This meeting occurred just five months after the meeting of the same participants held in San Millán, Spain, in early July. That meeting produced the working document of the Order’s Life and Mission Project. That draft was sent to the Augustinian Recollect communities, where the friars studied it in order to examine their own lives and make suggestions for improving the document. Suggested modifications were studied by each of the eight provincial councils of the Order, who forwarded them to the General Council, who in turn proposed them for study in this second meeting, held in Rome November 17-21.
Over 600 proposals sent by those who studied the rough draft were gathered in organized fashion in an 80-page binder. The proposals came from the majority of the communities of the Order, and many were also sent by individual religious.
Out of the Neurotic Circle
In his words of welcome and introduction to the meeting, the Prior General challenged the participants: “I perceive in our religious genuine interest in what we are doing. And not only our religious. The Augustinian Recollect Youth groups and teachers in our schools and other lay people who are working with the Order are expecting something from us. We cannot let them down.” And so he insisted that the participants make decisions: “We cannot operate in a neurotic circle, disputing endlessly without moving on.” As a basic ground rule, he quoted what Pope Francis had urged the members of the recent Synod of the Family: “Speak clearly and listen with humility.”
And the work began, under the demanding, attentive, and untiring direction of the facilitator, Eugenio Ibarzábal.
Amendments Regarding Revitalization
At this early point in the process, it was very clear to all the participants that revitalizing and restructuring are very different goals and that the latter depends on the former. Therefore, at the outset they set aside the amendments regarding restructuring, which would not be considered until the fourth day. The discussion began with the eight priors provincial relating how they had informed their communities about what had taken place in San Millán and what they had discussed with their councils regarding the ministries of their respective provinces and matters related to the Order as a whole.
On November 17,18, and 19, they studied meticulously all the amendments dealing with revitalization, reading all of them one by one, evaluating and voting on the variations of each one, and incorporating them one by one into the final draft.
Restructuring, Beginning on the Fourth Day
On the 20th they began to compose a ninth section of the document, entitled “Amendments Regarding Restructuring.” Because of the importance of this topic, the discussion began with a presentation by the Prior General. Then, before beginning to consider the suggestions recieved from the religious, the participants shared contrasting views about their general opinions on the topic. All agree on the urgent need for revitalization as a foundation for solid restructuring. They shared experiences, not always pleasant. One provincial commented, “The greatest impediments to pastoral activity in a school are, ironically, the religious themselves.”
Then, in a very intense afternoon and evening, the participants reviewed, discussed, compared, and prioritized, by means of a summary diagram, the criteria for restructuring established in San Millán.
After an entire day dedicated to reflection, the 21st was reserved for making decisions. First, the conclusions of the preceding day, laying out a basic itinerary for restructuring, were sytematized and studied. Then, in the second part of the morning session, the participants studied the remaining suggestions in the binder. They discussed and voted on each one, continuing the process of drafting now a sixth summary of proposals.
Life and Mission Project 2015-2016
The meeting in Rome lasted right up to the last minute of the days scheduled for the meeting. the final session was a rushed attempt to draft a summary of the proceedings. The time was insufficient, and the final editing was entrusted to the General Council, who committed themselves to scrupulous fidelity to the proceedings of the meeting in carrying out their task.
The final draft of the Life and Mission Project for the remaining two years of the present general administration, 2015-1016, was foramally approved by the General Council on December 4, 2014, and on December 5, the Anniversary of the Recollection, it was officially promulgated with an introductory message of the Prior General, Father Miguel Miró.
In his official letter, Father Miró points out the timeliness of the document in the framework of the revitalization being lived out in the Order as well as its appropriateness in the Year of Consecrated Life decreed for the whole Church. He decrees its “obligatory character for all the provinces and communities of the Order” and presents it, finally, as the concrete form of living the Augustinian Recollect charism today.
At present the Life and Mission Plan is in the process of being edited and printed. It will be published in booklet form in the three official languages of the Order – Spanish, Portuguese, and English – within the near future. In the meantime, it is available in electronic format for those who wish to see it in advance.