Rome, Wednesday 19 September 2012
The Intercapitular Assembly of the Comboni Missionaries, at three days from its conclusion, has reached the time to mobilize the superiors of the circumscriptions to find a practical way forward for the next three years of the Institute’s activities. They have taken stock of situation of what was said in the Assembly and, starting from the decisions made by the Chapter 2009, actions and their deadlines for the next three years were suggested. On the left hand-side of the photo: P. Angelo Giorgetti.

 
Commission of the moderators of the Intercapitular Assembly (from right):
Fr. Gianni Gaiga, Fr. Alcides Costa, Fr. Paul Annis, Bro Daniele Giovanni Giusti and Fr. Pietro Ciuciulla.

In the letter of Convocation of the Intercapitular in January 2012, the Superior General, Fr Enrique Sánchez G., wrote: “… we are asked to evaluate the journey made as Institute over these past three years by verifying how we have applied the decisions of the General Chapter and by considering new ways to continue with its implementation. We believe that this Assembly will be a time of special discernment and an extraordinary opportunity to better understand what the Lord expects of us as Institute and as missionaries in the service of our brothers and sisters in the places where we are called to carry out our ministry today.”

In pursuit of this objective to assess and evaluate the journey taking place and to plan for the next three years, the Synthesis Commission - represented by Fr. Angelo Giorgetti, Fr. Jerome Miante and Fr. Luis Alberto Barrera Pacheco -, has outlined the major points of interest emerged during the last days of the Assembly. Some concrete reminders of what has emerged in the various reports and reflections on the main topics of the journey of the Institute were underlined: Clustering of circumscriptions, Total Common Fund (TCF), Code of conduct, Formation, Continentality, Ratio Missionis, Rule of Life (RL) and Personnel assignment.

From the debate in the hall it emerged the awareness that, for the future of the Comboni mission, it is necessary to “promote new thoughts - noted Fr. Alberto Pelucchi -, to revise our way to support and manage the circumscriptions, aiming at a further simplification, renewal and release of resources.”

The final part of the morning was devoted to personal prayer in the chapel. In the afternoon we worked in language groups to examine the points raised and identify the priority commitments for the next three years at the level of the General Council, of continents and of circumscriptions. The reflections, which in some way echoed the themes discussed in recent days, not only led to concrete guidelines - concerning, for example, the clustering, the continentality, the missionary service, the RL and the TCF – but have also being useful in clarifying the way in the preparation of the General Chapter of 2015, which will be the topic of the next two days (September 19 and 20) of the Intercapitular.

 
In the picture Fr. Angelo Giorgetti, member of the Synthesis Commission, who has underlined
the major points of interest emerged during the last days of the Assembly.