Today was an important Election Day at the Motherhouse. While yesterday the delegates elected the Superior General in secret (no cell phones or laptops allowed in the Chapter Hall), today the decision was made to allow "others" (staff, translators, etc.) to remain in the Aula Magna during the elections. Since all of this was done in public, over the course of the day, we heard a total 909 names called out, one after the other, by the Scrutineers (those young Brothers designated to distribute, collect, and count the ballots). There were also votes for what one Brother called "Brother Blanco" (a blank ballot).
First there was the election of the Vicar General, which after the sounding or sondage of yesterday, was pretty well clear to everyone in the room. Still, the atmosphere was serious and a bit tense. You never know how the Brothers will vote, you know. The Superior General, now that he had been elected, was seated with the panel of Moderators, etc. in front and was the President of the Chapter. After the votes for any one position had all been announced by the Scrutineersand the numbers confirmed with the secretaries, the results were announced by the Moderator (pretty superflous, of course, since most Brothers had been keeping track via their own numbering systems at their placess while the names were
being called out). Once the results were announced, applause broke out and Brother Superior made his way to the place where the person was seated. Then all quieted down. The Superior asked, in the language of the person selected, whether they accepted the position for which they had been elected. All said that they accepted (except for one Brother who wasn't present in Rome but who had indicated that he would be willing to be considered) and then there was the accolade from the Superior General amidst further applause, followed by sincere congratulations all around.Today we elected not only the Vicar General, but also the five Regional Councillors and the three Resident Councillors (staying here in Rome). That meant at least nine separate elections, and some of the specific posts took several rounds, since no clear 50% + 1 results w
ere immediately forthcoming when we began the elections for the Resident Councillors. However, after six ballots the three top people were selected.It was interesting to note the demeanor of those being voted into office. Here they were, seated among the rest of the delegates while they heard their name announced again and again and again. It must have been clear to them that they would be elected. Now it was only a matter of deciding whether or not to accept the position.
You can read the results of the whole thing on the Institute website, where they also have pictures and video of the process. It was a long day, but I think that everyone was quite pleased with the results. Of course, there were opinions about the candidates who took their names out or the ones that others thought should have taken their names out. But that's all part of the process. It was fascinating just observing it all happening.
For the prayer at the beginning of the session, by the way, we had a reading of a Lasallian version of the 7 days of creation, where each day was part of the vision for the future Lasallian world. It was done by Br. Alberto Gomez, who ended up being elected as one of the Resident Councillors. At the end of that prayer, we played some interviews of the kids who had attended the chapel ceremony for the Superior General yesterday. Their insights about the whole thing were both typical of kids and quite funny. A good way to begin the day.
This evening, the English language group was the sponsor for the Mass in the Main Chapel. The music came off quite well, with several Spanish Brothers helping with the guitar playing. The mixture of a capella music and guitar music seemed to go across well.
Then tonight we had our ubiquitous Central Commission meeting, this time dealing both with scheduling concerns (it IS getting late in the process, after all) and with possible public statements to the Brothers and others regarding this 44th Chapter.
Tomorrow is the public papal audience. That should be interesting, especially since today it rained in the morning and the papal audience is outside in St. Peter's square. In the afternoon tomorrow, it's back to work. The tempus is fugiting.
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More pictures of today at http://picasaweb.google.com/gvangrie/ItalyMay29
