On February 6, 2017, the SCJ Philippine Region started its annual assembly. The assembly is being held at the Sacred Heart Formation House in Cagayan de Oro City and is attended by 35 participants. Among the invited guests there are: Fr. Paulus Sugino, SCJ, the general councilor from Rome, Fr. Phong Tran, SCJ, Fr. Vincent Sri Herimanto, SCJ and Fr. Khoa Viet Nguyen, SCJ, members of the Vietnamese District.

Since the theme for the Year 2017 endorsed by the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) is “The Parish: Communion of Communities”, the assembly will reflect and try to elaborate some common guidelines of the Dehonian ways of doing things based on the SCJ spirituality and the pastoral needs paying special attention to the “Marks of Mercy”, in formation, with the poor and in evangelization, as proposed by the General Administration in its programatic letter “Mercy in the footsteps of God.”

The first day of the assembly started with the reflection on the “Vow of Obedience” delivered by Fr. Paulus Sugino, SCJ, and was followed by the rite of communal reconciliation led by Fr. Szymon Bendowski, SCJ, personal confession and adoration. In the afternoon, the group started personal sharing, to be continued on the next day and followed by reports from communities and different commissions. The day was concluded with the Holy Eucharist presided by the regional superior Fr. Francis Pupkowski, SCJ.

On February 8, 2017, in the afternoon, Fr. Florencio Salvador, SSJV, from the Archdiocese of Cagayan de Oro, will help the group to focus on the main theme by giving  a special input, which will be one of the basis for discussions and workshops during the following days.

The assembly will conclude on February 10, 2017 at noon with the Holy Mass presided by Fr. Paulus Sugino, SCJ.