It Is Accomplished! (Almost)

At 12:49pm Rome time today, the General Chapter approved the last paragraph number of the Constitutions. That means the job of revising the Constitutions is virtually completed. I say completed, because we still must approve about 8 chapters in their entirety, a vote that went without serious challenge on the previous chapters. Then, we will take a vote to approve the whole text that contains 12 chapters. All expect these remaining votes to go smoothly. We gather at 4pm to complete these loose ends.

We also have to take a vote on another item of business, a resolution on our Capuchin identity. This proposed resolution asks the new general government of the order to continue to work for approval of our equality as brothers and equally able to hold offices that don't require ordination by the Vatican. This too should pass easily.

With that, there should be a motion to adjourn the General Chapter.

So this General Chapter did 5 official things:

1. It reelected Maruo Jöhri as our General Minister and elected a new General Council.
2. It passed recommendations regarding the safety of minors and vulnerable adults
3. It passed guidelines for the sharing of personnel across jurisdictional boundaries
4. It will have approved revised Constitutions which will be forwarded to the Vatican for approval.
5. It will have passed a resolution encouraging our general government to continue to work toward the approval of our Capuchin identity as equal brothers with the Vatican.

Our final fraternal acts will be a festive Eucharist Saturday morning followed by an exquisite Italian Pranzo (mid-day meal).

Our Provincial Minister, John Celichowski, catches a 6am flight out of Rome on Sunday. I do the same at 9am. I think I chose the better flight!

And that makes this the final post about the General Chapter!