"Let the holiness of God shine forth" (cf. Mt 5,16)

To be a saint and apostle was, for Pallotti, a constant desire and a force for missionary efforts for the proclamation of the Gospel in every situation.
At the beginning of the celebrations on the occasion of the 50° anniversary of the Canonization of St. Vincent Pallotti (1963-2013), the Rector General of the Society of the Catholic Apostolate, Fr. Jacob Nampudakam, wish that, following the example of St. Vincent Pallotti, all the members of the Union of Catholic Apostolate renew their vocation to holiness of life and apostolate.

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We bring you also the homily of the Rector General at the inaugural Mass of the 3rd Ordinary General Assembly of the Union of Catholic Apostolate on 14th January 2012 at Grottaferrata, Roma.

The Gospel passage of today speaks about the call of Levi, the tax collector. He was a person apparently hated by the common people because he was seen as a collaborator of the Romans. Jesus, seeing him sitting at the tax office, said to him, "follow me" and he just got up and followed the Lord. Later Jesus had even dinner at his house with many tax collectors and sinners because many of them were his followers. The Scribes of the Pharisee party was certainly not amused by these actions of Jesus. They asked: "Why does he eat with tax collectors and sinners?". When Jesus heard this he said to them: "It is not the healthy who need the doctor, but the sick. I came to call not the upright, but sinners".
Why did Jesus go against the well-respected social norms? Probably he could have found many persons who were better respected and accepted by the society to be his disciples. Yet he went for simple folks like fishermen and tax collectors. At the end, they did not fail him, perhaps except one. They remained faithful to their call to the point of giving their very lives for the Master.

The General Council, in its session on 18 January 2012, approved the result of the election of Fr. Aleksander Pietrzyk as Regional Rector of the Region of "Mercy of God" (FR).

According to the new procedure of the elections of the Provincial/Regional Councils, approved by the XX General Assembly and confirmed by the Holy See (cfr. Final Document of the XX General Assembly, p. 21-23), the process for the election of the Regional Consultors will be initiated shortly.

Greetings to you all from Grottaferrata, Rome.

It is with great joy that I communicate to you the news of the composition of the new General Coordination Council of the Union of Catholic Apostolate, elected  Monday January 16, 2012. Let us pray for each of the members as they begin this new triennium of service to the worldwide Union and for those outgoing members of the previous GCC who are have completed their time in this particular service of the global Pallottine family with such love and dedication.
United in prayer and the love of Christ,
Fr. Rory Hanly SAC, General Secretary

Members of the New GCC

Ex ufficio:

• Fr. Jacob Nampudakam SAC
• Sr. Serena Cambiaghi, CSAC
• Sr. Izabela Swierad, SAC

Elected:

• Fr. Derry Murphy, SAC - Ireland
• Fr. Frank Donio, SAC - USA
• Sr. Adelheid Scheloske, SAC - Germany
• Mr. Marek Kalka - Poland, Married Layman
• Ms. A. Regina Silvia - India, Consecrated Laywoman
• Ms. Mariana Alfonso Mujica - Argentina, Consecrated Laywoman
• Mr. Corrado Montaldo - Italy, Layman
• Fr. Eugene Niyonzima, SAC - Rwanda
• Mr. Dario Ivatiuk Junior - Brazil, Layman
• Ms. Patricia (Tricia) Wisolith - Australia, Married Laywoman

Substitutes:

• Sr. Stella Marotta, CSAC - Italy
• Rosa Colucci - Italy, Married Laywoman
• Sr. Josephina D'Souza, SAC - Italy

• Fr. Jacek Billik (PN) - Poland, born 13.12.1967; First Consecration 29.09.1988; Priestly Ordination 08.05.1993; died 02.01.2012.