In 1968 the Congregation had 480 Perpetually Professed members: 410 in the United States; 25 in Brazil; and 45 in Italy. By December 2000, there are 186 Sisters in the Congregation, fewer than half the number thirty years before. In consideration of the decline in the number of members and in response to the 2000 General Chapter Directives, the Franciscan Evangelical Life project is born in 2001.
The reflection on Franciscan Evangelical Life calls the Congregation to focus on deepening: our communal understanding of the Word of God, Mother Frances’s charism, and our call to ministry with the poor.
This project is created in particular to explore a Form of Life (structure) that would energize our life in these areas and lead a Congregational reflection on possible changes in the structure of governance for the following reasons:
– the increasingly multicultural nature of the congregation;
– the declining number of members;
– the resulting need for fewer Sisters in leadership positions of service;
– to deepen our capacity for co-responsibility and subsidiarity as mature women religious.
In 2003, while preparing for the 2004 General Chapter, ideas are raised to conceive a new Congregational Governance structure that could enrich the Congregational way of life. At that time, the structure is comprised of the Congregational Minister with three Congregational Councilors and three Regions with their respective Regional Ministers and Councilors. The Regions are the United States Region, the Region of Brazil, and the Italian Region, which includes the communities of Italy and Senegal.
The Franciscan Evangelical Form of Life Committee is formed in December 2003 and works together until February 2004. Later on, it compiles and summarizes the ideas voiced by all the Sisters about changing the structure.
The members of this Committee are: Sr. Jeanne Glisky and Sr. Marcia Dahlinghaus from the Congregational Leadership, Sr. Tania Maria Ribeiro Machado from Brazil, Sr. Tiziana Merletti from Italy, Sr. Mary Jacinta Doyle from the U.S., Sr. Rose Margaret Delaney as a Consultant, and Sr. Madeline Welch, OSU, as the Canon Law Consultant.
The Committee’s primary goals are to design possible models of Congregational leadership and the Governance structure based on the feedback received during the phases of the Franciscan Evangelical Form of Life project and engage all members in an ongoing reflection process during 2004 on the possible models for governance with the intention of making a recommendation to the 2004 General Chapter.
All members brought to light the values that would best serve as the organizational principles that the Congregation would follow. The large amount of feedback received from all the Sisters is condensed into the following Values:
• Living the Gospel in:
– our relationship with God
– our relationship with each other
– our relationship with the poor
– our charism of healing in all its dimensions
- Simplicity/minority
– Multiculturalism/internationality
– Unity in diversity/communion
– Co-responsibility/subsidiarity
– Flexibility
– Empowerment of local community
Between February and June 2004 meetings of formation and information involving all the Sisters take place in order to discuss possible changes in the governance structure.
Three models are given to all Sisters across the Congregation to review, and one of the models receives the most preferences from the Sisters. This model is submitted as a proposal to the General Chapter in October 2004.
The proposed model sets out one level of Government, eliminates of the Regional leadership level, and provides for 6 or 7 Congregational Councilors to assist the Congregational Minister, some with delegated authority for overall congregational administrative functions and some with delegated authority for the specific geographical countries/areas, that are, at the moment, U.S., Italy, Brazil, and Senegal.
This model is submitted for the following reasons as the foundation to explore the new Franciscan Evangelical form of Life: the greater emphasis on the multicultural nature of the congregation, the declining number of members, the consequent need for fewer Sisters in leadership positions for service, and to deepen Sisters’ capacity for co-responsibility and subsidiarity as mature women religious.
In 2004, there are 163 Sisters throughout the Congregation: 94 Sisters in the United States, 43 Sisters in Italy, 15 Sisters in Brazil, and 11 Sisters in Senegal.
The General Chapter of 2004 approves the change of the Congregational Governance Structure by adopting the model proposed.
As stated in the official Chapter documents, it is recognized that: all Councilors are of equal status, although different functions are delegated to them; all leadership functions would be considered by the elected leadership in order to distribute delegated functions, according to the Constitutions; it is important to emphasize our multicultural internationality as an inherent characteristic of the Congregation; the decline in membership numbers is evident; the Sisters are invited to develop their ability to be co-responsible, as mature women, and to exercise subsidiarity; local communities are encouraged to continue to grow.
The new Franciscan Evangelical Form of Life approved in 2004 offers one level of Government consisting of the Congregational leadership team, formed by the Congregational Minister with six Congregational Councilors, each with her own scope of delegated powers. The Local Communities with their community structure are spread in the various geographic countries/areas: U.S., Italy, Brazil, and Senegal.
The multicultural quality and internationality of the Congregation are emphasized: “while living and witnessing our multicultural reality, our identity as a multicultural congregation makes us as Sisters prophetic witness because it creates a space to experience forgiveness, to heal wounds among cultures, peoples, groups. The international experience leads us to desire a deeper understanding of our healing charism and to find ways of bringing this charism more fully into the world” (from the 2004 Chapter Acts).
