The XVIII General Chapter of the Comboni Missionaries, currently taking place in Rome, started on Monday morning with the presentation of the By-laws for the Chapter by Fr. Pietro Ciuciulla, a member of the Pre-capitular commission. This document is the instrument that will guide the operating methods of the Chapter and help in the planning of the different phases.
In the afternoon, there was group work, at continental level, in order to suggest changes and amendments that could improve the final text of the By-laws.
When all came together in the Chapter hall, there was a sharing of their ideas and proposals. Every Chapter of the document was voted upon and the final text approved. The main change of the By-laws, compared with the one that guided the previous Chapter, concerns the section on discernment, to which more time has now been allowed and it is to be done in groups. Also the methodology has been adapted to fit the flow of the work. There has been a desire that the Chapter concentrates on the content which should focus on some priorities of the Institute, thus avoiding the need to produce long documents.
After the approval of the working calendar, the Tuesday afternoon session took place in small groups to discern on the suitable candidates for the different offices that the Chapter needs. At the end of the day the four tellers where elected.
On Wednesday, 9th September, the session started with the election of the offices, a process that took the whole day.
Council of Presidency: Fr. Enrique Sanchez (president), Fr. Giuseppe Moschetta and Fr. Manuel Augusto Lopes Ferreira.
General Secretary: Fr. Pietro Ciuciulla.
Moderators: Fr. Pedro Andres Miguel, Fr. Joseph Mumbere Musanga, Bro. Alberto Degan and Fr. Rogelio Bustos.
Special Commission: Fr. Rafael Ponce (coordinator), Fr. Dario Bossi and Fr. Jeremias dos Santos Martins.
The Central Commission is made up of the General Secretary, the four moderators and the coordinator of the special commission. Their task is to coordinate the work of the Chapter.
Tellers: Bro. Matthias Adossi, Bro. Dessu Yisrashe, Bro. Humberto da Silva Rua and Fr. Felix Cabascango.
Communication: Bro. Alberto Lamana (coordinator), Fr. Jean Claude Kobo and Fr. Efrem Tresoldi.
Liturgical commission: Fr. Roberto Turyiamureeba, Bro. Jean Marie Mwamba and Fr. Alcides Costa.
Cultural and recreation commission: Fr. Juan Armando Goicochea, Fr. Karl Peinhopf and Fr. Ramon Vargas.
The day concluded with the celebration of vespers of the solemnity of Saint Peter Claver, patron saint of our Institute.
