GENERAL CHAPTER OF PRIOR PROVINCIALS
-BOGOTÁ 2007-
In conformity with the LCO 417 § II, 3rd I present my Relatio de Statu Ordinis to the General Chapter of Provincials which will meet at Saint Dominic’s Priory in the city of Santa Fe de Bogotá, Colombia, beginning on July 17, 2007.
I N T R O D U C T I ON
1. According to its almost eight century old system of government, the Order meets again in General Chapter, the supreme authority in the Order, to discuss and define what concerns the good of the whole Order. (1)
2. This original succession of different types of General Chapters (elective, of Diffinitors, of provincials) has been called by a well known author “Dominican pluricameralism” (2).
3. This is a Chapter of Prior Provincials. (3) Thus it brings together Prior Provincials, Vice Provincials and Vicars General, together with some Vicars Provincial, Regional Priors and delegates of the Houses which are under the immediate jurisdiction of the Master of the Order (Cf. LCO 409). The assembly of voters in the General Chapter of Prior Provincials is composed – almost totally – by friars who have been elected and confirmed to exercise offices of government at the Provincial or Vicariate levels.
4. Taking into account this reality the tone of this document will, perhaps, be different from the one presented on the occasion of the General Chapter of Diffinitors which met in Cracow in 2004. Besides, it is true, after three years, the joys and hopes, sadness and anguishes of the friars, communities and provinces of the Order can be understood with greater realism and depth.
5. During several plenary sessions of the General Chapter, we have prepared the basis of this text. These pages are to be read in a subsidiary way together with the respective reports of the different Socii (for Apostolic Life, for Intellectual Life and the Regional Socii), General Promoters and other officials of the Curia. Those who read attentively all those reports together with this synthesis will be able to draw their own conclusions and verify that there are themes which are stressed in a particular way. The key for reading this Relatio and the reports of the above mentioned officials could be LCO 1 § IV and § VII - which so wisely describes our community and government.
6. It corresponds to the Capitulars, in a particular way, to verify if what the previous General Chapter of Diffinitors ordered, recommended or suggested has been fulfilled or not. For this reason, a document has been sent which presents in detail how the affairs treated and defined in Cracow three years ago (4) were carried out. The competence of the General Chapter and the matters to be dealt with cannot be reduced to what can be described in these pages. The Chapter has the liberty to choose the arguments to be discussed. Nevertheless, I think that some questions need to be studied and the Chapter will be able to offer some orientations to the Order. I mention three in particular:
Entrepreneurial speed or CONTEMPLATIVE RHYTHM?
7. We live in a world which seems to move at great speed and which privileges the entrepreneurial rhythm and effectiveness.
Luke’s description of the “election of the Twelve” offers certain details which are proper to him: “In those days he (Jesus) went onto the mountain to pray and spent the whole night in prayer to God. When day came, he summoned his disciples and chose twelve of them whom he also called ‘apostles’” (Luke 6, 12-13). Our vocation is the fruit of the contemplative life of Jesus, fruit of his prayer to the Father.
Beginning on December 3, 2006 and until Epiphany 2008, the Order is celebrating the 800 years of the foundation of its first contemplative community, the Monastery Santa Maria de Prouilhe. Within this framework, the celebration of a General Chapter is providential. It is important to reflect once more on the value of contemplation in the life of the Order and about the nuns’ place at the heart of the Holy Preaching.
The General Chapter of 2001 (Providence) has offered very profound reflections on the subject. (5) Perhaps the Chapter of Bogotá would also want to say a word of gratitude, acknowledgement and encouragement to our contemplative sisters in view of the future. Providence wanted Dominican preaching to be nourished and enriched in some way by the contemplative life of our sisters. This responds to a logical, theological and – let us also say – chronological order. Should not any desire of renewal of our life and mission begin also from these roots?
Complicity, submission or FRATERNAL COLLABORATION?
8. Sometimes, in our world at war, we see that the powerful ask the collaboration of the others to support their plans. However, it seems that they rather demand complicity and submission (which is not the same thing).
In the “appointing of the Twelve” as reported by Mark, there are also some details which we only find in that text. “He went up the mountain and summoned those whom he wanted and they came to him. He appointed twelve that they might be with him and he might send them forth to preach…” (Mark 3, 13-14). The Son of God sent for our salvation instituted the Twelve to collaborate with him in his mission.
Within a few years we will also celebrate the 8th centenary of the confirmation of the Order. Wanting to be faithful to our first love, it is urgent for us to renew ourselves in the full sense of the Dominican mission. The world in which we live as we look forward to 2016 is not the same which Saint Dominic knew. Nevertheless, we do find some important analogies. In this sense, the General Chapter should reflect on the priorities of the Order (faithful to the sense of the analogy, so dear to us, they will not be exclusive nor excluding) (6) . At the same time, the globalized world places before us a truly fundamental option which is in full harmony with the original intuition of Saint Dominic: the Order conceived as a mission, a preaching without frontiers. (7)
From this perspective it is essential to understand more profoundly the urgent need of fraternal collaboration among the provinces; among the different provinces and the Order; among all the branches of the Dominican Family, to assure our life and our mission beyond the limits of each entity and of each branch.
Connected or COMMUNICATED?
9. It is usually said that the one who has or possesses the information is the one who commands. Conflicts and wars many times are organized on the basis of “reserved information”; economic, political or party achievements seem to be assured through “lobbies” or “press agents”.
It seems that in John’s Gospel there is no “call of the Twelve”. Nevertheless, in the account of the Last Supper, Jesus calls his disciples friends: “You are my friends if you do what I command you. I shall no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master’s business; I call you friends because I have made known to you everything I have learnt from my Father” (John 15, 14-15). Jesus, the Christ, communicates to his own all the intimacy he had with the Father.
To assure the understanding of our common mission, it will be necessary to reflect on communication. I refer to communication in the more profound sense. God has communicated to us his desire of salvation in Jesus Christ. The Order in medio Ecclesiae, desires to communicate to all – men and women – this Good News. The Chapter can reflect on this. How do we communicate with the world? How do we sound the joys and hopes, sadness and anguishes of men and women whom we wish to serve? How do we receive and communicate the teaching of the Church, what our Bishops tell us, of whom we were made cooperators? (8) How do we receive the considerations of the Regional or national Conferences of Religious, etc.? It is a question of assuring that we listen to – this is the root of our perception of obedience – and communicate the message. We will do it in accordance with our Dominican “way of being”, with our soul, life, intelligence and heart. We do not intend simply to be “speakers” of the word. In the image and likeness of Dominic we have been entrusted with the office of the Word! (9)
From another perspective – ad intra of the Order – we can also ask ourselves about the way of communication among ourselves; between Provincials and the Master; between Provincials and the friars in their Provinces. There is no doubt that, thanks to the tools we have available such as E-Mail, internet, etc., “connections” (nearly all of us are well “connected”) have developed in a surprising way. Nevertheless, are we really “communicated”, or do we communicate with one another?
10. Having received the comments and suggestions from the Capitulars concerning the themes to be discussed in the Chapter, together with the General Council we organized the working commissions. (10) Trying to be practical and in order to facilitate the work of these commissions, I present the Relatio according to their main task. However, the Relatio is one, and therefore the division by themes does not mean that each section, all by itself, exhausts the argument. In the chapter which treats of the MISSION there are also many points to be considered concerning our INTELLECTUAL LIFE and GOVERNMENT. In speaking about FRATERNAL LIFE IN COMMUNITY, there are some points for reflection on FORMATION, etc. It is evident that all the themes are connected in a particular way with the section (and the commission of the Chapter) reserved to LCO.
11. Remembering, in a special way, Pope John Paul II (+ 02-04-05) I have chosen as titles of each section of this report, the first words of some of his best known Magisterial texts, (11) namely:
I. Redemptoris Missio – Mission and preaching
II. Fides et Ratio – Intellectual Life and Studies
III. Vita Consecrata - Fraternal Life in common
IV. Pastores dabo vobis - Vocations and Formation
V. Pastor Bonus - Government
VI. Laborem exercens - Economy
VII. Ut unum sint - Constitutions
I – REDEMPTORIS MISSIO
MISSION AND PREACHING (12)
One Order and not a collection of Provinces
12. An author who is dedicated to the historical study of our Constitutions wrote: “Saint Dominic wanted to found an Order and not a collection of houses. He has bequeathed us a democratic body, centralized and very well organized with broad and generous universal horizons. (13)
13. Following this same vital logic and at the beginning of a new General Chapter we can also affirm that the Order of Preachers is not a “collection of Provinces” just as each Province is not simply a “collection of houses or convents”.
14. Each friar by his profession, each community, each Province – or similar entities – participates in the universal mission of the Order. (14) . In this sense: “The Dominican is universal. He belongs to a community, to a Province, but much more to the whole Order; and he exercises the cura animarum wherever he preaches”. (15) This is why our cloister, in a certain way, is the world!
15. From this perspective, the foundation of a mission outside one’s own territory, or the collaboration with other entities, is also a clear manifestation of this universal mission. The last General Chapter of 2004 which met in Cracow exhorted all the Provinces to take initiatives to establish new missions outside of their geographical or cultural surroundings, observing always LCO 261 § III. This is why it ordered the Socius for Apostolic Life to discuss with the Provinces which had no mission outside their own territory the place where they could start one all by themselves or in collaboration with another entity. (16)
Some projects of collaboration since the last General Chapter (Cracow). (17)
16. In Latin America among others, we mention:
a. The Province of Saint Catherine of Siena in Ecuador has invited the Province of Saint Martin de Porres in the U.S.A. to take over the house of Guayaquil.
b. The Province of Colombia continues to collaborate with that of Ecuador by sending Friars – especially – to strengthen formation.
c. There is an agreement between the Province of Aragon (Regional Vicariate of South America) and the Province of Ireland by which some Irish brothers collaborate with the mission of that Vicariate in Uruguay.
d. A region dedicated to indigenous pastoral ministry, shared between the Provinces of Mexico and Central America, has been established under one coordinator. This zone includes the mission of “Chiapas-Ocosingo” (territory of the Province of Mexico) and the mission called “the Verapaces” – Alta and Baja Verapaz – (territory of the Province of Central America). I think that, because of its particular characteristics, this mission needs the generosity of other entities and of brothers who offer themselves with enthusiasm.
17. In North America:
a. One of the result of a meeting between Sisters and Friars of North America (Canada, United States and Mexico), Central and South America, in December 2005, was the desire to collaborate in a project dedicated especially to work with immigrants in Ciudad Juarez (Province of Mexico, on the frontier with the United States). In principle, some brothers from the Province of the “Holy Name” in the United States, will collaborate.
b. The Province of Colombia and that of Canada have signed an agreement of collaboration. Some Friars of the Province of San Luis Bertrán of Colombia already live and work in Canada.
