The whole morning was given over to this topic and in the afternoon we broke up into our various commissions to look at the topics assigned to us.

Tuesday, September 17:

This morning Dom. Bernardo concluded his presentation “OUR YOUNG-AND NOT SO YOUNG-MONKS AND NUNS. Aspects of our monastic formation” As has been said here already this paper deserves to be studied carefully and will hopefully be made available here soon.

After this nominations were given by the various regions for the Abbot General’s council, for which there are three vacancies: one nun and two monks. The votes will be taken at a later date. Next were vote to prolong the regime of the Superiors ad Nutum at 1. La Clarté-Dieu; 2. Assomption; 3. Benaguacil and 4. Maria-Zvijezda. Each of these votes was accepted.

The rest of the morning was spent hearing the reports of the commissions which had reviewed the Acts of the General Chapter of 1999 (Approved), and The Acts of the Abbot General and his council (Approved). Dom Bernardo then reported on the Pastoral service of the Abbot General and his council. In the afternoon we heard the reports of several abbot’s commissions on matters they had been asked to examine.

Wednesday, September 18: 

In the morning we listened first of all to the general report of the France South-West region. Following this the spokesperson for the ad-hoc commission set up to examine the finances of the Generalate read their report. After the break votes were taken on the Statute on Temporal Administration; it was decided that a commission of three persons, chosen by the Abbot General and his council, be set up to administer a central fund for the help of monasteries in need.

The agenda for the rest of the day consisted of reports, with recommendations, from various commissions of abbots or abbesses on the following topics: The raising of the community of Maromby to the status of a Major Priory; the situation of the community of Dombes; the proposed change of filiation for the community of Grace-Dieu; the raising of the community of La Clarté-Dieu to the status of a Major Priory; the incorporation of the community of Donnersberg and the question of a Fr. Immediate for the community of Ampibanjinana.

Thursday, September 19:

Today was a free day because of the Papal audience granted to the MGM. We left at 10.00 am, reaching Castel Gandolfo at 11.00 and were admitted a little after 11.30. When the Holy Father entered we greeted him with rapturous applause. Dom Bernardo addressed the Pope on behalf of all present, and when Pope John Paul II spoke, he spoke with quite a strong voice though he looked very feeble. He began by thanking us for our visit and through us saluted "the brothers and sisters of your monasteries spread throughout the world. The Pope thanks you because from the silence of your cloisters, an incessant prayer for his ministry and the intentions and necessities of the entire ecclesial community goes up toward heaven."

(For the integral text of the Discourse of John Paul II, click here)

He went on to say "You do not live as hermits in community, but as cenobites in a special desert. God manifests himself in your personal solitude, as well as in the solidarity that unites you to the members of the community.....Keep intact this charismatic patrimony! It constitutes a richness for the entire Christian people." The Holy Father then addressed to us the words of Jesus "Duc in altum"! (Lk 5:4); an invitation to "go forward without fear on the road already begun, animated with the 'good zeal' of which St. Benedict speaks in his Rule, prefering absolutely nothing to Christ" and concluded by assuring us of his "constant rememberance in prayer and with all his heart blesses you who are here and your monastic communities"

Then a number of monks and nuns processed up to the platform to greet the Holy Father and to receive his blessing. Before departing he blessed us all and left to the sound of the singing of the Salve Regina. A few people mentioned that they were unable to sing because they found the experience so moving. As we left the little piazza in front of the Papal residence we had a good opportunity to admire the stunning views across the lake towards the surrounding hills.

We then left for the abbey of Frattocchie where we had a picnic lunch. Some stayed here for the afternoon while others headed for Subiaco and Vittorchiano; hopefully refreshed for the last week of the MGM.

Friday, September 20:

The morning began with voting for a monk councillor for the Abbot General's council and Fr. Timothy Kelly, former abbot of Gethsemani, was elected for a six year term. After this votes were taken on the nature of the superior ad nutum and then on the finances and expenses of the generalate.

Following the morning break the MGM voted on a nun councillor for the Abbot General's council and M. Danièle Levrard was re-elected to this post, for a six year term. The morning finished with the reports of the mixed commissions who had studied the question of revising nn. 7,9,10 and 11 of the Statute on Regular Visitation.

In the afternoon the voting for the Abbot General's councillors concluded with the election of Fr. Charles of Bamenda. Later in the afternoone, the small community of Myrendal in Denmark was approved as a Major Priory, with Zundert in Holland being its Mother House. Also approved as Major Priories were Maromby in Madagascar and Kibungo in Rwanda. However, the major event of the afternoon was sadder: the suppression of the Abbey of Dombes.

Most Recent Reports:

Saturday, September 21:

Another suppression began the day, namely that of Tegelen in Holland, although in this case the community will  not disappear, since it will become an annex house of the Abbey of Echt. The process for this was original: first a change of filiation for Tegelen was approved by the Abbots' Chapter, so that Tegelen became a daughter house of Echt, rather than of Westmalle, as it had been. Then the suppression of Echt as an autonomous house was approved, according to C.67, with the usual commission being established. In this case, the commission will oversee the process of Echt's becoming an annex house of its new Mother House.

Today also witnessed a series of votes on different issues, but the most outstanding moment was the presentation of the text describing the general vision of the Order, which had been entrusted to a special ad hoc commission. The text surprised everyone for its spiritual depth, its vision of the future and its prophetic stance toward several of this Meeting's central issues, above all, its explanation in faith of the meaning of "precariousness." The MGM was caught unprepared and suddenly found itself galvanized in a sweeping vision of what the future seems to have in store: a return to the original Cistercian charism of poverty and simplicity. The next few days will tell how the meeting reacts to it.

Sunday, Monday and Tuesday, September 22-24:

The final days of the MGM contained a series of votes to be presented and discerned concerning the update of our Constitutions, the designation of Fathers Immediate for several of our houses and other unfinished themes.  On September 23rd, projects were presented on possible foundations in Uganda (monks) and the Czech Republic (nuns). The fifth and last member of the Abbot General's Council was chosen, in the person of Dom Santiago Ordóñez, monk of Sobrado, Spain. He has been the Spanish Region's Secretary of Formation for several years. In the plenary session, an abbess asked if he had ever studied Canon Law, to which the reply was given, by his Superior, that it was not clear whether he had ever studied it, but he has been teaching it for several years to the monks of his monastery.

On the 24th, too, three communications from the regional delegates to the MGM were read, from the three meetings they had had according to their respective language groups. The message from all three groups coincided in asking that the role of the delegates be clarified, the criteria for choosing them in the Regions be unified and a new movement toward granting them voting rights in the General Chapters be pushed ahead. A most interesting debate followed, which ended by asking that the communities, the Regions and the Central Commissions study this subject more.

The final morning of the MGM witnessed the election of the new Procurator General: Dom Timothy Kelly of Gethsemani. The Meeting came to a close with a strongly favorable autocritique in plenary session and a short talk by the Abbot General in which he underlined the hard and highly successful pastoral work of the mixed commissions.

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