tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2622917811567969872.post6581690078100281313..comments2022-10-10T18:12:28.137+02:00Comments on Just a Brother: Principles vs. PracticeJABhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04105516457156795165noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2622917811567969872.post-42944243239038692462011-07-06T19:22:19.026+02:002011-07-06T19:22:19.026+02:00Lay brothers as major superiors. In the early year...Lay brothers as major superiors. In the early years of my stay at the General Curia in Rome (1995 onwards)this was possible thanks to the determination of our General Minister John Corriveau, the tenacity of the General Procurator Francisco Iglesias and the reasonable approach of some Vatican Officials. It was always an exception granted graciously by Mother Church, never a right. The procedure was as follows: When a lay brother was elected by a provincial chapter, the president had to call Rome, the Procurator had to call the Vatican or submit by hand the justification for the exemption from the law. After a few hours or a day the permission was given and the elected lay brother could be declared Minister Provincial. <br />Since around 2000 no permissions were given and we were even told not to ask for any exception. Do not expect this policy to change.<br />In the meantime the Church has hardened and cut off dialogue on vital questions of ecclesial community concerns. Pope Benedict is a good theologian and his reflections are rich but does he really trust the Holy Spirit?<br />Br. Gandolf, Abu Dhabi, class 1940yeshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11908278646054715930noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2622917811567969872.post-34676691975371452952011-07-05T21:58:44.224+02:002011-07-05T21:58:44.224+02:00Thought of this post again when I was looking for ...Thought of this post again when I was looking for another quote in Jacques Dalarun's <i>Francis of Assisi and Power</i> and saw the suggestion that at one point St. Dominic wanted the lay friars to run his Order. (p. 53Brother Charleshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07780326836452864455noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2622917811567969872.post-20396157717469804742011-05-30T15:41:37.244+02:002011-05-30T15:41:37.244+02:00This is a very hard business.
When I was a novice...This is a very hard business.<br /><br />When I was a novice I was at a chapter that tried to elect a lay friar provincial minister. They got "The Speech" from John Corriveau. The frustration was fairly strong, but in the end the chapter consented to the impracticability of their will.<br /><br />It doesn't seem to me that there is anything in the Rule to suggest that the office of minister at any level should require ordination. So that's the basic assertion; by the Rule we profess it would seem that any brother could be chosen as the "servant of the whole fraternity."<br /><br />Nevertheless, in what is a clerical institute both by designation and in practice, I understand why the Holy See does not see how a lay friar could be a provincial or general minister. To make a layman into something like an ordinary must seem to the Holy See as a step toward undoing the basic framework of the visible sacramental economy of the Church.<br /><br />I guess that's a long way of saying that I don't know the answer. I expect that this problem is an expression of a tension embedded in our charism between Franciscan minority and the power/jurisdiction of Orders, especially as it would appear in a major superior. How does the power of governance, especially in the clerical sense, go together with the radical minority of our charism? I'm not sure. I tried to write my licentiate on this, and landed on some assertions about the irony of the cross, but I have to admit that I didn't resolve the question for myself.<br /><br />It was good to check in at our chapter, thanks as always for the encouragement and thoughtful laughs.Brother Charleshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07780326836452864455noreply@blogger.com