18. In Europe:
a. The Provinces of Ireland and Poland have established an agreement for the pastoral care of the Polish in Dublin. Several brothers from Poland are already working in Ireland.
b. It is necessary to strengthen Dominican presence in Eastern Europe. Even if the Polish Province already has a Provincial Vicariate in Belarus, there are several brothers living and working in the General Vicariates of the Baltic countries, of Russia and Ukraine and Hungary. We really appreciate this missionary generosity. However, it is still necessary to prepare other brothers for a mission that embraces many countries which have very different problems, languages and cultures.
c. During my visit to the Province of Teutonia, I have seen the great challenge we face regarding evangelisation in the territory of “Eastern Germany”. Our convent in Leipzig tries to be a response (more so keeping in mind its location with regard to Poland and the Czech Republic). I think it would be very important to open it for collaboration with other entities.
d. Following an invitation made several years ago by the Dominican Sisters of the Presentation, we have formally asked the three Italian Provinces to begin a foundation in Rumania. The Province of Saint Thomas Aquinas in Italy accepted this responsibility. Even though they have started to consider the different possibilities, they have as yet been unable to start something concrete.
19. In Africa:
a. The Province of India has sent some brothers to the General Vicariate of South Africa with the intention of assuring in the future, the presence of the Order in Zimbabwe and Zambia where our Sisters, the Dominican Missionaries of the Sacred Heart of Jesus generously carry out their apostolate and they call us to collaborate.
b. The House of Saint Augustine of Hippo – under the jurisdiction of the Master of the Order – in Addis-Ababa, Ethiopia, continues to carry out its main task: the creation of a Catholic University. It is a mission carried out by several Friars of the Province of the Philippines. It demands patience and tact to gradually take over the different educational and formative institutions in the country which will constitute the network from which the University will be founded. In conformity with the inspiration of the Chapter of Cracow the Dominican Sisters of St. Catherine of Siena (from the Philippines) were invited to collaborate in this project; some lay people also form part of the team. (18) Given the fruitful presence of many religious from India (Franciscan Capuchins) perhaps our Province of India could collaborate in this project by sending some Friars.
c. The Province of Colombia has offered to set up a foundation in Equatorial Guinea, where the Dominican Sisters of Christian Doctrine (Mexico) are already present. The Province of Spain is also interested in collaborating in this project.
20. In Asia:
a. The Province of the Philippines has founded a house in Indonesia. Different types of apostolate have been proposed: teaching in the Seminary of Pontianak, Kalimantan, and the establishment of a Centre for Dialogue in Jakarta in collaboration with the Archdiocese. There is also an agreement between the Islamic University of Jakarta and the University of Saint Thomas of Manila for the exchange of professors. We hope that the Province of the Philippines will be able to send other brothers – not necessarily Indonesians – in order to assure the future of this presence. The Province of the Philippines is also making great efforts to strengthen the presence of the Order in Sri Lanka.
b. From this same perspective, I point out the desire of the Province of Vietnam to begin a presence of the friars in Thailand, Laos and Cambodia. We are anxiously waiting to receive the Acts of their Provincial Chapter. The Missionary Sisters of Saint Dominic have founded communities and they have asked us to collaborate with them.
c. China continues to be a priority for the Order. The General Vicariate “Queen of China” and the province of Our Lady of the Rosary continue with their work. We still need specific vocations for that mission.(19)
21. Given the small number of friars present in Aruba and Curaçao - and keeping in mind their advanced age – the Province of the Netherlands has expressly asked the Master of the Order for help to support and to continue the mission. The priority task is the formation of the laity. Should we, necessarily, abandon that mission? The Dutch Province has always been very generous with the Order and now it needs and is asking for help. Some Provinces have been asked formally to take over this project, but as yet we have received no positive responses.
22. I especially ask the General Chapter – the highest authority of the Order – to renew the call to these and other missions, even identifying clearly the Provinces which should be asked to do this work, offering – if possible – clear ordinations. This would facilitate greatly the task of the Master of the Order avoiding useless delays and presenting a clear and positive framework.
One Order, one Mission
23. During these last years (even before the General Chapter of 1998 – Bologna – with the Commission De Missione Ordinis) we have tried to relate the spheres of our apostolic mission with the intellectual mission. At that Chapter, the Commission mentioned above presented a report entitled “Free for the Mission”. (20)
24. From this, the need to coordinate some projects of the Socius for Apostolic Life with the Socius for Intellectual Life emerged. In fact, the last two General Chapters (2001 and 2004) asked or recommended both Socii to promote some projects together.
25. The study and reflection concerning the Charism of Preaching shared by Dominican Friars and Sisters has continued in the light of what was suggested by the Chapter of Cracow. (21) A great amount of material was sent to the General Curia in response to the first questionnaire sent to the whole Order. A “Summary” was prepared based on all this documentation. An International Commission22 was then set up which met in February 2007. The work of the Commission will be “to evaluate the responses, to continue this reflection and to suggest new steps to be taken”. (23)
26. The International Commission for Inter-religious Dialogue has also been set up again giving special attention to Islam. (24) The commission has already held three meetings and organized the latest session of “Journées Romaines Dominicaines” in August 2005. Its task is to study the implications of dialogue in our theology and ministry and to prepare Friars and Sisters for this task.
27. The presence of the Order in the sphere of Internet (the net) is broad and of great creativity, above all, in the subsidies for preaching. The General Chapter of Cracow (2004) ordered that a General Promoter of Internet(25) be appointed. Together with the Council we wanted to study this matter in detail. Several experts were consulted inside and outside the Order. Then a specific commission tried to clarify all the aspects related to it, since it was necessary to know, in the most precise way possible, the description of the office and its competence, the diverse areas of work and the different matters it implied (communication, Web page of the Order, connection with the Web pages of the Provinces and other entities of the Dominican Family, aspects linked to the management – government and administration – and the General Secretariat of the Order, our mission as preachers, etc.). Finally, a Promoter for Internet has been appointed, Bro. Scott Steinkerchner (Province Saint Albert the Great - USA). Bro. Scott has presented his project to the General Council and sent to the Chapter his report so that a weighted and balanced decision could be taken (26) .
28. According to what was ordered by the General Chapter of Cracow, Bro. Prakash Lohale (Province of India) was instituted Co-Promoter of Justice and Peace (full – time) (27) The Promotion of Justice and Peace in the Order is a task shared with Dominican Sisters International. For this reason DSI has appointed Sister Toni Harris (Sinsinawa Sisters of the Most Holy Rosary) as Co-Promoter. One of the tasks they have especially proposed to do is that of formation, getting the new generations of Dominicans – men and women – interested in the challenges proper to Justice and Peace, as a sphere which is proper to Dominican preaching since its foundation.
29. After several years of fruitful work in our office in Geneva before the United Nations, Bro. Philippe LeBlanc, will hand over the job to his successor. We recall with joy and enthusiasm his witness about the work of the Order before the United Nations during the General Chapter of Cracow. The gratitude of the Order is extended to him for his silent, professional and effective ministry. I remember, during my visit to Geneva – in March 2003 – how much our work in the United Nations was praised by the then Representative of the Holy See before the Organization of the United Nations in Geneva (H.E. Mgr. Diarmuid Martin – now Archbishop of Dublin) and by Sergio Vieyra de Mello (at that time High Commissioner of the UN for Human Rights in Geneva, who died in the attack against the offices of the United Nations in Baghdad, in the middle of the year 2003).
30. The project to create a space in which to develop a Dominican Volunteer Movement is a reality.28 Sister Veronica Rafferty (Dominican Sisters, Cabra) has given an important impulse to DVI (Dominican Volunteers International). Bro. Michel Van Aerde and then Bro. Enrique Sariego collaborated as Co-Directors. Sister Rose Ann Schlitt (Adrian Dominican Sisters) replaced Sister Veronica and is the present Co-Directress of DVI.
When Bro. Enrique returned to his mission in the Dominican Republic, Bro. Edward Ruane, Socius for the Provinces of the United States was appointed Co-Director. In this way a sphere of collaboration between DSI (Dominican Sisters International) and the Friars of the Order is confirmed and assured. Our gratitude goes to all the Brothers and Sisters mentioned above.
31. The last General Chapters have insisted on the importance of the Dominican International Youth Movement (MJDI – IDYM) (29) . I was able to participate in one of the sessions of their last Assembly (August 5, 2006, in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic). In it they again proposed Bro. Enrique Sariego (Province of Spain – Vicariate of the Dominican Republic) as Executive Secretary. Though their office and headquarters are in Santa Sabina (Rome), and taking into consideration the real possibilities for communication offered by the internet, IDYM did not in any way object to Bro. Enrique carrying out his work from the Dominican Republic. I trust that in time, this can be another task carried out in collaboration with DSI.
32. With the celebration of their 5th General Assembly, our Dominican Sisters gathered together as Dominican Sisters International (DSI), have taken another step forward to assure the life and mission of this very important manifestation of collaboration within the Order. Our gratitude goes to Sister Margaret Ormond (Dominican Sisters St. Mary of the Springs – Columbus, Ohio) who, during the last nine years, has been the International Coordinator of DSI with wisdom, fraternal (sisterly) spirit and the gift to promote an effective and affective collaboration. Our most cordial welcome to Sister Fabiola Velásquez Maya (former Prioress General of the Soeurs de la Charité Dominicaines de la Présentation) who succeeds Sister Margaret in this work. (30)
33. During these last years the Lay Fraternities of the Order have taken important steps in their organization at the regional, continental and international level. These institutional aspects are necessary in our Dominican life in order to assure spaces of coordination and discernment, and to promote the life of the Fraternities inspired – as they usually insist – by the four pillars: prayer, study, community and preaching.
34. In this same line the International Council for Lay Dominican Fraternities (ICLDF) functions through its regular meetings and in constant communication with the General Promoter. As a sign of the vitality of the Fraternities – after the Congress of Montreal in 1985 – the International Congress met (in Pilar, Argentina from 17 to 24 of last March). I was able to participate in this Congress and I was impressed by the quality of the discussions among the representatives from almost 60 different countries. The different commissions studied very varied themes: prayer and preaching; study and formation; government, Rule and Statutes; organization and structure; economy and finances; the place of the lay fraternities in the Order and in the Church. The Statutes which regulate the International Council as well as the International Congress (31) were approved. Since 1999, when Bro. Gerald Lee Stookey (Province of Saint Albert the Great, USA) was named, he has worked intensely in this field, especially to guarantee the functioning of these structures. To him our gratitude and appreciation. His successor, Bro. David Kammler (Teutonia), is already working with enthusiasm in order to communicate to the whole Order the fruits of this Congress.
