The election of the new General Council will take place in the afternoon.
On such an important day, prayer is very necessary. In the morning, communities from Chicago, Montreal and Puerto Rico animated the prayer. It was full of symbolism of great relevance to our charism: Word of God, open hands (service, offering), dove (Holy Spirit), cross (sacrifice), bread (Eucharist), watch (urgency) and Mary.
The first task was to approve the adaptation of our statutes to the new decree of the Dicastery for the Laity and Family. The modifications were explained and after some minor editing it was unanimously approved.
Next, Arturo Peñas, member of the economic commission, presented the economic report, since due to technical problems we were unable to connect with Carlos Cobos. After some questions and clarifications, the report was unanimously approved. The Assembly is aware of the great work that the economic committee has done and unanimously decides that this committee should be continued.
After a short break we resumed our work. The strategy synthesis team presented to us what we had worked on last Tuesday about our strengths-achievements and threats-weaknesses. In groups we were encouraged to use this reading to propose challenges and lines of action for the next four years.
The afternoon began with a presentation of the communities of the Democratic Republic of Congo by Catherine Nsamba.
Then it was time for the election of the new General Council. After the constitution of the table and the relevant explanations, we prayed and invoked the Holy Spirit. The Assembly elected Miguel Angel Sosa Hernandez, Miguelo, as the new Secretary General in the first round and with a majority of more than the 2/3 required. He humbly accepts the position and asks for our collaboration and prayer to carry out the work.
Without losing the prayerful atmosphere, Bruno La Hoz, from Peru, was elected as Secretary of Formation, also in the first round and by absolute majority.
The election of the Secretary of Economy was more closely contested and it was in the second round with an absolute majority that Silvia Rodríguez, Silvita, from Guatemala, Central America Region, was elected.
Finally, in the presence of the Holy Spirit, Pedro Belderrain, CMF, was elected as General Councillor in the first round with an absolute majority.
We then took the official photos of the Assembly and ended the day with the Eucharist animated by the communities of Africa and dedicated to the Holy Spirit. In addition to the different languages of our Movement, the consecration of the new Council to the Holy Spirit and the sending of the Holy Spirit took place.
