Thursday, September 29
The long awaited moment for the election of the new Superior General has arrived. The morning began today in the main chapel with a solemn Mass of the Holy Spirit. At the end of the celebration, the Capitulars, dressed in alb and stole, went to the chapter hall where the Veni Creator Spiritus was sung. Then, the elections began as indicated in the Constitutions and Rules. Fr. Louis LOUGEN, officially announced that the fourteenth Superior General of the Congregation, Fr. Luis Ignacio ROIS ALONSO (“Chicho”), had been elected.
Fr. Rois was born in Madrid, Spain, in 1963, took his first vows in 1982 and was ordained a priest in 1988. He was Provincial of Spain and General Councilor for 12 years. He was currently superior of the Western Sahara Mission. In his particular situation of not being among the members of the Chapter, the outgoing Superior General telephoned him in front of the capitulars to ask him if he would accept the position, to which he responded in the affirmative. Fr. Rois is expected to arrive in Rome tomorrow afternoon.
