MISEVI - Structures

4. Structure

4.1. Members:

MISEVI is a Vincentian Association of secondary membership. This means that it is open to all lay Vincentians in order to deeply live out the specific nature of a missionary from within his or her own charism while wanting to grow in the missionary dimension without severing membership to the Vincentian Association of origin.

Taking into account this special characteristic, MISEVI has established four types of membership:

Members with full rights: lay Vincentians who have spent two or more years in the mission and renew their commitment to the association every three years;

Honorary members: ex-members with full rights with more than five years of not being reincorporated in the mission and who support MISEVI from within their current situation;

Members in formation: youth or adults from various Vincentian Associations preparing to be sent or are in their period of mission presence and want to learn about MISEVI in view of becoming part of it;

Collaborative members: all who wish to cooperate with MISEVI through commitments of prayer, service, economic contributions, etc.

4.2. The Coordinating Team

The Coordinating Team has the management responsibility of the Association. They are the “Senior Officials” of the Association on the international level (cf. Canon 318). They act in accord with the Statutes, the internal law, the Spirituality Document and the directives from the General Assemblies. In a particular way, the team must take care of pastoral and community plan of the missionary communities. The team is composed of the President, three lay members, a Daughter of Charity, a Priest of the Congregation of the Mission and two representatives from lay associations of the Vincentian Family having members in MISEVI. At least three of them must reside in a place close to the permanent Secretariat.

The President is chosen by the General Assembly by secret vote of the members with full rights. There must be an absolute majority on the first two ballots; if no person wins, there is a third ballot for the two who have obtained the most votes. The one to be elected is the one obtaining the most votes (cf. Canon 119). The election of the President is confirmed by the Superior General of the Congregation of the Mission and the Daughters of Charity. The role of the President includes:

Animate and coordinate the life of the Association;

Represent the Association in civil and ecclesiastical situations;

Convoke meetings of the Coordinating team and prepare the agenda;

Determine the distribution of tasks of the secretary, treasurer and council within the Coordinating Team after consulting the members of the team;

Maintain contacts with and accompany missionary communities;

Maintain relationships with other branches of the Vincentian Family and other missionary movements;

Seek contact with close family members of those who are sent;

Follow up the reintegration of members returning from the missions.

The Coordinating Team takes on the functions of secretary, treasurer and councilors, according to the decision of the President.

The Coordinating Team generally meets at least three times a year. The President convokes the meetings and sets the agenda. There must be two-thirds of the members present at the first meeting and half at the second.

After having presented the chosen candidates, the General Assembly names, by three successive votes, three lay members for the Coordinating Team. All members with full rights in the Association or any member of the General Assembly can be elected.

The Priest of the Congregation of the Mission and the Daughter of Charity are named by the Superior General of the Congregation of the Mission and the Daughters of Charity. The two representatives of the Vincentian Associations are named by their own members according to the indications of the Coordinating Team.

All members of the Coordinating Team are elected or named for four years and their terms can be renewed for a maximum of two other terms. The time dedicated to this service will not be counted toward losing the condition of a member with full rights. The duration of terms of the Daughter of Charity and the Priest of the Congregation of the Mission will be flexible. They will be adapted to the times fixed for other coordination roles that they might hold in the Vincentian Family, with a maximum of 12 consecutive years.

4.3. The General Assembly

The organization of MISEVI is established around the General Assembly, as the supreme authority in participation and governance of the Association. This takes place every four years to revise the workings of the association, give direction on the plan of action for the future and study the balance sheets and budgets.

The Coordinating Team convokes the General Assembly and the following assist at it:

Ex-officio: the Superior General of the Congregation of the Mission and the Company of the Daughters of Charity and the members of the Coordinating Team;

Elected: a missionary with full rights who represents those working in each missionary region or diocese;

Elected: once the results of the previous elections are known, five members with full rights are chosen among those from a single college composed of all members with full rights who have not been previously elected;

Elected: a representative of honorary members, another of the collaborative members and another of the members in formation.