Fr. Carl Markelz, O.Carm.
The Triennial Bursars’ Meeting of the Order was held in Fatima, Portugal from 4-7 November 2015. Fifty bursars, Carmelite friars and lay people, gathered for this conference to be renewed in this ministry, review the policies of the Order, and discuss the challenges for today. The meeting also included times for reflection and prayer, comprising a moving liturgy at the Shrine of Our Lady of Fatima. Participants stayed at Casa São Nuno, which is owned and operated by the Carmelites of the General Commissariat of Portugal.
The gathering began with a short address from our Prior General, Fernando Millan Romeral, O.Carm., who thanked all the bursars for this important ministry and encouraged them to continue being generous, transparent, and honest while also being prudent about financial decisions made in their provinces, commissariats, and delegations.
Next was our Keynote Speaker, Craig Morrison, O.Carm., faculty member at the Pontifical Biblical Institute in Rome, and professor of Aramaic Language and Literature. Craig first provided a prayer experience of Lectio Divina, and then used the text of Acts 5, the story of Ananias and Sapphira. He also examined some of the parables in the Gospel of Luke, and the many economic questions that arise in these texts. Later he shared some of the comments and homilies of Pope Francis regarding these parables. It was an important reflection that inspired many of the participants to share in language groups about their own personal experiences.
On the second day, after celebrating the liturgy at the Altar of the Apparitions at the Shrine of Fatima, the group heard from Bernadette Porter, RSCJ, general bursar of her congregation. She spoke on The Community of Goods and how centralized her congregation sees the finances and how they share their goods with developing areas of their community. It was a different model and structure than what is used in the Carmelites, but nonetheless it offered all participants a different way of seeing how all our goods are meant to be shared with one another.
On the third day, participants examined the document, Guidelines for the Administration of the assets in Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life, from the Congregation for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life. This session was led by Albert Anuszewski, OSST, general bursar of his Order, who led people to a better understanding of this important document published in 2014. Other sessions, called Carmel 2015 Global Perspective, involved looking at all of the finances for our provinces, commissariats, and delegations, and they were led by the financial consultant and advisor to the Curia, Mr. Jurek Borucki.
One highlight of the entire conference was a panel discussion of laywomen bursars. Anne Steffens (SEL), Roxana Pilar Baldivieso Mogro (Malta-Bolivia), Anna De Giglio (Neapoletana) and Jolanta Kenny (Britain) shared their experiences of working with the Carmelites, and they also spoke about challenges they saw for the future. Regional bursars from four areas of the world, Northern Europe, Southern Europe, Americas, and Asia-Oceania-Australia, met to discuss issues that were important to their zones and set up future meetings to better networking and communicating with one another.
Overall the meeting was a great success! Many commented on the organization of the gathering while enjoying the breaks and meals as people were able to get to know one another and share in Carmelite hospitality! Many thanks to Casa São Nuno, and the General Commissariat of Portugal for hosting us and providing a great atmosphere for this important meeting.
