(ANS – Rome) – The Pre-ChapterCommissionended its work on 17 September with the completion of the working document for the 27th General Chapter (GC27). The document took into consideration the letter of convocation of the Rector Major and summarized the contributions of the various Provincial Chapters. When the Commission had finished, we put some questions to the GC27 Moderator.
What kind of atmosphere was there during the meeting?
The Commission did its work in an intensely spiritual and fraternal atmosphere which was helped by the reception we received from the Rector Major, his Vicar and some of the General Councillors, and by the confreres of the Generalate. This fraternal spirit encouraged sharing and dialogue and relieved some of the fatigue that went with the work. The commission members shared in the prayer of the community and joined in Pope Francis’ prayer vigil for peace in St Peter’s Square. They also had a moment of prayer in St Peter’s Basilica for the Year of Faith and a guided tour of the Sala Regia, the Pauline Chapel and the Sistine Chapel in the Apostolic Palace, and Mass concelebrated with the Salesian community of the Vatican.
What was the result of the final draft of the working document?
The first achievement was a limit on the number of pages in the working document, with the hope that the final document of GC27 will be similarly concise. Just one objective was presented for each nucleus. This should help the confreres and the communities to remember better what it is the congregation wants to do. Obviously the Chapter Assembly is sovereign and will make its own decisions.
And from the point of view of contents?
The three essential themes – mystics in the Spirit, prophets in fraternity and servants of the young – ran the risk of being understood as three distinct aspects of our vocation. It was a challenge for us to overcome fragmentation and find unity in our lives. I think we were able to identify in some fundamental contents the principle of unity to be lived by the confreres and the communities. The first and most important truth to be grasped as a gift and lived as a duty is the “grace of unity” which consists in “a single movement of love towards God and towards our brothers” (Cons.3). It unites faith, hope and charity in a vital unity. It brings together also prayer and action, work and temperance, contemplation and action, da mihi animas and cetera tolle as well as the three inseparable elements of our apostolic consecration, the practice of the evangelical counsels, fraternal community and apostolic mission. Other important aspects that concern the whole of our lives are the need for a three-fold conversion, spiritual, pastoral and fraternal; the role of the Rector as spiritual guide, animator of fraternity and coordinator of pastoral activity; the need to learn discernment.
What were the major difficulties encountered by the Commission?
We found it hard to understand the change of methodology called for by this Chapter. It is a methodology of discernment. The emphasis is first on listening and then “reading”. Listening helps us to know the real situation of the Congregation in its fundamental aspects, what we are being called to at the present time, what is promising and what is dangerous in terms of our witness to radical gospel living. “Reading” presents the roots, the causes and reasons for those aspects that were discerned in our listening to the situation. This work was not always easy, but at the end I think we reached a better understanding of the methodology.
What is the next step?
The working document is being translated. It will be sent to all the participants in GC27 and made known to the whole Congregation. It can be used by confreres and communities as preparation for GC27. For the Chapter members it will be one more document to study and reflect upon.
Published 26/09/2013
