The Minister Provincial gave the keynote address and declared the plenary council 2005 open. He articulated the importance of the plenary council 2005, which would take up the priorities of the order:
• The Spirit of Prayer and Devotion
• Fraternal Communion
• Minority, Poverty and Solidarity
• Evangelization in Mission
• Formation and Studies

The General Secretary briefed the members about the proceedings of the plenary council. He invited the assembly to suggest names for moderators. Friars Gabriel, Kuriyan, Trevor, and Tommy Joseph were nominated as moderators. The participant friars passed timetable of the plenary council with minor changes. The day ended with a common supper and recreation.

Bro. Arun Prakash.
18.01.2005


THE MINUTES OF THE PROCEEDINGS OF THE 1st DAY

The day began with the Morning Prayer at 06.00 A.M. and the Holy Eucharist followed. Fr. Cornelius D’Souza, who celebrated his Golden Jubilee of priestly ordination, recently, was the celebrant. Friar Scaria Varanath gave a brief introduction.
The first session of the plenary council began at 8:40 am with the lighting of the lamp by Friar Gabriel Mathias, the moderator of the day. Friar Joseph Raj then read out chapter 2:19-24 of the General Constitution. After the reading, Friar Bobby made the following announcement and corrections.
Regarding the participation of the novices in the plenary council, he said that friar provincial had Okayed their participation for this particular morning sessions on prayer.
Based on the request made earlier by some for a copy of the study on the restructuring of the province, friar Bobby said that it would be made available. He made other minor announcements about the friars’ name missed out in the list of participants.
Friar Gabriel Mathias then introduced the topic of the 1st session, namely, The Spirit of Prayer and Devotion, and the resource person friar Fidelis D’lima.
Friar Fidelis began with some autobiographical sharing about his conversion in the recent past. He admitted that he was a recovering alcoholic. He said that the process of conversion starts only when one admits that he is powerless and his life is unmanageable. If one does not admit and accept this, he doesn’t really see the need of God in his life. He added that each one had his own addiction – perhaps, various forms of ego addiction. Often we never admit our addiction, but rationalize it. Further he shared his association with Alcoholic Anonymous and its twelve-step program. His personal benefits from this program, he said, were the discovery of God in his life and the grace to remain sober for the last eleven months. According to him the AA program develops our consciousness of God. On the day’s topic on prayer, he said that the friars did not have to discuss it, but to concretely examine their personal prayer life – “not to talk the talk but to walk the walk.” (AA slogan).
Friar Fidelis then distributed a paper on the topic “The Spirit of Prayer and Devotion” – a sort of checklist on one’s own personal prayer life. Friars dispersed for silent examination of conscience. Another paper titled ‘inspirational quotes’ was given to each participant at coffee break for further reflection. With these two papers the brothers spent the morning in personal reflection. At 11.30 AM, the participants came together for an hour of adoration in the main chapel.
The afternoon session began at 2.30 PM. Friar Gabriel Mathias began with a prayer. He then called upon friars Tommy Joseph, Augustine Pinto, Dominic C.J., and Fidelis D’Lima, by turns, for their personal sharing on the spirit of prayer and devotion.
Friar Tommy in his sharing emphasized the important spiritual and survival needs, such as recognition, confirmation and affirmation. He said that these were our basic needs for human and spiritual growth and development. For a human being to reach integrated stature these needs would have to be met to some significant degree, other wise one could get stuck in a vicious circle of activism that is never sufficient. Everything in life is an expression of recognition and confirmation and affirmation, or their opposites. And every moment of our life holds with it the power to open us or choke us to a point of spiritual death. He added that what we needed to do was to seek out the lost dimension of the place of the heart, the center.
