May 14, 2022 - General Chapter 46

Today you could begin to feel a sense of anticipation about the more popular elements of a General Chapter, the propositions - I mean, uh, the Paths of Transformation - and the start of a discernment process about who should be the Institute's leaders for the next seven years.

At 9:00 am, we met immediately with what I call our interest groups to finalize what we would say in our report, the "We recognize that ..." section, the "We are called to ..." section, and the resulting "Commitments" section - see an early version above ... it's not the final one. Something that stood out for me is the care with which individuals thought about and adjusted thelanguage in each statement or commitment. The format might have been unfamiliar, but the content was still king, and these lifelong educators would pay attention to every word. At the end of our 50 minutes of conversation, we had put together a good set of results, and we happily took a photo of the group to commemorate our time together. 

Our Paths of Transformation Group

Brs. Olavo, Jorge, Rich, William, Pie, Janusz, Mike, me, Alberto, David, and Pedro.

Everyone gathered back in the Aula Magna at 10:30 for the initial report from each group. First the entire submission was read, which was followed by questions of clarification, suggestions, or comments that may help further improve it. There were seven groups, and after five groups, two hours had passed. Groups such as New Structures for Leadership and Governance led to lots of responses, questions, and well-nuanced concerns, while others garnered less input. The "new" unfamiliar group that now carried the title Integral Ecological Conversion perked people up because this was a whole new area for the Institute to consider. The challenging aspect for all groups, in my humble opinion, was providing commitments that were clear, direct, practical, and transformative. Initial verbs that began statements, like leverage, ensure, urge, empower, etc., were less direct than those that used create, develop, assign, and prioritize. You will see all of these soon enough, and they're not yet in their final form. 

The presentation of reports from the Paths of Transformation groups.

Br. Jorge Sierra ended the session at 12:30 pm, before lunch, and we returned at 3:00 pm. I had become a bit tired during that morning session, and I took a short siesta after lunch, making sure to set my alarm for 2:30 pm because otherwise I'd siesta right through the afternoon. My group was the first to report at that session, and I was the secretary and the one that had to do it. When we did get back together, a new proposal was considered. It a request from the Communications Office to be allowed to have professional videographers record portions of the process for the election of the Superior General, so that the Communications Office could put together a collation of shot snippets that would help the Lasallian world know about how this process works. Some expressed their concern that "outsiders" would now be part of something that had previously been secret, without anyone in the room except for the voting capitulants. They were reassured that it would all be done discreetly, etc., and that this would really be good for the Lasallian Family. When the vote was finally taken, there were 39 in favor, 26 against, 3 abstaining, and 2 Juxta Modem. Therefore, the proposal passed. To me, there was something concerning about the proposal itself and the fact that a simple majority had changed a previously rather solemn occasion, surrounded by some traditional drama and curiosity, to a international communication event (although not to be shown "live"). And with that many members against it, was it right to go ahead?

Then it was time for my report, which was dutifully read. There were two questions, one of them regarding a mistranslated word into Spanish in one of the commitments, and another that asked why our submission used the plural "Lasallian Vocations." The question was confusing; of course there is more than one Lasallian vocation; i.e., the Brothers. I asked for one of our group's members to chime in, and Br. Jorge did so with a clear description of how "Lasallian vocations" referred to many other people who were not Brothers and shared our mission, etc. - pretty basic stuff, I had thought, but apparently not seen as such in all parts of the Institute. Then the assembly moved on to the last group and its report.

At 4:00 pm, an explanation was given as to how we would now begin a process of moving towards electing new central government for the Institute. The actual voting would begin next Wednesday, but today we would start to name names. Here were the steps:

• From 4:15 to 5:00 was personal time for prayer and reflection.
• 5:00 - Get together in language groups
• Make a list of qualities and names for the Institute's central government
• 5:45 - Go back to the Aula Magna to listen to the lists and see the names.
• 6:00 - Get together by Regional groups
• Do the same thing for the region: qualities and names for Regional Councillor. It was noted that Regional councillors need not be from the region.
• 6:30 - Back to the Aula Magna to listen to the lists and see those names.
• Vote for your top three candidates for the central government and the top three names as Regional councillors on paper ballots. 

The language group, ENG2, thinking about qualities and names.

The next couple of hours were very busy, with some silent stares across the room as people tried to figure out which names to name, whether the person was in the room or not. It was a bit awkward, actually, and would have worked better with nominations on paper - or via an app! - and a certain level a discreet secrecy. Nevertheless, we came up with 14 names for the central government and 11 names for a possible Regional Councillor. These were then submitted each time we returned to the Aula Magna. Meanwhile, the secretarial staff was rushing around trying to put together the lists of names into a form that Brothers could vote on. From my experience at past District Chapters as General Secretary, I knew the feeling well.

