VI SSVP Ibero-American Meeting

From 15-19 November, 2017, the International General Council of the SSVP, through the International Territorial Vice Presidencies America 1 (North America and the Caribbean), America 2 (Central America and the Caribbean), and America 3 (South America), conducted the VI SSVP Ibero-American Meeting.

The meeting was held in Quito, capital of Ecuador, coordinated by the SSVP National Council in Ecuador. In total, 62 participants representing 27 American countries and Spain, and members of the SSVP International Structure, participated in the meeting.

The central theme of the meeting was the coordination role of the SSVP National Councils in each country. The topics they presented and discussed were related to the “Organisation, planning, and development of the Councils.” The following topics were addressed during the event:

• History of the SSVP Ibero-American Meeting, presented by Júlio César Marques de Lima, Vice President of the IGC for South America;
• One-year balance: achievements and challenges, presented by Renato Lima de Oliveira, General President of the SSVP;
• Legal Aspects of the organization of the National Councils, presented by Sebastian Gramajo, 3rd Assistant Vice-President of the IGC;
• Vincentian Training Planning, presented by Maria Luísa Téllez, Vice President of Training of the IGC;
• Strategic Planning of the IGC and the National Councils, presented by Eduardo Marques, Coordinator of IGC Strategic Planning;
• SSVP: from the First Conference to the Creation of Councils, presented by Ralph Middlecamp, President of the National Council of the United States.

Besides the themes above, other activities were conducted during the meeting: Billboards, with experiences exchanged among the participants regarding the service structure of the SSVP in each country, parallel meetings with the coordinator of twinning for the Americas and meetings of the three IGC Vice Presidencies for the Americas

Other highlights of the meeting: launch of a new IGC video with images of the Vincentian sites in Paris, and three new Vincentian publications issued by the National Council of Spain:

• Frédéric Ozanam, professor at Sorbonne, his life and work, biography written by Kathleen O’Meara;
• Frédéric Ozanam and Rerum Novarum, by Eduardo Marques Almeida and Juan Manuel Gómez;
• Book of Anecdotes – Frédéric Ozanam.

The next SSVP Ibero-American Meeting will be held in Spain in November 2021, after a unanimous decision of the participants and approval of the General President.

Júlio César Marques de Lima

IGC – Territorial VP for the America 3 (South America)