After accepting the work of the Constitutions Commission as our instrumentum laboris or working document, the capitulars began the process of reviewing each of the twelve chapters, line by line. This work was divided among the friars according to the largest language groups. In a break from tradition we made a big decision in mid-week to make Italian rather Latin the official language of the text. Few friars these days are competent in Latin but many of the capitulars, including those in the several language groups, have some facility in Italian, particularly because so many of them studied here at the International College. This has helped to speed up the process of transmitting and translating documents.
The process has involved several steps. First, one of the members of the Contitutions Commission gave a presentation to all of the capitulars on a particular chapter or group of chapters. This was supposed to provide an overview of the revisions proposed by the Commission, which was given two mandates: (1) to enrich the existing text of the Constitutions by taking into account more recent scholarship and Church teachings (e.g. in Vita Consecrata), the signs of the times, and the insights of the most recent plenary councils of the Order (VI and VII); and (2) to move into our statutes those parts of the Constitutions that are more appropriate for those types of laws.
Although the Constitutions Commission was diligent, thorough, and generally faithful to the work it was given, here were some concerns that it may have exceeded its mandate in some chapters, e.g., in Chapter VIII with a proposal to significantly alter the election and the role of the Vicar General and in Chapter II with a significant centralization of oversight and programming in initial formation. It seems as if the capitulars have identified and will weed out such provisions from the final version.
Following the presentation in the aula by the member of the Constitutions Commission, the capitulars elected a working group or commission (composed of reps from the major language groups) to study the chapter(s) of the instrumentum laboris handed on to them, receiving feedback and proposed amendments from the language groups and individual friars or interest groups. Each commission is then expected to amend the chapter(s) handed on to it accordingly, and the amended chapter is to be presented at a hearing in the aula, where each language group sends a rep and any interested friar may attend and make interventions.
We currently have seven such commissions at work (I hope you remember your Roman numerals): Ch. I and XII (part); Ch. II; Ch. III and VII; Ch. IV and V; Ch. VI, X, and XI; Ch. VIII; and Ch. IX and XII (the other part). To date we have had hearings on most of the chapters. Some have gone more smoothly than others. The rules apparently permit any individual friar to make as many interventions as he wants and some appear to be taking full advantage of that. While this is certainly democratic and gives each friar the chance to be heard, it can also be abused and slow down the process without adding much in substance to it. (Perhaps we could learn from the U.S. Senate and develop a cloture rule for the next general chapter!)
Following its public hearing, each of the commissions meets to draft a final version of its chapter(s) that will then be translated into the various languages and presented to the Chapter for consideration, debate, and a vote to either accept it (placet), reject it (non placet) or accept it but with the possibility of further amendment (placet iuxta modum). This process will be repeated for each...of...the...twelve...chapters of the Constitutions, which have to be approved section by section before being submitted to the Holy See. On Thursday, using some, uh, expedited procedures, we approved Chapter I.
One down, eleven to go. The brothers are really working hard and in general pretty harmoniously; but Week 5 is going to test us. You may want to avert your eyes....--JC
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