Los Negrales, Spain. From April 9 to June 27, 2026, 16 Claretian missionaries representing 12 nationalities and 10 Major Organisms participated in the Fragua experience, a journey of spiritual and vocational renewal through prayer, formation, personal accompaniment, community life, and visits to significant places in Claretian history.
The participants came from Delegación P. Xifré, Madre de África, Fátima, Sanctus Paulus, Antillas, México, Centroamérica, Colombia-Venezuela, Perú-Bolivia, and San José del Sur. The experience was accompanied by Rodolfo Morales, CMF, Rohan Peries, CMF, and Sebin Mundackal, CMF.
In their final message, the participants expressed their profound gratitude to God, the Congregation, their respective Organisms, the communities that sustained their pastoral ministries during this period, and the Fragua Team. They also thanked those who contributed to their formation and spiritual accompaniment, as well as those who offered them a fraternal welcome during visits to Segovia, Madrid, Zaragoza, Barbastro, Sallent, and Vic.
One of the most significant aspects was the experience of interculturality. Shared prayer, fraternal dialogue, and daily community life helped them discover that cultural, linguistic, and personal differences do not divide them. Instead, these differences enrich the gift they have received and deepen their understanding of the universality of the Congregation.
The visit to Barbastro and the remembrance of the martyrs left a particularly profound impression. Their witness invited the participants to renew their missionary availability and to ask themselves what the Lord desires to bring to new life within each of them, and what must die so that their self-giving may become freer and more fruitful.
At the conclusion of this time of grace, the participants entrusted to the Heart of Mary their desire to continue growing as men available for the mission, capable of living a charity stronger than fear and a hope firmer than their own calculations.
