ROME: 14 March 2014 -- They are lining up - for coffee,
but not only. Hot coffee, and hot topics!
We wondered yesterday if the Missions Councillor role would
survive the day - well it did, at least for the day.
Discussion flowed freely and could be easily summed up as,
well, a certain level of shock and disappointment by many
(not all) that such a thought might even be floated.
And now it will be the turn of Social Communications. The
brave juridical commission has another proposal up front for
discussion on this one. They want it to become a secretariat
under the RM rather than a Department. Let's see where that
goes.
And the first glimmers of a document emerging from the
'Listening and interpretation' stage are with us. "Scendi
dalle stelle" Yes,
you can click that link and hear Luciano Pavorotti at his best
with this beautiful and perhaps most favourite of all
Christmas Carols in Italian. But yesterday the term (which in
context there might have been translated as 'come down off
your high-horse, or come out of the clouds' or words to that
effect) appeared to be levelled at anyone who thought we
should be 'reducing our core business' as one put it - by
eliminating the Missions Councillor role from the General
Council.
Other comments might give one a sense of the feeling on the
floor - "Absurd", "Benedict XVI set up a new department
for new evangelisation and we want to remove ours?", "They're
off their heads", "ad hoc" and some passionate please not to
end up giving the world the wrong message by touching
something that has been at the historical and charismatic core
of Salesian activity since its earliest days.
There were other views, of course, and a missionary of many
years who is also a member of the commission that formulated
the proposal did try to express how the intention was to
ensure that missionary thinking touches all provinces.
No straw vote was taken - the result would have been pretty
clear. But the discussion is by no means over and this is a
good example of how a Chapter works. If everyone just stuck to
the status quo all
the time, nothing much would happen, would it? Nevertheless
there will be urgent appeals to the Holy Spirit to enlighten
minds on this one.
Communications - recast it as a
Secretariat? The Juridical Commission has put forward a fairly
nuanced version of its proposal this time, nuanced in the
sense that it has offered minority as well as majority views
on whether this role (SC) should have a councillor on the
General Council or become a secretariat directly under the RM.
The proposal recognises that:
- SC is an open continent where millions of those to whom we
are sent live;
- many Salesians though know little about it, about the new
communications 'grammar' etc. etc.
- in a constanttly expanding and changing world we have to
understand SC and be in dialogue with it;
- it goes beyond Press Office, ANS-sdb.org, our procution
enterprises.
That said, they propose that:
- it should not be represented by a councillor on the GC,
- there ought be a central secretariat set up, directly
dependent on the RM, following R 108.
They would argue that:
a) institutional communication is directly and strictly tied
to the top level of government
b) moving from a department to a secretariat does not
mean giving less attention to SC; they would argue it responds
better to the very nature of communication that runs across
all dimensions of the Salesian mission;
c) setting up a department also sets up possibilities for
'sectorialism' (awful word)
d) a secretariate dependent on the RM would be a more agile
way of achieving education and evangelisation through
animation, formation, information and production
e) supervision of communications enterprises can be given to
the Economer General - working in with the Secretariate.
The opposite
view on this would run along the following lines:
a) given the growth and relevance of communications today, a
continent inhabited by the young, we cannot possibly lessen
our attention to it
b) we are called as Salesians to be “in the vanguard of
progress” in this field and profound interpreters of the signs
of the times, and that is a good reason for SC to be on the
front line of animation and government at Congregational level
c) According to C. 6 a Department is the best way of
expressing a sector which is an integral part of the Salesian
charism
d) Any thought of parallel thinking action is not tied to the
number of departments but to how they work and coordinate
within the Council
f) A secretariat without a change on how people work together
at General Council level does not reduce the risk of
sectorialism.
Stay tuned! Glimmers of a document
emerging
As the commissions do their work of study on core topics of
the overall GC27 theme, run that past the Assembly, then
forward their summary to the Drafting Group, this latter
begins to put together a succinct and hopefully 'moving'
account which becomes the firm basis for any eventual
document.
The first of these attempts will be given to the Assembly on
Friday 14 March, to chew over.
It will be headed with the term 'Mystics', this being the
first core topic of the theme. it is likely to put as briefly
as possible why on earth we apply this term - to Don Bosco, to
ourselves. It will try to sum up what the pointers for hope
are that we show signs of this mysticism in our personal and
communal lives, and will also try to recognise the failings in
this regard.
It will endeavour to offer certain horizons to guide
individuals and communities into the future.
None of this is 'invented' - it is material that is coming
through in the commission and assembly discussions.
Have a prayerful thought for the Drafting Group. They
too have a major task ahead of them.
The
very first report on the state of the Congregation
In the light of the current RM's Report delivered last week,
it becomes a fascinating exercise to read the very first such
report - which Don Bosco sent along (late) to the Holy See,
then further explained (late again) in response to
'observations', and had to clarify yet again (this time with
evident exasperation) after yet more observations came his
way! First time fully available in English.