Friar Augustine in his sharing dwelt upon the practice of the presence of God and the theological virtue of faith. Because through faith one is in the presence of God, and when one makes the act of faith he is dealing with his own being. He said that theological virtues were given to us and not acquired. According to him theological virtues are not readymade weapons. When faith is expressed we grow from flesh into the spirit of God. Each time we are aware of the presence of God we use faith, and the fruits of this can be recognized only over time.
According to him, we should be more worried about being rather than doing or having. By doing or having the flesh remains the same, but by being we enter the zone of the spirit.
He then shared about his personal experience on prayer. About 41years ago he said, he was able to experience the presence of God for 20hrs. a day for three months. The practice of the presence of God gave new meaning to his ordinary routine tasks. And these experiences carried him a long way in his spiritual journey.
Friar Dominic in his sharing dwelt upon the topic of prayer in three stages, namely, the need to focus on the person of Jesus, the need to be guided by the Holy Spirit, and the need to be rooted in the word of God.
According to him prayer is not a technique to calm the troubled heart and mind, but rather it is a deep intimate relationship with God. It is the art of listening to the spirit that helps us to live on in hope, and not any sort of theology, psychology or philosophy. The word of God must be our guide because the words that Jesus spoke were spirit and life.
Friar Fidelis D’lima once again began his sharing with his personal testimony as to how he was freed from alcohol. It was through his experience of total powerlessness, when he experienced God’s touch and decided to ask for help in recovery. Here he said, was the beginning of a new God-Consciousness, which since then has re-vitalized his prayer life-for he knows now concretely how and why he needs God. With this testimony the session ended.
In the next session after the tea break, friar Fidelis dwelt upon the topic of fraternal communion. Fraternal communion he said was connected with the first priority prayer and devotion. There are communities who come together to do work or some kind of services but they should be more than just work communities, because God has brought us together. With God among us we can make something of our lives together. What is important is that we have to recognize the common bond that unites us. The question we need to pose is, if God has brought us together, how could we still as community live without God? What we have to realize is that if we don’t gather in the name of Jesus, then Jesus is not in our midst. We may all share a common belief, but lack a living faith!
He then read out an unfinished article written by him in 1992, entitled “prayer in a dysfunctional community”. Even in a dysfunctional community friars must learn to pray with honesty about their situation. To avoid praying together is an escape from facing the problem. If we don’t want to be part of the problem we need to become part of the solution. He gave some psychological background for communities become dysfunctional.
There was an active sharing of questions and answers on the topics, and some practical suggestions were given. The emphasis was that even one or two people with conviction and courage could change something in a dysfunctional community – to make it less dysfunctional. The day’s proceedings ended at 5.30 pm.
In the evening at 6.45 PM, there was a prayer service in the friary cemetery led by Friar Amaldass M. An ex-friar and benefactor, Mr. Aloysius Gandhi, gave his testimony. The day ended with a cultural evening by the Palamaner community in honour of Friar Cornelius, the Golden priest, Friar Jesu the silver jubilarian priest and Friar Samson who celebrates his Golden Birthday this year.

