On March 17th the election of the members of the new General Council of the Congregation of the Missionary Sisters of the Catholic Apostolate was completed. Sr. Izabela Swierad, the newly elected Superior General, will be accompanied by Sr. Maria Landsgerger (Germany), Vicar-General and by the Consulters, Sr. Josephina D'Souza (India), Sr. Bożena Olszewska (Poland) and Sr. Stella Holisz (Poland).
We pray that the Lord Jesus, Apostle of the Eternal Father, will bless the new Council with the virtue of perseverance in our mission of reviving faith and rekindling charity in the world.
We ask you to pray for the entire Congregation of the Missionary Sisters in this new stage of its life and we entrust it to the intercession of Mary, Queen of Apostles and of St. Vincent Pallotti.

The annual meeting of the Council of the General Secretariat for the Missions took place in Rome from 3 to 5 March 2010. Fr. Gilberto Orsolin (SM) the Secretary General for the missions, Fr. Peter Sticco (IC), Fr. Xavier Royappan (BA) and Fr. Stanislaw Filipek were present for the meeting while Fr. John Kelly (IR) and Fr. Grzegorz Mlodawski (WA) were absent. Bro. Bert Meyer (CJ), the new provincial Secretary for the missions of Austrian/German Province of "heart of Jesus" too was present for the first time.

The first intervention was by Fr. Friedrich Kretz on the central theme of the next General Assembly, namely "to Revive the faith and rekindle the charity": The Apostles of Jesus Christ in the changing world. Later Fr. Tadeusz Wojda (WA), an expert on the theme of mission and Head officer in the Congregation for the Evangelisation of people, made his presentation on the theme, "St. Paul and the new areopagus". In the discussion on this presentation and on the reality of pallottine mission, along with the the members of the Council, Fr. Daniel Rocchetti (RJ) and Fr. Jean Bertrand Etoundi (CN), two students of missiology, studying at Urbaniana University, too, took part.
The Council of the Secretariat also dealt with the general issues, such as, the distribution of grants and aid to missionaries and students; the Pallottine Mission Sunday; the next meeting of the Secretaries for the Pallottine missions and the meeting of permanent formation for new missionaries.
The results of this meeting were presented and discussed in the General Council and sent to the provincials, regionals, and to the respective Secretaries for the missions.

On March 16th 2010, the Missionary Sisters of the Catholic Apostolate elected Sr. Izabela Świerad, SAC, as Superior General during the General Chapter. We wish her every blessing from the Lord in this service she is called to render in the coming years. Together with the entire Pallottine Family we pray that she be sustained by the light of the Holy Spirit and the guidance of our holy Founder. [www.19gc.com]

From 25 to 27 February 2010, once again in the House of Preparatory Formation in Wadowice (WA), a formation meeting was held for Pallottine formators, consisting of Pallottine priests and sisters, from Poland, Ukraine, Byelorussia, Czech Republic and Slovakia. Altogether were present 17 confreres from the SAC – 11 from the Province of "Christ the King" and 6 from the Province of the Annunciation of the Lord – 7 sisters from the Congregation of the Missionary Sisters of the Catholic Apostolate, 8 members of the General Secretariat for Formation and two Provincial Rectors, Fr. Jozef Lasak (WA) and Fr. Kazimierz Czulak (PN). The meeting was organised by the Formation Secretariats of the two Polish Provinces, guided by Fr. Mariusz Malchiewick and Fr. Marek Chmielniak as well as by Sr. Eva Brandt, member of the Provincial Council of the Pallottine Missionary Sisters, responsible for formation. It was, above all, a course of formation for the Pallottine formators, reflecting on each stage of formation, from initial to permanent formation. After the conferences, there were always different group dynamics in order to integrate the various themes into the actual formative contexts and into the personal experiences of the participants. The formators also had the opportunity to discuss with the two Provincial Rectors present the concrete formation issues of the Provinces. The concluding Mass was presided over by Fr. Jacob Nampudakam, General Consultor and General Secretary for Formation and assisted by the Provincial Rectors. PHOTO

From 21 to 23 February 2010, the meeting of the General Secretariat for Formation was held in the House of Preparatory Formation of the Christ the King Province (WA) in Wadowice, Poland, with the participation of all its members: Fr. Jacob Nampudakam, General Secretary; Fr. Stanislaw Stawicki, Secretary; Fr. Derry Murphy (IR), Fr. Thomas Lemp (CJ), Fra Stephen Buckley (IR), Fr. Mariusz Malkiewicz (WA), Fr. Antonio de Almeida Valdeci (SP) and Fr. Romuald Uzabumwana (SF). Many topics were discussed during this meeting: the programme of formation of brothers of the SAC, the criteria of discernment for every stage of formation, the organisation of the summer courses and the annual course for Pallottine formators, the coordination of Pallotti Institutes around the world, the proposal of a meeting of those responsible for ongoing formation in the Society in 2011, preparation of the bulletin "Bethlehem" etc...A theme of great importance was the examination of the Ratio Istitutionis SAC in the light of Motion n. 4 and Recommendation n. 9, approved by the XIX General Assembly. During these days of presence in Wadowice, the members of the General Secretariat had also the opportunity to meet with the candidates of Preparatory Formation of the two Polish Provinces and a candidate of the Missionary Sisters of the Catholic Apostolate on the last day of their meeting «Novinpal», guided by Fr. Stanislaw Stawicki.