
Student House and Procure. From early on in the history of the Institute, a few young members were sent to Rome for graduate studies at one of the Pontifical Universities. Eventually, since 1910, CICM has had its own house in Trastevere, the popular quarter at the foot of the Janiculus hill.
As the Vatican assigned more territories to the care of the growing missionary Institute, there was a felt need for a permanent Procurator with the Holy See: someone to handle the affairs of the missions with the central administration of the Church, particularly the Congregation of the Evangelization of Peoples.
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All the while, the headquarters remained at the mother house in Scheut, the place where the Institute had started in 1862. This made eminent sense. Even a century later, Belgium was the home country of over 90% of all CICM missionaries in the field, the remainder coming mainly from nearby Netherlands. For all practical purposes, recruitment, too, was limited to these two countries.
International Headquarters in Rome. This situation changed, first slowly in the mid fifties, then it picked up speed as young candidates were being accepted and novitiates opened in the Congo, the Philippines, and the USA. The year 1966 signaled the opening in Rome of the newly built Collegio missionario internazionale where some 25 students and young priests lived together. The following year, the General Administration itself shifted from Scheut to Rome. In a real way, the move marked a definite turn in the self-understanding of CICM, from a mainly Flemish group of missionaries to an international Institute dedicated to universal brotherhood.
The spirit and aftermath of
Vatican II quickly led to a further change in the Rome set-up: in 1973 the idea
of having a large international group of young members in Rome was given up and
the Collegio was sold together with the
adjoining building of the general headquarters. Since then, the CICM General
Administration has been operating from a simple, rented place of another
religious Order in Rome. At the same time, the recruitment base became
increasingly international: next to missionaries from the Congo, the Philippines
and the USA, a sizable number of new members have joined from Indonesia, Haiti,
and Cameroon.
CICM held its 14th General Chapter in Rome during the month of May
2011. One of its main tasks was the election of a new General Government for the
next 6 years, 2011-2017.
Superior General:
Father Timothy 'Tim' Atkin.
Born in 1948 in Jackson, Michigan, USA, Tim entered CICM in 1968. After his
ordination in 1974, he left for Haiti. After his language studies, he was
assigned in Hinche. He served in the US formation program at San Antonio, TX,
from 1983 until 1985. Back in Haiti, he served as pastor of La Victoire Parish
until 1988. Once again, he was called upon as a Formator, this time in Mexico
(1989 1992). In 1992, he returned to Haiti, first as pastor on the Island of La
Gonaives, and then in 1996 as Provincial Treasurer. He was a member of the HA
Provincial Government in different periods. Since 1990, Tim has had many terms
as a member of the Investment Management Board and of the General Finance
Committee. From 2000 to 2005, Tim was the Provincial Superior of HA. Tim
participated in the 1987 and 2005 General Chapters. He was elected General
Councilor during the 2005 General Chapter. The 14th General Chapter elected
Father Tim Atkin as 18th Superior General of CICM for a term of 6 years
(2011-2017).
The members of his Council, similarly elected for 6 years, are:
Vicar General:
Father Ernest Ngombe Ngboko,
born in 1964 in
Kanya-Mbonda (Equateur, Congo), Ernest pronounced his first vows in 1987.
After his theology at ETSC in Ngoya, Yaoundé (Cameroon), he left for Senegal
in 1994. He was ordained a priest in Dakar, Sénégal, in 1996 and worked in the
Parishes of Guédiawaye and Diamaguene. He became member of the Senegal
Autonomous District Government in 1997 and later Vice-Superior. From 2001
until 2010, Ernest was the Superior of the Autonomous District of Senegal and
Regional Coordinator of The Region of Africa. He participated in the 1999 and
2005 General Chapters, but not in the 2011 Chapter, when he was elected Vicar
General.
General Councilor:
Father Melanio Michael Reyes 'Mike'.
Mike was born in 1968 in the Philippines. He entered the CICM
seminary in 1985 and was ordained a priest in 1997. He was a missionary in
Inongo (Congo) from 1994 until 2003. Recalled to the Philippines in 2004, he
served as Novice Master up to the present. He served as Vice-Provincial for
one term and was a member of the Philippine Provincial Government at the time
of his election as General Councilor by the 14th General Chapter.
General Councilor:
Father Luc Colla.
Born in 1943 in
Beverst (Limburg, Belgium), Luc pronounced his first vows in 1962. He was
ordained a priest in 1968. He left for his first mission assignment in the
Philippines in 1970 and was consecutively assistant parish priest in Bagabag
and Bayombong (Nueva Vizcaya). From 1975 to 1990 he was served at Saint Louis
University (Baguio) as member of the pastoral team, coordinator of religious
instruction in the elementary and high school departments, and teacher in the
College of Education. In 1990 he founded the Holy Family Parish of Bakakeng
(Baguio). Recalled to his home Province, he was mission animator of the
diocese of Hasselt (Belgium) from 1994 to 1997. After one-year formator's
course in Saint Anselm (Kent, UK.), he returned to the Philippines and was
rector of the Prenovitiate formation community of Maryshore (Bacolod City)
from 1998 to 2002, and of Maryhurst (Baguio City) from 2002 to 2006. From 2006
to 2007, he was Formator/Treasurer of the CICM Asian International Formation
Community in Manila. He returned to Belgium and served as rector of the CICM
community at Torhout from 2008 to 2010. In 2010, Luc was appointed
Vice-Provincial of the Belgium-Netherlands Province. The 14th CICM General
Chapter elected him, at age 68, as General Councilor.
Appointed members of the General Administration are:
Secretary General: Father Charles Phukuta-Khonde, born in D.R. Congo in 1965; missionary in the USA since 1993.
Treasurer General: Father Peter Koh, born in Singapore in 1966; missionary in Zambia since 1993.
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