For the prayer today, two Brothers from Madagascar offered to do a sung prayer in their own language. They provided a translation in French and then sang it to the accompaniment of the guitar, played by one of the Brothers.
Although I couldn't hope to understand the words, the sentiments were clearly expressed, and it was a good way to begin the day. We also found little Koala Bears at our places, a gift from the folks Down Under.First up was the "Government" report, the one that was potentially the most controversial one. Aspects of its contents needed to be approved so that we could move ahead with any new way of looking at the role of Councillors and Secretariats and the like. The conversation went on for pretty much all of the planned 90 minutes. Then we appeared ready for a vote, and the thing pretty much sailed through. It was the first solid vote on something substantial taken, and after the vote results were displayed, the Brothers broke out in applause - a natural reaction.
After the break it was time for the first "sondage" for the position of Superior General. This is a sort of sounding vote that's taken to give people a notion of where the thinking in the group lay. Each Brother could put down up to three names, in no particular order (this was not a weighted vote), which would then be put together by the "Scrutineers" of the Chapter - the four youngest Brothers. All of this was taken very seriously, of course, as it should be. Ballots were at people's desks when they returned from break, and by the time the session started it was very quiet in the room as Brothers pondered and wrote on their ballots. Then they came up by rows to place their ballots in the box provided up front, after which the box was taken out to another room by the Scrutineers to be counted. The results would be reported at the end of the session.Then it was on to the report from the committee on "Interior Life" which was very different in both style and content. It appears that each committee came up with its own way of utilizing the "Challenges, Horizons, Lines of Action" schema that had been established. I suppose that that's the prerogative of the Chapter delegates. But if it had been to me, I would have asked for something that was simple, straight-forward, direct, and short. Giving the Brothers lots of words has never, in my experience, been advantageous, no matter how eloquen
t the sentiments. This may be surprising, given that in a way our "business" is words. But that may also be the reason why internally we'd rather be economic about our use of them. However, you can't expect folks such as have gathered here from all around the world to walk away with their results on a single sheet of paper. It would give the impression that we really hadn't been working at all. Time will tell how all of this comes across with the "mud monks" - as some call the Brothers working in the schools.At the end of the session, Br. Carlos Gomez, who is the one overseeing the Chapter, announced the results of the sondage. At the beginning of the process, it was rightly pointed out that respect for the integrity of the process and those involved (nominated, etc.) required that this process remain internal. And so results of the sondage votes should not be shared with anyone outside of the Chapter hall. Sorry folks, I'm sticking to that policy.
In the afternoon there were the two reports from Pastoral Ministry / Vocations and Service of the Poor. I wasn't there for those sessions because I had other work to do. I walked to some nearby stationery stores to get supplies for upcoming events and also visited a couple of other stores. One thing I've had to do is to get some short-sleeved shirts. The weather here is getting positively hot. Of course the Brothers from Asia and the southern hemisphere think it's merely nicely warm. But me with my long-sleeved shirts, vest and sweaters... I think that I packed wrong. But "Oviesse" was nearby, and they had some short-sleeved shirts at a reasonable price. Along the way, I was bemused to find a parking area along the street where all the street cleaning machines were parked. Not only do they seem to be underused, but when you see that even the street-cleaning machines have graffitti on them, something strange is going on. The po
int is for these folks to clean things up, not to contribute to the problem. Perhaps they simply see it as an impossible job and simply park to have a smoke or two, throwing their butts in the gutter, of course.This evening, instead of the never-to-be-missed Central Commission meeting, there was a presentation by three Brothers and a Sister on the situation in the Sudan and efforts that are underway to raise funds for helping the church there by establishing schools, a teaching hospital and a college for teachers. The statistics are staggering, of course. Three million dead in 20 years of war. Less than 5 % of the kids even have a chance for education. Teachers have none or little training. The people there feel forgotten by the rest of the world, except for the NGO's that one Brother on the podium characterized as "vultures" looking for opportunities to exploit the people anew. An example was given that in the major city, if you went there, there are no hotel rooms available, but the hotel will give you a tent to stay in on the lawn - for $125. The UN and the NGO's are there by the hun
dreds and pay whatever the going rate is at the hotels, thereby exacerbating the problem instead of solving it. People outside cannot afford to buy food and here the "helpers" are spending it largely on their own comforts. I can see how outsiders could have little credibility in a situation such as this. Hence the efforts of a consortium of religious orders to establish some large, permanent ventures there in the areas of education and healthcare.One of the Brothers who had been there and in similar places for many years was asked about personal fear. He said that fear is largely a physical response (adrenaline rush when you get robbed, etc.) and that you get beyond it when you decide that something really needs to be done. By the end of the presentation, I think I would have given him a vote as Superior General, given his calm demeanor, determination, clear integrity, and passion for the Lasallian educational mission. Thankfully, there are others here with the same dispositions.
Lastly, I know that today was the day for the Baccalaureate Mass and for the Graduation Ceremony at Christian Brothers High School in Sacramento. At several points during the day I thought about those events and about the kids whom I know who will be graduating. I was really bummed out not be able to be there, especially since I'd been there at each of the last eight years. But things move on and my prayers for them will have to suffice.
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More pictures at http://picasaweb.google.com/gvangrie/ItalyMay25