35. The International Commission of the Nuns also met regularly. The Jubilee Year is offering very beautiful signs of vitality and love for the Order. Beginning in 2003 I wanted to preach several retreats to the contemplative nuns organized according to countries or regions, in order to know more closely their life and mission in the heart of the Church and of the Order. (32) The visits to the monasteries have also helped me to know the reality of the communities. The meeting the General Promoter for the nuns, the Socius for the Iberian Peninsula and myself had at the end of last March in Caleruega with the three Federal Prioresses in Spain, together with their Councils and the three Religious Assistants is worth mentioning briefly. (33) Very interesting initiatives were discussed wishing to take upon themselves the situation of the communities (given the scarcity of vocations, the communities with few nuns and many of them elderly). Efforts are being made to encourage the communities in Italy to take similar steps. Many of them are in precarious conditions. But this task is not an easy one.
36. A reason for great joy has been the approval by the Holy See of two new Federations of nuns: “Association under the title of St. Mary” of Monasteries in Japan” (04.11.2005) formed by the four monasteries of Japan and the “Association of the monasteries of nuns of the Order of Preachers in the United States of America” (27.05.2006) made up of various communities (we hope that gradually, other monasteries will join this beautiful initiative). (34)
37. I entrust very especially to the Prior Provincials the pastoral care of our nuns (cura monialium), promoting among the Friars the spirit of fraternal collaboration with the contemplative communities, and taking care of their different needs.
History and perspectives for a greater collaboration in the mission of the Order
38. Many Chapters have already insisted on the importance of collaboration between Provinces and similar entities. All the time this is gaining importance. We have asked ourselves: what hinders this collaboration? Sometimes we lack resources (this is the case of Provinces which have vocations but which cannot take upon themselves new apostolic horizons: Vietnam, India, Pakistan, Vicariates of Africa, etc.) In other cases there are economic resources but brothers are lacking! What are we to do? Evidently, it is urgent to share resources among the Provinces. Some Provinces do not have new vocations but they could help others who have them. We have already contacted the Provinces of the Netherlands, Flanders and Ireland (which have been and continue to be very generous) to coordinate and to collaborate in a more effective way in the planning of possible economic and financial help to entities which usually ask for it. Paraphrasing Saint Paul, I hope that other Provinces will distinguish themselves in generosity. “I say this not by way of command, but to test the genuineness of your love by your concern for others. (2 Corinthians 8, 7-8)”. For this, it will be necessary to have much imagination and also to indicate priorities in the light of the mission of the Order.
39. The Order is living times full of hope if we manage to accept them as such. There are signs which, if taken separately, can frighten us or can make it difficult for us to accept them. On the other hand, the phenomenon itself of globalisation and the constant invitations which the Church is addressing to us invite us to humanize globalisation and to globalise the preaching.
40. In the first half of the 19th century, given the effects of the different revolutions (many of them of a clear anticlerical content) one could already notice that there was a movement of decrease in the novitiates (what today we understand and distinguish as “Novitiates” and “Studentates”). When the Provinces were suppressed because of various civil laws of “exclaustration”, the friars who were more committed to the “restoration” pointed out that affiliation should be made to the Province and no longer to the communities. There was a common feeling in favour of uniting formation and in this way strengthen the life of the province. Such historical circumstances – true signs of the times – had to be accepted. The Order could not become paralysed in a passive attitude or complain because of the situation and remain licking its wounds.
41. This movement was connected with the spirit of what, at that time, was called “observance” desirous to promote a more fruitful common life at the expense of private life. In the General Chapter of 1895 (Ávila) we find the transition to the affiliation to the Provinces already somehow consecrated. (35)
42. Pope Saint Pius X in a letter to Blessed Hyacinth-M. Cormier, with apostolic authority decreed: “The affiliation of the Friars will no longer be made to a specific convent but to the Provinces. In fact, although there were already some Provinces that followed this new praxis, until then each convent had the right to affiliate its own friars, to have its own Novitiate and Studentate. Given the circumstances it became necessary to join efforts, energy and even economic resources to centralize – at the level of the Provinces – the affiliation, formation and in a certain way the economy (by paying the taxes to the Province). In this way, the custom already present of associating the Brothers to the Provinces acquired the force of law and, it obtained the force and nature of constitution proper to the Order. Each one of the members then should be assigned as a son, not as it was done in former times, to a particular convent but, on the contrary, to the Province. This seems to be more appropriate (apt) for the present conditions of the times and because it favours very much the lived experience of common life and because it also seems more useful for the distribution of income and expenses among the houses of formation, missions and other convents which need a greater financial support; we prescribe with our authority that this custom of affiliating the Friars to the Province have the force of constitution proper to the Order, notwithstanding anything to the contrary”. (36)
43. The friars taking part in the Chapter, in response to the Sovereign Pontiff accepted and openly declared the affiliation to the Province (no longer to the convent). (37)
44. This decision was a sign in favour of the renewal of the Order in a very particular context and in really very difficult circumstances. At the beginning of the 20th century the Order had the lowest number of religious (without counting the time of foundation and the beginning of the Order when the number of Friars increased almost constantly). (38) This process which we could call of “provincialisation” (absolutely necessary to assure the life and the mission of the Order) little by little presents us with new challenges.
45. The process of globalisation coming from very different levels (economic, social, political, etc.) is a reality. The General Chapter of 2001 meeting in Providence, analysed this phenomenon and has discerned very clearly its consequences and challenges for the mission of the Order: a global mission. (39) Globalisation daily places before us all that is happening in the world. This can help us to feel as our own the needs of others or – on the contrary – to close ourselves up more and more in our own “worlds”. This is why the need to highlight the “local” or the “national”, our “own” appears sometimes with extraordinary force. Many times, this does not help us to live the sense of belonging to the same Order, its life and mission. A mission which is no other than that of Jesus, the only and true Master, and that of the Apostles.
46. The growing “indifferenciation”, which reduces religious life to a minimum and vague common denominator, causes the beauty and the fecundity of the multiplicity of Charisms given by the Spirit (40) to disappear. From here springs the legitimate and positive desire to discover our own Dominican identity.
47. Nevertheless – in this vocational search – we run the risk of choosing some characteristics of the Order and of its history as if it was only a make-up. We can even stress some aspects leaving aside others which are perhaps less attractive or more arduous, according to our needs or whims (personal or communitarian), as if were shopping in a super-market.
48. Even if on the level of intentions the desire of the Friars and of the Provinces to collaborate in the mission of the Order is clear, when the time comes for its “execution” it becomes difficult. It is not easy to offer brothers, to carry out projects, to work together. It is not easy, some times, to find brothers and Provinces ready to offer them for some projects of the Order. It is true; every Friar – wherever he is – is in communion with the Order and its mission. But I refer especially to projects which, without being exclusive nor excluding, are a priority. Nearly all of them have materialized in communities under the jurisdiction of the Master. I refer, especially to the Angelicum in Rome, the Albertinum in Friburg and the Biblical School in Jerusalem (in the field of the intellectual life); to the Convitto of Saint Thomas Aquinas and to the College of Penitentiaries – Convent of Saint Mary Major in Rome. I have already referred to the Project of Addis-Ababa in Ethiopia. To these I must add the Leonine Commission (which resides in Paris), the Historical Institute (located in the Angelicum), and the Director of our office before the United Nations in Geneva.
49. In order to assure this presence and their mission we need well prepared friars and a very profound sense of the Order which justifies going beyond the frontiers of one’s own country or Province. The General Chapter is called to discuss and discern these priorities so as to confirm the friars who dedicate themselves to them. Sometimes, their task is not sufficiently acknowledged, and on some occasions they find themselves tired, deprived from immediate satisfactions.
50. The General Curia in Santa Sabina also deserves to be mentioned. It tries to promote, especially the life and mission of the Order. At the moment of substituting (I do not say replacing) the different officials – once the friars are identified – it is not easy either for people to understand how important their task is.
51. The Synod of Bishops celebrated in October 2005, insisted on a more equitable distribution of the clergy. (41) From a similar point of view – since the “ratio” of the analysis changes according to its perspective – it would be of key importance for our future to guarantee the redistribution of the friars within the Provinces and in the Order to ensure the mission which has been entrusted to us. This demands, first of all, appropriate planning, clear projects and the discussion of them in the different levels (local, Provincial, regional, etc.). Otherwise, each community or each friar will limit himself to defend what belongs to him without considering the common good.
52. Ours is a mission without any frontiers, a mission ad gentes which presents us with certain urgent needs. It is of key importance to ask ourselves not only what is it that the Order needs from us but rather what society and the Church need from us. Where do we find today les lignes de fracture de l’humanité? (42) Which are the Areopagus in which we should preach?
53. What are we to do? How can we strengthen the entities which are becoming weaker? The answer is not easy because we also see that there is a certain lack of sense of the mission beyond the limits of Provinces that perhaps have a good number of friars.
54. Spaces for reflection are not lacking. Besides those clearly present in our LCO, with the passage of time other regional, continental or inter-continental structures have been created which help to think about the life and mission of the Order in broader horizons: CIDALC, IAOP, IEOP, Asia – Pacific Leadership Conference, etc. (43) Their statutes and structures are different. Some for obvious reasons meet in Assembly more frequently than others (the Provincials of Europe meet every year).
55. Within Europe there are various Committees of Prior Provincials. The Iberian Board of Provincials (JIP) has been working for many years to establish a regional plan which embraces various aspects, among them the academic and the formative. The Italian Provinces and Malta – through the “Provincial Committee of Italy and Malta” (CPDIM)- also meet periodically in order to ensure collaboration, even if they still need to take firm steps in the organization of formation and other apostolic fields in co-responsibility. The “French speaking” Prior Provincials usually meet regularly to share experiences and to coordinate tasks. The same thing happens regarding the Provincials of the United States. The latter, together with those from Canada and Mexico (North America) meet regularly.
56. The Chapter – while accepting these and other initiatives (44) - can offer a word of encouragement in order to urge the Provinces to draw out plans on the national or regional level beyond the frontiers of each entity. I believe that LCO offers possibilities of collaboration which have not as yet been exploited completely. (45)
57. Sometimes, the insistence on the necessary processes of collaboration may be interpreted as a veiled intention of union or fusion of Provinces. It is essential to change the hermeneutics of “collaboration”. We cannot continue to waste useful energies celebrating preventive funerals without first discovering the need to change the theological paradigm which animates us. If a certain priority is discerned, discussed, approved and confirmed in the corresponding spheres at different levels (provincial, regional or for the whole Order), what is the use of doing this if we later leave everything as it was before or we wait for the next Chapter or meeting to bring things back to their previous stage?
