Diary No.11 of the General Assembly 4^th February Between yesterday and today the 22 new general councilors of the Focolare have been elected. They come from 16 countries and 4 continents, their ages range from 52 -70 and they truly represent the multiculturality that is a characteristic of the Focolare Movement. Many of them have lived in various geographical areas besides their country of origin, an important factor for getting to know in depth, the characteristics, needs and challenges of the many countries in which those who identify themselves in the Focolare’s message of unity, are living. At the opening of the voting for the councilors Margaret Karram said: ”Let us ask for the Holy Spirit so that we can be guided only by him”; in fact this is only the first step towards the composition of the new “Center of the Movement”. Shortly, the newly elected President will distribute their specific tasks to each one. The intense work of today was concluded with a session dedicated to the presentation and approval of various proposals. Tomorrow the work will continue in plenary with sessions of dialogue on the plans and directions for the next 6 years. In the meantime, let’s get to know the names of the newly elected councilors and where they come from.

Women Councilors Cuneo Chiara (Italy) Escandell Silvia (Argentina) Gomez Margarita (Spain) Kempt Donna Lynn (USA) Kobayashi Renata (Japan) Koller Friederike (Germany) Moussallem Rita (Lebanon) Ngabo Bernadette (Dem. Rep. Congo) Sanze Genevieve (Central African Republic) Simon Renata (Germany) Zanolin Clara (Italy)

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