For only the second time in history, members of the General Council met for their monthly meeting at the Viatorian Province Center in Arlington Heights, headquarters of the Chicago Province and home to Fr. Robert M. Egan, CSV, Superior General.
Seated around tables in the meeting room, Fr. Egan conferred with members of his council, including: Fr. Claudio Ríos, CSV, of Chile, Fr. André Crozier, CSV, of France, Fr. Claude Roy, CSV, of Canada and Fr. Robert Jean, CSV, of Haiti. Fr. John Peeters, CSV, and Fr. Ron Hochman, CSV, served as translators.
With their sleeves rolled up and with laptops and tablets in hand, they worked their way through an ambitious agenda. Discussions ranged from firming up government structures with the worldwide community, to arranging international visits to designing a new web site for the General Direction.
The Arlington Heights meeting followed a new tradition of gathering General Council members together in their home countries — and where Viatorians minister. The March meeting will take place in Spain.
Their meetings are important. They set the direction for the worldwide Viatorian Community, which includes more than 700 Viatorians. Those include its 421 professed members and more than 300 lay associates, who serve in Bolivia, Burkina Faso, Canada, Chile, Colombia, France, Haiti, Honduras, the Ivory Coast, Japan, Peru, Spain and the United States.