The pre-chapter commission had its 4th meeting during the first week of February, working on some of the final details for the 36th chapter which celebrates the 200th anniversary of the Congregation.
The list of capitulars has been completed, the arrangements with the host venue, the Christian Brothers in Rome, have been settled, and the commission worked out a program for the chapter, and presented it to the Superior General and his council. The Chapter will decide on the final schedule when it convenes on September 14.
Focusing on the foundation theme: “Evangelizare Pauperibus Misit Me—Pauperes Evangelizantur” (He sent me to evangelize the poor and the poor are evangelized.), the commission devised a plan which focuses on the past, the present and the future. The required reports will describe the past; the discussion of Mission (evangelization) will look at the present and prepare the way for the election of the Superior General and his council, and give a direction for the future.
The commission also reviewed the proposals it has received from Oblates, the proposed changes in the Oblate Constitutions and Rules, and alterations suggested for the Chapter Directory.
The commission will meet again, by Skype, in late May. Fr. Claudio BERTUCCIO, the Chapter commissioner, will move to Rome in mid-May to oversee the final details leading up to the opening of the Chapter on the morning of September 14, 2016.
The commission urged all Oblates and friends of the Oblates to continue praying for the success of the chapter, especially by using the chapter prayer, which can be found on the www.omiworld.org web site (www.omiworld.org/en/36-general-chapter/documentation/).
