During the September plenary session, the team that drafted the Rule of Life of the Marist Brothers submitted the final text to the Superior General for approval. On September 20, at the conclusion of the plenary session, the General Council, having studied the text, approved it and agreed on the next steps.
On October 7, this text will be made public, in Spanish and English, and a provisional electronic edition, without notes, will be published for provisional use in the Administrative Units and for translation into other languages.
The official approval of the document is scheduled for January 2, 2020 and, on that same day, it will be presented to the whole Institute in the 4 official languages. The paper edition will follow.
Towards the conclusion of a process
We are close to the conclusion of the process begun in 2013. The commission in charge of revising the Constitutions submitted to the XXII General Chapter the proposal to have two texts that would officially represent the Marist charism for the specific vocation of the Brother. On October 5, 2017, in Rionegro, the Chapter approved the proposal, offering the Institute two texts, the Constitutions (with their statutes) and the Rule of Life.
The Rule of Life was approved unanimously on the last day of the Chapter, as a chapter document, leaving the General Council the task of preparing the final draft. For this work, the suggestions of the capitulants and the work of an editorial commission have been taken into account, giving form and unity to a document already approved in structure and content. The Constitutions represent an established document, of a canonical character, which defines the religious life of the Brothers within the Church and approved by the Holy See. On the other hand, the Rule of Life is a capitular document, more flexible, capable of adapting to the times, with a less formal language, although it also forms part of the proper law of the Institute. It is made up of three chapters: the first addresses the vocation of the brother, the second of fraternity and the third of mission.
Decision of the General Council – 20th September
"The General Council approves the FINAL TEXT of the Rule of Life, with the title "Dónde tú vayas", in its Spanish version, responding to the mandate of the XXII General Chapter to finalize the drafting of this chapter document.
The text will be released on October 7, feast of Our Lady of the Rosary, for provisional use until the official approval of the document in the four official languages of the Institute, scheduled for January 2, 2020."