58. This generates a greater frustration and – above all – mistrust in the word given. At the same time, this dynamic which can distort the value of the word does not offer a clear message to those we are forming. It is one thing to suspend a project because the adequate means are lacking. Another thing is to do it simply because one does not personally agree with it (or because after the Provincial Chapter a community is opposed to it) and it is sabotaged or brought to a path that leads to death.
59. LCO is clear as to the necessary requirements or exigencies for the creation of a Province, (46) a Vice Province (47) , or a General Vicariate (48) . It also offers norms for the eventual reduction of a Province to a Vice Province, a General Vicariate (49) or the processes for the union of entities. (50) The Province is formed by at least three convents, of which at least two have 10 voting members and it must have at least a total number of 40 voting members. That means that in the Order the Province as such does not demand for itself a very heavy structure. Except in exceptional cases –which must be studied – the Provinces fulfil these requirements.
60. If there is the intention to simply continue as if nothing has changed in the past 20 years, the challenge which we will have to face in the next ten years will not be to close such and such a house, but rather to keep a given Province itself and its mission in existence. What then? It is urgent to have an apostolic project or a Provincial plan. It is not so much a question of withdrawal but rather to create new ways of presence. During his lifetime, Saint Dominic understood that the feudal system was beginning to collapse and he had the intuition of an Order which would be called and would be an Order of preachers, itinerant, missionary, and without frontiers. The first General Chapter of 1220 forged its centre and its unity. The second one created the intermediate organism which far from restraining the expansion and unity of the Order served to give it impulse. “Just the same, whichever may be the point which we have reached, let us continue on the same way” (Philippians 3, 16).
61. A renewed awareness of the needs of the mission obliges the Order to place itself at the service of men and women of our time. A plan or a program is necessary to encourage, stimulate, coordinate, supply and integrate the action of the Friars and of the entities. (51) It is urgent to have a plan for the mission on the territory of each entity and for collaboration with other entities which are present in the same country or region.
62. Many fronts demand this collaboration today. It suffices to have a merely indicative list: popular missions, formation, studies, magazines and publications, areas or offices for promotion which could and should organize themselves jointly (Laity, Youth, Justice and Peace, Rosary…) etc. LCO offers suggestions for this, which the General Chapter of 1998 recommended us to use to the maximum. (52) Would it not be opportune for the General Chapter to take another step and order certain urgent processes of collaboration in order to ensure that the mission of the Order be more effective, responsible and in solidarity?
63. Our preaching has to be promoted as Dominican Family. (53) From this arises the need to work with other branches of the Order starting from formation itself. The danger is to oppose to the sense of belonging to the same family a certain clericalism, or the notion – still present – of a first, second and third Order. Two movements are clear in the last Chapters: the acknowledgement and the need to give impulse to a greater collaboration within the Dominican Family and the interest to clarify the scope or relationship between the concept of “Order of Preachers” and that of “Dominican Family”. (54) In good logic, when we want to define something we also limit it. At the same time, it is true that new groups, persons, brothers and sisters constantly appear who discover with renewed ardour a Dominican vocation, the vocation of preaching. If the horizon of the mission is unlimited, the horizon of the association of the laity in different feminine Dominican Congregations, the aggregation of Institutes, the desire of belonging is also broadened. This is good.
64. In today’s world we gradually notice a certain polarization in civil society, in the Church and in the Order. It is necessary to face themes which at the present moment afflict humanity such as war and violence in all its forms. It is only natural that different points of view and diverse ideologies exist among us. Also, in some Philosophical and Theological themes different positions and conceptions are evident and manifest themselves. This cannot and should not paralyse us. How can we dialogue within the Order concerning all this, and avoid an easy “cataloguing” of the friars as an excuse for not doing it? There are brothers who, even though living in the same community, cannot even speak with one another because of prejudices which for a thousand reasons (but without any just cause) have become the owners of the environment. We are shrewd enough to rationalize them and to give them theological titles (and hide ourselves behind them). Eventually it is the mission of the community, of the Province or of the Order that suffers.
65. The text of LCO 2 invites us to live unanimously in the house, having one only soul and only one heart in God as the Rule tells us (and before it, the Gospel!). This unity reaches its fullness, beyond the limits of the convent, in communion with the Province and with the Order. We cannot be promoters of dialogue outside of our communities if we are unable to create spaces within the convents where we can share our stories and from them to know better what we think, what we desire… what we believe, hope for and love!
66. With the passing of the years, and during the canonical visitations, many Friars, especially in Eastern Europe, have asked me about the situation of the Order and the ideological stands of the Friars in Latin America or their relationship with “Liberation Theology”, the “Ecclesial Basic Communities”, etc. At the same time, brothers and sisters from Latin America who have suffered greatly during real civil wars and military dictatorships seeing how their catechists or delegates of the Word were murdered, do not know the sufferings and challenges which many brothers and sisters have suffered behind the “Iron Curtain” during the years of the Soviet empire. How can we create a space in which it would be possible to dialogue freely and serenely on these sufferings making known the contexts, so different and yet so similar / analogous, in which our life and mission unfolded?
67. At first, we imagined a reflection group, not too big, formed by Friars from these Regions so that they could share their suffering and their mission. Little by little we thought that this space should be extended so that this experience would not be reduced to a “group therapy”, in which each one would simply share his sufferings. It was important to find an objective point of support so as to be able to situate oneself before it and with it for such a dialogue. The “point of support” should be, above all, theological, specifically ecclesiological. An event unquestionable in itself could be the scope of the encounter: the reception of Vatican Council II. A small Commission called “Truth in Love” was then formed as an echo to the rich reflection of the General Chapter of 2001 concerning our intellectual vocation Misericordia Veritatis.
68. The commission contacted a good number of Brothers and Sisters to whom a questionnaire was sent about the theme. The great majority responded to it. This material is truly very rich and is being studied by the Commission.
69. The third step will be to get together some of these Brothers and Sisters, representatives of diverse regions, exponents of different theological currents, so that they could work together and offer to the Order (and the Church) a model of dialogue in which many doubts, stands, assumptions could be clarified, without any prejudices nor accusations, and discover – precisely – truth in love.
II – F I D E S E T R A T I O
INTELLECTUAL LIFE (55)
70. One of the most important challenges for the Order is to understand Ecclesiology starting from our manner of being Dominicans. As a key to its understanding, this Ecclesiology has to take into account a contextualized theology. Our preaching is also born from the dialogue with those to whom we address our words.
71. In this sense I see that the Commission of Preaching and the Commission of Inter-religious Dialogue can help very much in clarifying and developing our Ecclesiology. The Project “Truth in Love” - just mentioned – can also help the Provinces of the Order to face the question of how to handle the conflicts that arise from ideological confrontations.
72. The words of Benedict XVI in the Angelus of last January 28, 2007, feast of Saint Thomas Aquinas, encourage us in this task: “With farsighted wisdom Saint Thomas Aquinas succeeded in establishing a fruitful confrontation with the Arab and Hebrew thought of his time, to the point that he is considered an always up-to-date master of dialogue with the other cultures and religions”.
73. In my visits to the Provinces I have noticed that in many cases people study, but without a specific purpose. It is necessary to stress study as a mission, and study for the mission. For this reason, the great challenge in the intellectual field is how to avoid a certain lack of connection between intellectual life and preaching.
74. In the last years Bro. Vincent de Couesnongle, Bro. Damian Byrne and Bro. Timothy Radcliffe, Masters of the Order, in different letters and messages to the Dominican Family, pointed out insistently the fecundity of dialogue between the Dominican Friars of “La Española” dedicated to preaching in an eminently pastoral field and the friars theologians of Salamanca who received the concerns of the former as a real incentive for their study and reflection. The latter, in turn, offered solid and profound doctrinal elements for the prophetic preaching of those who – on the frontiers – admonished the conceited and oppressors; consoled those who were desperate and oppressed; encouraged those who were in doubt. (56)
75. Professors are prepared for teaching, but one can also observe that there is a divorce between professors today and the inheritance or tradition of the Order. For example, little is known of what is being done by the Leonine Commission (57) or by the Historical Institute of the Order. These Institutions carry out a very specialized task, one of a high quality. I ask the Provinces to prepare the ground in order to prepare and encourage Brothers who could dedicate themselves to these two very specific tasks: the critical edition of the works of Saint Thomas Aquinas and the investigation and publication of material about the history of the Order.
76. The General Chapter of 2001 (Providence) presented to the Order an updated reflection on the meaning and importance of study in the life and mission of the Order: Misericordia veritatis. (58) The General Chapter of 2004 (Cracow) taking on this text centred its work on two important points: intellectual formation at the service of the mission of the Order and the role of the Regent of Studies in these entities. (59)
77. As we are meeting now in a General Chapter of Provincials we should reflect precisely on the role of the Prior Provincial in relation with the intellectual life of the Order and of his Province, as well as the relationship he has to establish with the Regent of Studies. It is the role of the Provincial to encourage the officials of the Province, and among them the Regent of Studies. The role of the latter is well defined in LCO 93. Since he is an ex officio member of the Council of the Province, it is clear that the Regent must collaborate with the Prior Provincial. The Prior Provincial should establish and coordinate with the Regent, plans of action; verify if the decisions or the plans are being fulfilled or not. Among other things, it is the duty of the Provincial to verify if in all the convents and houses there is a Conventual Lector; and if he fulfils his mission, etc.
78. It belongs to the Prior Provincial to promote, together with the Regent of Studies, meetings of Lectors of the convents and houses of the Province to plan studies. In some Provinces, these meetings are held annually with great benefit.
79. The Provincial, together with the Regent, can also organize intense moments of study in the Province or foresee other spaces for reflection on our present challenges. The Order was born “in medio Ecclesiae”. From the heart of the Church, People of God, we have to question ourselves on how to help the Church to respond to the provocations of the contemporary world.
80. An important point related with government, is to verify if what arrives from other levels is readily transmitted to the friars and officials of the Province. I think especially of the more important documents of the Magisterium of the Church and of the Order. Above all, I think of the Acts of the General Chapters (I note that the Acts are hardly read; the friars in formation hardly receive any news about them). In them we find an updating of the reflection on the life and the mission of the Order. Many friars, paradoxically, complain that they do not know many of the things that are happening in the Order. We do not communicate – as I said above – but is not communication one of the four priorities of the Order pointed out by the General Chapter of Quezon City in 1977 and confirmed in the Chapters that followed? (60)
81. The International Congress “From Ávila to La Española – A point of view from the other shore” celebrated in Ávila (Spain) in September 2006 through the “Chair of Saint Thomas” is another eloquent sign of vitality and creativity in collaboration – in the field of intellectual life. In fact there were several participants from Latin America. The event was organized in an excellent way; there were high standards in the presentations, free discussions well prepared in an inter-disciplinary way with the civil society, the Dominican Laity and laypeople.
