The Big Purge

Although we are still waiting for final approval of our project by the Ministry of Cultural Heritage and Environmental Conservation, we plan to completely vacate the General Curia by the end of October 2011 so that renovations can begin. Hope springs eternal! The delicate tasks of moving the library and the archives of the General Postulator and General Procurator are nearly complete. Many of the Curia's other offices have begun to move some materials to our temporary home at the International College.

One of the advantages of having to completely vacate the premises is that it gives everyone an opportunity to cull unnecessary or duplicate items from our offices. We have probably supplied enough recycled paper to save a few dozen trees. The furniture that is not needed for our rooms at the International College will be given to the Capuchin Poor Clares or organizations serving the poor. The old computers, printers and other electronic devices that have accumulated in storage over the past few decades will be disposed of in an environmentally-friendly manner. Ditto for the inks and chemicals remaining from the days when the Curia did its own printing. Saved from recycling, however, was the General Curia's first computer—an IBM PC-XT, purchased in 1985. I hope to convince the Capuchin Museum to add the computer to its collection.

The friars themselves will move to their new digs at the International College during October. Since I will be in Rome for less than two weeks during all of October, I have begun to move all non-essential items to the International College now. My desk has never been so clean. This must be what Capuchin austerity looks like! For the sake of clarity, I wish to point out that most of the boxes in the photograph to the right do not contain my personal belongings. In fact, just to move the complete set of the Analecta OFMCap. that came with the office required four boxes. I suppose I could give the set away, but I couldn't bring myself to part with it.