If you thought that voting could not be dramatic, read on. Today we moved into the next phase of this rather unique General Chapter, facilitated by Sr. Leslie and determined to introduce a new means of coming to decisions that breaks with the past. The phase we moved into today was called "The Audacity of Truth." (I'm really suppressing the temptation to make spontaneous comments.)
(Our dining hall during lunch.)
The day began with the sharing of the "values" that were finalized in the last sessions from yesterday. These were presented by each group, and the central commission helpfully provided a summation of the most prominet ones: Audacity and Solidarity. The goal was to settle on three to five of these values. The list from the various language groups included Interiority, Solidarity, Boldness, Culture of Encounter, Integral Ecological Commitment (Is that a value?), Authenticity, Vulnerability, Perseverance, Conversion, Justice, and Unity. The discussion that followed allowed participants to highlight and explain specific values. I spoke up to emphasize the importance of interiority, especially in light of thet other two general preferences. Here is a sample of comments from the floor:
- Values call to each other and relativize each other. You can’t have a culture of encounter without vulnerability - to allow ourselves to be moved. You could not have a culture of encounter without daring or audacity. These values are not absolutes; they are in relationship and have synergy.
- There is a great brainstorming of words here. Choosing is difficult. In the end, we should keep some. In the final list, we will have 3 or 5, but the other topics should show up also. All of them follow paths of transformation.
- I’m happy with this intellectual map. I will go home with a backpack filled with these values, not just three.
Now things became very interesting, because an amendment was introduced, which required only one other person's support to be considered in the assembly, to change "boldness" (the word equivalent to audacity) to "prophetic boldness." Several people spoke against that change - different interpretation in Muslim countries, removes the simplicity of a single word, etc. I also spoke against the amendment, mentioning that the single word by itself would provide maximum impact and the least misinterpretation. When the vote for or against the adoption of the amendment was taken, the results mauy be seen at the top of the photo below, in the red numbers.
There were 33 votes in favor and 33 votes against, with one abstention and one Juxta Modum. But the Juxta Modum vote is counted as a positive vote, as indicated in our adopted rules, and therefore the amendment passed. I was sorry to see this happen. I was also sorry that there wasn't a vote to determine whether we would stick to three top values or include five values. I thought that "boldness" was confined when "prophetic" was added to it. What does that word mean anyway? The simplicity and power of "boldness" was religiously domesticated when an adjective like "prophetic" was added, because immediately the phrase could be easily dismissed as irrelevant or limited to only one kind of boldness. In my estimattion, our final list had lost a foundational clarity, simplicity, and impact when it moved away from the direct and originally contemplated list of Audacity, Solidarity, and Interiority. Be that as it may, we have to trust in the Holy Spirit, and I'll try my best to do so.
The next step in the process was to move toward the "dream." (Is it because I'm American that I'm becoming a little impatient with having to go through all of these flooty-floaty words and exercises?) The question now became: What process of conversion are we being asked to enter into as an individual, District, Region, or Institute, and what are we hoping to be the result after the next seven years? For the next couple of hours - through lunch - we were invited to take time by ourselves to discern and write down our thoughts on cards that we would share later in the day. A quiet period of about an hour followed, and I went out to sit on one of the benches in the garden to think things through, making some notes along the way.
When we resumed our meetings at 3 pm, it was in our ENG2 language group, going through the Philips 4, 4, 4, process once again to share what we had written down and come to a consensus. Those converstions, I must say, were fruitful exercises and enjoyable, requiring active listerning. By the end of our time, a small sub-group put our thoughts together to share with the large group at 5:00 pm.
In the Aula Magna, the secretary from each of the six groups spoke about their unified single "conversion" and three "results." Our group's conversion statement was "A journey of synodality based on trust and availability." and the hoped for results were "Radical availability of Brothers", "Vibrant Lasallian communities where interiority is fostered", and "Sustainable structures of governance for the Lasallian Family (shared authority, reflect realities, etc...)".
Each of the sets were read, discussed, and voted on in the large assembly. The original intent to combine all of them into a single set was abandoned, and each one was considered, with some amended, and then voted on. (Although I don't know where that decision had come from.) It was a bit of a tedious process, with word-smithing and nuanced explanations, but the proces was helpful becuase it allowed a wider consideration of implications among the other sets. This went on until 6:30 pm, when we called it quits because Mass as going to begin soon and the Archbishop in charge of the discastory for Catholic education was going to be our celebrant. We will resume the process tomorrow.
The Mass was in French, and the pulled together choir would sing in French. I found the music quiet engaging and participated in the choir. The only thing that was predictably difficult was the fact that archbishop spoke for 25 minutes during the homily... in Italian ... to a congregation among which perhaps 14 Brothers understood what was being said. I'm sure that he was full of good intentions, but I can't say that he was a genuine educator.
Afterwards, the RELAN group had arranged to go out to dinner, and this we did at Casseruola, a favorite restaurant of a number of Brothers, although a bit of walk from the Casa Generalizia. It was worth it. We had a grand evening there, and it was good to relax a bit after a rather arduous day. We also took time at the end to thank Br. Tim Coldwell for his service to the region as the regional councillor, complete with some short speeches and response from Tim. It was fine way to end the day.
(Photo by Br. Chris Patino)