Recorded by
Bro. Joby Abraham & Bro. Samuel Rajesh

The minutes of the proceedings of the 2nd day

The day began with a morning prayer conducted by friar Babu Jose followed by the Eucharistic celebration, which was presided over by friar Fidelis D’lima.
The morning session began with the lighting of the lamp by the Moderator of the day friar Tommy Palackal. There was a reading from Rule of 1221 by friar Robin Lakra on the “begging of alms” and “mission among the Saracens”.
The minutes of the previous day were read by friar Rajesh Samuel. The minutes were passed with a correction and some additions.
The general secretary friar Bobby informed that the copies of the report on the restructuring of the province and of the audited accounts would be placed in fathers’ recreation room. He further said that a discussion on the provincial’s keynote address would take place during the fifth session on 21st January 2005.
Fr. Kuriyan introduced the topic of the third priority: Minority, Poverty and Solidarity. He brought out the essentials of the third priority. Minority is an attitude, the attitude of humility before God and men. It is from that attitude that the Franciscan poverty is born. Solidarity is a consequence of both Minority and poverty. Minority cannot exist without poverty, nor can Franciscan poverty exist without minority. Without the experience of the face of God or call of God, Franciscan minority and poverty are just human attempts to lead an austere life.
Material poverty is not destitution or utter deprivation of material comforts of life. Material poverty is responsible use of the goods of the world for the sustenance of the body and the fulfillment of the God given task/ mission in this world. Friar Kuriyan cited some instances, like having a golden chain or possessing a personal television, which may bring out the misunderstanding of the value of poverty by a friar. Franciscan poverty must lead to a life of freedom. It is faith in our Lord Jesus Christ and his Father that makes us see every man and every creature as valuable. The love of Christ leads us to the lepers of our times, to the poor, and calls us to be poor among them-servants of all and submissive to all, peaceful and humble of heart.

He suggested three concrete points to live the third Priority:
1. The friars must love their vocation.
2. The friars must say their prayers.
3. The friars must wear their habit.
He concluded his talk with some questions for reflection.

