2

Claretian Missionaries

Booklet for Post-Chapter Itinerary

SUGGESTIONS FOR HOLDING

A CHAPTER OR AN ASSEMBLY
Table of contents

1.- Introduction.
2.- There is something extraordinary about every Chapter or Assembly.
3.- Advantage of holding them shortly after the conclusion of our XXVI
General Chapter.
4.- The role of the participants in our XXVI General Chapter.
5.- Preparing a Chapter helps to get things well.
6.- What length of time would you suggest for Chapters and Assemblies?
7.- The assistance of a pre-capitular commission to the Government
of the Major Organism.
8.- Some materials (that we already have!) can help
in the pre-capitular phase.
9.- Major Organisms renew their Governments.
10.- The importance of spiritual preparation.
11.- Good practices: learning from and with others.
12.- Some ways to qualify preparation.
13.- The use of facilitators.
14.- Our XXVI General Chapter as an organisational model
for Chapters and Assemblies.
15.- Conclusion.

1.- Introduction

The declaration of our XXV General Chapter, Witnesses and messengers of the joy
of the Gospel (2015), requested that the General Government explore new methods
and ways of organising our general and provincial chapters in its different phases:
preparation, implementation and evaluation (cf. MS 72.3). Throughout the six-year
period we had had various experiences from inter-congregational dialogues to studies
of methodological resources and various attempts at Chapters and Assemblies of
Provinces and Delegations that crystallised in the celebration of our XXVI General
Chapter.

With this booklet we want to offer the Major Organisms a guide for the celebration of
their Chapters and Assemblies in the perspective of the experience lived in our last
General Chapter of our Congregation. This proposal is inspired by the story of the
disciples of Emmaus, or as the Church has just pointed out, the school of discipleship
in which the disciples grow around Jesus, as well as the experiences of discernment
of the first Christian community1.

2.- There is something extraordinary about every Chapter or Assembly

Although our legislation speaks of ordinary and extraordinary Chapters (CC 123), the
celebration of a Chapter or Assembly is always an important moment in the life of a
Major Organism.

As well as facilitating the meeting of brothers from all the communities, these meetings
allow the Province or Delegation to carry out a special exercise of discernment in order
to discover what the Lord expects of us at a given moment and in a given context.

It is logical, therefore, that, like any important family event, we do everything possible
to prepare it well,2 and to ensure that it takes place in the best possible conditions.

3.- Advantage of holding them shortly after the conclusion of our XXVI General
Chapter

The celebration of our XXVI General Chapter of our Congregation in August-September

2021 makes any Chapter or Assembly planned for 2021 or 2022 uniquely relevant.
The Province or Delegation has a privileged opportunity to “tune in” to the dream,
designs and commitments that our Congregation has discerned and assumed for us
to live for the next six years3. In this way, the recent celebration of our General Chapter
is a grace that we must make good use of.

4.- The role of the participants in our XXVI General Chapter

As has been emphasised at our recent General Chapters (and also at this one), those
attending a Chapter are its best ambassadors. Their witness and words can be a good
commentary on the chapter statement. Their “story” of what they have experienced
helps many brothers to better understand the Chapter’s discernments and the spirit
of its commitments.

Aware of the richness of these testimonies, the Communication Team of our

Congregation will make available to the Major Organisms some reflections and
interventions of the capitulars. These resources can be used in the reading of the
Chapter exhortation “Querida Congregación,” in personal study and during retreats,
in preparatory assemblies or meetings. They are intended to help us get to know our
XXVI General Chapter better and to help those who have to prepare a Chapter or
Assembly in their Province or Delegation.

1
Cf. Synod of Bishops, For a Synodal Church: Communion, Participation, Mission [Preparatory document for
the XVI Ordinary Assembly of the Synod of Bishops] (Rome: 2021).
2
“The greatest care should be taken....” (CC 122).
3
“Realícese… de tal modo que con su ayuda la Comunidad Provincial… se adapte y se mantenga abierta a la
Comunidad General del Instituto” (CC 122). CC 125 señala entre las tareas del Capítulo Provincial, “aplicar las
normas y directrices del Capítulo General…”.
5.- Preparing a Chapter helps to get things right

Every Chapter, like any human activity, has its unpredictable side (people are free
and can react in many ways). A Chapter, moreover, has by its nature a high degree of
sovereignty and freedom.4 However, when it is well prepared, a Chapter can be held in
very good conditions. On the other hand, if it is poorly prepared, it demands an effort
from the participants that they cannot always make, even if they are willing to do so.

6.- What length of time would you suggest for Chapters and Assemblies?

