First Maltese Lay organisation to receive special recognition from the Vatican

Malta Independent Wednesday, 13 June 2007, 00:00 Last update: about 13 years ago

The Institute for World Evangelisation (ICPE) became the first Maltese lay organisation to be given a confirmation of the status of “an international association of Christ’s faithful with Pontifical Right” by the highest Church authorities.

Mario Cappello and his wife Anna received the decree of recognition from Archbishop Stanislaw Rylko, president of the Pontifical Council for the Laity. The international directors of the institute, Anna and Mario Cappello live in Rome from where they coordinate different missionary projects being run in many countries on all continents.

“We receive this recognition as a blessing from the Lord and as confirmation of our desire to serve Him and the Church” – said Mario Cappello. His wife Anna stated: “Our prayer is that we may become quality disciples so as to be quality apostles, credible witness of the Good News.”

The Institute for World Evangelisation – ICPE Mission was set up in Malta in 1985 as a missionary branch of a local Catholic charismatic community called “Glory of God International Covenant Community”.

The apostolate of the ICPE Mission is directed towards the formation of the laity in their call to holiness and mission. That is accomplished through various schools, retreats, courses, living-in experiences as well as through practical missionary experiences.

The Institute for World Evangelisation (ICPE) is still very active in Malta. In the year 2000, it distributed tens of thousands of videos of the life of Jesus according to Luke. The video called GESÙ and dubbed in Maltese was distributed to most houses in Malta.

The Ghana Foundation is a Maltese project of ICPE and its objective is to set up a small hospital in Ghana.

This recognition by the Holy See has a number of implications:

• It recognises the international nature of the association of Christ’s faithful and acknowledges the fact that it has developed, matured and bore fruit on a wide scale.

• It puts the international association of Christ’s faithful under the direct supervision of the Holy See, namely the Pontifical Council for the Laity.

• It is an endorsement of the statutes with effect for the whole Universal Church.

• It constitutes a valuable guideline and guarantee for those Bishops who would consider welcoming the apostolate of the international association of Christ’s faithful in their diocese.