The eight different groups dispersed to various assigned places to discuss some of the allotted questions. After the group discussions we gathered in the main hall for a plenary session.
Questions: 1 – 3: The Last poor person who affected your life- experience of marginalized condition – the relationship of the local community?
Groups I and VI
• Rich experience,
• poor are directed to various places,
• not to send anyone empty handed.
• Sympathizing with the poor, affects our life style.
• Schemes for the poor through Parish. Provincialate, Bread center, Blood donation. School, financing the education of Poor children.
• Various visits: to leprosaria, poor in the slums, prisoners, feeding the patients, sacraments to patients and orphanage.
Questions 4 – 6: Treating the poor – solidarity with the poor and the Provincial identity- solidarity with poor through the media?
Group II and Group VII
Gentle, polite listening, sharing with them, recommending the poor to the charitable institutions, and attending to them even at odd times.
Our working with the poor has not changed the provincial identity because the individual friars are not convinced and not ready to sacrifice from their own living expenses. However people have high regard for friars because they are readily available to the poor. That is vivid in many of the friars’ involvement in the Tsunami relief camp.

Questions 7 – 9: Option for the poor and the resultant conflict- poor and personal and community level- lifestyle and conversation about the poor?
Group III and VIII
Option for the poor brings in conflict among the friars as well as with the lay people. We find difficulty to identify genuine case due to various past experiences of deception. In our relationship with poor we often have Santa clause mentality. We can take concrete measure to build up good relationship with the poor. Thus we can identify whether the case is genuine or not. In our fraternal living our option for the poor depends on what we give not just from the abundance of what we have but from the very little that we have.

Questions 10 – 12: Local fraternity and preference for the Poor - consumerism and poor –– poor and injustice in our world?
Group IV
There is no formal structure in our houses friaries, to help the poor. We need structures, funds approved by the chapter. We need to care for our domestic helpers in the areas of security and just payment.
There are some tendencies to consumerism among the friars. we need to create an awareness among people that they have a forum to fight for their rights.

Questions 13 – 16: groups in danger – fraternity and human rights – evangelisation and human rights – franciscan action plan and human rights?
Group V
Groups that are in danger of having their human rights ignored are AIDS patients, dalit communities, minorities, mentally challenged, alcoholics. Rural poor and Santal and Oraon adivasis. Fraternities must address to the most important human right problems facing the country. We need to have Sarvadharmic attitude to face the fundamentalist attitudes of other religions. Some of our communities are inactive in confronting the issues of injustice. The Ashram has been accompanying HIV patients and mentally challenged.
After the break, friar Dayanand began with the 4th priority “Evangelization – mission”. He started with St.Francis’ visit to the Sultan, and how this experience of St.Francis speaks of his conviction and commitment to the love of God. To be religious today is to be inter-religious and being faithful to the experience of God. God has placed in us a concern, and so we cannot be totally free from being sensitive to sufferings of others. Here he portrayed the Eucharist as the sacrament of God’s concern.
He stated that all ministries are fundamentally Eucharistic. He shared special links associated with the mystery of Eucharist. There was a power point presentation on 12 aspects of evangelization –Sanathanic Sarva Dharmic discipleship: church of 3rd millennium; Yesu Anubahva and multiple experiences; Jesus ministry in the parish; evangelization in the General Constitution; ashram model of discipleship; marginal made central; law of guru Jesus; one to many in family, inculturated form and inclusive approach; process of change in parental community and religious identity.
The session concluded with a prayer of an inter-faith apostle of Jesus read by friar Gabriel Matthias.
The afternoon session began with a prayer by moderator friar Tommy. Friar Athanasius shared his mission experience in Malom Noatoli. He shared his non-formal medical mission amidst people and how it built up his faith experience. During the years of his service he gained confidence, and people welcomed and appreciated his ministry. Despite the problems he faced, he did not lose sight of his mission, and courageously continued in spite of facing problems.
Friar Nabor Bara read the testimony of friar Daniel titled “Minority, solidarity with the poor and evangelization in my life.” Friar Daniel attributed his kind-heartedness towards the poor to his parents and family members. The attitude and concern of Daniel’s parents for the poor and the beggars had great impact on his life. The report brought to us some inspiring events that friar Daniel had with the poorest of the poor. From all his experiences, friar Daniel felt that three aspects of Minority, solidarity and evangelization, are deeply embedded in him.

Friar Alphonse Moras shared his mission experience at Nanesera and Bannur. In Nanesera mission there was constant rift between Hindus and Christians, he thought it was an appropriate place for a friar to be an instrument of peace. He was happy living in a small structure and people supported him in their little ways.
After his mission in the North he moved towards Puthur mission and he saw that it was a providential beginning. He shared his experience in establishing Bannur mission and how he undertook the construction work at Bannur. He had great interest in promoting vocations and later on his interest deteriorated. He concluded with two interesting stories, one depicting the state of friars in the province and the other depicting the solution - to be messiahs to one another.

