The day of the General Chapter was made sad by the news of the death of Fr. Arppathanath Shibin Thomas, a member of the General Chapter of 2007 and of the Vice-Province of India. Fr. Monks, who was the chairman, asked for special remembrance of him in prayer. During the day, Fr. J. Wanjau, Delegate Superior of Kenya, joined the members of the General Chapter who had come from the celebrations in memory of the two young members of the Order who had died some ten days previously.

The chairman of the day was Br. J.C. Bermejo, who guided until the end with skill and expertise the abundant work agenda. The first part involved a discussion of the 17 Operational Guidelines of the Camillian Project. Of these, two were rejected; one was placed in the discussion on the revision of the Constitution and the General Statutes; and the others were approved.

During the afternoon the Motions that had emerged from the Provincial General Chapters, on which the supreme authority of the Order, the General Chapter, must express itself, were addressed. In this case as well, there were 17 Motions. After in-depth analyses, 7 Motions were rejected; 3 were placed in the discussion of the Constitution and the General Statutes; 2 were approved; 3 were reformulated and approved; and 2 were withdrawn.

Lastly, as the last act of the day, Fr. Puca, the chairman of the drafting committee, presented the text of the Camillian Project added to or amended according to the contributions of the group work of the previous day. Space was given to the members of the General Chapter to be able, as soon as possible, to proceed to its approval.

For 10 May, memorial of the Blessed Rebuschini, there is envisaged the creation of the Slate (the three religious from whom the Superior General will be chosen) and the beginning of the revision of the Constitution and the General Statutes. The day will end with the musical ‘Camillo, soldato di Dio’ (‘Camillus: Soldier of God’).