Waiting for results and reports in the Aula Magna.

It will not be a surprise to learn that we went way overtime, finishing at 7:15 pm. The planned 6:45 prayer in the chapel was postponed for another day, the ballots were filled in and submitted, and the Brothers went to dinner. After dinner, a small group of us went to the Irish bar located near the back gate of the property, where we had a lively conversation that included what our "dream team" of leaders might look like. No names in this blog, however, because that's just a bit too risky. But stay tuned to developments. I can let you know that our group pretty much concentrated around the same two people. We will find out next week whether the Holy Spirit agrees with us.

Brs. Nick, Luke (from Thailand), Dylan, Rey, me,

and Junior (his actual first name) from Brazil and now in Chile.

May 13, 2022 - General Chapter 46

This was the first full day for the "transformative paths" (interest groups) to meet and hammer out their specific proposals for the General Chapter assembly to consider in a day or two. The group that I was assigned to, Vocations and Accompaniment, met in one of the rooms in the basement of the Casa Generalizia. Since I had volunteered to be the secretary, I asked for a projector so that any texts that we created could be projected onto the wall. As it turned out, there was a projector in the room that had been attached to the ceiling, but I hadn't seen it; a good example of the fact that the things you need are often right in front of you.

At breakfast in the large dining room, a WhatsApp text was shared indicating that today was the birthday of Br. David Hawke, quickly confirmed by the spontaneously singing of "Happy Birthday" at the table where he happened to be seated, joined in by everyone in the room. Another nice indication of the positive spirit of the group and the thus-far relaxed atmosphere of our gatherings.

Br. Olavo from Brazil shared his Mate with Br. David

on the occasion of his birthday. He rather liked it.

At 9:00 am we resumed our work in small "Transformative Pathways" groups. It's good that we had a projector in the room for taking notes and sharing conclusions or draft of possible documents. It's much easier to work with a text projected to everyone than relying on oral memory.

Morning Coffee Break

For most of the morning, we shared our thoughts about the Brothers' vocation and the challenges of proper accompaniment in supporting vocational discernment, especially with young Brothers in communities. Some highlights of the discussion:

• One Brother spoke about the importance of our vocation because of its impact on our lay Partners. They value it. He had been the only Brother in a school in Europe and found that the students, teachers, and parents really valued his presence. We need to give ourselves enough credit and affirmation to embrace the vocation.
• It is important that Brothers are seen. People cannot join what they cannot see. Plus, Brothers are somewhat handicapped by the fact that they tend to embrace humility, which is also a general characteristic of teachers in general.
• In one European country, Brothers are divided about public expressions of faith, such as wearing a small cross or wearing the robe. There was the illustration of one Brother who was proud of the fact that he taught in a public school and that no one knew that he was a Brother. But students usually know if a teacher is married, etc., so why wouldn't we be witnesses to our religious vocation?
• It is important to think about the theology of religious life as Brothers. More work should be done in this area, especially in the face of clericalism and a synodal church.
• The very helpful input of Circular 475 was mentioned several times, and I arranged via email that copies in Spanish and English be delivered to the room during our morning conversations.
• Two things were finally highlighted: Brothers have to reaffirm their vocation for themselves, and Brothers have to be able to speak about their vocation to others.

There was a rather long conversation about doing something that would be a paradigm shift and would lead to Brothers and others to re-examine the nature of their commitment and priorities. In the end, the idea didn't rise to the level of a proposition, but the conversation was rich. The primary thought was well represented by one of the notes / suggestions that had been sent to the General Chapter: "Reincorporating to our Institute the possibility to receive Brothers who profess temporary vows and renew them any number of times and even Brothers who do not profess vows per se but are committed to sharing our life and mission for a definite period of time." The basic idea was not to compel perpetual, or final, vows but to provide the option for Brothers to continually renew their vows, as is the case in other religious institutes. Long discussion ... Arguments on both sides ... No clear resolutions. As for myself, I favored the idea because it would 1) compel Brothers to think about what it means to make a commitment to the Lasallian mission, 2) begin to introduce a way of being associated that does not involve "Final" vows, and 3) bring the Brothers more closely to our Partners in terms of their variety of associations, all of them serious and personal and strong. But the idea was just a bit too radical for the group, and it probably would have met stiff opposition in the general assembly. So much for "bold".

