- Fr. General and the Council
Father Paulus Budi Kleden is the Superior General of the Society of the Divine Word.
He was elected to this position in 2018 for his inaugural term. A distinguished theologian, Fr. Kleden is originally from Indonesia. He received his initial formation in theology at the St. Gabriel Seminary in Austria and holds a doctorate in systematic theology from the Albert-Ludwigs-University of Freiburg, Germany. He was a professor at St. Paul’s Major Seminary in Ledalero, Indonesia. Before assuming his current role, he served as a General Councilor for the 2012-2018 term.
In 2018, Father Jose Antunes da Silva assumed the role of Vice Superior General of the Society of the Divine Word. A native of Portugal, he has valuable missionary experience in Ghana. Prior to his current position, Fr. Antunes da Silva worked in Campus and Youth Ministry and served as the Provincial Superior of the SVD Province of Portugal. He holds a doctorate in Theology, specialising in Prophetic Dialog.
Father Xavier Thirukudumbam, a native of India, is a member of the General Council of the Society of the Divine Word. He was elected to this position in 2018, leaving behind his work as a professor and formator. He holds a degree in philosophy and has been involved in several administrative posts in his home province.
Latest Latest news, events, travels and meetings of Fr. Xavier
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Brother Guy Mazola Mido is a native of the Congo and is completing his second term as a member of the General Council. Before his appointment to the General Council team in 2012, he had a missionary experience in the Philippines. In the Congo, he has worked in formation, including as a coordinator at the zonal level, and he has also been the Superior Delegatus for his Province.
Father Jude Raymund Festin, from the Philippines, was elected General Councillor in 2018. He has been in Angola for many years, working in parishes, in formation and also as a seminary professor in his field of specialization, philosophy. He holds a Ph.D. in philosophy from the Catholic University of Belgium. Before coming to Rome, he was Provincial of PHC Province and Professor of Philosophy.
Father Eryk Koppa is a Pole. After a missionary experience in Mexico, he returned to Poland. He earned a Master’s Degree in Moral Theology and worked for many years in formation. He was a provincial secretary. At the time of his election to the General Council in 2018, he was Provincial of Poland and Vice-Chairman of the SVD European Zone.
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Father Anselmo Ribeiro is Brazilian. He had missionary exposure (OTP) in MEX. He was Provincial of BRN for two terms. Afterwards he took courses in leadership and management. He has been part of the team of the São Miguel Community dedicated to the organization and accompaniment of retreats for the laity. Communication has also been one of his areas of work.
Happy Easter to all of you! 2024 Easter Message of Fr. Paulus Budi Kleden, SVD Superior General
(subtitles: Bahasa, English, Français, Deutsch, Polski)
We celebrate the feast of St. Arnold Janssen, January 15, 2024.
The Video has Subtitles in: english, español, deutsche, bahasa indonesia
Christmas Message of Fr. Paulus Budi Kleden, Superior General of the SVD. Subtitles in German, Indonesian, Polish, Slovak, Vietnamese.
Dear Confreres, Sisters, Lay Mission Partners, Friends, Benefactors and Relatives,
Christmas is a season to be grateful and to be in deep meditation – an opportunity to be immersed in God’s love, and taken by God, to look within ourselves and at the world around us. Let us, with open hearts, acknowledge the wounds we bear and those we may inadvertently inflict, recognizing the vulnerability that unites us all.
Read more: Christmas Message of Fr. Paulus Budi Kleden
Christmas Message of Fr. Paulus Budi Kleden, Superior General of the SVD.
Subtitles in German, Indonesian, Polish, Slovak, Vietnamese.
Dear Confreres, Sisters, Lay Mission Partners, Friends, Benefactors and Relatives,
The dedication and generosity of the confreres in giving themselves to people, in sharing with them the joys and challenges of life, in faithfully and creatively providing witness to the Word of God, in their perseverance to be with people going through difficult situations due to political, economic, or environmental reasons, have earned overflowing gratitude from the people. This has been evident during the general visitations and my visits to our different missions worldwide. Indeed, by the grace of God, and the support of the Sisters and of many other people, the humble beginnings in Steyl, with Arnold Janssen and a handful of companions, have been a blessing for millions of people on the five continents in these 148 years.
Read more:
Christmas Message of Fr. Paulus Budi Kleden, Superior General of the SVD.
Subtitles in German, Indonesian, Polish, Slovak, Vietnamese.
