Viatorians Choose Delegation Bound for Rome
10/24/2011

The delegation is complete. After six rounds of ballots, five Viatorians have been elected to travel in July to Rome for the general chapter meeting, where among other duties they will decide the next superior general of the worldwide congregation.

Fr. Robert M. Egan, CSV, president of Saint Viator High School; Fr. Robert Erickson, CSV, former treasurer of the Chicago province; Br. John Eustice,CSV, superior of the foundation of Belize; and Fr. Chris Glancy, CSV, associate pastor at Saint Viator parish in Chicago were elected to the delegation. Fr. Thomas von Behren, CSV, will join them by right of office, as provincial of the United States province.

Choosing the next superior general happens every six years. It is the congregation’s version of the papal conclave, with delegates coming from around the world for the election process steeped in tradition. They convene in a retreat center in Ariccia, Italy, not far from the pope’s summer home.

Their new leader must be a priest for at least 10 years and be elected by an absolute majority of votes. If a majority does not exist after three ballots, the fourth ballot narrows to just the front runners.

The new superior general becomes the pastoral leader for the congregation’s more than 500 priests and brothers, and another 300 lay associates around the world. They serve in the provinces of Canada, Chile, Spain, the United States and the delegation of France, as well as in the foundations of Belize, Bolivia, Burkina Faso, Colombia, Haiti, Honduras, Ivory Coast, Japan and Taiwan.