When we broke for lunch, I met up with a couple from Denver, Bill and Cherie Gilbert, who had come to Rome for a short vacation and the start of a cruise. I had met Bill at meetings of the ABC (Association of Board Chairs) in the Bay Area, and he had been helpful on one of the projects that I'd taken on here in Rome. So it was nice to see them, show them around the house, and go with them to Ostia Romana, a very nice restaurant that was within walking distance. The whole thing was a very good break from the intensity of the General Chapter activities.

I returned to our 3:00 pm "Transformative Pathways" group at about 3:40 pm, since the lunch had lasted a little longer than anticipated. But the group was doing just fine. They were working on a draft of their text, which was shaped by design around a "We recognize that ..." statement, followed by a consequent "We are called to ..." statement, followed by a set of three to five "commitments" statements, each had to begin with a verb that brought to action what had been said earlier. It took a while, but we could finally get down to brass tacks and write down what we wanted the new leadership to do in the next seven years.

It would be inappropriate - and presumptive - to share those drafts at this time, but what I can say is that they were thoughtfully massaged over a period of several hours and carefully nuanced to be as clear and direct as possible. The focus was on having ways that vocation ministry and accompaniment for both Brothers and Lasallian partners (we really do need a new word here) was intentional, well supported, fairly distributed, and intentionally executed. During the afternoon break, I wrote the initial drafts of two more commitments - beyond the three that they had begun with - and subsequently we worked on the final wording and nuances. It was interesting to me that in some cases, the Spanish versions were more clearly stated than the English ones. And even though Br. Jorge and Br. William - the de facto participant translators for us - were away at an organizational pre-planned meeting, we were able to communicate well enough to finish our work at around 6:00 pm.

Mass in language groups followed at 6:45 pm. The English group was in the Trinity Chapel just down the hall from Room 33 where we had been meeting. Aferwards, a small group went to the Den for some debriefing and socializing. Several stayed there through dinner, including me, solving the problems of the Institute, and I headed to my room at about 9:30 pm, having forgotten that there would be a musical performance in the Sanctuary. Some beautiful music, choir and organ, was echoed through the corridors, and eventually I went into the chapel to catch the very end of the performance. A good way to end the day. Applause all around.

May 12, 2022 - General Chapter 46

For those who are following the process, and who happen to enjoy complex details and puzzles, note that this morning we finished Route 10 in Phase 2, which was the second day of the Dreaming portion of our process, and moved into Route 11 in Phase 3, the first day of the Strength in Decision major section, the last of three, of the overall plan, initiated by the definition of Pathways of Transformation, the first of two steps. (I had to look all of that up. Let's hope it's not on the quiz.) The previously published detailed daily schedule is now being appropriately adapted each day, since some things took less than than anticipated - the approval of independent group statements, for example - and others took much longer - the discussion of the "values", for example, that took place yesterday.

Some things in the schedule are really quite unpredictable. When we started at 9:00 am, we continued in the approval process of each group's "process" and "results" statements. The approval for the first one - a rather long one in Spanish - was substantially changed to now include parts of the statement that had needed further refinement.The next set from the ENG1 group passed without any comment or amendments. The last set, which came from the ENG2 group (my group), was another story. For 40 minutes the assembly engaged in a wide-ranging conversation about one of the elements in the set. The conversion statement was "A journey of synodality based on trust and availability" and the hoped-for results at the end of the next seven years were "Radical availability of Brothers", "Vibrant Lasallian communities where interiority is fostered", and "Sustainable structures of governance and formation for the Lasallian Family (shared authority, reflect realities, etc.)". The catalyst was the phrase "Lasallian communities". It appears that an elephant in the room managed to squeeze itself through the mousehole of a single phrase.

At breakfast, it appears that the memo
about what to wear was read by some.

There were references to different parts of the Rule that defined what "community" meant, pitting "the Institute is open to new forms of community life." (#54.4) against how the Rule defines a Brothers community (#64) and what that means in Canon law. It led to the introduction of an amendment to remove the word "Lasallian" from the "vibrant Lasallian communities" phrase. This was eventually rejected by a large majority. Heather addressed what seemed to be the fear of some, when she said: "This does not call for all communities to become mixed communities." People seemed to relax a little after that. In the end, the whole thing passed with 63 votes out of 70, a good example of crowd wisdom on display.

There was a break, and then Sr. Leslie introduced the next phase of the process. In the next three days will be "building new paths of transformation" (which to me means getting down to business and making some decisions) and moving into "transformation" groups (otherwise known as interest groups). But first we would have to decide on what areas would be addressed. Hence, we went back to our language groups for about 30 minutes and came up with 3-5 areas ("transformative threads") that we thought were the most important. Then we returned to the Aula Magna where each group reported its recommendations to everyone.

