The General Council is the executive organ of the SMA. Its headquarter is in Rome. It is made up of the Superior General, the Vicar General and two general councillors, all elected by the General Assembly for a period of six years. It provides dynamic animation for the Society at International level, inspiring its members and associates, in their missionary work and lives.

 The Superior General Fr. Fachtna O'Driscoll, SMA

Fr. Fachtna O'Driscoll began his training with the SMA at Wilton, Cork in September 1971. After taking his first oath of membership in June 1972 he went to the SMA House of Studies at Maynooth where he studied for a BA and later a Bachelor of Divinity. He became a permanent member of the Society in 1978 and was ordained a priest in 1979.

From 1979 to 1986, Fr. Fachtna served in Ekiti diocese, Nigeria. He was recalled from Nigeria by his Superiors and sent to undertake studies in Counselling in Boston College, USA. Having completed his Masters he was appointed as the Rector of the SMA House in Maynooth, a post he held until elected to the Irish Provincial Council in 1995. As a member of that Council he had particular responsibility for Justice & Peace matters. After his six year term of office Fr. Fachtna looked forward to a return to Africa but his confreres elected him as Provincial Leader at the 2001 Provincial Assembly and reelected him in 2007. His second mandate was due to expire in July 2013.

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Vicar General Fr. Antonio Porcellato, SMA 

Fr Antonio Porcellato was born on 28 March 1955 in the diocese of Treviso in Italy. He joined the SMA in 1974. After his ordination in 1980, he was appointed to Côte d'Ivoire in Abidjan where he obtained a Master’s degree in Pastoral Theology at the Catholic Institute of West Africa (ICAO). He was then curate of St. Paul’s Parish in San Pedro. After 10 years in Italy as vocations promoter, formator and Provincial Councillor, he was appointed in 1995 to the team of the International Spiritual Year in Abomey Calavi in Benin. From there he was appointed as formator and spiritual director at the SMA house of studies in Ibadan until his appointment as Vice Superior of the African District-in-formation (ADF) in 2001. From 2007 until today, he is Vice Provincial of SMA Italy and responsible for vocation promotion and mission animation for SMA-OLA community in Feriole Italy.

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General Councillor Fr. Francis Rozario, SMA 

Fr Francis Rozario is from the diocese of Salem in India. Born in 1975, he made his perpetual oath in the SMA in 2002 before being ordained a priest in 2003. After his ordination he was appointed to Nigeria, where he worked as curate of the parish of New Bussa in Kontagora Vicariate. He was then appointed as parish priest of Agwara. From 2006 to 2010 he studied Scripture in Rome. From 2010 he has been on the formation team in SMA house of studies in Ibadan and teaching in the Saints Peter and Paul Major Seminary, Bodija Nigeria. 

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General Councillor, Fr. François Gnonhoussou, SMA 

Father François Gnonhoussou, from of the diocese of Cotonou in the Benin Republic, was born on 3 December 1961. He became a permanent member of the SMA on 8 December 1996 and was ordained a priest on 26 July 1997. After his ordination he was sent to Nigeria, where he worked as a curate and then as parish priest of Holy Family Parish in Guffanti, Kontagora Vicariate until 2002. He then transferred to St Barbara’s Parish, New Bussa. After 7 months, he was sent to France to undertake Further Studies in formation at the IFEC in Paris (an institute which trains formators for seminaries). In 2004 he was appointed Vice Superior of the African District-in-formation (ADF). He then served as ADF Superior (2007-2008) and since 2009 has been working in Canada.

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