Friar Trevor shared his experience in relation to his social involvement and he narrated his original inspiration, difficulties, joy, hurdles, and suggestions. He attributed his original inspiration to his childhood, to his novice master Friar Fabian, and his ministry with the sick at Mother Theresa’s home.
As a procurator, he felt his helplessness towards helping the poor as there were no charity funds available. He shared how ‘We Care’ came into existence which is today a charitable society in helping the needy.
He shared his difficulties, the feeling of helplessness he experienced faced with the poor who came at the door, lack of resources set aside for them, lack of formal structure and lack of fraternal support in reaching out to them. His joys were that he found meaning in his work, he was strengthened in his conviction and contentment in working with lay people. This new involvement strengthened and gave new insight to his prayer life. He suggested the following to the communities. Each community must develop a programme of option for the poor; every friar should cultivate a helping attitude towards the poor; create a charity fund from our own resources, and not just dole out money and things but have a planned sustained programme towards the welfare of the poor.

After every evaluative review there were clarifications from the floor. Soon after tea, the participants dispersed to their respective groups to discuss the priorities of the order on the personal, fraternal and province levels.

At 7.15, friars and students gathered under the Tamarind trees near the Chapel for a special biblical rosary conducted by friar Thaddeus. A film St. Francis and Clare by Liliana Cavani marked the end of the day.

Recorded by
Bros. John Sekar & Arun Prakash

THE MINUTES OF THE PROCEEDINGS OF THE 3rd DAY

The day began with the Morning Prayer and the holy Eucharist followed. The newly ordained priests friars Francis Xavier, Thomas M.J., Mukti Prakash Ekka, and Saji Mathew were the celebrants. Friar Saji preached the homily for the mass. Soon after the mass there was a small gathering out side the church to wish the newly ordained priests.
The days proceedings began at 8.40 AM. Friar Trever D’souza, the moderator of the day was invited to light the lamp. A reading from the General Constitution by friar Vincent Soosai followed. Friar Bobby, the general secretary of the chapter then made the following announcements.
He informed the house that he had received 38 copies of the General constitution and the General Statues of the Order from the Curia, and since they were few in number he said that these copies would be made available to a each Guardian and Definitor, Director of Formation and members of the Committee for revision of the Provincial statutes.
He asked the friars to furnish details of their recent medical data for the photo ID card.
He then requested the friars to submit two of the three work sheets that were distributed to them for reflection and group discussion on the fraternal and province level on the five priorities of the order, before their departure from Palamaner.
He said a booklet on the proposals of the last general chapter would be made available to all the communities. Friar Provincial then made certain observation on friars being absent for the afternoon sessions on the previous day.
The first session was on Restructuring of the Province. Friar Babu Jose gave a power-point presentation of the recent study made on the topic by the appointed committee. The committee comprised of friars Babu Jose, Gabriel Mathias and Amaladass M. There were two main proposals of how the mother province and the autonomous custody would geographically look. The proposed mother province would consist of Karnataka, Kerala, Goa, and Maharashtra with the rest of the western part of India that is Gujarat, Diu Daman, Rajasthan, Haryana, Punjab, Uttaranchal, Delhi, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu Kashmir and Lakshdweep. Or the above with.: Diocese of Khandwa, Jhabua, Indore, Ujjain, Bhopal, Sagar, Gwalior, Jansi in the state of M.P & diocese of Agra, Lucknow & Barelly in the state of U.P., as part of the mother province.
The proposed autonomous custody would consist of Tamil Nadu, Pondichery, A.P., Jharkhand, Chattisgarh with M.P., U.P., Orissa West Bengal, Bihar, Andaman Nichobar Islands. Or the above with: the Diocese of Jabalpur & Satna in the state of M.P.,and diocese of Varanasi, Allahabad & Gorakhpur in the state of U.P.
The committee felt that the North East sector could be as a mission under the care of the mother province. After the power point presentation the floor was opened for clarification and discussion. First and foremost a few corrections were made by the house. The committee reminded the house that theirs was not a decision made on restructuring but only a proposal.
The proposal was made keeping in mind points like sustainability, mobility, accessibility, communication and transportation. The other aspect they had kept in mind while proposing the above plan, was that a horizontal division of the province would be impractical, as only the south zone would emerge stronger in number of members and in assets. So the committee felt that the primary concern of sustainability, growth and accessibility could be guaranteed only when the division was done vertically. The committee also felt that dividing the province vertically would very much limit the need of shifting people according to their zones of origin, if needed.
The members raised a number of questions, asked clarifications and gave opinions: like, the North East region could well be part of the proposed autonomous custody, as majority of the friars working in the North East are from the proposed custody. Also since West Bengal falls under the proposed custody, the North East region too could be accommodated within the custody as the culture of West Bengal was more or less nearer to the North Eastern culture. There was also a question about shifting the administrative center from the south further upwards for better co-ordination. The committee felt that these questions and opinions should be looked into.
The house then went on to discuss the draft questionnaire with regard to the restructuring of the province, which was circulated earlier. The committee felt that everybody should fill the mandatory section of the questionaire. It was suggested that while filling in one’s qualifications, one could also include one’s experience. This would facilitate the better allocation of personnel.
Next, the questionnaire was discussed under three headings: Territories and Houses, Personnel, and Temporal Goods.
Under Territories and Houses:
The house expressed different kinds of opinion on this. Some felt that each one should be given the option to choose where he wanted to belong. Friar Richard asked whether an option should be given to the simple professed students to choose their place of belonging. According to him the simple professed students should not be given the choice to make their own decision. But it was left to the administration as these students were not present here and were not enlightened on the matter.
The house felt that the question number six on the matter if ownership could be reformulated as it was not very clear, whether it is single ownership or joint ownership. At this point the members dispersed for a coffee break.
After the break the discussion continued under the second heading, that is, Personnel: With regard to the seventh question friar Kurian felt that there was a miss matching of the phrase assigning members with the earlier phrase choice given to all. After listening to the questions under the section personnel, friar Fidelis felt that there were four different things talked about on the same matter and therefore the very plan for the division itself was defeated. The four different things were: Less work in shifting the members, Choice at the moment of division, Competent authorities assigning members, Choice after the division.
Friar Gabriel responded saying that the questions needed to be fine-tuned and improved. So the suggestions of the house were welcomed. It was good to combine the individual goals and the fraternal goals, but the individual choice should be in view of the real needs of the Order. He asked further whether one needed to make the choice solely by himself, or the competent authority could make the choice for him. It was suggested that the question could be reformulated not as option or choice but preference.