82. The support given to the International Community of Brussels and to the Project Espaces by the European Provinces continues with the assignation of new members to the community. (61) The theological Congress organized by Espaces, the third one which met in Pistoia (Italy) in September 2006, was a real success both because of the number of those participating and for the quality of the discussion.
83. Now I want to refer to the three communities of the Order under the immediate jurisdiction of the Master which have a special intellectual mission: the Convent of Saint Dominic and Saint Sixtus – Angelicum in Rome (62) , the Convent of Saint Albert the Great – Albertinum in Fribourg (63) and the Convent of Saint Stephen, the Protomartyr – Biblical School in Jerusalem. (64)
84. My gratitude goes to the friars of these convents for their dedication to study, research and teaching. It is an unseen work which requires many hours of preparation and dedication. Many of these Brothers ask me: In reality, are these Centres still a priority for the Order? I would like to confirm them in this vocation and because of this I tell them yes, that their work is a priority even if the circumstances have changed with the years.
85. In fact, throughout the years, many Dominican and non Dominican professors have been formed in these institutions. Thanks to this sowing, institutional centres of studies have been founded in many Provinces and many former students teach today in many centres, faculties and universities belonging to the Order or not. The fruit of the work carried out by these three entities cannot be measured, what has been sowed cannot be counted. In the Relatio prepared in 2004, I already offered some general impressions, all positive ones, and therefore, I do not think it necessary to repeat them. Nevertheless, I do want to stress the difficulties we sometimes face in order to find friars with the adequate preparation who can replace others who desire to return to their Provinces on reaching a certain age or after various years of working far from their countries of origin. Difficulties also present themselves when the Provinces of affiliation do not understand the need to offer friars to renew the life of these three communities and of their mission. I ask the Chapter to offer a word of gratitude to the friars assigned there and to their Provinces, as well as an exhortation to the whole Order in order to understand the primary importance of our academic presence in Rome, Fribourg and Jerusalem.
86. Regarding the Angelicum, I want to refer to the canonical visitation to the convent and the university. For me this has been very positive. We the visitators have been edified by the witness of many of the friars. I want to express my gratitude personally to all for their trust and simplicity in the dialogue.
As the fruit of the visitation, some actions have been foreseen which certainly can encourage the professors and give them a certain respite so as to be able to apply themselves with more time and benefit to research. Together with the Syndic of the Order we are studying how to concretise these measures.
I would like to emphasize to the General Chapter two themes in particular:
a. The convent: According to what was ordained by the General Chapter of 2004 (65) , the community of the Convent of Saint Dominic and Saint Sixtus has met in conventual Chapter ad modum Capituli Provincialis. I think that – after some difficulties and objections about this – it has been an important step. I think that this particular way of celebrating the conventual Chapter is useful and necessary. It could be repeated profitably at least every three years (perhaps on the election of the prior?). The process used in the Provincial Chapter is more apt so that a community of 60 friars, from different nations and cultures, could express its feelings fraternally; discuss and define certain affairs, draw conclusions and ordinations. In this context at least two or three days of work are necessary if – for example – a statute must be written for the community, give guidelines for the solution of economic and administrative themes, etc. I trust that all this will be for the benefit of this dear community.
b. The University: There are many ecclesiastic faculties in the City, and this gives rise to much competition. In this context, the process of “Strategic Planning” started a few years ago is the key. (66) In the canonical visitation – which was also academic – they have been exhorted to continue ahead and to overcome the normal difficulties which may arise. The General Chapter can encourage the University to take steps in this direction.
III – VITA CONSECRATA
FRATERNAL LIFE IN COMMUNITY
A Premise
87. There are three aspects on common life which perhaps we do not take sufficiently into account: its close relationship with mission, with government, with the life of faith. When we speak about fraternal life in community, we generally point out as a priority aspects related to living together among brothers, the relationship among the friars, etc. (67) This is very good, but it would be opportune to go deeper in these three fundamental dimensions which distinguish or specify fraternal life in common within the Order.
88. Given the limits of this Relatio, I do not pretend to come down to concrete cases which the members of the Chapter know and will bring with them as joys and hopes, sadness and anguishes, challenges! I will rather stop on certain aspects which could sustain and inspire Dominican common life.
Community-mission, or the conjugation of regular life with our preaching mission
89. “The first motivation for your coming together in community is to live unanimously in the house and to have one only heart and one only soul in God” (Rule of Saint Augustine, 1). To this communion of hearts mentioned in the Rule, Saint Dominic added another dimension: the mission. In the binomial community-mission Dominic wanted to centre the essential elements of our life as Dominican friars: “The nature of the Order as a religious society derives from its mission and its fraternal communion” (LCO 1 § VI). In the Order the practice of common life is considered essential to nourish the preaching, not only to support the personal life of the Friar. A quality common life nourishes and makes credible the mission of the community.
90. The LCO and the General Chapters contain abundant references to this. (68) Common life and mission are profoundly inter-related. (69) The attentive reader of the Constitutions of the Order will be able to perceive this healthy tension between regular life in community and apostolic life.
91. Young people who today call at the door of the Order value community life in a special way. Is there, perhaps, a shade of romanticism in this appreciation? This is possible. Many of our candidates come from a society where fragile and, frequently broken relationships predominate. But soon they notice that life in common which they yearn to embrace has to be built with effort and patience. They understand that common life is something essential for them to grow as persons and as religious; however in it they can get stranded if they believe that the community is only a warm nest from which they expect to receive everything, while contributing very little to help construct it. Many of the petitions to abandon the Order that we discuss in the General Council have precisely this origin.
92. A community with a mission, or a mission “in and from” the community? This question is important and demands a response in line with the best Dominican tradition: community and mission involve one another. The practise of common life prepares and impels us to preach and, in turn, is informed and made fruitful by it (LCO 1 § IV). This is the reason why since the beginning of the Order our convents were called “domus praedicationis”, not only because from them we preach, but because fraternal life in community, in itself, is preaching. It is necessary to live in our communities what we preach. In my visitations to the Order I have seen that Provincial communities, those of the Vicariates or the local ones which have a clear idea of their mission and dedicate themselves wholeheartedly to it, live communion more intensely, mutually supporting one another, respecting and valuing what each one does.
93. Do we truly believe that mission should be nourished and impelled by a solid common life? Or, on the contrary, do we consider the exigencies of our common life as a simple appendix or, even, as an obstacle for us to a more effective preaching? Giving the decreasing number of brothers in some entities and the increase in our commitments, we run the risk of sacrificing common life in favour of a so-called greater effectiveness in the mission. If this happens, the healthy tension between common life and mission, which shows our life-style, might become a tyranny of work and of apostolic commitments on community life, on this reality that should support our mission.
Government and Common Life
94. To govern a community, Humbert of the Romans said, is to pilot a ship: it is essential that there be a pilot. But it is also necessary that all the passengers agree to go to the same destination. If each one would want to go to a different place, they would never reach port! The key to good government of the community lies in the union of wills. This is one of the conditions for unanimity and a fundamental point in the Rule of Saint Augustine, which is nourished by the Acts of the Apostles (2, 42-44 and 4, 32-35). It is interesting to note that Humbert de Romans does not say that only one decides what the objective is and that all the others should bow down before this decision, but rather that all have the same objective. However, so that the ship can happily reach its port of destination the pilot should guide the ship and he cannot abandon this role. (70)
95. It makes me very happy to know that in some places meetings were held to reflect on the function of the Prior. I think that today, it is necessary to recover and to stress the indispensable role given to him by our Constitutions. (71) We cannot think that the Prior is only a coordinator of the activities of the community. The prior is, above all, the animator who invites, stimulates, and helps the community to promote its life and mission. The Constitutions do not only give him the function to coordinate, but to govern, to direct the community according to the laws of the Order. On some occasions, this will imply to need to make difficult decisions for the good of the life and mission of the community. In these cases, especially, he needs the support of the brothers who, day after day, confirm him in his ministry.
96. The Prior must give opportunity to all, inviting the most timid ones to express their opinion, to show their qualities. On the other hand, he has to show those who are more articulated or who have a stronger personality that, because of this, they do not have the right to dominate over the others. In one word, he has to help them both to discover and to value their respective qualities in order to live in communion and to place them at the service of the mission.
97. Even though many today see the office of Prior as being very difficult, the experience of the canonical visitations to the Provinces indicates that there are some tools which really animate and help a community to live its mission in the Church and in the world. They are:
a. well prepared community meetings held regularly; (72)
b. lively and participated Liturgies; (73)
c. times of celebration and feast. (74)
98. The community project will, no doubt, help the community to put into practice the Dominican style of government and this is why it is a great help. (75) To forget what has been previously mentioned, will necessarily lead a community to disenchantment, to routine, to having merely personal projects at the margin of the community and – finally – to a private economy.
Formation for common life
99. Formation for common life is indispensable throughout our whole life, both for growth in faith and for the service of preaching. The brother who joins the Order requires attention, patience, stimulus, support and accompaniment in order to initiate himself in a life of community for the mission. Time is needed to assimilate and to internalize; it demands love and vigilance. To remain in community life for the mission demands courage, tenacity, openness, joy and faith.
100. In the Book of the Acts of the Apostles we read how on the day of Pentecost the Apostles received the Holy Spirit and began to preach and to give witness to Jesus. Many accepted the message and formed a community of believers who lived unanimously, with one only soul and one only heart, in spite of the diversity of their origins. How was this possible? We can only think, as it really happened, that the Holy Spirit, sent by the Father through Jesus, made himself present and transformed those hearts constituting them into a community. (76)
101. Life in community is only possible if we look at it with the eyes of faith. We transform into life the Paschal Mystery we celebrate in the Liturgy in the daily life of the community, which, in this way, becomes a constant dying and rising with Christ. The suffering and joy which the practice of life in common implies help us to conform ourselves to Christ and to create a space in which mercy makes harmony and communion possible; and also love for one’s brother, without seeking one’s own interest but the common good; and pardon which strengthens the fraternal spirit; and liberty, which engenders a joyful and voluntary obedience to the Word. All of this allows the community to travel together towards the common objective: the mission of preaching the Word of God.
102. I want to say a word while thinking of our elderly brothers. They have offered themselves with generosity and unconditionally in so many different ministries. Our gratitude goes to them for being eloquent signs of fidelity to grace and to the Order.
