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 Brother Superior General's farewell address to those who are leaving the Generalate.
Rome 23th June 2003
 Brother Álvaro Rodríguez Echeverría
Superior General |
Once again we say good-bye to several members of the Generalate who are finishing the service that has been entrusted to them.
 Brother Noël Bois has been responsible for SECOLI during the last ten years. This has caused him to travel to all the missionary sectors of the Institute to become familiar with their needs. He has also had to look for funds for the projects of these sectors, to obtain funds for our Brothers in formation and to be in contact with diverse Roman ministries, international aid agencies, etc. As the Delegate for Rwanda, he has always shown great concern and interest for the Rwandan Brothers, trying to find solutions for their difficult problems. He has always shown supreme interest in being associated with the missionary world, reading specialized magazines on the topic. We have appreciated his frank way manner of expression. Brother Noël still stays in good form thanks to his passion for the mountains. We wish him all manner of successes in his new position, being responsible for the missionary services of the District of France.
 Brother Allen Geppert, after sixteen years of residency in the Generalate, returns to his District of Great Britain. A first rate translator, he has carried out an enormous amount of work for the publications of the Institute, for the Superior General, for the General Council, for the Lasallian Studies team and for several other services of the Institute. In his work, Brother Allen has loved precision and accuracy. He has also dedicated many hours to simultaneous translation for the numerous international meetings that have taken place in the Generalate, a work that requires a high degree of attention and concentration. His English lessons were very appreciated by his students. It has sometimes been said of him, that he was the incarnation of the body of the Institute. We wish him a good rest and hope that he continues cultivating his sense of humor and his love of reading and riding his motorcycle.
 Brother Edward Hofmann is finishing his service as guest-master. With his computer knowledge, he has contributed a lot to the professional character of our hospitality service. We have admired his abilities in diverse languages, his musical gifts and sometimes his original way of presenting liturgical celebrations. Brother Edward returns to the District of Baltimore, where his Brother Visitor has entrusted to him the care of postulants.
 Brother Valerio López is finishing his assignment as General Secretary. We all have been witness in these three years of his readiness to take on all tasks, his hospitality, his sympathy and affability. He has given us the impression, often, of being overloaded with tasks and diverse missions. With great diligence, he has been in charge of the administrative aspects of the Brothers of the Generalate: residence permits, Italian identity cards, driving permits etc. It is through his guidance that we have established the Lasallian Volunteer program in the Generalate. Brother Valerio will return to the District of South Mexico, where he plans to carry out community and apostolic projects in favor of those most in need.
 Brother Jordi Oller has been our Econome for the past 12 years. A Catalan of pure blood, he has been very energetic in his job as finance director. He has demonstrated a great expertise and judgment in handling the finances of the Institute, as well as diligence and intelligence in resolving administrative problems. He likes to face problems from the financial point of view but without forgetting the apostolic point of view. His ministry has always had as an objective the supervision the patrimony of the Institute in to obtain the best possible interest. In his relationships with banks and financial entities, besides his knowledge of the Catalan, Spanish, English and Italian, he has tried to deepen his knowledge of French (sitting at the French table) which has allowed him to relate with ease with numerous administrations and to participate fully in meetings related to his position. We wish him a happy return to his District of Catalonia.
 We also mark today the departure of Mrs. Laura Schileo. She arrived at the Generalate more than 16 years ago, being the secretary of SECOLI and providing other services. She has formed a perfect team with the Brother Noël. We admire and we will always remember her abilities in and knowledge of diverse languages, her effectiveness, capacity and discretion in her work, her diligence when continuing her work in spite of many trials that she experienced, her equanimity, her sense of humor, her way of always welcoming anyone that approached, her smiles and her kindness. Mrs. Laura, your memory will remain very tied to this House. We wish you a deserved rest.
 And finally, Mr. Sergio González, Lasallian Volunteer, engineer and expert in computer science, leave us at the end of July. We have appreciated his service, doing so much with regard to our computer network, his readiness to solve our problems both individually and generally, and his affable and nice ways. We wish you a lot of luck and a happy return to Mexico.
To all of you, I express from my heart, my appreciation and gratefulness for the invaluable service you have given these years to the Superior General, to the General Council and to the whole Institute and Lasallian Family. We promise to keep you in our prayers. We pray that God bless you and accompany you in your diverse destinations and missions. Once again, thank you and good-bye. |
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