Present:

Members of Permanent Section: Dr. M. Thio, B. O’Reilly, J. Spiewak, L. Fitzpatrick, G West, J. H.Y.Lee, MF. Salesiani-Payet, S. Gramajo, T. Wilson, K. Hila, Sister M. McGuire, D.C., J. Makwinja, B. Ondigui Fouda, T. Joseph Pandian, A. Zoghbi, T. Tan, E. Keane, R. Lima de Oliveira, J. A. Gonzalez Kuehne, L. Könczöl, E. Tigla, D. Williams, A. Muir.

Members in attendance: Brazil (E. F. Figueiró), South Africa (C. Venter), England & Wales (A. Abel), Canada (J.N. Cormier), China Hong Kong (M. Yeung), Spain (J.M. Gomez), United States (S. Gilbert), France (M. Houette), India (J. Varghese), Italy (C. Nodari), Malaysia (W. Peters), Peru (A. Oviedo), Philippines (M. Bernardino), Zambia (C. Chanda).

Interpreters: A. de Viu, A. Reis, E. Vargas, B. Parson, P. Chase and M. Aranha.

Secretary: C.H. de Parseval.

Apologies for absence: P. Ehiagwina.

PRAYER AND OPENING MESSAGE

Prayer

Sister Maureen McGuire, Spiritual Adviser, led the opening prayer for the Permanent Section. Opening message from the President of the National Council of Brazil:

Emilia Fernandes Figueiró Jerônimo, President of the National Council of Brazil, welcomed everyone present to Brazil and warmly thanked Council General for choosing Brazil to host the meeting. This is the first time that the International Council General has organised statutory meetings in South America. Emilia spoke about Brazil, the SSVP in Brazil and its activities, work and structure.

She emphasised the fact that Brazil, with 200 million inhabitants, also has 28 million people living in poverty, 11 million of those in extreme poverty (equivalent to the population of Portugal). So more needs to be done to help the poor with their urgent needs; action must be taken to help them escape from poverty in future. The emphasis is placed on formation and training to spread the Vincentian charism and on holding more celebratory events for every Vincentian feast. She ended by inviting the participants to join the Society's pilgrimage to Aparecida, on 30 April and 1st May 2016.

Opening message from the President General:

Dr. Michael Thio, President General, returned thanks to Emilia Fernandes Figueiró and all her team, for their invaluable assistance in organising this event.

He welcomed all delegates and extended a special welcome to those attending our meeting for the first time: the new President of the National Council of Australia: Graham West (also Chairperson of CGI International Finance and Accountability Commission (IFAC), Concordat and Board member), the new President of the National Council of India: Johnson Varghese, the new President of the National Council of Malaysia: Watson Peters, the new National President of South Africa: Clement Venter, the President of the National Council of Peru: Alcione Oviedo, the President of the National Council of the Philippines: Mayleen Bernardino, the Vice-President of the National Council of France: Migueline Houette and the Vice-President of the National Council of Spain: Juan Manuel Gomez.

Meditation by Sr. Maureen McGuire, D.C.

Sr. Maureen McGuire began the meditation by asking the meeting to reflect on the contribution that the Society could make to the Jubilee Year of Mercy, announced by Pope Francis, from 08 December 2015 to 20 November 2016. She invited us to reflect on four main topics: Why does the world need mercy? Why must the Church focus on mercy? What does this mean for the Society? And for every one of its members, personally?

God does nothing but love us, we do not follow our path alone, we have a guide in heaven, we have brotherly and sisterly love on earth, we have a Pope, let us learn to look at each other with goodwill, and trust in the mercy of God.

Sr. Maureen ended with a prayer from Saint Vincent de Paul "O Lord, enable me to put Your love into practice, filling me with true affection for You, for my neighbour, and also for myself".

OPENING SPEECH FROM THE PRESIDENT GENERAL (Dr Michael Thio)

The President General, Dr. Michael Thio, briefly summarised the content of the Board meeting in March 2015, he highlighted on the following main points:

1. A General Plenary will be held from 04-09 June 2016 in Rome with the election of a new President General.
   
   
2. Training of Lay Spiritual Advisors. There is a great shortage of Spiritual Advisors in conferences globally. Spirituality is the main stay of the Society and the importance of this cannot be over emphasised.
3. Gobal Training and Formation programs are under review. The cascade training model is being considered.
4. The Society is an UN-NGO with consultancy status under the remit of the Economic & Social Council (ECOSOC). We have representation in the UN in New York and Geneva and in UNESCO in Paris.
5. The International Structure of the Society consisting of 11 ITVPs (International Territorial Vice- Presidents) and supported by Area Co-ordinators have been very busy co-ordinating the Society’s global activities through visits and meetings. CGI is staying closer to the ground.
6. The CGI website has been continually updated with information and news and more and more Vincentians and people are visiting the website. This is an effective source of communication and staying connected with Vincentians globally.
   
   read more: see the documents below:

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