Chapters, as a space for meeting and discernment, need to be held without haste
and in the best possible conditions. Before our XXVI General Chapter, some brothers
wondered what the point was of devoting so many days to it. In the end, however, they
were grateful for the way in which the chapter experience was lived.

Sometimes it happens that we find it difficult to dedicate the time required for these
types of meeting and gathering; we want them to end quickly. And yet we spend much
more time on other, perhaps less relevant, meetings in which we feel more at ease.

A Chapter or Assembly is an important event in the life of a Major Organism. Given

the experience of Nemi 2021, we suggest that eight to ten days be set aside for a
Provincial Chapter and five days for an Assembly.

7.- The assistance of a pre-capitular commission to the Government of the Major

Organism

Considering the experiences of preparing for our XXVI General Chapter, we propose
that each Major Organism create a commission to animate the reception of “Querida
Congregación.” We suggest that this commission include someone who has attended
the General Chapter and a member of the Government of the Major Organism, or
those who have facilitated the pre-capitular conversations.

The aim of such a commission will be to promote measures and actions to bring the
chapter experience closer to the members of the Province or Delegation and their
pastoral agents. If appropriate, such a commission could also assist their respective
Governments in the preparation of their Chapters and Assemblies.

8.- Some materials (that we already have!) can help in the pre-capitular phase

In the months leading up to August 2021, all the Major Organisms of our Congregation
held their conversations at local, zonal, provincial and continental levels. These
conversations enriched the work of our General Chapter. These materials can now
be used to prepare the Chapters and Assemblies of the Provinces and Delegations as
they reflect what the members of the Major Organisms have shared with each other
4
The Chapter “is the instrument that represents the province” (CC 122); “its decrees are juridically binding.
They must, however, be approved by the superior general with his council” (CC 126).
and with others. In preparation for its Chapter or Assembly, the Major Organism could
hold a further round of conversations, integrating the chapter exhortation “Querida
Congregación,” at whatever levels it deems appropriate.

In this new conversation we propose to revisit the dreams of the Major Organisms and
communities in the light of the congregational dream and the seven designs that make
it more concrete. At the same time, it allows us to resituate our previous dreams in the
framework of the congregational dream: How can we embrace that dream? Is there
something about it that we feel called to live more intensely? Is there something else
we can bring to the dream from our own context and identity?

In preparing the Chapter or Assembly, we suggest considering the answers given

by the Organism to the questions posed by the General Government at the end of
November 2020. They can help in drawing up the reports of governance and economy
in accordance with the three processes of congregational transformation. In the same
way, the minutes and letters sent after the canonical visitations as well as the documents
approved in the last Chapter or Assembly of the Major Organism can be used.

9.- Major Organisms renew their Governments

An important phase in any Chapter is the election of a Major Superior and his Council.
We must therefore endeavour to make the necessary discernment in the best spirit
possible. Except in exceptional situations, elections are not the main task. The more
certain a Major Organism is in discerning its present and future, the more certain it will
be in deciding to which brothers to entrust certain tasks.

The experience of our Congregation sheds light on how to proceed. The days when the
Chapter or the Assembly conducts its elections or polls require a special atmosphere
marked by discernment. It is a phase in which we intensify our listening to the Holy
Spirit because at this time different experiences and feelings are often stirred up in
us: sympathies, antipathies, tiredness, preferences, wounds that have not yet healed,
a tendency to look for comfort, “ideologisation” of projects and objectives, and so on.
The “old man” needs to be put in his place and the brothers need to be encouraged
to discern according to the heart of God.

The Lord does not ask us to renounce intelligence and dialogue, quite the contrary: the
voices of others help us to listen to the voice of the Lord. Our Congregation encourages
us that the dialogues, comments and interpellations prior to an election be carried out
“in the light,” that is to say, in an open and honest way, without resorting to campaigns
and procedures valid for those who are moved by other criteria.

At our XXVI General Chapter, in the light of the Constitutions, the Directory and Church
Law, the capitulars asked themselves which persons were suitable to form the General
Government of our Congregation, prayed over it and thought about it personally. They
then shared their impressions and, in an atmosphere of prayer and confidentiality,
discussed with others the persons who could carry out the tasks of government. The
polls were taken, the results were distributed in good time, and the capitulars talked
with each other. Before the election, some of those who had received the most support
took the floor in the chapter hall to give an account of their situation and to make some
other considerations. In the final evaluation of the Chapter, several brothers, some of
them with experience of more than one General Chapter, praised the procedure used.
Considering this lived experience, we suggested a similar procedure in the elective
phase; a procedure that had been practised and well received in the last Chapters
held previously in some Major Organisms of our Congregation.

