New Set of Provincial Administrators

It's now final and offcially confirmed by the new Consulta of the Order the following appointed Provincial Superiors of the Ministers of the Sick for the next treinium.

Provincia /Province Nominativo / Name

Anglo/Irlandese p. S. Forster nominato
Austriaca p. L. Gregotsch confermato
Brasiliana p. J. M. dos Santos confermato
Filippine p. I. Anselmi confermato
Francese p. T. De Rodellec confermato
Lombardo/Veneta p. V. Paleari confermato
Nordamericana p. R. O’Donnel confermato
Piemontese p. J. Cipriano nominato
Polacca p. A. Nowak nominato
Romana p. E. Blasi nominato
Siculo/Napoletana p. A. Russo nominato
Spagnola p. F. Alvarez nominato
Tedesca p. D. Weber confermato
Vice Provincia Perù p. E. Morante confermato
Vice Provincia Tailandia p. S. Pairat nominato
Vice Provincia Burkina Faso p. F. Sedgo nominato

The profile of each appointee will be published soon on camilliani.org.

For the second time around

The second consultor has been re-elected as the Secretary General and consultor for Formation in the person of Bro. Luca Perleti. He humbly accepted the re-election. No doubt we know well why he has been chosen again for the same post. His dedication and consistency has been proven and well-tested.

Tomorrow, the remaining two consultors will be elected. According to predictions, one will come from Asia and the other from Africa. This seems to be the ideal of a well-represented consulta.

Meet the Vicar

Today, the assembly of capitulars has elected the new vicar general of the Order in the person of Fr. Jesus Maria Ruiz Irigoyen from the Spanish province. He was born in 1943 at Navarra, Spain and was ordained priest in 1972 in Argentina. Fr. Jesus is a formator, chaplain, coordinator of the socio-pastoral health activities and administrator. He is also much involved in the field of communication and has founded the magazine "Humanizar." He wrote a book recently entitled "Umorizzare la salute."

The election of Consultors will take place soon. Normally, the election will proceed one at a time and not simultaneously. Most probably by Friday the new Consulta will be finally convoked and they will proceed right away to the opening of ballots and appointment of Provincials.

Newsbreak: from the "conclave"

(The present and the former Superior General)

With great joy and gratitude to the Lord, the Ministri Infermi (MI), the OSCs offcial name, is happy to announced the newly elected Superior General, Fr. Renato Salvatore. He was born on May 15, 1955 at Ripa Teatina, Chiete. He took his perpetual vows in 1981 and on July 15, 1983 he was ordained as presbyter. He made his theological studies and finished his doctorate on Moral Theolgy (summa cum laude) at the Universita di Santo Tommasso. He has been a chaplain, a formator for so many years, a parish priest at the Basillica di San Camilo, a prefect of the Fourth Prefecture of the Diocese of Rome and was elected as the Vicar General of the Order in 2001. During his term as vicar, he has been also appointed as representative of the Pontifical Council for Pastoral Health to the World Health Organization, Geneva. In his personal life, he is a musician and a composer. CONGRATULATIONs FR. RENATO.

Now the capitulars will proceed to the election of the Vicar General and the Consultors. Most probably before Friday, the Order will have now the new Consulta. Right after, the opening of the ballots and the appointment of the new provincial superiors of all provinces will take place. PRAY HARD DEAR BROTHERS.

Terna for the new General Superior

(From left: Alvarez, Salvatorre, Monks ... who will be?)

According to our latest news, the capitulars had elected the three candidates (terna) for the superior general. They are [1] Renato Salvatorre (former vicar gen.) [2] Francesco Alvarez (president of the Definitori) [3] Frank Monks (former general). The number of votes are witheld as of this moment because we have not yet received the offcial pronouncement. But according to forecast, it seems that Renato will make it to the post of the new Superior General. Tomorrow, they will start the election.

Keep updated and surf through this site or the Order's site.

"It's not your work, it's mine"

The past three days of the chapter were a bit hectic and brain-draining because they have just started the discussions on the Lineamenta and the motions that were presented for approval. As of this moment, we haven't got yet some documents as regards to the result of their discussions. The committee in charged is having a hard time digesting everything that came across in the assembly. Discussions on some fundamental principles on the Social Doctrines of the Church is not easy task. Maybe because among the voluminuos doctrines that the Church has made, this is one of those whom church people don't pay so much attention. That's why it is called the best hidden secret of the Church.

In the meantime, our delegates confreres are actively animating in the daily functions of the chapter such as in the liturgy and of course in the lively discussions during the group work. Group discussions has been done in four major linguistic groups (English, Italian, French, Spanish). Majority of the capitulars speak and understand English. Expectations are booming as to the, who will be the next general. History would speak, if I'm not mistaken, most of our general superiors have been reconfirmed for another term. Let's hope and pray that the Holy Spirit will always guide our capitulars to discern with clarity and intelligence for this task.

Keep in touch and send your comments and reflections during these days. We can expect some delays as far as updates are concerned due to the seriousness of the on-going discussions that they need to polish well the documents before releasing it.