Dear Confreres, Sisters, Lay Mission Partners, Friends, Benefactors and Relatives,
The dedication and generosity of the confreres in giving themselves to people, in sharing with them the joys and challenges of life, in faithfully and creatively providing witness to the Word of God, in their perseverance to be with people going through difficult situations due to political, economic, or environmental reasons, have earned overflowing gratitude from the people. This has been evident during the general visitations and my visits to our different missions worldwide. Indeed, by the grace of God, and the support of the Sisters and of many other people, the humble beginnings in Steyl, with Arnold Janssen and a handful of companions, have been a blessing for millions of people on the five continents in these 148 years.
Read more:
Message of Fr. Paulus Budi Kleden, Superior General for the Feast Day of Saint Arnold Janssen, January 15, 2023
Subtitles in: Bahasa Indonesia, German, French, Polish.
Dear confreres, Sisters, Mission Partners, Benefactors, Friends and Relatives,
One of the spiritual legacies of our Founder, Saint Arnold Janssen, is his prayer: “May the Heart of Jesus live in the hearts of all people.”
The heart of Jesus is a heart rooted in his intimate relationship with the Father and his loving embrace of humanity, a heart full of humility and compassion, a heart that rejoices in the Lord and beats for the suffering humanity and the world, a heart that is united with the Lord and feels the pain of the world. If this heart lives in us, we become missionary disciples who are faithful to the Word, and one, in solidarity with the people. Saint Arnold passed on to us this prayer and is teaching us this prayer with his life.
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“On each level of government and administration the superior and his council are assisted by officials for certain specialized areas. These officials should support the superior and his council with expertise and prayer” (c 615).
Officials on the generalate level “assist the superior general and his council in the administration of the Society and in the planning and implementation of its missionary task” – all within the area of their respective expertise (c 620).
Father Peter Dikoš is from Slovakia and was a missionary in Papua New Guinea, where he served as Pastor in various parishes and later as Dean of Studies and Rector of the Good Shepherd Seminary in Fatima. He also served a term as Vice-Provincial of the SVD PNG Province. He received his doctorate in Canon Law from Saint Paul University in Ottawa. In 2013, he was appointed Procurator General of the Society of the Divine Word in Rome, a position he continues to hold to this day.
Father José Nicolás Espinosa was born in Colombia, where he completed his early formation. After spending a year in Australia to study English, he traveled to the Philippines for his theology studies and first mission assignment. He earned a Master’s degree in Counseling Psychology in Manila before returning to Colombia to work in formation within the Province and the PANAM Zone. Since 2012, he has worked at the Generalate, where he has held various roles, including secretary for Spanish, registrar, Rector of the Collegio del Verbo Divino, and his current position as Secretary General.
Father Dariusz Garbaciak, born in Poland, during his theological studies he had a missionary experience – OTP in Papua New Guinea. After his ordination he began to study economics – MBA graduate programs in the USA. In 2002 he was nominated to the position of Provincial Treasurer of the SVD USC Province. During this time he served on numerous financial boards for educational and non-profit organizations. Since 2019 he holds the position of General Treasurer of the Society.
Father Lazar Thanuzraj Stanislaus received his doctorate in Missiology at the Pontifical Gregorian University, Rome. He was Director of the Ishvani Kendra Institute of Missiology and Communication, Pune, India. He was President of the International Association of Catholic Missiologists (IACM) for one term. He was Provincial Superior of INM. He is involved in editing, writing, giving courses and seminars on Missiology, Interculturality and related topics. He is currently the General Mission Secretary.
The current General Secretary for Formation and Education is Father Augustine Pushpa Anbu. He belongs to the Indian Central Province (INC). He made his final profession in 1993 and his priestly ordination in 1994.
Frather Modeste Munimi Osung, General Communication Coordinator. He is from the Democratic Republic of Congo. He was a missionary in Spain, where he also studied communication.
Brother Carlos Ferrada has been the General Coordinator of JPIC since January 2021. Brother Carlos comes from Chile and is a trained lawyer. He joined the SVD in 2006, and part of his formation he did in Cordoba, Argentina. He had a missionary experience in the Philippines. In 2018 he began to collaborate with the General Administration as General Coordinator for Brother Formation.
Father Wojciech Szypuła is the General Coordinator of the Biblical Apostolate. He comes from Poland. He studied theology in Chicago, USA. He has missionary experience in Botswana, Zambia and South Africa. For many years he was the coordinator of the Biblical Apostolate at provincial and zonal levels. He was a teacher and Vice Dean of the Faculty of Theology and Biblical Studies at Tangaza University College in Nairobi, Kenya. He holds an S.T.D. in Biblical Theology from the Gregorian University in Rome.