As the secretaries met with the Coordinator and Sr. Leslie to refine all the options into a sensible list to present to the assembly, the Moderator asked me to read the "Letter to the Delegates of AIMEL III" that I had volunteered to write, along with Brothers Carlos Gabriel Gómez (RELAL), Alberto Gómez Barruso (RELEM), Christopher Soosai (PARC) and Rodrigue Toeppen (RELAF). The others had provided input, and I had written the final copy. It was a rather long letter and took a while to read out loud. Since this was read in a roomful of educators, it wouldn't leave the room without recommendations and group edits. Such was the case, with each paragraph considered separately via the Moderator, but the result was definitively improved. Changes were made, and it will be re-introduced tomorrow (I think).

The secretaries at work with the Coordinator

At 12:25 pm, the secretaries group returned and provided their consolidated list of "pathways" - interest groups in pedestrian English. We were released for lunch and resumed at 3:00 pm to consider and vote on each one. For the next ninety minutes, each of the seven "pathways" were considered, with some being approved without a ripple while others experiencing more of a riptide, amendment following amendent - almost all of them finally rejected. In the end, and a fine testimony of the work of the secretaries from the language groups who consolidated them, the list was exactly the same as they had first proposed.

• Evangelization in service to education for the poor (Justice and Peace) [Sailed through]
• Spiritual life: Return to the Gospel, radical availability of the Brother [Amendment to leave out "Spiritual life" failed]
• New structures of leadership and governance. [Sailed through]
• Integral ecology [Two attempts to join it with another one on the list failed]
• Association for a bold and prophetic lasallian family. [Attempt to join it with the next one failed]
• Vocation and Accompaniment [Sailed Through]
• Solidarity, viability, and sustainability [Attempt to combine it with another one failed]

The final set was passed with 67 out of 70 votes. So those are our groups, and we were invited to go online and choose our first and second preferential choices, which we did. Another huddle in the back room then occurred  with the secretaries and the Coordinator, assigning Brothers to the groups according to their preferences. The rest of us hung around in the Aula Magna until at 4:30 we were told to go and have our afternoon break.

The waiting game.

When we returned at 5:00 pm, the distribution lists and locations for our meetings were put on the screen, and after some final instructions and reminders, we were sent to our rooms to organize ourselves and get the job done. We are to develop a global statement for our area that includes no more than five lines of action, and this will be brought back to the assembly for consideration and adoption. There were four principles to keep in mind: broaden the limits of the status quo; challenge suppositions or common routines; base the actions on what has worked in the past; transmit positive images of ourselves. My group was also my first choice: Vocation and Accompaniment.

Our group was in the basement in Room 33. When we got there, the door was locked and no one had a key. I finally found Br. Nestor who knew where the key was located and gave it to me for safe-keeping. Pretty quickly, we decided that we could work with English and Spanish as our main languages, but that we would need interpretation. Luckily, Jorge Sierra was also a member of the group, and he was the translator for this first session, although we asked to have a translator assigned to us for our other meetings.

Between 5:45 pm and 6:40, we chose a Moderator, Br. William Fernando Duque from Bogota who is bilingual and at the University there, and we chose a secretary, yours truly. Then William highlighted the importance of Circular 475 and urged us to read it again, if we could. He then invited us to share our background and reasons for our interest in this topic. With Jorge Sierra's help in translating, each person did so. It was evident that all of those in the room were used to this sort of setting and did what was asked with the minimum of fuss and the maximum of rich information. We finished about 10 minutes before the 6:45 pm Mass and will resume our work tomorrow morning, working all day on the topic that has been entrusted to us.

The contemporary holy water font.

May 11, 2022 - General Chapter 46

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.

The discussion was rich and filled with some great insights. People realized the rich relationships between all of these values, and it would be very difficult to choose only three. The way that we were asked to prioritize our choices was to use menti.com and choose our top three. This would give us a sense of where we were. After a couple of false starts, we did the menti.com survey and found that three of them has risen to the top: solidarity (26%), audacity or boldness (23%), and interiority (23%). The others were 8% or less and therefore not really at the same level. But in the approval voting of the top values, the Coordinator and Moderators had chosen to vote for the top five. I don't know why this was done, since clearly the top three were way ahead of the next two. But "Culture of Encounter" (8%) and "Integral Ecological Commitment" (6%) came to be included in the list; it would be hard to vote against them, since who would choose to not do those things? To my way of thinking, these two latter "values" were of a very different kind than the top three in terms of popularity.

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)

May 10, 2022 - General Chapter 46

Today we moved into a new phase of the discernment process at the General Chapter. The "Challenges" that were combined last evening by the Secretaries of the language groups would be revealed, and a hushed anticipation reflected our interest. The statement was projected on the screen behind the dais, along with the "Conditions" that had been similarly combined.