10.- The importance of spiritual preparation

We cannot forget, and this is expressed in our legislation and customs, that during the
Chapter or Assembly we Claretian Missionaries seek above all to be in tune with the
will of the Holy Spirit and to discover what the will of the Lord is for our community. All
that we Claretian Missionaries do in this sense, whether or not we physically attend the
Chapter or Assembly, is for the benefit of all.

As the Superior General has insisted many times, the Chapter begins from the
moment it is announced, and it is not only those who meet for a few days in assembly
who participate in it. The availability of texts and concrete proposals for prayer and
celebration helps in this preparation and participation. Many communities accompany
the pre-chapter and chapter journey with their constant prayer.

11.- Good practices: learning from and with others

The Major Organisms of our Congregation are very diverse in age, and we have a good
experience in organising Chapters and Assemblies. The journey begun in the post-
conciliar period with our General Chapter of 1967 has left us with many lessons. What
we have learned allows us to know what helps us to prepare and celebrate Chapters
and Assemblies, what we should avoid and what enriches us. The following examples
can help us in planning for and holding chapters and assemblies.

a.- There are Major Organisms that prepare their Chapters or Assemblies with
an in-person or virtual meeting of the participants prior to the actual Chapter
or Assembly. By way of example, the participants of our XXVI General Chapter
held two online meetings before meeting in person in Italy. It is therefore worth
considering whether it is appropriate to hold some kind of in-person or virtual
meeting beforehand, considering the extent to which it can be of help. One
advantage of this is the possibility to organise some of the work in advance and
to speed up tasks during the Chapter or Assembly.

b.- Some Major Organisms take these meetings as moments to discuss the
regulations to be approved on the first day of the Chapter, to set up some working
commissions to study certain topics, and to take some practical decisions, for
example, who will be in charge of animating the liturgy each day. Such meetings,
which can be designed without burdening the capitulars with extra tasks,
 help to focus the participants on the Chapter by making them aware of their
responsibilities.

c.- In some Major Organisms there is a tradition that lay people participate
in certain pre-capitular moments and/or in certain stages of the Chapter or
Assembly. In the case of the Chapter, this participation is subject to certain rules
and consultations that must be made beforehand with the capitulars. Within this
congregational framework, each Major Organism will decide who can be present
and when.

d.- In some Major Organisms where reorganisation processes are underway, or

when there is a desire to acquire greater continental awareness, sometimes a
Claretian Missionary from another Major Organism is invited. Such participation
is always subject to the conditions indicated or consented to by our norms.

e.- In other cases, when lay people do not participate in Chapters or Assemblies,
they make their voice heard through their own communication, or by submitting
suggestions that are made available to all the capitulars.

12.- Some ways to qualify preparation

During Chapters and Assemblies, the evaluative phase is also a stage of discovery. The
reports help the participants to become aware of the reality of the Major Organism
and of the actions carried out during the period of government that is coming to an
end. It is therefore very important to prepare these reports. It is advisable to organise
these reports in advance so that the Government can send them to the capitulars
beforehand and they can study them in greater depth.

As for the financial reports, however, we suggest that there should be a commission
to study the matter beforehand, making its evaluation available to the capitulars. Since
this information is sensitive and could be open to misrepresentation, we suggest being
careful and prudent in the handling of the information. Once the Chapter has begun,
the participants have the right to create another group to study the same topics and to
ask for any clarification they may need.

It is advisable that other pre-capitular commissions may address specific issues that
need to be discerned during the chapter and require a more detailed report, such
as the revision of positions, the protocol for the protection of minors and vulnerable
adults, and the creation of safe environments, vocational culture, or the like.

Finally, it should be noted that any Claretian Missionary may submit to the Chapter or
Assembly any reports or comments he deems appropriate. The Government of the
Major Organism will present these topics to the presidential table to see if and how
they can be presented to the capitulars.
13.- The use of facilitators

More and more Congregations involve facilitators in holding their General or Provincial
Chapters or Assemblies. A facilitator is an invited guest who helps in the development
of the chapter by advising dynamics, proposing rhythms of prayer, recommending
dialogue and work, proposing pauses, inviting the community to notice something that
may have gone unnoticed, or helping it to tackle a delicate or thorny issue.

Facilitators do not deprive capitulars of their rights, or relieve them of their obligations.
They do not occupy any of the roles of President, Vice-president, Secretary, or
Moderator of the Chapter. Nor are they required to participate at all times in the chapter
assembly.

If a Major Organism wants to carry out a process similar to that of our XXVI General
Chapter, it can have recourse to a facilitator in dialogue with the General Government
about persons who can provide this service. By accepting the existence of one or
more facilitators, the capitulars or assembly members recognise that someone can
help them to better discover God’s will and show their confidence in these people.

