On Tuesday, 12 September, the liturgy of the day is animated by the brothers and sisters of Andean and Brazil.
The day revolves around the next 40th General Chapter of the Brothers of the SSCC. Decisions were taken on the main themes of the Chapter's agenda, the method of electing the General Government and the duration of the Chapter.
A proposal was made on the main themes of the agenda with a subsequent dialogue and vote, in which the following were approved:
-
SSCC vocation and mission: Rethinking together our sscc vocation and mission. Each one as a member of the Congregation responds to the mission with the call of the Lord. Also in harmony with the Synod of the Church we continue with the inspiration of the small tent open to all. We want to be a tent where everyone feels at home. What do we offer in this tent and what are its roots? Rooted in the Work of God. When thinking about our vocation and mission, we do so in connection with the main documents of the previous General Chapter: "The renewal of the inner man" and "Pastoral and missionary conversion, new roads to Emmaus".
-
Leadership and structures. Mission readiness, with the present number, calls for a change of structures, of lighter and more effective communication between us, to accompany each other more. A key element at this level is that from local, regional, provincial, delegation, conference and general government we need to develop a synodal style of leadership, of feeling that we are together and supporting each other.
-
In recent years we have been talking about finance and economy in the Congregation. We see how important this dimension is for our mission, for the animation of the Congregation, for the care of the elderly brothers and sisters and formation, for the further strengthening of solidarity in the Congregation. We see the need to collaborate more among ourselves.
-
We need to re-awaken the awareness that we are a family of brothers, sisters, secular branch and lay people, who share the same vocation and mission.
All these issues are at the service of the mission, to make it richer. Wherever we are, it is the Congregation as an international body that is supporting us and that we can count on.
-
Other themes: communications, rethinking Initial Formation in the context of an international missionary body.
The common thread: All of the above should help us to grow in interdependence with each other. How to be more interdependent in mission, in financial decisions, in leadership and structures, feeling that decisions affect us all, the availability of confreres for the mission, etc.
We are also talking about how to take care of our patrimony, maintain the heritage we have and contemplate our charismatic origins.
We want the whole Congregation to feel that it can contribute to these themes that we have chosen on the agenda, so that they can touch and energise the life of our local communities. All this will depend on local animation and the time devoted to it, as well as audio-visual material.
A proposal for the duration of the General Chapter (3 weeks) was discussed and approved: 1-22 September 2024, in Vila Aurelia (Rome).
We concluded by discussing the procedure for the election of the General Councillors. We recalled the election procedure of the previous General Chapter: each conference and the Province of the USA proposes a list of 6 candidates, 2 of whom must be from the conference or the province. The 4 pools can propose a minimum of 8 and a maximum of 24 in the total list. Following the discussions on conferences in recent days, it is felt that it is appropriate for the USA to be linked with CAP. The proposal that is voted and approved for the election of four general councillors is that they come only from 3 pools: CAA, CIAL and CAP-USA. Each pool proposes at least two candidates from its own conference. We would have a minimum of 6 candidates and a maximum of 18. Each conference comes to the General Chapter with two candidates selected and verified from their own conference. Some traits that are asked of members of the General Government are also indicated.
Link to the photo gallery: https://acortar.link/GZD6WI
09/13/2023