SFO International Council - Weekly edition
Volume: 8 - N. 39 - 2002 - September - IV
From: CIOFS Secretariat
Draft to be discussed at the General Chapter, November 15-23, 2002
(Part III)
1. The Minister General of the SFO is the visible and effective
sign of the unity and communion within the Secular Franciscan
Order.
2. In addition to the duties described under Article 74.2 of the
General Constitutions, the Minister General is responsible:
a. to represent the SFO before the Holy See, excepting that which
is foreseen in the General Constitutions under Article 87.2;
b. to ensure that tasks entrusted to the Presidency Councillors are
carried out;
c. to entrust to the Secretariat the powers necessary for carrying
out the resolutions of the Presidency and of the General Chapter
within the limits of the responsibilities proper to the
Secretariat;
d. to present to the General Chapter a report on the situation of
the Order at the world level, a report on the activity of the
International Council of the SFO and of the Presidency and the
state of the financial accounts.
The duties of the Vice-Minister General are:
a. to collaborate with the Minister in a fraternal spirit and to
support the Minister in carrying out his or her service;
b. to exercise the functions that are entrusted to him or her by
the Chapter and/or the Presidency;
c. to substitute the Minister in his or her competencies and
responsibilities in the case of absence or temporary
impediment;
d. to assume the office of Minister when the office remains vacant
(cfr. GC Art. 81.1).
1. The International Council has its own Secretariat. Its
structure and seat in Rome are established by the Presidency,
taking into account its operative requirements.
2. The Secretariat will be entrusted to the care of the General
Secretary. The ordinary administrative functions are carried out
within it under the direction of the Minister General and/or the
designated Presidency Councillor. The Acts of the General Chapters
and of the meetings of the Presidency, the documents and the
archives of the Secular Franciscan Order are preserved there.
3. The General Secretary is a professed Secular Franciscan, not a
member of the International Council; appointed by the Presidency
with the following responsibilities:
a. to ensure constant connection between the Secretariat and the
Minister General using the quickest means of communication
(electronic mail, fax, etc.) ;
b. to compile the acts of the meetings of the Presidency Council
and send them to their respective recipients;
c. to keep the archives of the Order up to date;
d. to communicate important events to the National Fraternities and
to the ecclesial and/or social areas;
e. to fulfill all the other tasks entrusted to him or her.
4. After consulting the Minister General, the General Secretary may
choose from among the members of the Secular Franciscan Order some
volunteers to help him or her in the task. When necessary, he or
she may ask the Presidency to take in one or more
technicians.
5. The General Secretary is entitled to a fixed expense
reimbursement established by the Presidency.
1. For the financial and patrimonial management of the
International Fraternity, the Presidency of the International
Council will appoint a Treasurer and establish a Finance
Commission, of which the Treasurer is a member by right.
2. The Treasurer is a professed Secular Franciscan, not a member of
the International Council of the SFO. He or she is appointed by the
Presidency with the following responsibilities:
a. to administrate the general fund of the International Council of
the SFO under the direction of the Presidency;
b to work through a bank account and to sign the cheques or orders
of payment jointly with the Minister General or another secular
member of the Presidency designated for that purpose;
c. to ask, with the collaboration of the General Secretary, for the
annual contributions from the National Councils;
d. to present every year, in the first meeting of the Presidency,
the report of receipts and expenses of the preceding financial
period;
e. to prepare for the General Chapter a three-year report of
receipts and expenses;
f. to ask the Presidency to take in one or more technicians to help
with accountancy when he or she considers it to be necessary.
3. The Presidency will take the opportune initiatives to insure the
Treasurer against the risks connected with the management of the
funds of the International Council of the SFO.
4. The Treasurer is entitled to a fixed expense reimbursement
established by the Presidency.
1. The Finance Commission will be responsible:
a. to prepare a three-year budget, that must be approved by the
General Chapter;
b. to compare the financial statement with the budget, to point out
any differences to the Presidency and to propose practicable
solutions;
c. to verify, together with the accountant appointed by the
Minister General, the financial and patrimonial situation of the
International Fraternity that he or she has prepared, in order to
illustrate the results at the General Chapter (cfr. GC Art.
74.2.m)
1. In order to provide for the necessities of the International
Fraternity, the National Councils and the Fraternities of the SFO
will have to take into account and carry out what is foreseen for
under Article 25 of the Rule and Article 30 of the General
Constitutions.
2. To cover the expenses of the functioning of the Presidency and
of the Secretariat, and also of the activity proper to the members
of the Presidency, a minimum "pro capite" annual contribution will
have to be paid to the Treasury of the International Council of the
SFO within the first six months of the civil year, without
excluding other contributions according to the possibilities of
each National Council and according to the principle of the sharing
of goods.
3. The Presidency of the International Council of the SFO will
promote the creation of a "solidarity fund" which it will
administer to subsidise the more urgent necessities of the National
Fraternities in obvious need.
1. The fraternal and pastoral visits will be carried out
according to the spirit of the Rule, the dispositions of the
General Constitutions (Art. 87.2; 94; 95) the present Statutes and
the Statutes for Spiritual and Pastoral Assistance to the
SFO.
2. For a better development of the visits, whether fraternal or
pastoral, the Visitors will prepare beforehand, taking care:
a. to obtain from the Secretariat reports on the previous visits
and any other important information;
b. to communicate to the Councils concerned the program and the
purpose of the visit;
c. to ask the Councils of the National Fraternities for an updated
report on the situation of their Fraternity;
d. to be open to the suggestions of the Fraternity concerned.
3. Normally within two months following the visit, the Visitor will
compile a report of the visit, with his or her recommendations,
addressing it to the Council concerned and to the Presidency. If
not jointly compiled, these reports must be exchanged between the
fraternal and pastoral Visitors and are preserved in the archives
of the General Secretariat.
4. The Visitor may not make decisions about matters that require
collegial deliberations of the Presidency, according to the norms
of the General Constitutions and of the present Statutes. In such a
case, he or she will inform the Presidency, and the visit, if
necessary, will remain open.
5. The Presidency, after an adequate lapse of time, will ask the
Council visited for information on the deliberations and on the
decisions made as a consequence of the visit.
1. The Statutes of the International Fraternity come into force
when approved by the General Chapter (cfr. Cost. 6.1).
2. The Statutes of the International Fraternity may be amended by
the General Chapter at the proposal of the Presidency or one third
of those present at the Chapter.