Redemptorists Prepare for General Chapter

The 24th General Chapter will begin Oct. 19, and is expected to be in session for a month.

ROME (Zenit.org) - The Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer, known as the Redemptorists, is preparing to celebrate a general chapter next month in Rome.

A press release from the congregation announced that the 24th General Chapter will begin Oct. 19, and is expected to be in session for a month.

Chapter participants will begin the meeting with a retreat given by Archbishop Gianfranco Gardin, secretary of the Congregation for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life.

The chapter will center around the theme "Restructuring for Mission: Hope in Action," and will deal with the question of reorganizing the structures so as to make the congregation more efficacious in evangelizing the poor.

A new Superior General of the congregation will be elected, as the current leader, Father Joseph Tobin, has completed the maximum term allowed by the statutes.

The congregation was founded in 1732 by St. Alphonsus Liguori. Today, there are some 5,500 Redemptorists serving in 78 countries worldwide. The last general chapter was held in 2003.