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Major Outcome of the 29th Plenary Assembly
The 29th Plenary Assembly was held successfully in Warsaw and Krakow, Poland from July 24-26 (study session) and July 28-29 (statutory session), 2004. About 130 participants from more than 30 countries of all continents have participated in the assembly. In between the two sessions, participants visited Auschwitz concentration camp, situated between Warsaw and Krakow,as part of the study session and as an important collective experience to recall the historical background of the birth of ICMICA in 1947 and to reaffirm our commitment to social justice and human rights as a way to promote peace and prevent conflicts.
A.Study Session - Warsaw (July 24-26)
Three keynote speakers, Dr Jerome Binde, Dr Doudou Diene and Philippe de Woot, delivered their speeches which provided us with thought-provoking and inspiring insights on the theme of poverty and injustice challenging cultures and ethics.
The following two panels - poverty, civil society and ethics, global governance - helped participants to deepen their understanding and reflection on the theme.
During the program, three liturgical celebrations were organized including a Ukraine-orthodox liturgy.
All participants were also welcomed at the reception hosted by the Mayor of Warsaw.
The final statement which summarizes the main issues addressed during the study session is being finalized and will be sent out as soon as it is ready.
B.Statutory Session - Krakow (July 27-29)
- Remembrance of Deceased Members
- New Memberships
- Elections of New Leaderships
- Revision of the Statutes
1. Remembrance of Deceased Members
At the opening session, participants had some moments to remember the leaders, members and friends of ICMICA who have passed away since the last Plenary Assembly 2000. Once again I would like to express our gratitude to the contribution they have made to the Movement. Special memory to Ed Kirchner, USA / Gerard Stein, Germany / Helene Morren, Belgium / Henri Bussery, s.j. / Ludwig Dembinski, Poland / Mario d'Erme, Italy / Phillip Daniel, United Kingdom / Supee Nuchanart, Thailand / Maria de Lourdes, Portugal and George Villegas, Philippines.
2. New Memberships
Six new member federations were accepted full members of the ICMICA family. They are
MIIC-Cameroon, Movement of Catholic Graduates and Professionals (MCGP)-Sri Lanka, Community Action Network (CAN)-Malaysia, Association of Intellectual Catholics in Albania (AICA), DZINTARS-Latvia and AGRU-Romania. Heart-felt congratulations to them and welcome again!!!
3. Elections of New Leaderships
Mr Patricio Rode from Uruguay was unanimously re-elected as the International President for the second term (2004-8). Mr Paul Ortega from Basque Country was unanimously elected as Secretary
General replacing Anselmo Lee from Korea, outgoing Secretary General (1996-2004).
Five vice-presidents representing each region were also elected; Mr John Lokenga from D.R. Congo for Africa, Mr Anselmo Lee from Korea for Asia/Pacific, Mr Piotr Cywinski from Poland for Europe, Ms Irma Marino Vargas from Peru for Latin America and Mr Mark Wolff from USA for North America.
The post of a regional coordinator was created for Europe and North America and Mr Philippe LeDouble from France and Mr Joe Kirchner from USA were appointed as the regional coordinators at their regional meetings respectively.
Eight member federations representing the region at the International Council were also elected; Zambia-ZACP and MIIC-Cameroon for Africa, Woori Theology Institute (WTI)-Korea and ICMICA-India for Asia Pacific, Newman Association-UK and KAVO-Austria for Europe and MPC-Peru and MPC-Uruguay for Latin America.
| Position | Name |
| International President | Mr Patricio Rode |
| Secretary General | Mr Paul Ortega |
| Vice-Presidents (individual) | |
| Africa | Mr Jean Lokenga |
| Asia/Pacific | Mr Anselmo Lee |
| Europe | Mr Piotr Cywinski |
| Latin America | Ms Irma Marino Vargas |
| North America | Mr Mark Wolff |
| Council Member(Federation) | |
| Africa | Zambia-ZACP / Cameroon-MIIC |
| Asia/Pacific | ICMICA-India / ISKA-Indonesia |
| Europe | Austria-KAVO / UK-Newman Association |
| Latin America | MPC-Peru / MPC-Uruguay |
Mr Paul Ortega will begin to work as new Secretary General in Geneva from October 1, 2004,, and there will be a period of transmission of memories and responsibilities in Oct and Nov. 2004 during which the new team will visit Holy See in Rome and partner agencies in Europe.
4. Revision of the Statutes
The revision of the Statutes was one of the important agenda at this Assembly at the request of the Holy See asking each International Catholic Organization to choose to be ‘private or public’. The Assembly, after a lengthy debate, decided to opt to be ‘private’ and revised some paragraphs in the beginning part of the Statutes. The newly added first five paragraphs were meant to clarify the vision, mission and identify of the Movement in today’s context. The full text of the revised statutes will be sent to the Holy See soon for approval and then distributed among federations as new statutes.
Last but the least, on behalf of all participants and federations, we would like to express our deep appreciation to KIK-Warsaw, leaders, secretary and volunteers without which our Assembly would have not been possible.
Heart-felt thanks and congratulations!!!
Happy and restful summer holidays!!!