SFO International Council - Weekly edition
Volume: 3 - N. 19 - 1997 - May - II
From: CIOFS Bulletin, 1997, N. 1
Emanuela De Nunzio
The CIOFS Presidency met in Rome from 11 - 17 December 1996. After a brief review on the General Chapter and the work allocated to the Presidency in the Conclusions of the Chapter, the working methods to be followed in the coming six years were discussed in order to reach the required objectives, applying the general principles of "collegiality" and "subsidiarity".
For each objective it was decided to set up a "Project" which
would use the skills, experience and aptitudes in the best way.
Therefore the Presidency:
- defined the "Projects";
- fixed the amount of time and commitment of expenditure necessary
to realize them;
- determined which member would become the contact person for each
Project (co-ordinator).
The co-ordinators can make use of all helpful contributions from inside or outside the Presidency (especially from International Councillors and National Councils) and will report progress to the Presidency.
Every final decision remains, however, in the responsibility of the Presidency in its collegiality.
On the basis of the Conclusions of the General Chapter the priority of the Projects for the immediate future has been defined. We give you a short description of these Projects and shall inform you on the further developments of the single initiatives.
1. Project "Formation in the countries of the former
USSR"
In a first phase the Project envisages:
- A formation seminar to be held in Ukraine in 1998 (Co-ordinator
Wilhelmina Visser-Pelsma);
- the support of the Presidency of formation initiatives set up by
the SFO Fraternities of Russia.
2. Project "Africa"
It will consist of contacts and initiatives necessary to gradually
build up the African National Fraternities by means of an
accompanying process, mainly in the field of formation and
concluding with a fraternal and pastoral visit. The Project will be
co-ordinated by Emanuela De Nunzio, Jean Pierre Rossi and Rosalvo
Mota.
3. Project "Communication"
The Project, co-ordinated by Emerenziana Rossato, aims at realizing
for the SFO a new "culture of communication", as an essential
instrument of sharing and participation. In this regard the
Presidency has decided to confer on an expert, brother Claudio
Cerfoglia, the position of Press Officer in order to expertly back
up the institutional activities of the Presidency.
4. Project "Vademecum"
Marianne Powell has been given the responsibility of continuing the
work of the previous six years on the SFO leaders' formation
Vademecum, in order to make it a workable manual for use by all SFO
fraternities, especially emerging ones.
5. Project "Competency of International YOUFRA
Councillors"
The Project, which will be co-ordinated by Pedro Nuño da
Silva Coelho, aims to outline a better organization for the
international structure of YOUFRA, and a definition of the duties
of the international leaders which can be taken into consideration
in the revision of the General Constitutions.
6. Project "Participation of YOUFRA at the International
Youth Meeting"
For the initiatives to be undertaken regarding the Meeting in Paris
in August 1997 the co-ordinator will be Fr. Ben Brevoort, General
Assistant.
7. Project "Franciscan Children"
The project which will be co-ordinated by Alicia Gallardo, intends
to give uniformity of direction in the application of Art. 25 of
the General Constitutions and to stimulate those National
Fraternities where little has been done for the formation of
Franciscan Children.
8. Project "Ecumenism"
As the majority of Secular Franciscans lack knowledge of the
subject, the need to offer them simple and precise information has
been recognized. Marianne Powell has been given the task of taking
care of a pre-project.
In addition to these new duties the Presidency has also
confirmed:
- to Encarnación del Pozo the task of co-ordinating
the Juridical Commission of CIOFS for the revision of the National
Statutes and for the juridical advice to the Minister General and
to the Presidency;
- to Marianne Powell the task of representing the SFO on
the InterFranciscan Commission JPE and (together withRichard
Morton, National Minister SFO of USA) on the working group for
the revision of the Statutes of Franciscans International.
Another important decision of the Presidency concerns the make up of the Commission for the revision of the General Constitutions. The Commission is composed of:
Francisco Cortés, co-ordinator (Spain)
Gerard Lenglet (France)
Paulo Machado (Brazil)
Marguerite Stein (USA).
This decision was sent in the complete text to the International Councillors and National Councils because it contains information that concerns them directly. In fact, after having examined the material on this matter which was distributed during the General Chapter, the final proposals and modifications that the National Councils intend to put forward to the Commission and to the International Secretariat must be received not later than 31 May 1997.
Before concluding this summary of our work, I would like to return briefly to the matter of the Projects. For each one I have written the name of the co-ordinator so that the National Councils and all interested Secular Franciscans can make direct contact, furnishing the material that has been drawn up in their respective countries and the experience they have had on these matters. We need everybody's help and everyone must feel involved in a spirit of family and co-responsibility in the whole SFO "as an organic union of all the Fraternities throughout the world" (cf. Gen.Const. Art. 30.1).
We also need financial support because many of the Projects
underway are asking for considerable means of finance. During its
last meeting in December the Presidency decided to appropriate the
following sums:
- 10,000,000 lire (US$ 6,700) to support the International Youth
Meeting 1997;
- 5,000,000 lire (US$ 3,500) to contribute to the expenses of the
working group for the Statutes of FI;
- 2,000,000 lire (US$ 1,350) for the expenses of the press office
in the first six months of 1997.
- An amount, unknown at the moment, for the working expenses of the
Commission for the Revision of the General Constitutions.
Also Project Africa requires the availability of finance for the formation participation and the fraternal visits. These are exceptional burdens which will increase the Presidency's budget for the year in progress.
We earnestly request the National Councils to pay their ordinary contributions punctually and in full and - if they would like to, if they can - to sponsor some Project in which they feel particularly interested.