Temporal Goods: With regard to the fourteenth question the house agreed that the term ‘assets’ used in the question was too broad. This question should further distinguish between the various types of assets. Or it could specify these details on a separate sheet of paper as an annexure. Further it was suggested that questions number fourteen, fifteen and sixteen could be made into a single unit. The members felt that question number twenty-two which speaks of “heads of the new units” should be changed to “heads of the units”. Also it was agreed upon that this question contained too many riders and hence there was a need for this question to be reformulated.
The house also came to a consensus that questions eighteen and nineteen could be omitted from the questionnaire. Question eighteen wanted each unit to have the required number of Registered Societies and F.C.R.A. members, while stipulated norms for the same do not exist. It also speaks about physical verification of assets, which is a basic prequisite for restructuring and is commonly understood by all as necessary.
The house agreed that the pre-requisites for restructuring be printed on a separate piece of paper and added as an annexure to the questionnaire. This would make the questionnaire far simpler than it appears now.
Friar Trevor asked the house as to why not there be two provinces instead of going in for an autonomous custody? Friar Gabriel responded saying that there weren’t enough guardianates required to make two provinces. But for all legal purposes there wasn’t much difference between the two. Friar Babu added saying we work in many places on temporary contract basis and not as an established entity. Friar Fidelis further added that once a province was formed instead of a custody, it was more difficult to come back to the mother province if it’s sustainability was under threat, whereas an autonomous custody could more easily be reverted.
The house felt that there could be clear-cut policies between the two entities with regarding to different issues, like formation, starting new missions, vocation promotion etc.
Talking about the common formation programs there were various views expressed. Some felt that due to the lack of resource personnel, infrastructure, investments etc., the formation programs could be together, while some others felt the need to have separate formation programs at least at the beginning stages as the entry of the candidates into a common formation program are usually limited to certain numbers area wise. Some others felt that common formation programs could result in the discrimination of the candidates based on the place of origin.
The question that was left unanswered was that in the case of joint sharing of property, what about the management, investments etc.?
As a final remark on the topic of restructuring the province, friar Charles Mathew suggested that in the final report and questionnaire, a brief introduction on the rationale behind the need for restructuring could be given.
The afternoon session began at 2.30 pm. The first topic taken for discussion was the revision of the provincial statues. The committee for this task was comprised of Friars Fidelis D’lima, Trevor and Tony D’souza. Friar Tony informed the house that the process of revising the provincial statutes was under way. He asked the friars to send in their suggestions regarding role-descriptions of certain offices, if they were not clear. Friar Fidelis informed the house that the committee had met on three occasions for discussion besides working on the matter privately. He also informed the house that the final copy of the revised statutes would be presented to the extra-ordinary chapter of 2007. He felt that the present provincial statutes were good enough but needed to be updated on language, vocabulary and terminology. Some statutes could be revised on areas of fraternity among ourselves and others, vacations, transfers and appointments; certain job descriptions like that of secretary of the province, procurator, secretary of finance, needed clarity. Also the status quo of “floating” friars like our deacons and regents needed to be included.
The next topic for discussion was ‘Financial Matters’. Friar Arok gave a brief introduction on the topic and invited friar Babu Jose to share his reflection on the matter. Friar Babu based his sharing on his paper on the policy guidelines and financial discipline in the province. In his sharing he emphasized the need for having a sense of personal responsibility and individual integrity while living in a community. He further added, “It is difficult to achieve fraternal co-responsibility if the sense of personal responsibility is missing.” He also shared some of his personal difficulties in being a procurator. He expressed that many a times quite a numbers of friars are not disposed to respond to the demands of the procurator. He drew attention to the fact that our expenditure is more than our income, and for a larger part we depend on foreign funds, rather than trying to raise local funds at various levels. Finally he said that the cordial relationship among the friars evaporated when it came to being accountable. The brothers then shared on the topic.
Some suggested that we could place the right friars at the right place for generating income for the province. They said friars could be even sent out to the western countries under proper agreements with the bishops to earn for the province. Some others felt that local income should be generated in supporting the province rather than sending people abroad.
After the procurator shared his reflection on the financial matters, the members of the chapter took a tea break of 15 minutes. Following which the responses to the key note address of the provincial was taken up. Some friars felt that the provincial was not addressing the real culprits causing a problem; rather he was trying to generalize it. But the provincial replied that he had focused on the province as a whole and did not try to pinpoint single friars. Moreover, the province consisted of individual friars. When asked whether some of the troubled friars required professional help he replied that it was left to the individual friars to make that choice. He also added that he always advised such friars to go for spiritual direction and confession. Because he believed that such a practice would change their depression.
The members also raised questions as to why some of the friars who were sent for higher studies did not take up the responsibilities where they could use their expertise in areas assigned to them by the administration. He said that one of the possible reasons was that they lacked the aptitude in that particular area. Friar Trevor said that we needed to send more friars for higher studies for he feared that the intellectual quality of friars was going down. Friar Trevor also stated that there was already a remark made on the same by the Visitator General. He added that the way in which educated people tackle their problems is quite different from that of the uneducated people. He suggested that a proper profiling of friars must be in place to facilitate proper assigning of personnel to the various jobs.
Finally, friar Provincial requested the members of the chapter to do a follow-up of the priorities in their respective communities for a meaningful fraternal living. Friar Provincial also briefed the members regarding the Adugodi land.
Friar Bobby sought the opinion of the chapter members regarding the publication of a fortnightly newsletter within the province, giving a model he displayed. He reminded brothers about the need pointed out in the Visitator General’s report. It was suggested that a friar outside the administration do the editing and that the newsletter could come out as and when material for publication was there. Saji Mathew’s name was proposed as editor. Preference for friars with a certain years of experience and seniority was expressed. The name of Shaji Nicholas came up as the editor. Friar Fidelis suggested that the Provincial Definitorium could appoint the editor and it was accepted by the house.

