Father John van den Hengel left a legacy of spiritual leadership with CCSTA three years ago, after being called to the Vatican in Rome. Since then, he has had many unique opportunities to make solid contributions, even accepting more responsibility, while still having a hand in education.
When the former chaplain of CCSTA accepted the election back in 2009, he wrote to the organization about the results and expressed the enjoyment derived from his national position. “I have served as chaplain with gladness; it has allowed me to get to know many great Catholic leaders in education in Canada,” he wrote at the time.
Father John, as he was known while in his role of Chaplain for CCSTA, left his post to serve on the General Council of his Congregation (The Priests of the Sacred Heart) in Rome. The new calling is proving to be a challenging – and rewarding – next chapter in his life.
Moving to Rome in September of 2009, he has since taken on more responsibility as his tasks have changed considerably. Originally, Father John was part of a five-member council who assists the General Superior. He said this group constitutes the general administration of a religious community, in his case, the Priests of the Sacred Heart, also known as the Dehonians. “The community consists of 2,200 members who live and work in 41 countries on four continents,” he said, via email from Rome.
However, last year, one of the council who was also the Vicar General, was nominated by Pope Benedict to be the Archbishop of Beira in Mozambique. Father John was then named the Vicar General of the Congregation. In his new role, he replaces the General Superior whenever he is out of Rome. He also sets the agenda and moderates meetings of the General Council during a spring and fall session, as well as performing follow-up duties. “In the three years we have already held 160 formal meetings,” he said.
In addition to the meetings, his work includes acting as a liaison between two continents and the General Administration. Each member of the council follows the activities and challenges of the countries in the continent assigned to him. Father John’s responsibilities lie with Europe and North America, and he is required to officially visit each country once every six years. In 2011 alone, he visited 22 countries. That’s in addition to attending numerous important meetings in his assigned countries. “I have gotten to know a great number of people in the last three years and have become acquainted with some great workers in God’s kingdom.”
Even though moving to Rome meant many changes in Father John’s life, education is still close at hand. As part of his work, he said he must follow two of the major areas of concern to the religious community, deemed at the beginning of the current administration: spirituality/theology and education.
In the same vein, Father John said he has attempted to study and write about spirituality and theology. “We live in a time where much of what was previously commonly understood at the level of faith and spiritual life has become foreign to people,” he said, noting that this emptying out of the religious sphere of life has been a central issue – especially with the European leaders. “How, as a religious community, can we break through into a mentality for which the Christian language has lost much of its meaning, especially in Europe? It is, to me, a major concern.”
At the mid-way point in his six-year term, he still looks back on his time with CCSTA fondly. “My work as Chaplain, as I understood it, was mainly with the national leadership of the CCSTA,” he said. “I believed strongly that the leadership needed to be well rooted in our faith tradition. I put a lot of effort into creating a spiritual atmosphere in which the issues facing Catholic education could be given a context.”
Of course, Father John admits that his previous experience of working for 25 years with the National Office of Religious Education helped him in his role with CCSTA, giving him a sense of the country.
“I have especially fond memories of the annual meeting and of our national congress in 2008 in Ottawa,” he said, noting he has never been far from the education sphere, still dealing with such issues even now. “Just this year in July, we held an international conference on education in Neustadt, Germany.
“You are still somehow in my blood.”
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