ACTS OF THE 7th EUROPEAN ASSEMBLY OF LAY DOMINICAN FRATERNITIES

ANNEX IIr

JOINT PRESENTATION OF THE PROVINCES OF ARAGON, BETICA

AND SPAIN AND THE SAN ROSARIO VICARIATE

COMMUNICATION TO THE 7th EUROPEAN ASSEMBLY

OF LAY DOMINICAN FRATERNITIES

The purpose of this Communication is to bring the European Assembly closer to the
reality experienced in Spain by lay Dominican fraternities.

Lay Dominicans – a denomination which is unknown in Spain at the moment, since

the word “lay” in Spanish has a different connotation, we prefer saying “secular
Dominicans” – are to be found in three Provinces and one Vicariate:
− the Province of Aragón, with 6 fraternities and 195 registered lay Dominicans;
− the Province of Bética, with 11 fraternities and 345 registered lay Dominicans,
of which 133 are active;
− the Province of Spain, with 12 fraternities and 390 registered lay Dominicans,
of which 180 are active;
− the Vicariate of the Holy Rosary1, with 5 fraternities and 130 registered lay
Dominicans.

In the majority of cases, the promoters and religious assistants of our fraternities are
friars, and sometimes nuns.

As a rule, fraternities meet once or twice a month. During meetings, members pray
and study together (although in many cases, study time is limited to a presentation by
the promoter), comment news of the Order as well as Church documents and recall
the memory of the deceased.

In nearly all fraternities, celebrations mark the triduum of St. Catherine of Siena and
members’ feast days. There are also Advent and Lent retreats as well as an annual
provincial assembly.

Apostolic activities are mostly focused on catechism, liturgical assistance, participation

in choirs, contributions to publications, collaboration on missionary projects (Bética
Province in Central Africa, “Accion Verapaz” NGO, etc.) and visits to the sick.

Younger members do more active work, for example the St. Martin of Porres hostels
of the Torrente fraternity (Aragón Province), where, in addition to providing
accommodation for the chronically homeless, members work on collecting old
clothes, building people’s self-confidence and raising public awareness about those
living on the fringes of society.

1
Note from the ECLDF: the Vicariate of the Holy Rosary comes under the missionary Province of the Holy
Rosary, which is essentially active in Asia. It is the only province of the Order that is not a geographical entity.
Other experiences worth mentioning are preparing Sunday’s liturgy through
contributions to the parish newsletter distributed to local parishioners (Vivero
fraternity), doing voluntary work in homes for the handicapped or centres for the
homeless, preaching with art or through art, maintaining a web page, etc.

We are only trying here to give an overview of the reality of our situation and we are
most probably overlooking other forms of prayer, study or apostolic work.

Although it sounds as if we are doing major work, the overall situation is actually not
very good. There are indeed a number of rich and significant experiences, but they
are only occasional or limited to a single fraternity.

In fact, the majority of our fraternities and our structures have become obsolete. The
average age of members is very high and new entries are rare, which seems to show
that our charisma is no longer very attractive in today’s world. It is not possible here
to look for causes or identify responsibilities which are certainly shared and have led
to lay Dominican fraternities being left aside for many years.

Since the International Lay Dominican Congress in Argentina, however, lay

Dominican fraternities in Spain have been getting ready to tackle the responsibility of
their mission of preachers of the Gospel.

We have started revising our structures and the tasks of our fraternities and
promoters, both at provincial and local level.

This year, the various provinces have been working on a common, solid formation
programme, which is expected to be implemented in 2009.

There is also a clear issue at stake: renewing and enriching our prayer. For example,
in the Province of Spain, we have scheduled a cycle of sessions on contemplative
prayer, prepared by a committee of lay people and taken on by representatives from
each of the fraternities that will conduct the sessions during the year.

Finally, at the National Council of Lay Dominican Fraternities, we agreed this year to
step up our openness to the outside world as well as within our internal structures.
The fruit of this decision is our presence here at the European Assembly in Slovakia
and our representation with the right to vote. Another consequence is our
participation in the Vocational Pastoral Team for the Young and in the National
Dominican Family Council.

We do not want our message to you to be dispiriting but full of hope. We have started
out on a new path and we feel well-supported.

We heard that next July, the 36th Dominican Family Meeting will be devoted to jointly
study and reflect together on how to be a lay Dominican today.

All in all, it is a real challenge to renew our vitality and express it in concrete options.
Let us pray the Holy Spirit to enlighten us and give us the strength to take on this
responsibility with joy and enthusiasm.