Monday, 16th October 16

Today, the capitulants began to finalize their proposed changes to the revised text of the Constitutions and Statutes. These will be voted on tomorrow. Work began on reviewing the proposed text for the provisionally titled, ‘Rule of Life’.

Brothers of La Salle

Today, Brother Ernesto warmly welcomed, on behalf of all the Brothers gathered at Rionegro, Brother Robert Schieler FSC, Superior General of the De La Salle Brothers, and Brother Paulo Petry, FSC General Councilor for Latin America. They will be in attendance at the Chapter until Wednesday as a sign of our close fraternity bonds and collaboration as Religious Brothers in the Church.

Last working day on the text of the Constitutions and Statutes

Br. Michel Maminiaina Razafimandimby, from the Facilitation Commission, was the moderator of today’s sessions. Brother Emili Turú, spokesperson for the Synthesis Committte, presented the summary of proposed changes (in Spanish & English) for chapters 4 and 5 of the revised Constitutions. Time was then given for individual reading of these proposed changes, followed by table sharing. In plenary, some table representatives made further suggestions for change to the text. The Synthesis Committee examined these changes during the afternoon in readiness for presentation tomorrow.

The Appeals of the Chapter

In the session before lunch, Chapter capitulants reviewed the proposed text that will communicate the calls and overall Chapter Message. Matthieu Daum, the Chapter Facilitator, offered some ideas about the content and how the Message might be communicated after the Chapter. Feedback that came from table discussions indicated there are some key ideas that need to be included and other aspects that need further work before the document is finalized and approved by the Chapter.

Rule of Life

During the afternoon session, capitulants began working in table groups on reviewing the proposed draft of the ‘Rule of Life’. The three chapters of the Rule of Life were distributed among the 16 tables. This will ensure that the total text is reviewed by at least a third of capitulants in the time available. The task is for each table to review the chapter assigned to them by commenting on the content rather than being concerned with wording. These orientations will be compiled and then used by a writing group appointed by the General Council to prepare a revised draft. The general orientations proposed by the Chapter will be voted on, requiring an absolute majority for approval.

Studying the proposals of the Secretariat of Laity

In the early evening, capitulants met in their fraternities for a Liturgy of the Word. The fraternities then came together for the Liturgy of the Eucharist in the chapel. After dinner, an extraordinary evening session was held to consider the documents prepared prior to the General Chapter by the Secretariat of the Laity, specially ‘Proposals and Actions of the Secretariat of Laity’. The session was chaired by Br. Antonio Ramalho. This session provided a moment for capitulants dialogue about the contents of document, how they link with the calls of this Chapter and how they may be useful at the various levels of the Institute. This theme will be taken up again in the final days of the Chapter.