Brother Douglas Simonetti is the Generalate Assistant Secretary for Brothers’ Formation and Education of the Society. He is a Brazilian he did his OTP in KEN (2011-2013 )and his first missionary assignment (2016) is to Kenya. He is Biblical Coordinator and was School Administrator.
Father Peter Dusicka is from Slovakia. He entered the SVD clandestinely during the communist era. He studied spirituality in Poland, had retreat giving training in Germany, and studied religious formation in the USA. He has worked in formation, administration and at the AJSC in Steyl. Since 2018 he is the Coordinator for Spiritual Animation and since 2021 a member of the Arnold Janssen Spirituality Network.
The Secretariat is the department of the Generalate that handles the correspondence to and from the Superior General and his Council. It is the motor of the Generalate, dealing with the day-to-day administration, Current Archives of the Generalate, and the statistics of the Society. It is composed of the following offices:
- Secretary General: Heads the Secretariat and coordinates its work. Prepares the agenda for every General Council meeting (twice a week) and prepares the minutes of each meeting. Redacts certain letters of the Superior General after the General Council’s meetings. Deals directly with correspondence and other aspects of the day-to-day administrative matters in and of the Society. Liaises between the General Council and the Generalate Officials and Staff.
- English Secretary: Manages the official email address of the Superior General (supgen@svdcuria.org) and the Generalate email address (generalate@svdcuria.org), printing daily correspondence for registration. Redacts the English letters of the Superior General after the General Council’s meetings. Prepares Death Notices to communicate the demise of confreres. Counts votes and prepares final tallies for the General Council’s decision during PRM Elections.
- Spanish Secretary: Registers all pertinent correspondence to the Generalate into the Generalate’s internal database. Redacts the Spanish letters of the Superior General after the General Council’s meetings. Prepares the Petitio Missionis documents of candidates for the attention of CAUCUS members.
- Catalogus and Statistics Office: Manages the Current Archives of the Generalate and the Generalate’s internal database. Prepares and updates the statistics of the Society worldwide. Edits and publishes (in electronic or print format) the Catalogus (Directory) of the Society.
Currently, the Secretariat of the General Curia is composed of the following confreres:
- José Nicolás Espinosa – Secretary General
- Maxwell Wullar – English Secretary
- Asunción Vázquez Bustamante – Spanish Secretary
- Zbigniew Toczek – Catalogus and Statistics Office
The Finance Department of the General Curia of the Society of the Divine Word is a one-section department covering various financial areas. It processes all financial-related documentation for the future approval of the General Council. In general – financial reports and budgets, applications and reports of the March, September, December and Emergence distributions, and requests for finance-related permissions are analyzed before are presented to the General Council.
The staff of the Finance department of the Curia is composed of the following personnel:
- Dariusz Garbaciak – Treasurer General
- Jose Isagani Tecson – Assistant to the General Treasure
- Christian Estrada – Assistant to the General Treasure
- Marcio Sanches Passador – Assistant to the General Treasure
- BijuVarghese Kottarathil – part time Assistant to the General Treasure
- Suzette Patosa – part time Secretary
The Generalate Media Department is the communication department of the Generalate Curia of the Society of the Divine Word in Rome. The department is under the office of the General Coordinator of Communications and under this office are:
- SVD Webmaster
- Audiovisual Studio
- Generalate Publications
- Arnoldus Nota Newsletter
The staff of the GMD are:
- Modeste Munimi – Generalate Communication Coordinator
- Piotr Gracz – Webmaster and Audiovisual Studio Coordinator
- Crescente “Sonny” de Rivera – Editor Arnoldus Nota
- Luis Antonio Vergara – incoming editor
- Mark Angelo Ramos – Publications Director
The Archives of the General Curia of the Society of the Divine Word are composed of the following five sections, each with its own space:
- Current and Deposited Archive where the most recent documents are kept. In principle, the documentation remains here for five years. This part of the archives is located on the third floor near all the offices of the Generalate Curia;
- Founder’s Archive which contains all the documents from the time of the Founder until his death on January 16, 1909;
- Historical Archive which contains the documents and correspondences of the general administration of the SVD after the death of Arnold Janssen until the present day;
- Photographic Archive where photographs (and possibly other multimedia material) depicting the confreres, structures, and activities of the Society are kept;
- SVD Authors Library where publications and other printed material written by the generalate administration, individual SVD members, as well as non-SVD individuals who study and publish works on the history and present activity of the Society, are collected.
Currently, the staff of the Archives of the General Curia is composed of the following confreres:
- Pawel Wojcik – Director of the Archives
- Andrzej Miotk – Historian of the Society
- Kieran Sun – Responsible for the Photographic Archive
