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January 20, 2021
Abu Dhabi.
The AVOSA Annual General Meeting 2021, which brings together all the clergy, religious and the heads of the various Vicariate offices, took place online from 11-14 January 2021 due to the restrictions brought by the pandemic. The meeting was presided over by Bishop Paul Hinder, Apostolic Vicar of Southern Arabia. Fr. Troadio de los Santos, Vicar General, was the Moderator for the meeting.
In his Annual Report presented on the opening day, Bishop Paul briefed the participants on various key activities and events that took place in the Vicariate during the past year. Besides presenting a timeline of the events specific to the pandemic, the report also included a statistical evaluation of personnel and sacraments.
The report showed a significant reduction in the number of sacraments administered in the past year due to the closure of parishes. The Bishop's annual pastoral visits to most of the parishes were also suspended in the face of the pandemic.However, with all the challenges posed by the pandemic, the Bishop was still able to travel to Rome to meet the Holy Father for an audience in September. During the meeting, while briefing the Holy Father on various issues, the Bishop highlighted in a particular way the situation in Yemen and the extent of the humanitarian crisis as witnessed through the few Missionaries of Charity sisters who still remain in the country.
The second and third days saw the reports of the various pastoral offices of the Vicariate. The Heads of the Vicariate offices - Chancery, Financial Administration, Formation, Family, Communications, School Management and Tribunal delivered their Annual Reports. Each department gave an overview of their activities during the past year.
Parish priests in the UAE and Oman also presented reports pertaining to their respective parishes. The reports highlighted the challenges faced during the pandemic, how parishes reached out to the thousands of parishioners affected by loss of employment and other adverse effects of the pandemic. The reports also highlighted how parishes were able to switch to using online platforms and remote networking and meeting tools.
Parishes provided live streaming of Masses and through online meetings and outreach initiatives, tried their best to address the various needs of their parishioners. The parishes of Ras Al Khaimah, Sharjah, Abu Dhabi, Musaffah, Al Ain and Fujairah, which were given permission to reopen, updated on how services were conducted taking into account the limited capacity and adhering to the protocols of the Government.
There was also a report on Yemen which highlighted the challenges faced by the few missionaries still remaining in the country, who persevere in the face of extreme hardship.
On the final day of the meeting, besides focusing on several pastoral matters, Bishop Paul also briefed the participants on the recent rescript of the Holy See concerning the pastoral care of the faithful belonging to the Oriental Churches of the Middle East and the resulting developments and implications.
Another outcome of the pandemic was the resulting economic downturn. Several planned projects of the Vicariate had to be placed on hold during 2020. The major source of income for operational expenses, charitable initiatives and new projects come from the contributions from the faithful of the parishes. This was drastically reduced during the past year.
Regardless of the challenges, the pandemic led to Vicariate personnel adapting to new ways of doing ministry and continuing support for the faithful. A closer collaboration resulted between neighbouring parishes through the support offered for administration of the sacraments and the joint offering of online formation programmes and sacramental preparation.
The General Meeting concluded on the noon of 14 January. A total of around 70 participants took part in the meeting.