Br. John Johnston, our Superior General, is not often surprised. But the unveiling of his official portrait did catch him by surprise. Br. Alvaro reminded us that Br. John does not like these kinds of ceremonies so he kept it very brief.

Following the noon prayer and on his way to the dining room, Br. John was greeted in the "Hall of the Superiors" and asked to unveil his official portrait. Br. Alvaro Rodriguez, Vicar General, briefly addressed the Brothers of the Generalate and thanked Br. John for his years of service to the Brothers, especially while being assigned to Rome where he was Vicar from 1976-1986 and Superior from 1986-2000.

Br. John is the 25th Superior General of the Brothers. He began his work with the Brothers in 1955 as a teacher at Christian Brothers High School in St. Joseph, Missouri. From there his ministry to youth saw many forms: teacher, Guidance Director, Director of Student Brothers, Principal, and in 1971 he was elected Provincial of the St. Louis District.

As Vicar and Superior General he has worked very hard for and with the Brothers. Br. Alvaro summarized his ministry well when he said, "I want to thank you, Brother John, for your enterprising and productive faith, your vision of the future, the quality of your testimony and your reflections, your tenacity in your work, your deep love and interest for every Brother and for each of the Regions of the Institute, your concern for the rights of children and your care for our lay colleagues."

The official portrait was painted by Romano Cosci who was born in Seravezza (Lucca, Italy) in 1939. He now works in his studio and foundry in Pietrasanta, near Carrara, Italy. He studied in Florence and is both a painter and a sculptor. Other works of his appear in our Generalate in the Chapel of Saint John Baptist de La Salle. These works include his sculptures of two angels that decorate the reliquary of the Martyr Saints. He also designed the mosaics in the Martyrs' Chapel that were made by Fabiano Favret, also from Pietrasanta.

On April 8th the unveiling of the new electronic kiosk took place. This information center is designed primarily for the many visitors who will come to the Generalate, especially during this General Chapter/Jubilee Year.

The screen is a Panasonic 42" Wide Plasma Display. We were told it was the first one in Rome, and the third in Italy. It can accept both computer and VCR input. Our use of it withVCR is a future possibility as we continue to look for ways to develop the kiosk.

Visitors use point-and-click technology (via an EasyBall© by Microsoft pictured at the left) to select the areas that are of interest to them. The kiosk is completely interactive and is composed of a collection of more than 250 short QuickTime© movies. When not in immediate use, a screen saver displays over 75 pictures taken in Rome.

A gift of the San Francisco District, it was designed and implemented by Br. Donald Johanson (yours truly), and was a year in the making. The complex technological construction of the kiosk took approximately 1200 hours to complete. It consists of audio-visual presentations in four languages (English, Spanish, French and Italian) and includes information about four major areas: Rome, the Vatican, our educational works, and the Casa Generalizia.

With the completion of the kiosk, we look ahead to the beginning of the General Chapter and further development of our web site. The web will be used significantly as one means of communicating news about the Chapter.