A Celebration of Gratitude

The fraternity of the General Curia hosted a celebration to thank all the workers who had a part in the renovation of the generalate. Over one hundred workers, spouses and children attended. There was a short ceremony during which Br. Mauro recognized the hard work and dedication that went into the renovation project, followed by a video that recounted the various phases of the work. The celebration concluded with a beautiful dinner prepared by our cook Claudio and our staff.

House blessing of the renovated General Curia

Nearly three years after moving out of the building in Via Piemonte, home of the Capuchin General Curia since about 1950, the friars were able to return a few weeks ago. To say that we are happy with the results would be an understatement. The renovations, while maintaining the original sobriety in the choice of materials and the simplicity of its style, has given the Order a generalate that is much more comfortable and functional.

The renovated facility was solemnly blessed by the General Minister, Mauro Jöhri, on Saturday, September 13. About sixty invited guests attended the ceremonies, including members of the generalate staff, friars from the fraternities in Rome, representatives of the Capuchin Conferences, and the architects and contractors along with their families. The NAPCC was ably represented by Br. Francis Gasparik, Provincial Minister of the Province of Saint Mary.

The celebration began in the courtyard with prayers. Mauro and a small group of friars then processed through the building, blessing it with holy wat

er. When he was finished blessing the house, everyone moved into the chapel for the Eucharist.

Following the celebration of the Mass, a brief ceremony was held in the "Sala di catechesi" (meeting room) during which Mauro thanked the various people who were most involved in the work of renovating the building. This was followed by a video presentation put together by Br. Marek Przeczewski showing the various stages of the work, from the time of the "exodus" until our return to the building a few weeks ago. 

The guests were then served hors d'oeuvres in the portico of the courtyard. It was a splendid Roman September day, pleasantly warm without being too hot, and nary a cloud in sight. 

The celebrations concluded with a pranzone prepared by our excellent kitchen staff. If anyone left hungry, it was his or her own fault. After dinner, a tour of the building were offered for anyone who wanted it. 

Goodbye and hello again

On October 11, 2011, I moved to San Lorenzo di Brindisi International College in preparation for the renovation of the General Curia. Almost all of us, went from having a bedroom and an office to having one room that for both working and sleeping. There was some grumbling about that (yes, brothers grumble! Who knew?), but in the end I didn't miss the extra space that much. The International College is not the ideal space for a generalate, but it worked.

Now we are approaching the day when we can return to our renovated building. The first group of "pioneers" is scheduled to move on July 7. Their task will be to get the house cleaned and ready for the rest of the community. The rest of the fraternity will begin moving their belongings on July 14. The fraternity's last day in "Green Acres" is scheduled for July 20. Although there are some things I will miss about live at the International College, I am looking forward to moving back into Rome. Unfortunately, I will not actually get there until early September. Since I am leaving on July 5 for two months, I have been packing up my books, files and personal belongings for transport to Via Piemonte. Even after weeding out a lot of unnecessary documents and unwanted books, I still have at least fifteen boxes of stuff for my office. Fortunately, there will be a lot fewer boxes of personal items. It makes me glad I took a vow of poverty!

The General Curia, by the way, looks fantastic. We paid a visit to it last week during the New Ministers Meeting. Although there is still a lot of work to do in the chapel and in the front corridor of the ground floor, the workers are making great progress.

The Wraps Are (partially) Off

Rooftop view of the Generalate's courtyard

It is a good sign when the scaffolding starts to come down! This photograph of the General Curia in Via Piemonte was taken at the end of November. Note the new windows and shutters on the top floor. By the time you read this, most of the windows on the first floor (for American readers, that would be the second floor) will also be installed. Except for the fixtures, the bulk of the plumbing and electrical work is done. The tile floors have been laid everywhere except the ground floor and the basement. In other words, the place is beginning to look habitable again.

Currently, most of the work is concentrated on the ground floor and basement, where there is still much work to do. Even there, however, things are beginning to take shape. It is not unusual these days to have around 80 workers on site who, between the main contractors and the subcontractors, might be working for a dozen different companies. As you can imagine, it takes a great amount of coordination just to keep the workers from tripping over themselves. Thankfully, we have a very attentive and competent project manager, not to mention a very serious, exacting manager of safety.

During the course of the work, it was discovered that one of our two connections to the city sewer had collapsed at some time in the past. Repairs can only be started once all the scaffolding has been removed from that area. It is difficult to estimate how much time it will take to repair the line, but the contractor hopes they can begin the work in early 2014.

We are still hopeful that we can begin moving back to Via Piemonte in late June or early July 2014.

Curia renovations underway

After years of planning and months of delicate negotiations to receive the necessary permits, the renovation of the General Curia finally began on 9 April 2012. The contract for the project's first phase, which was awarded to Mannelli Costruzioni, involves the demolition of unnecessary walls, the removal of old plumbing, heating and electrical fixtures, the construction of new walls and the installation of a second elevator. The demolition work has begun in earnest, and work on the new elevator is proceeding rapidly.

The project calls for excavations in two areas: the first is a small area where the base of the new elevator will be laid, and the second is in the courtyard. The latter will serve initially to facilitate the removal of rubble and old equipment from the basement of the building. Eventually it will hold a large cistern for harvesting rainwater that can be used in the toilets, laundry and garden. Harvesting rainwater will save money in the long run, and it has several environmental advantages so it is an important part of the project. In Rome, however, one never knows what might be lurking underground. The excavations had to be done slowly and under the watchful eye of an archaeologist; the discovery of any historically interesting artifact can put projects on hold indefinitely. There was a sigh of relief, therefore, when digging for the base of the elevator turned up nothing but dirt. The excavation in the courtyard did not go quite as smoothly. First, they found an old cistern used to store heating oil. No problem, that can be removed. Next, they discovered part of an old wall. Upon inspection, it turned out to be "only" from the 17th century and so of no historical value (in the photograph, the wall is on the left and the cistern is visible above the wall). Down another meter, however, they found another, older wall (the location of which is indicated by the rods sticking out of the ground). This one will have to be left in place, forcing us to slightly shift the location of the rainwater cistern — only a minor issue. Two days ago, the excavation hit another snag — the discovery of a "cavern" that runs the entire width of the courtyard. A preliminary examination seemed to indicate that it was either a natural formation or the remains of a rock quarry. If that is the case, it should not present a problem, but as I write this we are awaiting an official determination.

The next step in the process is to award the contract for the electrical and plumbing work, one for the doors and windows and one for the flooring, all of which should be completed in June.

Br Luis Eduardo Rubiano (right) discusses the project with the general contractor, Mr Carlo Mannelli. Luis is standing where the guardian's office used to be. The walls between the rooms have been removed.

A view of what was once the archives and toilets.

My old office is still intact, but not for long (sniff).

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.