The General Secretariat

P. Silvano Vescovi
e-mail ocdsgen@pcn.net
Tel. [+39] + 06 - 85443244

FR SILVANO VESCOVI
General Secretary and Superior of the house.

Venice Province. Born in Palosco (Bergamo) on August 12, 1956, he was professed on September 18, 1976 and ordained priest on April 17, 1982.

He studied at our International Theological College (1978-1981) and at the Teresianum (1985-1987), gaining a licence in spirituality. He was an assistant in the Adro Preparatory College (1982-1985). From 1987 to 1991 he was assistant parish priest of St Teresa of Avila parish in Rome and from 1988 to 1991 he worked in the Apostolic Nunciature to Italy.

He was elected Secretary General of the Order on May 11, 1991 and re-confirmed in office April 21, 1997.

He was appointed Superior of the General House on May 5, 1994, reconfirmed on September 17, 1997 and September 21, 2000.

The General Secretariat

1- The duties of the Secretary General are particularly important and delicate. Since he is the closest collaborator with the Superior General and the Definitory, through the General Secretariat must pass all the material that lies in the jurisdiction of the Superior General, or in his absence, of the Vicar General or whoever is carry out the office of Pro-Vicar General. To this is added all matters of a particularly confidential nature, with the exception of that which goes to the Holy See through the Procurator General.

2 - Number 190 of our Constitutions determines the various functions of the Secretary General, stating, besides, how he should offer his service to the Superior General and the Definitors in conformity to the instructions received from them. In practice, the following are the duties of the Secretary General.

­ preparing the Agenda for the sessions of the Definitory
­ acting as the notary of the Definitory and entering the acts of the sessions in the official book of the Definitory.
­ drawing up the text of official replies from the Definitory
­ preparing the official correspondence of the Order with the Holy See, with the exception of that which lies in the competence of the Procurator General.
­ despatching the correspondence of the Superior General, or of the Vicar General or the Pro-Vicar Generals, which because of its juridical nature or its seriousness, ought to remain confidential in the General Secretariat.
­ in collaboration with the Secretariat for information and statistics, preparing the statistics of the Order, which must be presented to the Apostolic See every year.
­ preparing the news magazine Communicationes Definitorii Generalis.
3 ­ One particularly important responsibility of the Secretary General is that of keeping in order, in the most complete way possible, the Current Archive of the General Secretariat. For this work he can avail of the help of the Vice-Secretary General, who, in the absence of the Secretary General, carries out his duties (Norms 201).