On Monday, 14 November, the Hospitality Europe Association, which oversees the work of the European office of the Hospitaller Order in Brussels, convened its second general meeting in 2016.

The new member of the Association, Brother Joachim Mačejovský, the Superior of the Austrian Province, attended the general meeting for the first time and was warmly welcomed by Brother Rudolf Knopp, President of Hospitality Europe.

Dr Galasso spoke about the most recent work of the European office and illustrated the progress made with the DESkTOP project (for centres for people with disabilities), the pilot project on violence in psychiatric patients, and the candidature for EU funding for the Order’s Vocational Schools Congress (Granada, April 2017). 16 new projects had been selected and their implementation would begin in the Provinces during 2017.

The meeting also analysed the present and future situation of the Order and the Congregation of the Sisters Hospitallers in the United Kingdom, which will have to deal with the uncertainties of Brexit and doubts regarding future participation in European programmes.

The dates of next year’s general meetings will be 13 March and 30 October.