The Superior General, Brother Jesús Etayo conducted the General Canonical Visitation to the Province of Aragon – San Rafael, Spain, accompanied by Brother José Luis Fonseca, the Provincial Superior, from 17 January to 2 March.

The Province has Communities and Centres in Catalonia, Valencia, the Balearic Islands, Murcia, Navarre, and Aragon,  and a Community and Centre in Madrid.

It performs its mission through 11 Hospitals and Health and Social Care Centres providing General Medicine, Mother and Child, Mental Health and Psychogeriatric services, and caring for people with disabilities; and 7 Social Action Centres for vulnerable people suffering from, or at risk of, exclusion. Some of these Centres also have other resources and facilities which expand and complement their scope and activities.

The mission is being serviced by 70 Brothers from 12 communities, 5,700 Co-workers and 1,871 Volunteers.

It also has a number of Foundations, covering Teaching, Research, Substance Dependence, and the protection of people with disabilities and in a state of vulnerability. It also takes part in foundations with other Church and social organisations.

On 28 February and 1 March, at the Brothers’ Assembly called to study the document, “Identity of the Religious Brother”, the Canonical Visitation was evaluated followed by a dialogue on the reflection on the future of the Order in Spain, which is being carried out jointly by the 3 Spanish Provinces, after which the Visitors began the closure of the Canonical Visitation.

On 2 March, speaking in the Edifici Docent Sant Joan de Déu at Llobregat (Barcelona), to a large group of Brothers and Co-workers from the Centres and Communities of the Province, the Superior General delivered his final report on the General Canonical Visitation and thanked everyone, as members of the Hospitaller Family of Saint John of God, for their creative mission, for their sensitivity to, and embodiment in their present social environment and situations, encouraging them to continue being the “Soul of Hospitality”, and reaching out to new needs hopefully and boldly (fearlessly).