The Carmelite General Curia is the administrative centre of the Order of Carmelites and is located in Rome, Italy. An international community of Carmelites live there in the Curia Community which is made up of the Prior General, the members of the General Council and other Carmelite Officials of the Curia. These are given vital assistance by a team of lay women and men on a daily basis.
Secretary General
The Secretary General is appointed as the official notary of the Order.
He prepares all the meetings of the General Council and prepares official letters and other documents. He helps to keep the communication between the General Council and the rest of the Order running smoothly.
Father Roberto Hasudungan Sianturi is the Secretary General for the Order. Father Robert was born in Pekanbaru, Indonesia, on February 17, 1984. At the end of his novitiate, he made his simple profession on July 17, 2005 and his solemn profession, on July 20, 2011.
After finishing his Philosophical and theological studies in Indonesia, he was ordained on October 27, 2012. Immediately after his ordination, he worked as a parochial vicar in a rural parish in northern Sumatra.
During 2014 and 2015 he was appointed the formation director for the Postulants in Sidikalang, also in northern Sumatra.
From 2017 to 2019 he studied spiritual theology at the Teresianum Institute of Spirituality. After receiving a licentiate degree, for a brief time he worked as a director at the Marian Center of Indonesia.
In December 2019, he was appointed Secretary General of the Order.
Postulator General
The process that leads to the canonisation of a Saint is complex. It goes through a number of steps. One of the early steps is where witnesses attest to the goodness, holiness, devotion to God and other virtues of a candidate for sainthood. If the person passes this step they are named a “Servant of God”. The Pope makes the final decision if a person is to be canonised and officially declared a “Saint”.
Dr Giovanna Brizi is the Postulator General for the Order of Carmelites. The Postulator General has the responsibility for promoting and dealing with the causes (or cases) for canonisation of the Servants of God connected to the Order.
Dr Giovanna Brizi was born in Rome and studied Jurisprudence at the Sapienza University in Rome. She obtained a three year diploma in liturgy from the Pontifical University of Sant’Anselmo in Roma and a diploma in Theology from the Diocesan Theological Centre. In 1998 she obtained a diploma at the Studium of the Congregation of the Causes of the Saints, with a summa cum laude.
From 1999 onwards she worked with different Postulators, with whom she acted as an external collaborator, in the writing of different Positions, and as a researcher in a number of national, and international archives.
Since the 2010-2011 academic year she has given a number of lectures on the practices of the Congregation of the Causes of the Saints at the Pontifical Gregorian University, at the Faculty of History and the Cultural Patrimony of the Church, in the context of the course on the Causes of the Saints.
She took part in numerous national and international conventions and she is the author of articles and books in various languages on topics related to her professional field.
From 2013 she has been the Postulator for different Causes of beatification and canonisation. From the 15th of September she has been the Postulator General of the Carmelite Order.
General Archivist and Librarian
The Order considers it important that the cultural and spiritual traditions be kept alive through the preservation of our heritage especially our literary and documentary heritage.
P. Mario Alfarano, a Carmelite friar, was a member of the Neapolitan Province, in which he held the roles of formator (1999-2002) and prior provincial (2002-2008). Serving the Order, he has been secretary general (2008-2013), general delegate for Nuns and Affiliated Institutes (2013-2020), while since 2015 he has been general archivist and since 2022 general librarian.
He has a Bachelor’s degree in Theology from University of Naples and a degree in Spiritual Theology for Formation from the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome, in which he is currently a doctoral student.
He attended the Superior School of Medieval and Franciscan Studies at the Antonianum University in Rome and graduated in archivistics from the School of the Vatican Apostolic Archives.
Further information (in Italian only) can be found here: https://archivioocarm.com/
Director of Communications
A native of Kentucky in the United States of America, Fr. William holds a Doctorate of Ministry with a focus on communications and was previously the liaison of the General Council to the Order’s communications programs (2001-2007).
He has been involved in the communications ministry of the Province of the Most Pure Heart of Mary (PCM), serving as editor of The Carmelite Review (1998-2001), The Sword (2008-currently), and director of publications for Carmelite Media (2008-currently), chair of the province’s communications commission (1998-2001, 2010-2013).
During a term as General Councilor for Northern and Central Europe and North America, Fr. William also served as editor of CITOC, the Order’s quarterly publication in three languages and coordinator of the email news service, CITOC-online, of the Order.
Fr. William joined the Carmelite Order in 1972, professing simple vows at Niagara Falls, Ontario, Canada in August 1977 and solemn vows at Collegio di S. Alberto (CISA) in Rome in December 1980. He received a BA degree from Marquette University, an M.ED in Educational Administration from the University of Arizona, STB from the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome, and an STL and D.Min from the University of St. Mary of the Lake in Chicago.
After years of teaching, campus ministry, and administration in the province’s secondary education ministry, Fr. William was elected Western Regional Superior of the PCM Province (1999-2001), General Councilor of the Order (2001-2007), Western Regional Superior (2008-2013), and Prior Provincial (2013-2020).
He was appointed director of the Communication Office of the Order in February 2021. The office is responsible for an active social media presence and Edizioni Carmelitane, the Order’s publishing house.
For more information: ocarm.org
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