar counts at present with four houses: one in Yangon; another in Loikaw, and two in Mandalay (the latest and fourth Dominican house was inaugurated in October 2019). The Dominican missionaries inaugurated the Province’s Mission in Yangon in 2010. Our house in Loikaw was founded in 2013, and the third house opened in Mandalay in 2014.

The apostolic presence of our brothers in Myanmar is a very dynamic and multifaceted presence - a well-established and growing presence. The Myanmar Dominican mission is currently ministered by eleven brothers. It is a significant presence in teaching and preaching, in formation, and in pastoral and social work. The present of our apostolic mission is indeed very good. Its future appears truly promising and hopeful, including our presence in Loikaw.

Our Dominican house in Loikaw is part of a formidable complex. It is surrounded by the Church of Our Lady of the Rosary, a school building waiting to be used soon, the quarters of 28 high school boys, and free and wide breading spaces for trees, plants, flowers and grass.  The Parish is administered by our brothers, and the Church building is a gem of elegant architecture, attractive art and inspiring devotion. The school building is also meticulously planned academically and pleasant to the eyes. It will be partly used by the coming school year. The boys living quarters are close to the house of the brothers: the 28 boys studying high school are helped by our brothers, who subsidize their studies and complete their academic and humanistic formation

The annual Permanent Formation Week of the Myanmar Mission was held this year in Loikaw on January 13-17, 2020. All the brothers attended, except the solemnly professed brother who had to stay in Yangon with the 10 postulants (there are four postulants more in Loikaw). The lectures were also attended by five (at times 6) Dominican Sisters, Missionaries of St. Dominic.

The 2020 continuing formation program was made up of a series of ten lectures and of different meetings of the brothers among themselves – in general assembly and in various committee meetings - focused on analyzing the current situation of the mission and the different kinds of apostolate, the actual manpower and coming needs, and the financial viability of their work for the Kingdom.

The series of lectures on ongoing formation was held at a hall of the modern and elegant building school, and run through five consecutive days. The first day was a day of recollection with two talks: one on the significance of silence, and the other on the Holy Eucharist in our Dominican life.

The second and third days focused on the Social Doctrine of the Church. The speaker developed four specific themes in as many lectures: Nature of the Social Doctrine of the Church, Principles of the Social Doctrine, Social Values and Virtues, and Peace and Peacemaking.

The fourth and fifth days were dedicated to Bioethics. Four themes were discussed in four consecutive conferences: Bioethics and Theological Bioethics, Bioethics and the Respect of Human Life, Meaning of Life, Health, Suffering and Death, and Bioethics and Ecology.

On behalf of the brothers, Bro. Moses Dereh, OP, Vicar of our Provincial, had invited this year’s speaker: Bro. Fausto Gomez OP, who facilitated the recollection and presented the different topics on the Social Doctrine of the Church and on Bioethics. Bro. Fausto is the Provincial Promoter for Permanent Formation and member of St. Dominic Priory in Macau.

The program of the series of ten lectures was strengthened by the daily celebration of the Community Mass with Morning Prayer integrated in it, and the daily common recitation of vespers and night prayer. The meals were fraternal and joyful encounters of all the brothers.