Today we finished the consideration of the first draft of the report from the Government thematic group. There were a great amount of questions about the details of various parts of their report, some of them dealing with a restructuring of the system of having Councillors in Rome vs. having regional directors. The group will take all of the suggestions back to their discussion for the second draft. We finished at the end of the morning, and the afternoon would be spent in the thematic groups addressing all of the comments and questions, both oral and written. It's a daunting task for the groups, and I foresee that some of them will be working well into the evening and perhaps also tomorrow afternoon. The Central Committee has requested that the second drafts be ready by noon tomorrow if they want them to be translated, or later if the translations are being done by members of the committee. On Friday, the consideration of these drafts will begin. There was one interesting suggestion to the Government committee to consider having the Superior General serve only one term, because of the rapid change in society, etc., but I don't know if that will have any "legs" given the fact that such a change would require the approval of the Vatican before it could be applied.This is all part of the "meat" of the General Chapter. The process is made somewhat more complicated because of the translation challenges, not to mention the challenges involved with different cultures and modes of thought. But most folks seem to be progressing pretty well. I've heard about one group having a "melt down" but I'm guessing that they will get their act together before long. It's amazing what a deadline will do to people.
My solution, by the way, to the shower problem (it happened again this morning - no hot water; not even a drop) was to follow the emailed advice of an experienced guest of the house - take your shower in the afternoon. So when everyone was in their theme groups, I followed that advice to more or less positive results. I still think, however, that if I were a member of the Chapter, I'd vote for Superior General that Brother who promised to get the pipes fixed (sort of like with the mayor of Chicago; no matter what else, he or she has got to make sure that the snow gets cleared from the streets during winter).
There was another schedule change today, and now we will have Mass in language groups in the morning tomorrow. That means that the person whom I had invited to say Mass on that day, but who couldn't make the evening Mass, could now be invited back in the morning. More about that tomorrow. After I contacted him by email, I'm glad that he said yes.One interesting thing about the food here... The Brothers have a well-developed sense of when certain food items are brought out. It's as if they have trained their peripheral vision to note when the servers bring out particularly appealing items. The pasta is usually plentiful and already on the table when the tower strikes 1 Pm or 7:30 PM and the Brothers flow into the open doors. It's only later that the cheese comes out.
When those platters appear, the cheese disappears within about 45 seconds. It's all very polite and orderly, of course. But if you're not paying attention, it will all be gone before you know it. As it is, most of the food items on the tables are exhausted within the first 15 minutes of dinner. You learn very quickly to go get some salad near the beginning of the meal. Nobody goes hungry, of course. But you better get what you need when it's out there.The reports in the Central Committee meeting this evening were all fairly positive. We're beginning our consideration for the process of the election of the Superior General, and I'm beginning to think about what kind of ceremony to have once the election has been held. It was suggested that I speak with Br. Alain Houry about past practices, and that's what I will do tomorrow. The photographs from seven years ago, regarding this part of the General Chapter, are quite striking and impressive. I'd want the chapel ceremony to have a similar dignity and impact.
After the meeting finished around 9:15 PM, we sat around in the English Language social room talking about various things and just relaxing from a very long, intense day. Br. Gerard Rummery told some wonderful stories about his years at CIL and about other experiences that he'd had. He's one of the best story tellers that I know. It's relaxing just to listen to him.The Brothers really lived up to their expectations today and I'm looking forward to some substantial reports starting on Friday.
================
More pictures of today at http://picasaweb.google.com/gvangrie/ItalyMay23
