General  Chapter  Report, Monday  8 Aug 2018

The third day of the chapter meeting began with morning prayer led by Bro. Martinus Dariyo of Malawi Province. The theme was "A call to holiness, the way to be a witness of God’s love". Bro. Dariyo explained that the theme is based on the Church document "Gaudete et Exultate". After the usual breakfast together, we gathered to continue the discussion on the report of General Council, specifically chapter three, which has the title "Functioning of General Council". The house gave various reactions on the chapter. In general, members appreciate very much the efforts made by the General Council in serving the Congregation. Areas of commendation include their cordial working relationship, the scheme of their work and their collaboration with other bodies. At this juncture the General Council members were given the opportunity to share their experiences in doing their task.

After coffee break, we proceeded to give our reactions on chapter four (4) of the report. This gives an extensive description of how the implementation of the resolutions of the General Chapter 2012 was done. Taking one resolution after another, the house spent time to comment on the various issues reported. Among others, members discussed issues on formation, the reflective document on our constitutions, on-going formation, vocation promotion, associated life and prevention of sexual abuse. Copies of the reflective document prepared by the general council were presented to members of the chapter. In general the comments were positive with a few suggestions, but members expressed appreciation for the efforts made by the  General Council in implementing the General Chapter 2012 resolutions.

After lunch followed by a short rest, the meeting convened again to continue the discussion on chapter five (5) of the General Council report. This is entitled Congregational Conferences, which is the annual business meeting of General Council members and the Provincial Superiors. During their term of office 2012-2018 the GC was able to organize Congregational Conferences every year. The Congregational Conference of 2013 was combined with the Leadership Workshop for the new leadership teams of the provinces.

Furthermore in 2015 the ConCon was the General Conference organised in Ghana. In General, members of the house admitted that they benefited from the Congregational Conference and proposed the next GC continue the exercise in the future.

During the last session today the chapter dealt with chapter six (6) of the General Council report on Topical Conferences. These are international meetings other than the ConCon. In 2013 the was Leadership workshop was organized. It discussed the spirituality of FIC leadership and the basic knowledge in Canon Law regarding religious life. In 2014, it was the Treasurers' workshop which equipped our provincial treasurers with knowledge of common system of accounting and to get acquainted with the financial policy of the congregation. In 2016, the international meeting for formators was organized in Indonesia. During this encounter the formators  worked on the core curriculum for FIC formation program. Lastly in 2018, the apostolic congress was held in Indonesia and it was meant to reflect, deepen, share and discuss ways and means of realizing our call to continue the work of Jesus. The house thinks that these meetings were very helpful in understanding better our mission.

The meeting today ended with the Eucharistic celebration as usual. In the Eucharist, we remembered the victims of the earthquake in Lombok Indonesia, the mother of Bro. Lucio Torres who just died in Spain and for the recovery of our sick fellow brothers.

Bro. Petrus Anjar