The General Congregation of the Order will take place from Monday, September 5th until Friday, September 16. This year the meeting will be held at Villa Aurelia, near the Vatican in Rome. The theme of the gathering is Gift and Mission: The Radical Witness of Consecrated Carmelites in the World of Today. “By This Everyone will Know that Your are My Disciples” (Jn 13: 35).
General Congregations are held every three years before a General Chapter to discuss matters of common interest to the whole Order, According to the Constitutions, the General Congregation is specifically charged with:
a) assisting the prior general and his council in their task of governing and animating the Order;b) fostering communication and contact between the General Curia and the various areas of the Order;c) ensuring the implementation of the decisions and decrees of the previous General Chapter; to assess the effectiveness of the directions proposed; to make decisions and issue decrees, which shall be valid only until the following Chapter;d) assisting in the preparation of the next General Chapter, and to advise the prior general concerning the venue of the Chapter;e) to discuss the financial matters of the Order.
Those Carmelites with the right to participate in a General Congregation are the prior general, the members of General Council, the priors provincial, the general commissaries, the Provincial Commissaries of those Commissariats which, on the day of the convocation of the General Congregation, have at least twenty voting members; the Superiors of those General Delegations which, on the day of the convocation of the General Congregation, have at least twenty voting members.
Each prior provincial and each general commissary may be accompanied by one friar who is truly expert in those matters to be dealt with at the Congregation, and who shall have the right to take part in the sessions of the Congregation, but without the right to vote. Those provincial commissaries and general delegates who do not have at least twenty voting members and the presidents of Regions, may participate in the Congregation, but without the right to vote.
CITOC news will provide periodic news from the General Congregation, including the final message of the assembly.