(This is just a nice photo of a Brother making a phone call outside.)

The task now was to consider, discuss, amend, and approve these statements separately. This was a challenge because the approved process for doing so was cumbersome, limited, and not very user friendly. We were told that we could only ask questions for clarification, which was to be expected, and after that - and right after that - to propose amendments, each of which required a second by a member of the asembly, and each  of which would be immediately voted on after questions of clarification. There was clearly a time element at play. But before I could sufficiently read the run-on sentence to make some sense out of it, we were required to amend it and vote on it. There was really little or no time to reflect on the statement, sit with it a while, and perhaps suggest some elements for change.

There followed a painful (my assessment) 90 minutes during which the Moderators bravely followed the established protocols. There was no general discussion of concerns or amendments, because the time did not allow for this, and any amendments were hardly introduced before they were voted on. The saving grace ws the fact the Brothers in the room were "street smart" when it came to rapidly changing circumstances, and where five amendments were proposed, only three of them passed. The final statement of the "Challenge" was this: "We Brothers of the Christian Schools, called by God and challenged by various forms of poverty and injustice in our world, embrace the founding, prophetic intuition of the Lasallian Family and commit ourselves to witness communion through educational and evangelizing service among those who are impoverished."

(A welcome break in the middle of our session.)

I appreciated the fact that Br. Robert Schieler, our current Superior General, made an intervention indicating that the first word of the original text (Revitalize) didn't seem to be very helpful or positive, and that "We Brothers" would work better. When asked by the Moderator whether this was an amendment, since little else was allowed, he said, "Why not?", and it it was quickly approved. After a number of these amendments had taken place, the Moderator said, "We should move on to the conditions. We’re not approving the ten commandments here." And so we did.

The "Conditions" in their relatively final form said the following (although don't quote me because they still have to be finalized by the Coordinator and the Central Commission, based on subsequent email input):

• As Brothers, beginning with initial formation and continuing throughout our life in community, deepen our vocational identity by responding to the call of God in Jesus allowing our hearts to be touched and converted by those who are poor.
• Our various communities re-imagine, together and by association, our way of living, in order to be fraternal witnesses committed to those most in need.
• At all levels of the Institute we will ensure structures of governance that generate co-responsibility, sustainability, transparency and solidarity to creatively ensure the animation of the Lasallian educational mission throughout the world.

The entire set - Challenges and Conditions - passed with 59 in favor, 5 against, 1 abstaining, and 4 Juxta Modem. Applause all around, probably both because folks were glad that it had passed and glad that this arduous process had been completed. One Brother later called it a very poor example of classroom management. Some of us were just frustrated that after so much talk about a new process, we'd gotten bogged down in word-smithing, as helpful as this might have been. A good alternative would have been to discuss the text, provide input orally or via email, and send it back to the Central Commission who could return with a second version.

After a welcome lunch and a break, at 3:00 pm we moved on to step number 6 (or was it 7?) in the process: World Cafe. After some instructions, we moved to one of the dining rooms where ten tables had been prepared (4 English, 4 Spanish, 2 French). The task was to articulate our "dream" for the future - the main thing that we want to work on, using evocative and motivational language. While those overseeing the process facilitated coffee and cookies all around, we met at the tables and came up with our dreams for the future, moving three times to share and rediscuss and refine it at different tables. I volunteered to be the Secretary/Moderator at one of the tables, but I guess I didn't understand the instructions clearly because my table never did come up any clear "dream" statement. 

After the excercise, those anchoring each table, including me, got together in language groups to combine their results into a single language-based statement. Ours was "Create One LaSalle that invigorates life and mission through Gospel fraternity." The French ended up with "Un Institut renouvelé générateur de nombreuses nouvelles vocations lasalliennes comme levain d’un monde plus fraternel. (A renewed Institute generating many new Lasallian vocations as leaven in a more fraternal world.)" and the Spanish had "Una familia en salida al encuentro de Dios en los empobrecidos y la promoción de la justicia. (One family in search of a meeting with God in the impoverished and the promotion of justice.)" Are you getting interested yet?

After comments from the floor, the group leaders left the room to see if they could put all of that into one statement. During this interim time, the rest of us heard from the representatives of the Guadalupanas Sisters and the Lasallian Sisters from Vietnam who were there. Both were refreshing, short presentations about their realities and the various challenges that they were facing, and both received sincere, sustained applause.