103. Some Provinces have discerned and reflected about the older Friars – even in the Provincial Chapters – in order to assure for them the necessary attention. The solutions thought out are many and varied. I believe that the General Chapter can and should offer some guidelines for reflection which will help the Provinces and communities on this subject. The true vocational promotion is not limited to the accompaniment of those who desire to enter the Order – the majority of whom are young –, but also to foster the vocation of all the brothers who have consecrated their life in it usque ad mortem.
IV – PASTORES DABO VOBIS
VOCATIONS AND FORMATION
Vocations
104. The last General Chapter of Cracow tells us that the Order continues to be blessed with vocations even if the distribution is imbalanced. (77) There are vocations in Latin America and Africa, some in North America and less in Europe. Definitely, thank God, our Charism continues to call young people. Vocations are a gift from the Lord, but we as an Order need to promote and nourish these vocations and not only wait for them to come to us.
105. Why do some Provinces have vocations and others hardly any? Above all, it is necessary to insist that every vocation is a mystery. God’s call is a mystery and not an award for certain options or ways of life. (78) Anyhow, if it is important to pray to the Lord of the harvest to send labourers, it is also necessary to reflect and discern together, to prepare the ground for possible vocations.
106. When we speak about vocations in certain places and the lack of them in others, many aspects have to be distinguished. Of course, the social context and the realities in which the Provinces live are different. There are many valid intuitions and experiences in the promotion of vocations among the Provinces. It would be important to learn from one another one’s richness or poverty, when speaking about vocations. It could be a good idea to gather together our vocation promoters – at the regional, international or intercontinental level – so that they could share and reflect together on the experiences of promotion of vocations for the Order. Such a meeting could be the favourable occasion for sharing ways of working and materials for promoting and discerning vocations.
107. Collaboration in the promotion of vocations is to be praised and it constitutes an authentic manifestation of our belonging to the same Family. Fortunately, this has been done in some countries or places with very good results. This should be promoted in such a way that the friars who are present and work in the same countries or regions collaborate together in the promotion of vocations. We must intensify our efforts also so that the different branches of the Order collaborate in the promotion of vocations for all the different groups of the Dominican Family and not only for one’s own (Cf. LCO 1 § IX).
108. This should be kept in mind especially in the promotion of vocations for our contemplative Sisters. In this sense I call the attention of the friars who, in their different apostolic works undoubtedly meet many young girls to whom, perhaps, this particular beauty and living experience of the sequela Christi is not presented.
Formation
109. Which are the principal challenges in matters linked to formation? Visitations reveal that the availability of prepared formators for the different stages of formation is still a pending assignment. (79) . It is clear that the need to count on prepared formators exceeds the resources of weak or small entities. How can the Order face this?
110. The best strategy would be to train formators in their own context. This demands the political will of the Provincials to send brothers to be formed and then assign them to the work of formation. It happens many times that brothers trained for this work are assigned unexpectedly to other ministries. It would be important for the Province to have or develop a program for the formation of Formators.
111. In some places there are no good courses for the formation of Formators. This means that these courses have to be followed wherever possible, even outside one’s own Province or country. Nevertheless, keeping in mind our special need to form our Formators according to our tradition and values, it is better to organize special courses within the Order at national, zonal or regional levels. The program for Brother and Sister Formators in Asia-Pacific, which takes place every three years since 1993 in Caleruega – Philippines is a good model. CIDALC also organized a course for formators – men and women – of Latin America and the Caribbean in Lima, Peru (July 2005); IAOP (Inter – Africa) also organized something similar in October 2006 in Johannesburg, South Africa. Could not we organize similar programs for other regions?
112. A solution which is already being used is to ask for Formators from other entities. This is why I urge those entities which have more brothers available for the work of formation to respond generously to these petitions. Friars who many times consider themselves already “retired” and exclude themselves from these works, even if they do not have the competence to be formators, could be assigned to houses of formation to collaborate with the Masters and accompany the friars in formation. In this sense the Provinces should understand that they have to consider it a priority and make an effort to guarantee that there are formative communities with Brothers who are apt for this. Anyhow, the question remains and it has to be faced: How can we find formators if we do not prepare them?
113. However, the best response the Order can give to the challenge of formation, is to do it together and in collaboration. (80) We should do this for various and very good reasons. First, it is the more realistic solution to optimise the use of human, structural and economic resources. We cannot multiply unnecessarily the houses of formation and we cannot have separate communities very close to one another. Second, in our world characterized by “plurality” and “otherness”, it would be excellent to develop our formative program through a vital experience of the other. An intercultural and international community of formation may be a true school of dialogue and life for our candidates. Third, this would be a concrete way for our candidates to open their hearts and minds to the internationality of the Order and to its global mission, beyond the geographic limits and ways of being of the Provinces. Fourth, it is the most effective way to prepare friars in view of inter-provincial collaboration. If collaboration is to be taken seriously into account, a joint program of formation is indispensable. This would also be the most effective way to initiate a process of unification of the entities where this is necessary. Finally, collaboration is the way to ensure our future as an Order. This should gradually become a way of life, a spirituality for us. There is no better time to initiate experientially the friars and sisters of the Order in collaboration than during their initial formation.
114. The Formators take care of the candidates, but they also need to be taken care of. In meetings and conversations with formators one becomes aware that many of them feel overburdened in their work. Others experience the lack of support from their communities, and worse still, from their superiors. In some cases, they feel isolated or “alone” in their ministry. It is vital that there be a local (LCO 158) as well as a Provincial Council of Formation (RSG 155). These are subsidiary structures of support, collaboration and accompaniment for our formators. Without interfering in their work, the Provincials are in an excellent position to manifest their interest, appreciation and support to the formators, especially providing them with the necessary Assistants and having meetings with them.
115. Our vocation and formation as Dominicans is intimately linked to our mission. The Order exists for the mission and its identity derives from the mission to preach the Good News of Jesus Christ. The awareness that and the identity of one that is being sent to the others because of the Good News of the Kingdom of God has to be the central value of our Dominican formation. Our formation is for the mission.
116. I have already said before that the General Chapter of 2004 which met in Cracow stated that the establishment of a mission outside its territory belongs to the identity of each Province. (81) From here arises the great need to form friars for the mission ad gentes. This has to be done systematically. During their formation, the brothers have to be identified and prepared for this mission as soon as possible. Their preparation should include both times of pastoral experiences and guided exposure in future places of mission. It also requires the systematic learning of languages and cultures. This preparation has to be integrated with basic knowledge and talents for dialogue and the art and science of communication through the learning of cultures and traditions.
117. In referring to this theme – vocation and formation in relation to the mission – I underline its special importance in the benefit of the promotion of the intellectual life of the Order. I point out especially the fields of evangelisation of cultures, dialogue with the modern world, dialogue with cultures and religions. It is urgent to identify the friars who have special aptitudes for this. Besides, a new generation of professors and researchers has to be prepared for the provincial and international centres of study of the Order. (82)
Conclusion and several questions
118. In visitations to the communities, friars usually ask me questions on the theme of vocations (especially where we do not have them). I then insist on those questions which the last three Masters of the Order asked us. They continue to be relevant today, because they demand an adequate response for our time. This is why I shall quote them together.
119. Bro. Vincent de Couesnongle OP with profound prophetic intuitions helped us to reflect: “Who are my Cumans? A strange question but very Dominican: In the last years of his life, Saint Dominic frequently said: “When the Order is sufficiently stable, we will go to the Cumans” The Cumans – this Dominican desire which always springs again from a creative apostolate on the frontiers – can have a thousand different forms. It is much more than a given place, than a particular mission, than some concrete persons, whether they are coloured or inhabitants of marginalized neighbourhoods, rich or poor, Christian or atheists. It is above all a spirit, a force, an energy in the most intimate part of our being which always leaves us unsatisfied of what we are doing and of who we are; a desire which, by reason of its proper vitality and of the suffering which it engenders in us, could change our communities, the world and above all, ourselves”. (83)
120. Bro. Damian Byrne OP, with his rich experience in the missions and in government, wrote in his Relatio for the Chapter of Mexico: “For what do we want vocations? How are we going to form them? (…) How are we going to form ourselves so as to receive the new religious and how are we going to carry out the necessary changes in our life that will enable us to live with them in the peace of the Gospel and to bear their challenge and that of their world?” (84)
121. Bro. Timothy Radcliffe OP, in his first letter to the Order, questioned himself and us with his usual creative imagination: “Do we dare to accept into the Order young people who have the daring to face these new challenges with courage and initiative, knowing that they may well put in question much of what we have been and done? Would we happily accept into our own Province a man like Thomas Aquinas, who embraced a new and suspect philosophy and posed hard and searching questions? Would we welcome a brother like Bartolome de Las Casas, with his passion for social justice? Would we be pleased to have a Fra Angelico who experimented with new ways of preaching the gospel? Would we give profession to Catherine of Siena, with all her outspokenness? Would we welcome Martin de Porres, who might disturb the peace of the community by inviting in all sorts of poor people? Would we accept Dominic? Or might we prefer candidates who will leave us in peace? And what is the result of our initial formation? Is it to produce brothers and sisters who have grown in faith and courage, who dare to try and risk more than when they came to us at first? Or do we tame them and make them safe?” (85)
V - PASTOR BONUS
GOVERNMENT
122. Where government functions according to the Constitutions, problems that may arise are more easily solved.
123. Good communication, the circulation of information, is a key element in Dominican Government (this generally has to do with the visitation of the Master to the Provinces and similar entities, and with the frequent visits of the Provincial to the communities). In this way the spirit of belonging improves because it is easier for the brothers to identify themselves in one way or another with the provincial projects, accepting as their own the more difficult decisions. Otherwise we could become mere spectators of TV, cinema or sports events in the stadium – comfortably seated – encouraging or jeering those who “act”, “sing” or “play” (govern!) without getting personally involved in the pursuit of the common good, in the public thing (res- publica).
124. In the letter at the end of some of my canonical visitations I wanted to reflect on the responsibility we friars, especially those solemnly professed, have concerning the life and mission of the Order. Through our “vow of obedience” we are granted “voice” and “vote”, that is to say authority. If etymologically, the word republic means “the public thing”, it will be important to reflect on what the republican system means in the civil sphere. It is evident that we cannot, in a simplistic or forced way, identify a system of “civil” government with the regime of a religious Order. Nevertheless, there are analogous elements which will help us to ensure the means the Order has in order to guarantee its ends.
125. When the republican system is studied, usually some characteristics are pointed out which can be applied to the regime of the Order in an analogous way: regularity and eligibility of the functions of government; the publicity of the acts of government; control of the exercise or running of government.
