28/04/2018 - Italy

Marian Sprituality in the Spot-light!

On 27th April at the Angelicum University in Rome, several Marist Sisters were among a large group of the Marist Family and friends who attended the Doctoral Defence of Fr Donato Kivi sm. The topic was on "Towards a Marian Ecological Spirituality for the Formation and Re-evangelization of the 'Vanua': the People and the Land of Fiji".

The examiners remarked on the originality of Donato's work which was based on his experience at the Tutu Training Centre, on the island of Taveuni, Fiji. The Centre began over 40 years ago at the initiative of Fr Mick McVerry sm and offers courses on Non-Formal Adult Education to married couples, young single men, single women who rely mainly on semi-subsistence farming. The staff of the Centre explain that it is The Work of Mary who takes care of her children in their need for formation and development. The Vision Statement reads:

To be Mary of, Our Lady of Lura,
in using her soil to provde joy through the development and empowerment of her people
so that the door of to a hopeful future is open to them.

Donato's thesis explains the Vanua as the relationship between the people and the land and points out the dark side of the Vanua, the fragmentation, which is in need of reconciliation and healing. He shows how a Marian spirituality can support this necessary re-evangelization. Mary is depicted as soil, in her virginity, as garden in her motherhood and as the earth in her queenship.

We are certain Mary was smiling radiantly with us as the doctorate was awarded.

Congratulations, Dr Donato! Well done, Fr Mick!
We pray continued blessings on Mary's work within the Vanua!

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