14.- Our XXVI General Chapter as an organisational model for Assemblies and
Chapters

Those who wish to follow the model of the celebration of our XXVI General Chapter
should plan an itinerary that includes the following steps: discovering, dreaming,
choosing, designing, and committing.

Discovery: At this stage the assembly seeks to find out as much as possible about the
situation of the Major Organism and the actions of governance. To do this, it detects the
seeds of life sown by the Holy Spirit in the reality and the path of the Major Organism.
These seeds are especially important because they help us to grow. The chapter
community or assembly will try to look at them in order to dream and design its future.

At the same time, the participants take note of the limitations and problems of the
Major Organism. They make a diagnosis of its infirmities and weeds. It should not be
ruled out that at this stage of discovery the Chapter or Assembly may feel the need to
celebrate a penitential or reconciliatory act that manifests the purpose of conversion
and mutual forgiveness among the brothers.

Dreaming: Starting from the seeds of life and the weeds we have discovered in the
Major Organism, the assembly prepares itself spiritually and takes the necessary time
to explore and embrace what God dreams for the Major Organism: Contemplating
our reality, what do we believe is God’s dream for us, his Missionaries? How do we
envision the Congregation that God wants in a few years’ time? Where does he invite
us to walk? What things would the Lord like us to live?
In this phase of dreams, we need a certain sensitivity that allows us to interpret the
signs that God offers us and the longings of our brothers and sisters. Listening to
others, sharing our dreams, and praying together will help us to discern what God
wants.

Designing: Once we have discovered and formulated the dream in a concise,

motivating and easy-to-understand way, the design stage begins. To understand what
this is about, it is as if we have the idea (dream) of building a house and we make it
concrete by drawing up a plan (design).

The design helps the realisation of the dream; it develops it by making it realisable and
tangible without going down to the details of what commitments might be involved. The
subtlety of this stage makes it necessary to work on it with special care. Good design
helps to realise God’s dream. That has been the experience of our XXVI General
Chapter.

It is important that the formulation of the design is done in the present tense, as if we
were living now in the dreamed future.

Commitment: In this phase we commit ourselves to realising the design of the dream
and therefore ask ourselves what each of us is committed to in the present in order to
achieve the dreamed future. The affirmation of commitments helps us to build hope
for all of us and to passionately sustain the positive transformation we long for in the
Major Organism.

We take an example from the 2021 General Chapter to illustrate the difference between
the various steps.

Discovery

In contemplating our life, we Claretian Missionaries have rejoiced to discover

that the Word of God makes us more passionate each day and that from initial
formation the life of persons and communities is inspired more and more by that
Word, welcomed, contemplated on and contextualised. At the same time, however,
we discover that we are fragile in the face of the threat of idolatry, remaining in
one’s comfort zone, and resistance to innovation. Often our audacity is held back
by acedia and indifference, and a good number of Claretian Missionaries find it
difficult to understand that the issues of Solidarity and Mission have a lot to do
with our life and mission.

Dream

When we dream of our Congregation, our Chapter has declared to dream “like
Claret of a Congregation that, following the example of Mary, treasures in its heart,
fulfils and proclaims the Word of God” and that also animates from Scripture all
its pastoral work.
 Design

In unfolding this dream, our Congregation hopes to be able to say in 2027 that
the Word of God is the light and the driving force of its missionary life; that we
Claretian Missionaries welcome it within ourselves, deepen it, and incarnate it in
order to allow ourselves to be transformed by it. Our Congregation desires that
its communities share the Word with the People of God and that, enlightened
by it, they discern God’s will for their life and mission, and that the Claretian
Missionaries preach the Gospel with passion in a competent, up-to-date and
creative way according to the different contexts.

Commitments

To make this dream a reality and make this design visible in 2027, the Congregation
is committed to:

[53] Devote quality time each day to take the Word to heart in keeping with the
liturgical year, and to proclaim it with dedication in our pastoral services.

[54] Encourage and implement, as listeners and servants of the Word, ecclesial
initiatives such as the Sunday of the Word of God and Bible Week and Month. We
will practice ‘lectio divina’ personally, communally and with the People of God.

[55] Take the preparation and delivery of homilies very seriously, according to
the guidelines of the exhortation ‘Evangelii gaudium’ (EG 135-159).

15.- Conclusion

This methodology that we offer is something new to us. In our experience, it needs to
be understood and explained properly because at certain moments it can generate
resistance and a certain perplexity in the participants. We need to have patience to
explain again and again what is not clear, to visualise the whole process and to be able
to understand at which stage of the process we are.

The General Government is at the disposal of the Governments of the Major Organisms
and/or Major Superiors to assist, collaborate and accompany in the design of chapters
and assemblies, or whenever they deem it convenient.

General Government

Rome 2021