When the "combined" version of the "dream" returned to the floor, we went through a similar process of consideration of statemements, amendments, suggestions, etc., and ended up with our final statement of the "dream" for the future: "We are one renewed Lasallian Family of different vocations, leaven for a more fraternal world, sent forth to encounter God in those who are poor and to promote justice." For the very first time in our voting process the acceptance of this statement was 68 in favor and 2 Juxta Modem, which meant that everyone in the room voted for it. It was unanimous, with a couple of folks indicating that they'd like to see some slight modification which they would submit later.

The last piece of today's activities would happen in the regional groups. We were asked to meet and determine the "values" that would strengthen, reinforce, inculcate, and prioritize this recently articulated "dream". In our RELAN group, Br. Robert Schaeffer did a clever thing, asking us to split into four sub-groups and determine the attitude, behavior, or action that would ensure that this dream never comes true, followed by the values that we need to transform those negative ones. These were then shared in the larger group, and the list was "voted" on by going around the room and choosing the top three in our estimation. The final ones that we will submit tomorrow at our first general meeting were Audacity (or Holy Audacity from Med 96.2), Vulnerability (the willingness to take risks and to fail, and to be honest about having participated in the structures that got us here), and Perseverance (Faithfulness).

Because we pretty much regulated ourselves at the end of the day, we were able to end at around 6:00 pm and not the 6:43 pm of the previous days, just before Mass at 6:45 pm, giving us the rare luxury of some free time. After the liturgy, the RELEM and RELAF groups went out for dinner, leaving the RELAN and RELAF groups in the dining hall - a much smaller group. Afterwards, some when to the Den for some welcome relaxation.

May 9, 2022 - General Chapter 46

Today's activites were complicated by the fact that it was my 70th birthday. Not only did this little matter hijack most of the relational activities of the day, but it was also a challenge to my hoped-for sense of humility. I don't think that I've been so warmly congratulated by so many people at any other birthday that I can remember ... which is a mental activity that has become a little less reliable than before. HERE is a short video of the assembly in song.

But this isn't a blog about my birthday, so let's get to the business of the day. The very first overview of the day, presented by Br. Jorge, recognized the fact that participants in the Chapter has expressed their interest in spending more time talking about the presentation that Paco and Heather had made about the Secretariat of Association, and so the schedule was adapted to accommodate that desire. We would spend out first hour discussing their presentation and answering questions from the Chapter delegates. 

A very rich discussion period followed. Just some highlights that are entirely personally chosen:

• What is the mechanism in which we associate others in decisions about the mission? Decisions are made through a vocation, through dedication to the mission, through holiness. Answer: experiential formation is needed by all in the Lasallian mission. Look at Circular 475 to see how vocations are developed. All Christians are called to holiness, and all of us share this concern for the mission. There could be poorly trained Brothers. not only lay people.
• Charismatic families in other congregations have a council so that they can make official what it means to be part of that charismatic family. Shouldn't we have the same thing? Answer: Not yet. We don’t have an established standard of identity for the Lasallian Family. Perhaps later we can begin a process for a letter of identity. For now, the Letter to the Lasallian Family suffices.
• A concern was expressed that we are not an NGO. The institute is a public expression of the church.  If we don’t reference the Rule, I don’t know how we talk about association. The Rule manifests the character of the Institute and gives the meaning of the Brothers life. Answer: The work of charismatic families is also a public work to be present in the Church. Religious life doesn’t fill the entire charism. Therefore, the Rule doesn’t apply to lay people; it applies to the Brothers. We need to adjust ourselves to journey along together.
• The model of association needs more study. The Institute needs more models of association. But maybe we don’t give a lot of value to the vocation of the Brother. Perhaps we’re guilty of something. We have to improve, to look at our history, and to revise our structure. This is the institute of the Brothers of the Christian Schools, with our lay partners in different models of association. Answer by Heather: "AIMEL in one of its proposals calls for more structures of association. In terms of the Brothers vocation, I don’t want to be a committed member of the Lasallian family without the Brothers. Many Lasallian Partners are working hard to ask young men to join the Institute - perhaps more than some Brothers. My vocation as a committed Lasallian Partners is not there because there are few brothers in my district, but because I’ve been called to serve young people - that’s the Holy Spirit; not a statistic."

More questions of the a similar sort ensued. At 10:00 am, Sr. Leslie introduced the next step in the process, whereby we will generate collective sharing and awareness, paths in the midst of diversity. The primary question is "What is the challenge that the Institute has at this time? What is it that impels me towards the future? Where do we want to give our mark, our footsteps? We will spend some time reflecting on our own and then meet in language groups to come to an shared understanign of our primary challenge or vision, and we will determine the three conditions or aspects of our present reality that are needed to address that challenge. (I know that some of this seems like corporate speak, but it made sense to us and was explained well.)

When we did get together, we again did the Phillips 4, 4, 4 method so that small group conversations turned into larger group conversations, whereby our thoughts were unified into a single statement.