Chapters
126. Do we allow our local, Vicarial or Provincial communities to move on as by inertia (“it has always be done like this”) or, on the contrary, do we take advantage of the rich dynamism provided by our Constitutions (86) through the regular meetings of the Chapters and Councils (local, Vicarial, Provincial and General)? Are we able to create the necessary space to evaluate and discern, plan and program, discuss and define all that is necessary to guarantee our mission? Of course, this space has to be physical (place and time), logical and psychological (dialogue), and spiritual (listening, word, forgiveness).
127. On the other hand, how can we avoid that a Chapter – local or provincial – simply cancels what the previous Chapter decided, or that it has to start again from zero, many times without taking into consideration the work done until then?
128. What are we to do so that the (conventual, vicarial and provincial) Chapters reflect more about the mission and not only about the administration of what already exists or what we possess? How can we encourage the friars to be docile to the decisions of the conventual, provincial or general Chapters so that their discernment and application is not limited to the defence of personal projects?
129. Once more, it is necessary, to reflect on the acceptance of the decisions and acts of the Chapters (local, provincial, general). In my visitations I can see that – especially in the case of the provincial and general Chapters – these are not known. They are simply placed in the Library without being accepted and adopted as one’s own. Acts are the fruit of much work and as such they should be read and studied.
130. Other questions come to my mind regarding the Chapter Acts: Are they a point of reference for the Priors Provincial and their Councils, for the friars and the communities? Are they used in formation? Are we aware that these texts have been drawn up by brothers who were elected in our communities and Chapters? They – meeting in Chapter – have wanted to discern on the sense of our life and mission for the times in which we are living!
Priors Provincial – Communication with the General Curia
131. The task of the Priors Provincial, in a special way, deserves our gratitude, support and even admiration. Their task is praiseworthy and, no doubt, needs to be supported. In the Relatio for the Chapter of 2004 I insisted that to confirm a brother in an office does not consist only in signing the prescribed document after the election. This confirmation goes on during all the time he is in office. I can say that, from this point of view, in the General Curia we try to help in a special way the Priors Provincial (and similar authorities) by collaborating with them in order to guarantee the good government of their entities and, therefore, the life and mission of the whole Order. It is true that we are all called to “confirm” our brothers in their vocation, in their different duties and burdens, offices and responsibilities (87) . One is sometimes astonished to see that, as soon as a friar is elected for a given office, there is a certain lack of collaboration on the part of some and even passive resistance on the part of others.
132. Through the documents we receive at the General Curia or during the canonical visitations, we see that some Priors Provincial do not habitually work with their Councils except in those cases which strictly require it. It sometimes happens that, the Prior (conventual, vicarial, regional or provincial) could imagine the Council to be just a “college of notaries” called upon to record information, facts and events, or juridical, economic or administrative acts, instead of being a true organ of government.
133. We note that on some occasions, when facing some specific situation, the Prior Provincial does not consult LCO or a canonist, not even the previous Provincial (who is an ex officio member of the Provincial Council) before sending his questions or doubts to the General Curia.
134. Many situations, causes or cases should be sent to the General Curia to be studied and solved or for later presentation to the Holy See in conformity with Canon Law. In each file or dossier, rights and duties of the brothers, of the communities, of the Province, of the Order are involved.
135. There are occasions when a person or a friar asks for something. In this sense it is necessary to respect the right of the petitioner (ius petendi) and to take clearly into consideration what he asks for. In the way of an example: the permission to exercise the pastoral office as “sacerdos ad militis adcriptus”; (88) readmission into the Order; (89) request for absence from the community; (90) an indult for exclaustration; (91) dispensation from the vows; (92) dispensation from the obligations incurred with the ordination to the deaconate or to the priesthood; (93) etc. In order to offer an answer, be it positive or negative, which has been sufficiently pondered it is important to have all the necessary information.
136. There are cases in which it is the Prior Provincial who asks the Master to take some action. I refer – for example – to the petition for a canonical suppression or erection of a house or a convent; (94) the canonical erection of the Novitiate house; (95) the alienation of goods or property; (96) etc… Petitions for imposed exclaustration; (97) dismissal of a friar (98) or the cases of delicta graviora are even more delicate. (99) These situations in themselves demand much time of study and discernment.
137. That is why each petition has to be carefully documented. This documentation is a sign of respect for the friar, for the communities involved (local, vicarial and provincial), for everybody’s rights. In many cases, one does not easily keep in mind the list of the documents needed to study the problem. On some occasions, the advice or demands of the Procurator General or of some Official of the Curia is misinterpreted thinking that it is simply a question of mere bureaucratic scruples. I insist: we cannot forget that behind each paper very delicate situations for one or more persons are at stake. If sometimes we ask to send in more documents or – for example – to send only one complete file or dossier instead of several separate documents, this does not mean that we at Santa Sabina invent new requirements or obstacles. Above all, we want to guarantee a proper process (which is part of justice).
138. The Holy See also has very precise requisites given the seriousness of certain issues. (100) Taking into account all these themes and other similar ones, I have asked the Procurator General to be present at the General Chapter and to offer a talk in which to present accurately some points which I consider important for the Priors Provincial and similar authorities. (101) Certainly, this will facilitate the contemplation of many delicate situations, collaboration in the solution of some questions, and the necessary communication to ensure the common good.
Principle of subsidiarity
139. Another key for good Dominican government is the respect for the principle of subsidiarity. (102) This means that Priors Provincial, Vice provincials and Vicars General (and a fortiori Regional Priors, Provincial Vicars, and even the conventual priors) have to face or make certain decisions which belong to them because they are part of their responsibility. They also count on their Councils and other organisms of government to do this. To “flee from responsibility” unjustifiably delaying a decision can also cause an injustice.
140. In the provincial sphere we notice that – given certain circumstances – the Prior Provincial or his Council can have difficulties in taking certain measures. Then recourse is had to “Santa Sabina”. There is no doubt that, in these cases the Master or the Vicar, in my absence, can help (also through the regional Socius or other officials). Furthermore, it is our duty. Nevertheless, I notice that there are several matters in which a recourse is not necessarily justified because at a given moment a word had already been given. It is true that certain actions can and should be revised, especially if circumstances have changed. But I want to refer, especially, to the application of decisions taken by the Provincial Chapter. If the Acts of the Provincial Chapter have been approved by the Master according to the LCO, this means that what the Chapter decided has been confirmed – except for a special indication to the contrary. Then why should there be recourse to Santa Sabina again? It belongs to the Prior Provincial and his Council to put into practice these decisions, interpret the Acts and in a particular case dispense from them. (103)
141. If recourse or consultations are not clear, especially when they come directly from some friars or from some communities without before having recourse to the Provincial authority, a word from the Curia could be interpreted as an opinion or a decision from “Santa Sabina” against or objecting to the provincial decisions. Then communication is hindered and also collaboration.
142. Certain authority has also been conferred to officials named by the local or Provincial Chapters. Therefore, our obedience is also due to them in the sphere of their competence. This should be matter for our reflection since these friars work at the service of the common good, and in one way or another, manage the “public thing”.
143. When we refer to the common good – final cause of every law and of all government – in reference to the Order, this acquires, above all, a supernatural meaning, which is that of “committing ourselves to the proclamation of the Word of God, preaching everywhere the name of Our Lord Jesus Christ; (104) “preaching and the salvation of souls; (105) preaching the Word of God in its totality”. (106)
Canonical visitations
144. Canonical visitations constitute a privileged moment in the life of the Order. In referring to them I once more quote the principle of subsidiarity. Sometimes everything is expected from a visitation without keeping in mind that the friars themselves in a local community (in the cases of the visitation by the Provincials) or of a Province (in the case of the visitation by the Master or his Delegates) are the principal actors of community life, of government and of mission.
145. There are usually different ways in which to position ourselves in the face of a visitation. Possibilities range from a preventive death sentence “all are the same and they are useless, nothing changes”, up to an unreal illusion: “We hope that this visit will definitively solve the problem”. On some occasions, especially if one does not agree with the results, one can say that the visitators did not understand the mentality of the Province, the social, historical or political circumstances of a country, etc.
146. This might be true. In any case, the objective of a canonical visitation is not that of understanding society, political life or the idiosyncrasy of the friars belonging to that entity (even if this is part of what one learns or gets) but rather to see if the friars live unanimously in the house and if they promote, with apostolic generosity, the aims of the Order.
147. Visitations offer, above all, the possibility to pause in order to look and listen with attention and to keep advancing along the same path (Cf. Philippians 3, 7-16); it manifests the desire to listen to the brothers and to understand them; (107) it allows one to know more closely their life and mission, the projection of the local or provincial community in the life and mission of the Church, of the Order. On the other hand, through the witness of the visitators, a visitation also offers the friars the possibility to know about different aspects of the life of the Province and of the Order beyond one’s own community or territory of the province. This fecund dialogue expresses, in a significant way, the unity and universality of the Order.
148. Each community constitutes a precise and precious instrument for evangelisation. Every good instrument, certainly, needs to be tuned. The task of tuning an instrument consists in verifying-ensuring its correct functioning and sonority so that it could be used later on in the best possible way to interpret a score. To “tune” an instrument and to “interpret” a melody with it is not the same thing. In tuning an instrument the same notes are repeated over and over again, one blows into it, the same cords are played several times, the pegs are adjusted. These sounds are not always pleasant: What is really good, pleasant and perfect is the concert! Perhaps this example will help to understand the meaning of the visitation and of its concluding letter. It belongs mainly to the community that is visited (the local or provincial community) “to interpret the score of the mission of the Order”. If the community itself does not take upon itself its own reality, very little can change or heal. Canonical visitations serve, above all, so that the communities may understand this.
149. Some Provinces receive the concluding letter with great docility (docility does not imply “to be in agreement” but rather “to know how tell and to allow somebody to tell you something”) and because of this they study its content and try to put into practice the suggestions and ordinations it contains. In other cases, we must also admit, visitations go by as if nothing happened… “like yesterday, that has already gone by, like a vigil at night (…) like the grass that grows, flourishes and in the afternoon dries up and withers” [Psalm 90 (89) 4-6].
Relationship to the Law
150. When should we use the Law? This is not merely a canonical or juridical question but it is also a moral one. Certain difficulties or challenges demand dialogue, listening, spiritual advice, eventually the search for alternative or intermediate solutions before, hastily, having recourse to the law.
151. What criteria make recourse to the Law necessary or unnecessary? For situations that are analogous (petition for the dispensation of simple vows; friars who abandon religious life before the time of their profession, friars who live outside of the communities for a long time, etc) some Provinces act rapidly or send all the necessary documentation immediately while others act too late – when problems arise – or simply they never act.
