Eucharist in Language Groups

Breakfast

Work in Thematic Groups

Break

Work in the Thematic Groups.

Lunch

The Central Commission as the nexus of coordination

Each day, in the late hours of the afternoon, the Central Commission meets. Since the first day of the formation of these Thematic Groups their spokespersons have been participating. These are meetings of coordination.

Open lines of communication with other groups are established in these sessions in order to send suggestions and avoid repetitions on the same question being treated by more than one Group before it will reach the General Assembly.

The Central Commission: Brothers Jon LEZAMIZ (Bilbao), Francis CARR (Midwest), Georges ABSI (Moyen-Orient), Carlos Gabriel GÓMEZ RESTREPO (Bogotá), Absent - Lorenzo GONZÁLEZ KIPPER (México Norte)

This afternoon, the Groups will inform the Central Commission if they judge it necessary to create a Thematic Group dedicated to the theme of the Rule.

Format of the Reports

The work of the Thematic Groups will be presented to the Capitular Assembly according to the following format:

• Challenges
• Horizons
• Lines of Action

The Groups will complete the first draft of their work, at the latest today, at noon, so that it can be translated before its presentation to the Capitular Assembly. Those presentations will begin on Monday, May 21st, in the morning session.

Serious and necessary work

A brand new day for the Thematic Groups. It is the time sifting, winnowing and arranging the abundant documentation gathered in accord with the thematic nucleus of each Group.

The work was begun searching for an initial consensus on the challenges. Considering the existing pluralism a significant effort is required of the Capitulants for this task.

The Chapter deals with the Themes

We have gotten into the matter at hand. Six working groups have been constituted by the Capitulants after having expressed their particular preferences and taking into account the geographic distribution of origin. There is no precise definition of names for the groups. The thematic schema is related with:

• Community Life
• Association
• Educational Service for the Poor
• The Interior Life and Consecrated Life
• Pastoral Ministry of Vocations
• Government

In these nuclei all the matters of priority that surfaced in the previous days have been distributed. The working groups themselves will now determine the content. The groups have surfaced the challenges, horizons and lines of action for the future. For this work they have had to take into account the pre-capitular documentation, the notes and the presentations from the earlier inter-active phase, as well as all the wealth of the shared reflection from the first weeks of the Chapter.

The Capitulants continue to show a very positive attitude about their effort to achieve consensus. This has been an important moment of the Chapter since by this means it has gotten the “go-ahead” and with a spirit of good will.