Brief Report of FIC General Chapter 2018

The 35th General Chapter of the FIC Congregation, which is near completion, is underway in the serene environment of “Huize Elisabeth” in Denekamp, The Netherlands. The six-yearly Congregational gathering, which has the theme "We Consecrate Ourselves to be Witnesses of God's Love", began with a Eucharistic celebration on 5 August and will come to a conclusion on 25 August 2018. In all, 30 delegates from our provinces including Chile (2), Ghana (6), Indonesia (10), Malawi (3) and the Religious House Netherlands (4), were present in this gathering which represents the supreme authority of the Congregation. The rest of the members are the General Council members (4) and the General Treasurer.

In his official opening address, the General Superior of the Congregation, Bro. Martinus Handoko underlined the task of the General Chapter to include, among others, the promotion of appropriate renewal in our Congregation and making of regulations which are binding upon the whole Congregation. He entrusted the whole process of the chapter to the direction of the Holy Spirit, with the hope of a desirable outcome.

This three-week event had three main tasks to accomplish. In the first week, we focussed our attention on the General Council Report of 2012 - 2018, which gave an account of the implementation of the resolutions of the previous chapter. Week two was devoted to a serious discussion on proposals and making of policies and decisions, while the final week was reserved for the election of the new General Council for the period 2018 - 2024.   

As a daily programme, we began each day with a morning prayer service, which was led in turns by our provincial delegations. This was followed by breakfast. The business of each day started at 09:00h and ended at 17:30h with a lunch break between. We concluded every business day with the Eucharistic, the celebration of our unity with Christ and with one another.

Even though the chapter has not yet come to a final conclusion, the major tasks of the chapter has been performed. The election of the new General council took place this morning after a long and cautious discernment process. The following are the elected members who would be in charge of the affairs of the congregation for the years 2018 - 2024:

Bro. Augustine Kubdaar                  General Superior

Bro. Theodorus Suwaryanto                       Vicar

Bro. Raphael Besigrinee                Councillor

Bro. Valentinus Daru                                  Councillor     

We are thankful to God whose spirit has guided the chapter process to this desirable point. We also thank all our co-workers, those who sent us Good-will messages and all who are praying for us. We look forward to 25 August when all proceedings would have come to final conclusion.

Bro. Raphael Besigrinee

(Secretary of the General Chapter 2018)

 Date of Report: 22 August 2018