General Questions
152. A theme on which we should reflect together is what we could call “virtual government”. The modern means of communication permit anybody – from the comfort of his cell or from the computer centre – to write an electronic message and to send it instantly to whoever he desires. This also makes it possible for one to address oneself directly to a higher authority for any reason whatsoever, without first knocking at the door of the brother who lives next to him, that of his Prior or that of his Provincial (I am not referring to the recourses which are presented after having referred to the other intermediate instances). Obedience is one of the most beautifully treated themes in our LCO. There we do not only find general spiritual reflections but also practical help full of great wisdom and prudence. One of these is LCO 22 which is rarely applied.
153. Once again referring to the means of communication, it is evident that they allow us to promote forums of discussion which can be very positive since they offer opportunities for preaching, dialogue and sharing. (108) However, without a rational, prudent and constructive use of them, they can also become means of pressure by certain groups before /after the local or provincial Chapters. They also make possible the circulation and reproduction of documents, information or dialogue held during councils or Chapters (many times outside their context and to the detriment of other persons). In short, they can be an obstacle to true communication.
154. Many a time it is amazing that a proposition or election which, according to the Constitutions, is subject to the approval, confirmation or annulment of a higher authority (the Prior Provincial or the Master of the Order, according to the subject matter) can be known in detail by all the friars of the Province, the friars of other Provinces and even the friars in formation (novices and students) before it reaches the competent authority!
155. Sometimes the admission of a young man to the Order is at stake; the admission to profession, to the ministries or to ordination (deaconate and priesthood). In all the cases mentioned above discretion and privacy of the person or of the information regarding that person are at stake. We can very easily send a message today from the Council or Chapter hall. The harm done can be serious (for example in referring to a person what another one could have said of him in a Chapter / Council).
156. The unanimous participation of all the friars assures the most fruitful apostolic cooperation and fraternal communion. This is how Humbert of Romans expresses it: “bonum enim quod communiter approbatur cito et facile promovetur”. (109)
157. This does not mean that “everybody can say everything about anything and anybody”. Dominican Government points out very well which are the levels, spaces and organisms where themes can be discussed (and establishes very well what themes could and should be discussed and defined in each of these spheres). At the same time, our tradition is based on the two-fold distinction between the discussion of the facts / acts / affairs and the persons who are responsible on the one hand and on the other between the external and the internal forums.
158. This question is important because it has to do, fundamentally, with trust and therefore, it touches directly our capitular democracy. In fact, in many cases in Dominican Government this democracy functions through the election of representatives (for example: the members of the local and provincial Councils; the Socius of the conventual Prior to be present at the Provincial Chapter; the delegates of the colleges who go to the Provincial Chapter, the Diffinitors elected for the General Chapters, etc.). This means that the trust we put in the brothers and in the word they will offer is constantly at stake.
159. If – for example – the provincial or general authority thinks that a given election has to be annulled; that such and such a decision should not be approved or confirmed; that the name of a person proposed for a certain office should not be accepted… It could happen that – without knowing the true prudential reason for a decision that in itself need not be explained – many will end up by judging the act mistakenly. In many cases it is interpreted as a punishment; in others it goes on to a virtual lynching. Government decisions are intended to ensure the common good of the Order and they can in no way be interpreted within the narrow framework of a “promotion” or “punishment” (as happens in the political, military or entrepreneurial spheres).
160. We cannot avoid that a certain government decision or a political prudence used by the competent authority be judged, evaluated or criticised. It is normal that this happens; besides, it is a sign of the interest for public things, of the good Dominican critical spirit (I insist, understood as an “evaluation”).
161. Nevertheless, intentionally or not, we could not only be interfering unjustly in the normal process of making decisions or in the process that follows a canonical election, but we can also make ourselves judges of persons and their intentions. In these cases, we do not only harm the relationship with authority by creating phantoms, but we also end up harming the person/s or ideas we intend to defend against the decision made by the authority.
162. The distinction between actions and persons, between the sphere of the internal and external forum, are keys for morals and good government and a guarantee of Dominican interior freedom. We can easily confuse these plans, damage them or scorn them. The General Chapter can offer a word about this.
The value of a word that has been given
163. In short, what is at stake every day and in each act of government – and all the friars are responsible for this – is the value of the word that has been given. In speaking about the value of the word, I refer above all, to the value of our profession. The value of the decisions, of the voting, of elections then follows. There are places precisely defined in which these decisions, voting, and elections could be evaluated; however, we cannot create a constant state of revision of each decision according to our passing whims. That is not so much a sign of “Dominican itinerancy” but rather just chatter or lack of trust in the word.
164. On many occasions, in the civil political sphere, programs of government are publicised, but only before the elections. Not to believe in the word (in one’s own and in that of others), also makes the word of the Chapters and of authority in general meaningless. This could turn one of the most important signs of the life of the local community, of the Province and of the Order – I refer to the Chapter and the Acts – into something impossible to fulfil, or it is simply ignored.
165. This becomes evident when it comes to evaluating and defining the presence of the Order in a territory and, for example, the suppression of a conventual activity or a house or convent is decided in order to favour the mission of the Province in other sectors or priorities. Sometimes everything possible is done so that four years go by and then be able to decide to the contrary. The lack of a clear process postpones the decision to the intermediate enlarged Council. This Council decides to wait for the next Provincial Chapter. On other occasions one might use the idea of the domus filialis (110) in order to avoid fulfilling the acts. The Master or his delegates are asked to say a word during canonical visitations. The concluding letter confirms the measure and urges that what has been decided be fulfilled. However, new difficulties cause all that to remain a dead letter. Sometimes, the suppression was decreed, but in fact, the situation continues as if nothing had been decided. Finally, the new Provincial Chapter arrives and one starts all over again. It is not the suppression of the house or the reputation of the Provincial Prior and his Council that are at stake! The word is at stake! What example do we give to our novices and students from whom we demand fidelity to the word?
VI – LABOREM EXERCENS
ECONOMY (111)
Clarity and Transparency in Administration
166. The administration of economic resources should not be a burden which enslaves, but rather a tool oriented to provide the brothers with what is necessary for the exercise of the ministry of Preaching and the Apostolate. This is promoted rapidly and easily if our economy fits in the framework of a local or provincial project approved by the community. (112) Clarity and transparency in apostolic projects also favours an environment of trust and credibility in the way of asking and of rendering an account.
167. The administration of economic resources is not the task of the syndic exclusively but is, in the first place, the responsibility of the whole community (LCO 537). This is why it is not only the syndic who is called to render an account to the community but also each one and all of the friars. In order to favour clarity and transparency in the administration of what is common (once again: the “res-publica”) the first step is evident: to contribute to the common fund everything which we acquire by our work and activity, what we receive as donations or personal gifts, pensions of every type etc. (Cf. LCO 546, 1).
168. The vow of poverty is lived in the measure in which we know how to administer our resources whether they are many or few. The great challenge we have before us is to give a community dimension to our vow of poverty. How should we articulate our religious dimension with administration? To live in a poor and simple manner is the thermometer which verifies any discourse or reflection on this vow. Since “the vows are a triple expression of a single “Yes” to the one relationship of total consecration” (113) also the different elements of our Dominican life bond, harmonize, balance and fecundate one other: religious consecration – fraternal life in community – ministry of preaching – study – government – economy and administration. (114)
169. We friars do not usually give sufficient importance to the administrative and logistic aspects of our economic life. These manifest the trustworthiness and reasonableness of our resources. The preparation of the friars in this field is still lacking and, besides, many times we exempt ourselves from fulfilling the norms and procedures of LCO and the General, Provincial or local Chapters.
170. Globalised economy presents us with new challenges. We underline, among many others, the need to implement a system of accounting which is compatible for all the entities: Provinces (or similar entities) and Vicariates, adjusting ourselves also to the legal exigencies of each country. In this way the administration of our goods and resources will be dynamic, clear, transparent and effective. (115) The end is clear: always to offer a reliable information in the administration of goods and of economic resources. (116) This also results in the possibility to offer to the syndics more time for study, preaching and the apostolate.
171. In order to promote these things, it is necessary to count on brothers who are prepared and qualified in this matter. (117) Nevertheless, we should not be afraid to ask for help from lay experts in order to implement mechanisms of technical control, follow up and registration. These tools allow us to create a “culture of “rendering” and “requesting” accounts” (118) A transparent and orderly economy favours collaboration, communication and avoids misunderstandings, suspicion, private life and administration of the resources which do not really belong to us.(119)
Economic Information: Questionnaire and Report to the Master of the Order
172. In spite of the repeated requests by the Syndic of the Order some Provinces and General Vicariates still – and in some entities for several years – do not send a response to the ECONOMIC QUESTIONNAIRE. Some entities send it but perhaps in a way that is incomplete, vague, and does not correspond to reality. In the end, this creates inequalities when preparing the “Data Base” which, in turn, serves to fix the contribution of each entity to the Order. (120) What is the result? Paradoxically, the entities which have been clear and transparent in their reports end up paying higher contributions!
173. The ECONOMIC REPORT which the Provinces or similar entities have to send to the Master of the Order constitutes something like an X-Ray of the economic, financial and administrative state of each entity. Perhaps we are not as yet conscious of its importance. (121) Only 40% of the entities (21 entities on 50) have sent in this report in 2006.
Economic Auditing and Visitations
174. As I already mentioned above, we see that some of the economic reports which are sent to the Curia are neither clear nor reasonable. If to this we add – I repeat – that some entities for many years have not sent in any report, this is very meaningful and the conclusion is immediate: sometimes the administration and the manner of handling the accounts leave much food for thought.
175. Canonical visitations allow us to see that not rendering an account has immediate repercussions in community and apostolic life. For this reason some Provinces have asked for help and for a closer following in economic matters, accounts and administration. (122) This is why several economic visitations have been carried out by the Syndic of the Order (on some occasions with the collaboration of another member of the General Economic Council). These Economic visits, in a subsidiary way, are tools by which to improve collaboration and communication; they help to evaluate the current economic situation of the entity and to plan for its future concerning this matter (let us recall that from these resources formation, centres of study, the support for the mission, healthcare for the friars, help for those in greater need, etc. depend)
Solidarity and Saint Dominic Funds
176. The Chapter of 2004 (Cracow) made various exhortations and declarations inviting the Provinces of the Order to offer a percentage of the benefits received from the sale of real estate or in the case of big donations. (123) The purpose of this is to replenish Saint Dominic” and “Solidarity” Funds. Unfortunately such exhortations have not had the expected result. (124) The goal is to put into practice the sharing of our goods. We should keep in mind that, thanks to these funds, many projects have been carried out in the area of missions and formation. At the same time, there are many initiatives we are unable to finance although they are very important. Neither are there funds to – at