There was a break for lunch and some rest before resuming at 3:00 pm. Since this was my 70th birthday, the midday meal included a large cake and an enthusiastic singing of "Happy Birthday to You" on the part of the 70+ delegates, with myself standing next to the cake. It's always a nice and slightly awkward position to be in. While I'm not one to really relish such singular attention, I also must say that I was touched by the sincerity of the sentiments expressed. The Brothers really are very kind in situations such as this. The cake was cut and Brothers jumped in to help with the cutting up of the cake and the distribution, Thankfully, there was just enought to go around.

Resuming our work at 3:00 pm, we returned to our language groups  - ENG2 for me - and worked on creating a "challenge" statement and three "conditions" that would help make it possible to begin to address that challenge. Some members of our group were very practically minded and helped us refine some intitial proposed language so that it simply and strongly said what we wanted to say. I'll just share what our group said our challenge was: "We are challenged to deepen our commitment to become Gospel witnesses of communion that compels us to further respond to the educational service of the poor." Our group was fairly homogeneous about the details and we finished our work at around 4:00 pm, which gave me time to go to my office and do some of my other work until 5:30 pm when everyone would return to the Aula Magna to report the results from their group.

The six groups dutifully did so within about 18 minutes, although an hour had been scheduled. There were few questions. The rest of the time was given to general input, opinions, or concerns. It was an engaging and rich exchange. Among the highlights:

• How does our education offer an emancipatory and liberating education for the marginalized, especially communities that have been "made poor" by society over the years?
• What does "charismatic family" mean? Answer: The definition comes from the Union of Superiors General: People from different states of life who recognize themselves as belonging to the same charism as the Founder and united in the family of Christ.
• There was an expression of concern about the next step, in which representatives of the six groups will meet this evening to create a single "challenge" and three "conditions" from the ideas submitted by the six language groups (two Spanish, two English, one French) in such as way that it will make all of us feel included and specific enough to be transformative. A difficult task
• We should be careful about using the expression of "charistmatic family." The Lasallian Family is more inclusive than the charismatic family - perhaps this is not the most adequate expression for the Lasallian world, since we are in locations that are not largely Christian and yet have a real impact there.
• The last intervention shared five terms that stood our to this delegate as key, especially since they represented the "God possessed" notion highlighted by our first speaker. The terms were prophetic, consciousness shift, charismatic, founding intuition, and gospel fraternity.

It should be noted that while these are long days for the participants of the Chapter, some members would spend even longer in either writing up the minutes (the appointed secretaries) or meeting to consolidate input from the various groups. This evenning's work in that respect will be key.

(Here is the group working through the evening
 to produce a consolidated "challenge" and "conditions")

After some announcements from Br. Jorge Sierra, the session was closed at 6:30 and Mass followed at 6:45 pm - with French hymns. After dinner, there was a social for the general group, although perhaps only twenty people were there. People are getting a bit tired and probably cherish their own time. 

It's clear, however, that we've embarked on the "next phase" of our process, during which we will begine to establish our primary directions and focus. Tomorrow the group that is consolodating our language group reports will provide a single "challenge" - supported by threee "conditions" - that will be presented, discussed, and voted on by the assembly. It's a challenging task for that group, and I look forward to see the fruit of their evening labors. As for myself, I'm glad to get to bed before midnight. And I'm very thankful for the very kind wishes that have been showered on me today.

May 8, 2022 - General Chapter 46

This was the I-can't-believe-we-have-a-break day. The Chapter has been going full bore for a week, and today was the day that we could relax a bit, according to our preferences. The major options were a trip to Assisi or doing something around Rome. (The third option, of course, was to make up your own itinerary for the day.) I chose to go to Assisi because I hadn't been there for quite a while.

The bus left at 7:30 am. Quoting Br. Antxon, "Not 7:26 or 7:35, but 7:30 am." And indeed this was the case. The large bus was waiting and ready in the front courtyard of the Casa Generalizia, and some 30+ Brothers participated, Brothers from each of the three language groups. The drive there would take about 3 hours, but it was a comfortable ride and people settled down to having conversations, doing some reading or surfing on their phones, or simply watching the scenery or sleeping. I did the latter, since I'd only gotten about 5 hours or sleep.

Upon arrival, half the group - the older bunch, of whom I now consider myself one - made a beeline for the bathrooms near the bus parking lot, and then we received the overview of the day from Br. Antxon. It had been pre-arranged that two Franciscans would meet us near the "New Church" to take an English group and a Spanish group to different locations for input about the Franciscans and their experiences, including the efforts they have made to bring the major Franciscan groups together in recent years. We had some fine input and interactions that lasted for about an hour. After this, we were free to roam around the streets until the planned meal at a restaurant that was located near the bus park.

