Ariccia (AsiaNews) – Fr Gianbattista Zanchi, was elected this morning as Superior General of the Pontifical Institute for Foreign Missions (PIME) by the 44 members of the Institute’s General Assembly currently meeting in the town of Ariccia, near Rome. Fr Zanchi, age 64, will thus begin his second term as PIME’s superior general. Born on June 12, 1942, in Italy’s Lombardy region, Fr Zanchi was ordained a priest with PIME in 1968. In 1975 he left for Bangladesh, where he worked in parish ministry and in the health field. In 1995 he was elected Vicar General and six years later Superior General. During his first term, he supported the search for new paths to evangelization, which also included media outreach. For this reason, he gave his support to the creation of AsiaNews.it
The General Assembly also elected a new Vicar General in the person of Fr Livio Maggi. Born on August 31, 1958 in Teor, near Udine, Italy, Fr Maggi was ordained a priest with PIME in 1984. He initially worked in missionary and vocational promotion at the PIME Centre in Milan and in 1991 left for Thailand where he is currently superior-delegate.
Voting is expected to conclude by this evening, with the election of 3 other general counsellors.
AsiaNews extends its best wishes and friendship to Fr Zanchi and Fr Livio Maggi.