This was followed by a Visual Meditation on the Tsunami tragedy prepared by Bobby V.T., Tomy Palackal and Joby Abraham. After the slide show Friar Provincial requested the members to dedicate their valuable service towards the Tsunami victims and gave few suggestions like the lectors spend their time after the academic year in such areas. The proceedings of the day came to an end at 5.45 PM.

Later in the evening there was a vigil with the risen Lord conducted by friar Dominic for about three hours, starting from 9:00 PM.

Reported by:
Bro. Joby Abraham & Bro. Rajesh Samuel


The minutes of the proceedings of the 4th day

The day began with a morning prayer conducted by friar Charles Bernard, based on the priority ‘Formation and Studies’.
The morning session began with the lighting of the lamp by the Moderator of the day friar Kuriyan Joseph. There was a reading from the General Constitution of the Order of friars minor Chapter 6, articles 1:26 and 1:27 by friar Francis Rosario.
The minutes of the second day of the Plenary council, 20th January 2005 were passed with a minor correction.
Fr. Richard D’ Silva introduced the topic of the fifth priority: Formation and Studies. He said that we have been working on religious renewal since Vatican II. He emphasized that this renewal depended largely on formation. Today, the formation is a life long process, continuum and growth. One is to be formed till one becomes like Jesus. He made some relevant references from the documents of the church Optatium Totius and Pastores Dabo Vobis.
He elaborated on the values which are indispensable for franciscans to live our religious life. They are God experience, Minority, poverty and solidarity with the poor, Brotherhood, and Mission- i.e sharing of God’s experience as the Herald of theGreat king.
All have the obligation towards self-formation. It also implies the on-going formation. He also insisted the importance of obligation to be agents of formation. He brought out the importance of three areas in formation - intellectual formation, formators and vocation.
After clarifications on the presentation an open discussion followed. Friar Tommy mentioned about the necessity of appointing friars who are mature and balanced in their emotional and spiritual life who could inspire young friars in formation. Friar Alphonse narrated an incident which took place in Bangalore where a student friar who was on his way to prayer was commented upon by a professed friar who stood smoking in the garden and saying, “Good to see you going for prayer.” He remarked that such friars should never be in formation houses and asked what provincial administration was doing about such friars. Friar Provincial said that he had been brought to notice some scandalous situations, but he had to act keeping in mind the General Constitution and Statutes with regard to change in appointments mid-way and also the logistical problems. Friar Fidelis pointed out that in the matters of formation Provincial had full authority to act if friars behaved contrary to the values and principles uphel by the Franciscan tradition. Friar Arok said that he still would have the burden of replacing for example someone who can teach the subject taught by such a friar and it needed time.
Friar Tommy said that there were instances where students left due to the scandalous behaviour of formators. Fidelis stood up to apologize, and admitted that he was aware that some students from the Initiation year had left on account of their shock seeing his drinking habit.
There were also observations made on the fall in intellectual standard in formators and their inability to aim intellectual excellency and in cultivating intellectual curiosity among students. It was also remarked that the Bangalore house was an agglomerate of four houses – home for the aged, parish team, lectors, and friars who do not work, and it was not conducive for basic formation. There was also an opposing view expressed that the diversity of friars in formation house need not necessarily bring down the intellectual atmosphere, but could stimulate plurality of views and enrich thinking.
Friar Bobby drew attention on the third point of conclusion in Friar Richard’s paper and commented that the quality of vocations we have is also a factor that contribute to the atmosphere in formation. Many formators have been wondering whether it was worth their efforts to deal with the students they have to face. Bobby stressed that it is an area of concern where serious questions needed to be asked on the recruitment procedures and criteria of promotion. Friar Babu Jose agreed with this and said that considering the money and work put in, it was an urgent question to be asked and cited– “A seminary is not a lumber mill or smelter. It cannot take raw youth and after subjecting him to few approved processes, turn out neatly fashioned or keenly honed priest” Friar Fidelis said that there were clear guidelines set for vocation promotion, but going through the forms filled by the vocation promoters he knew that they had not done their homework and he added that he could understand that they had no time since vocation promotion was not their first priority but a third or fourth job. Friar Jose Pallimattom shared his experience of going to the vocation camps in Kerala and how the choices he had were from the left over students while the best were already contacted and booked much in advance.

Some of the general outcomes of the discussion were:
? Training more friars to guide the young brothers towards Franciscan formation
? Appointing friars who are convinced about Franciscan way of life in the formation
? Understanding formation as a task of all the community members and not left to the Directors and formation team.
? All the members of the community of formation should set examples and enable the students to have a healthy environment of formation.
? The formator should accompany the student in their journey towards their priestly/religious goal.
? Give chance for the guest friars who visit the formation houses to address the students of formation
? The guest friars, who visit the formation houses, should not behave in scandalous ways.
? Great care should be taken in appointing friars for formation. They should have the maturity and ability to form the young formees and give them the Franciscan values in their early stage of formation.
? The provincial administration should take stringent action against friars who are scandalous and set bad example in the formation houses or become a hurdle for formation.