The plan was to go to Mass in Assisi, and the group I was with assumed that it would be in the large Basilica. So we dutifully went in that direction and went inside for the 12:45 Mass. I moved a little closer to the front in order to appreciate the artwork and choir that was singing behind the altar. Just before the Mass was about to begin, some of the others came to me to whisper that they'd just been informed - via Whatsapp? - that the Mass instead was going to be at the New Church at the other end of town, and that we were already late. So we left and rapidly made our way through tourists, older couples, baby prams, and the like to walk uphill to the other end of town as fast as we could. I went quickly, but I wasn't going to go crazy with it and was the last in the line. Once we got there, we went inside and found most of the rest of our crew already there. (Some never made it and did end up going to the mass in the Basilica, with the bishop no less.) Br. Vincent handed me a piece of paper and said, "Please read this." Thus I found out that I would be doing the first reading. 

The church was quite small, but rather nice. It was located on the spot where the family house of St. Francis had been. The priest was one of the earlier Franciscan presenters, and everything went quite well, Vincent had prepared the readings, etc., and the singing was strong and sincere for both the English, Italian, and Spanish songs or responses. Afterwards, we were free to go off on our own. I ran off into the city and popped into the occasional shop or art store. I was impressed with the work of "Norberto", a native of Assisi who had died 14 years ago but whose prints and paintings were rather clever and evocative. But even a small print, while of good quality, was 300 Euros. It was nice to see them, however, because of the clear talent of the artist and the whimsical character they included.

Eventually, I made my way to the restaurant, running into two Brothers who were also a little late for the 1:30 pm meal. The restaurant, which had "Oasis" in the name, was a large building across the street from the bus park and well hidden. The three of us couldn't get into what appeared to be the front door, and so we walked around, seeing people inside but unable to determine how to get in. When we went back to what appeared to be the front, Br. Nestor rescued us, having seen us hovering around the windows and opening the door for us. The subsequent meal was very good. I especially liked the way they cooked the vegetables that were part of my special plate. The taste of the vegetables popped out in ways that never happens at the Motherhouse. I'd love to know their secret. They also served a liquer that was made of hazel nuts; I described it to one Brother as an alcohol Nutella. In the bus later, Br. Antxon said that the Brothers had made the same sort of liquer years back, and the rule was 3, 3, 3, 3. This referred to three kilos of young nuts, three kilos of sugar, three liters of alcohol, and three months. Sounds like something to try out at home.

We were then again released to wander about town for a bit, and I hit the streets, pursuing several interesting looking alleys and ending up on an almost empty road skirting the upper levels of the town. I'd also made sure to get to the cathedral and see the tomb of Saint Francis and the various chapels. While there were plenty of people around, I have to say that the place carried an atmosphere of peace and settledness. You could move around at your own pace, and there was a sort of devotional feel to it all when you were in the basilica or the area around the tomb of St. Francis. 

The only stress that I experienced was when I discovered that it was getting close to the time for the bus to leave Assisi, and I was still at the other end of town. There was one thing that I had seen earlier and now wanted to purchase, so I quickly went to that store, told the lady that I was in a rush, and made my purchase quickly with her assistance. Then I fast-walked, again uphill, to the other end of town - probably faster than the earlier get-to-Mass time because we'd been told that the bust would leave at 4:30 with or without us. When it was 4:23, I thought that I would easily make it because I'd reached the town's arch. But when I got there, I noticed that there were actually two arches, and the first town arch was 200 yards further, and the minutes were trickling by. But by speeding up a little more, I reached the bus at 4:29:10, somewhat exhausted and red-faced but in time to say "Here" at the roll call inside. The bus then went to the La Porziuncola inside the Basilica di Santa Maria degli Angeli, about twenty minutes away, where we stayed until 5:30 pm.

The trip back to Rome was uneventful, although we arrived back a little late, at 8:30 pm. We went right to the dining room for a late supper, and to celebrate the birthdays of Keanne Palatino and Br. Michael French. Afterwards, and planned ahead, there was a gathering in the Den to have another birthday celebration with cakes that Hearther had purchased for Keanne, Michael, and me, since my birthday is tomorrow. The place had balloons and decorations as well. Upon arrival in the den at around 9 pm, it was already filled with some 20 people. We had a really nice celebration. Each birthday person was asked to say something, and the leftover sparklers from yesterday's Secretariat of Association presentation were used as the backdrop for singing "Happy Birthday" - repeated at least two times because the sparklers kept sparkling. Really a fine evening and much appreciated by the others and by me.