(ANS – Rome) - The Presidency of the World Confederation of the Past Pupils of Don Bosco, the leadership and governing body of the Association, met in Rome from 21-24 June.

Among those present were Francis Muceo, President; Julio Castellanos, Vice-President and Regional Officer for the Inter-American Region; Ángel Gudiña, Vice-President of the Young Past Pupils (GEX); Rajesh Gupta, Regional Officer for Asia; Antoine Musenga, Regional Officer for Africa; Rajiv Tykmany, GEX for Asia; Domenica Sapienza, GEX for Europe; Nini Cubeta, Confederation Treasurer; Sergi Rodríguez, Confederation Secretary, and Fr José Pastor Ramírez, World Delegate.

On the evening of Saturday 22 June, the Regional Officers presented their reports and the new strategic plan for the leadership of the World Confederation was approved.

On Sunday, after the Eucharist, Fr José Pastor Ramírez, spoke on the topic "Past Pupils of Don Bosco and integrity of life."  He emphasized that "the person of integrity is not afraid when it comes to reporting improper conduct, and is one who respects the code of corporate social ethics." Later the financial reports for 2012 and 2013 and the budget for 2014 were unanimously approved.

On the same day the participants studied and explored also:

• the leadership plan that will be presented to the Provincials and Delegates of Africa and Madagascar. It aims at deepening the knowledge of Don Bosco, cultivating a sense of belonging to the association, increasing the number  of members, and promoting communication with the World Confederation;
• the experimental Statute - proposals for change can be submitted to the World Assembly 2015;
• the draft of the Regulations for the internal workings of the Presidency and the World Executive Committee of Past Pupils.

On June 23, after a careful planning of the events of the Confederation for the Bicentenary of the Birth of Don Bosco - in particular the World Assembly (3-6 October 2015) and the pilgrimage to Turin (6-9 October ) – the participants studied reports on:

• the leadership school in Central America (Costa Rica, 16 to 21 April 2014);
• the European Congress of Young Pupils (EuroGex - Poland 1-4 May 2014);
• the statutes of the elective assembly of the Federation of Dominican Republic.

The Statutes of the Federations of Past Pupils of the Dominican Republic and Switzerland were approved. With a view to the election of a new World President, they also drew up the profile of the kind of leader the World Confederation needs: experience of service in the association, availability of time,  management skills, knowledge of languages, economic autonomy, interpersonal skills, and written consent of one’s spouse (if relevant).

The gathering of the World presidency ended with the traditional meeting of the Past Pupils with the Rector Major, Fr Ángel Fernández Artime, which took place precisely on Past Pupils’ Day, 24 June.  The Rector Major invited the Past Pupils to take up two major challenges: "To grow in the identity of past pupils and social commitment; and to bring the commitment  of the World Presidency to the Federations and Confederations, and especially to the local unions."

Published 24/06/2014