On the 3rd Day, they rose again ...

News has been off during the past three days of the chapter due to some technical problems and has nothing to do with any political maneuvers. Thanks be to God we are not under the GMA administration.

Fifty-nine capitulars remained after a week to start the main menu of the chapter which is a discussion of all the important concerns and proposals for the future of the Order. The lay delegates and some other Camillian family members have just concluded their participation. Our delegate Romy from Davao is at present in Rome in the pilgrim house of the Sisters of the Poor.

Last Monday, the capitulars begun with a spiritual recollection facilitated by the superior general of the Sacramenti. In the afternoon reports from the various activities of the General Consulta were presented: Sviluppo e Salute (Camillian NGO), Camillian Task Force (CTF) and Camillianum. Fr. Sandrin, the president of Camillianum presented a proposal to establish a permanent faculty members composed of different nationalities as a response to the growing demands of the time and the growing number of international students.

Last Tuesday, the consultors in-charged of the different secretariats and commissions of the Consulta presented their reports, assessment and recommendations. Certainly, this Consulta has done plenty of great things to the Order. The last report was on the "Status Ordinis" which was delievered by Fr. Frank Monks, the superior general. The Father General calls the following priorities that each religious must contemplate and witness, namely, the spiritual dimension of our consecrated life and the importance of the vow of poverty. (A synthesis of his report will be available soon.)

As of today (Wednesday), I received the news as regards to the result of the election of the members of the "Definitorio" and the members of the commission that will prepare for the final document of the 56th General Chapter. The "definitorio" are the following: Fr. Francesco Alvarez, of the Spanish Province, Fr. Leonhard Gregotsch of Austria, Fr. Laurent Zungrana of Burkina Fasso and Fr. Vittorio Pallari of Lombardo-Veneto. They will act as the interim government of the Order until a new Consulta is convened by next week. The "commissioners" are Bro. Carlos Bermejo of Spain, Fr. Leo Pessini of Brazil and Fr. Antonio Puca of Naples. For a better knowledge of their profile, please visit our website: www.camilliani.org

Technical Problem

We are very sorry for getting lost during the past two days, due to some technical problems of the main source of information. We hope to give you as soon as the netbroadcasting from Arricia will be in operation. Thank you.

The Sabbath

The first weekend of the capitulars were spent for visitation of the significant places of the Order, namely, Maddalena, Camillianum and Bucchianico. It was a day of encounter with the non-capitulars who long to see their confreres and spend quality time with them. There we found each other gather at the Villa Sacra Famiglia for the mass and the dinner, through the courtesy of the Roman province.

All the capitulars are fully energized and ready to brace through the most exciting event, i.e., the offcial day of the chapter which is on May 7. I say special because during this week all the Consultors and the General will deliver their state of the Order address. Right after the delivery, the Order's governance is in "sede vacante" which means their term of office will officially end. Then the capitulars will elect the "definitorio" to run the interim period till the new General will be elected.

So keep yourself abreast to the forthcoming events this week.

A Day with our Collaborators, the Lay Camillians

The second day was highlighted by the presentation of the response of the lay Camillian family to the questionaire and the response of the religious. Dr. Giosue Sparacino, the president of the lay Camillian family in the Siculo-Napolitano province made the following remarks: a recognition of the pluriformity at the same time its uniqueness as far as the lay Camillian ministry in the various provinces is concerned and their desire for a more dynamic, transparent and systematic cooperation with the religious on the level of formation, co-responsibility and collaboration.

Bro. Jose Carlos Bermejo of the Spanish province delivered the response with the following thought-provoking concerns, i.e., our unity must be grounded under the following dynamics. First, the diagnosis, that there seems to be an unwelcoming attitude of some religious to the laity. Second, in order to alleviate that situation an efficient therapy is needed, i.e., a dynamic relation grounded in the following values of fedelity to our Christian identity, transparency and sincerity, humility and mutual trust and a good dose of sharing. Third, is the prognosis, i.e., religious has to learn and listen to them liberated from our fears. Lastly, the cost of doing it is great, i.e., "to be born again" (Jn.3,3).

56th General Chapter of the Camillians

Today, May 3, 2007, the Order of the Ministers of the Sick formally opens the 56th General Chapter held at Casa Divin Maestro in Ariccia, Rome. Around 90 participants coming from 5 continents and some lay Camillians from the 35 countries where our missions are present. The opening mass was presided by Card. Bertone (Sec. of State) and followed by the opening remarks of the Father General (a complete Eng text is found on the link).

In the afternoon, two presentations were delivered by the following invited speakers: 1] Fr. Sean Healy, SAM [The Challenge of the Religious in the field of Justice and Solidarity] 2] Fr. Gianni Manzone, a professor of Lateran University [The Church's motivation in her commitment for justice in the world.]

Fr. Donato Cauzzo was again elected as the Chapter Secretary. During 1989 General Chapter he was then the secretary.