Friar John Sekar then presented his paper on Perspectives on formation. He dealt his paper on two levels: One concentrating on Formation and the other concentrating on Studies. In speaking about formation, he said that the formators should be competed and that they should accompany them on a personal level. He also brought to attention of the minimal importance paid for the role of spiritual director. The talents of friar students must be appreciated and the importance should be given to JPIC in the formation programme. He also proposed that the student friar who is evaluated upon is also present during the time of the evaluation before the formation team. Speaking about the Studies he pointed about the mixed community that is present in Bangalore. He also called for the evaluation of the St. Anthony’s Franciscan college and for preparing the Prospectus. Towards the end, he said that the Young friars meet on a yearly basis will strengthen the students.
Friar Arun Junes presented his paper on “Formation: My experience and North East.” He dealt his paper on formation of individuals and formation of individuals in relation to social group or institute. He mentioned about two ways of exercising the responsibility while forming the students: Freedom without control (anarchy) and Control without freedom (Dictatorship). Formation should develop balanced and critical attitude toward life events. Formation should be a journey towards the fulfillment of one’s hope and dreams. He suggested the concrete steps to the formation programme in the North East: A change of attitude for the formators, understanding of Tribal Psyche and Decisive implementation of Culture based formation programme. Each one of us has the responsibility to take care of our formation and to bring it to a conclusion.

After the Coffee break we gathered in the Main hall for plenary sessions. Friar Shaji Nicholas focused on how to make the formation of the friars more in tune with the spirit of the document Followers of Christ for a Fraternal World. He suggested some of the essential elements of Life of Conversion towards the spirituality of St. Francis.
• Readiness to learn at all times and from everyone.
• Life of Pilgrim and stranger
• Readiness to embrace the leper within and without.
• Living with a holy longing, an ongoing search for god.
One way of viewing the life of conversion is to see it as a life of ego reduction. He shared his observations and reflections on some areas: initial and basic formations and formation of the formators. With better planning and greater teamwork among the formators it is possible for us to move from a disciplinary formation to a personalized accompaniment of the young men.
Friar Anthony Roobendass in his sharing dwelt upon the intellectual formation of the friars. According to him, there is no intellectual atmosphere in the province today and he considers this as a misfortune. Study is a natural response to the quest of God within man. Study marked by search is a compulsion that a friar minor should respond. He had cited references from Ratio Studiorum 9,11,39 and brought out the importance of learning in the life of the friars. We friars should first of all do away with the misconception of considering study and intellectual pursuit as an hindrance to the spirit of prayer and devotion. He suggested new ways and methods of learning at various stages of formation: initiation, juniorate and basic formation.
According to him, we should send friars who are interested in studies and have the sprit of learning and sharing for pursuing higher education in whatever field they are interested as per the requirement and need of the province and the future ministry. He also shared about dynamics of learning in an on-going process, in personal life, in prayer life, in community life, and in ministries.
Friar Thaddeus Baxla shared his experience as a formator. He said that the formation is the primary task of all the friars of the province. Therefore, formation should not be viewed the sole responsibility of the formators alone. All the friars have the role in the student’s formation and in the accompaniment process. He acknowledged that he enjoyed being a formator in the province. This has helped him to have a positive attitude towards co-formators and formation.
After every session by the individual friars there were clarifications from the floor. Since friar Arokiam John was not present for his session, the floor decided that they would read the paper in private.
At 11:30 A.M., Minister Provincial Arok Sunder, addressed the members of the plenary council 2005. He said that this plenary council had hoisted a lot of opinions, struggles, criticism, and clarifications too. The participatory role played by every member of the plenary council is vivid. He said that as friars, we are growing towards the experience of God. He expressed his gratitude to the General Secretary friar Bobby V.T., in making this plenary council a success. He appreciated the excellent work done in identifying the able and right friars in the province in facilitating the plenary council to reflect on the priorities of the order and bringing in variety of sharing by different friars. Fr. Provincial thanked friar Dominic C.J the liturgical animator of the PC 2005 in a special way for the prayerful atmosphere he created by his animation. He thanked profusely the guardian of St. Louis friary friar Balthazar Pinto, all the community members, novices and domestic workers for making the friars stay comfortable and making this plenary council a great success. Friar Arok Sundar officially declared the plenary council 2005 closed.
At 11.45 A.M., we had the concluding Eucharistic celebration presided by Minister Provincial Friar Arok Sunder. Plenary Council 2005 came to an end with a photo session with all the members after the Eucharist.

Recorded by
Bros. Arun Prakash & John Sekar