Union of Superiors General
The Union of Superiors General (Latin: Unione Superiori Generali, USG ; until 1967: Unione Romana dei Superiori Generali ) is the umbrella organization of the Catholic orders of superiors general .
It was officially established in 1955 by the Pontifical Congregation for Religious . The purpose of the USG should be " to promote the life and mission of the individual institutes in the service of the Church for a more effective cooperation with one another and a fruitful contact with the Holy See and the hierarchy".
Members of the USG are all superiors general of the Catholic orders and the Societies of Apostolic Life under papal law. The Superiors General of the Institutes of Diocesan Law may belong to the Union as associate members. The highest body of the USG is the General Assembly, which must be convened at least once a year. It elects the Council of the USG as an executive body: chairman, vice president and ten council members.
Twice a year, the Superiors General and members of the Union of Religious Superiors meet and deal with issues that are of importance to the Catholic orders.
Emergence
The first suggestions for the establishment of the USG go back to the Holy Year 1950. At that time the international congress “Gli Stati di Perfezione” (States of Perfection) was held in Rome. The Superiors General met several times on the fringes of this meeting for deliberations on religious life. The Assumptionist Father Gervais Quenard (Superior General 1923–1952) invited Jesuits and Franciscans to a working lunch on January 23, 1952 to discuss closer cooperation among the Superior General, whereupon six Superior General met in February the following February. On April 23, 1952, 65 superior general were finally convened in the Palazzo Salviati on the Piazza della Rovere in Rome and founded - still unofficially - the USG. It was not formally confirmed by the papal congregation until March 1955. In 1967 the term "Romana" was dropped from the official title.
Commissions
The USG has set up various commissions, some of which are permanently active and some of which are formed ad hoc. A theology commission has been working in this way since 1972 . In addition, commissions dealt with canon law and ecumenism . A training committee met from 1969 to 1974.
The President of the USG has been the Mexican Salesian P. Pascual Chávez SDB (born December 20, 1947) since November 2006 .