2010-07-26 GENERAL HOUSE

Plenary Session of the General Council

In their intense sessions of work, study, and programming in Rome in March, May, and July this year, the General Council has defined various activities for the coming years. First of all, we present the objectives of pastoral animation which they see as guiding their activities as general government.

Objectives of pastoral animation of the General Council

The Council sees itself as being guided in its pastoral activities in the next few years by the following objectives:

  1. Encourage the development of the ?Marial face? of the Church in order to come closer to young people and the needs of today?s world.
  2. Promote in the Institute a  participative style of leadership in such a way that each member is able to exercise the authority that derives from his role in the service of the Institute?s mission.
  3. Accompany the discernment in the administrative units and in the regions with a view to discovering the import of ?to go in haste to a new land? in their own context.
  4. Encourage among the brothers re-discovering and taking delight in their own vocation, to live and witness it in a radical, open and joyful way in the Church and in the world of today.
  5. Come up with and/or accompany new forms of living the Marist charism among the brothers as well as the laity, and promote the development of the lay Marist vocation, building  a new relationship which is mutually enriching and recognizes the continuing fruitfulness of Champagnat?s heritage.
  6. Continue developing the Marist mission, as part of our identity and fuel for our spirituality, especially in the three aspects emphasized by the General Chapter: a more visible presence among  poor children and young people, and they defense of the rights of children and young people.
  7. Promote a better understanding and appreciation of internationalism and  multiculturalism, living globalisation in an alternative way, and encouraging a greater missionary availability to respond to new needs.
  8. And, finally, provide continuity for promoting and applying the ?Evangelical use of goods? and the exercise of solidarity at all levels of the  Institute.

Councillors connect

The General Council has maintained the criterion, applied by their predecessors, of having each region of the Institute attended to by two councillors, who act as links between the regions and the  General Council  in matters relating to the General Administration and to provide support for the  Provincials through communication and accompaniment. For the Americas, the liaisons are Brothers Eugène Kabanguka and Josep María Soteras, for Asia and Oceania, Brothers John Klein and Mike de Waas, and for  Europe and  Africa,  Brothers Antonio Ramalho and Ernesto Sánchez.

Areas of collaboration:

The new Council has also decided to restructure the areas of collaboration. Over the next years, the General Council will be supported by five Bureaus, each headed by a Director supported by one, two or three Councillors. They are the following:

Brothers Today (César Rojas, J.M. Soteras, E. Kabanguka, E. Sánchez)

Laity (Javier Espinosa, A. Ramalho)

Mission (João Carlos do Prado, J. Klein)

International Missionary Collaboration (Teófilo Minga -Ad gentes-, Joe McKee)

FMSI (Rick Carey, Mike de Waas)

Appointments

The General Council has made the following appointments, to be added to those already announced on the web page:

Manziana

Vice-director of the Spanish and Portuguese language Third Age course: Brother José Feix, (Rio Grande do Sul). He begins his term in the session of August 2010.

El Escorial

Vice-director of the Spirituality Centre for Spanish and Portuguese speakers: Brother Joaci Pinheiro, (Brasil Centro-Norte). He begins his term in the session of January 2011.

Rome

Bureau of BrothersToday. Director: Brother César Rojas, (Norandina). He begins his term in January 2011.

Burea of Mission. Director: Brother João Carlos do Prado, (Brasil Centro-Sul). He begins his term in January 2011.

Bureau of Laity. Two co-directors: Ana Sarrate, lay woman (Ibérica) and Tony Clark, lay man (Sydney). They begin their mandate on 1 September 2010. Mrs Linda Corbeil (Canada), has had her membership of the Enlarged Bureau of Laity extended for a further year, starting from 1 January 2011.

For the ?Fundación Marista para la Solidaridad Internacional? (FMSI), a Vice-president has been appointed for a period of six months (to December 2010): Brother Jude Pieterse, (Southern Africa – África Austral).

Brother Antonio Martínez Frigola, (L?Hermitage) has been placed in charge of various general services of the General House. He began his service on 1st June 2010.

Brother Marcelo de Brito (Cruz del Sur) will remain at the General House for a year, commencing on 1st November 2010, to construct a new data base for the General Administration.

Geneva

Two Brothers have been appointed to work in the Children?s Rights office: Vicente Falqueto, (Brasil Centro-Norte), who will start in January 2011; and Manel Mendoza, (L?Hermitage), who will commence on 1 September 2010.

Commission for the Study of the Financing of the General Administration and the Administrative Units (Recommendation of theXXI General Chapter).

Brothers Victor Preciado (México Occidental), Councillor General and Econome General, who will serve as Co-ordinator, Rick Carey (USA), Roy Deita (East Asia), Alberto Oribe (Ibérica), Nicholas Banda (Southern Africa), Delcio Afonso Balestrin (Brasil Centro-Sul), and Messrs Juan Martín Cebrián (Santa María de los Andes) and Rex Cambrey (Melbourne).

International Commission of experts to study the future of the General House  (Recommendation of the XXI General Chapter).

The 21 General Chapter commended to the General Council the ?appointment of an international commission of experts? to study the future of the General House. In fulfillment of this mandate, the Council has appointed the following persons to join this commission: Joe McKee, Vicar General, (co-ordinator); Víctor Preciado, Econome General; Antoni Salat (L?Hermitage), member of the  General Administration; Zeno Piazza (Mediterránea), of Italy; Primitivo Mendoza (Compostela), of Spain; Straton Malisaba (Central East Africa), of  Rwanda; Lauro Hochsheidt (Rio Grande do Sul), of Brasil; Edgardo López (América Central), of Puerto Rico; Tom Chin (East Asia) and Anthony Robinson (Sydney), of Australia.

International Work Group in Defence of Children.

The General Council has decided to seek the advice of an international work group to draw up a declaration of institutional policies centred on the respect owed to children. These policies will serve as reference point so that each administrative unit can work out its own, if it does not already have one. This work group will have to design a document which reflects the special attention given by the Institute to situations generated by violence towards children and the sexual abuse of minors. The members of this work group are Brothers John Klein (co-ordinator), General Council, Brendan Geary (West Central Europe), Jim Jolley (Melbourne), Gérard Bachand (Canada), Nicolás García Martínez (Compostela). The group has been charged with beginning work on 17 June 2010 and of presenting its conclusions in the plenary session of the General Council in January 2011.

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