SUBJECTS DISCUSSED IN THE CHAPTERS

SUBJECTS DISCUSSED IN THE CHAPTERS

There are subjects to be discussed at the General or Provincial chapters.  Each subject will be entrusted to a committee to study and compose it’s draft on which will be discussed and voted at the plenary assemblies.  Having accepted, it will then be included in the Act of the General Chapter.

There are almost 30 different subjects can be found in the recent General Chapters.  Some subjects have been discussed almost at every Chapter, such as economy, others only once, such as the Order’s Mission in Africa or Dominican Laity.  Often the General Chapters discuss subjects concerning the fraternal life of the friars, some even cross the line to the life of the sisters (Oakland 1984)!  Some Chapters discussed only 5 subjects (Bogota), others as much as 13 (Roma 1983).

Some observations:

I. Some subjects discussed only once (13 subjects), some others keep reappearing. The fact that some subjects discussed only once shows that the Order doesn’t follow one single format but is very much concerned of the sign of the time.  Followings are subjects listed according to the most to the least discussed in the last 14 General Chapters.

1. Economy (14/14)

2. Common Life (11/14)

3. Formation (11/14)

4. Study (10/14)

5. Constitution (9/14)

6. Apostolic Life (7/14)

7. Preaching (7/14)

8. Dominican Family (7/14)

9. Governance (7/14)

10. Consecrated Life (4/14)

11. Structure of the Order (4/14)

12. Justice and Peace (3/14)

13. Entities directly under the Master’s jurisdiction (2/14)

14. Promoting the Dominican Vocation (2/14)

15. Statutes on Study (2/14)

16. Restructuring of the Order (2/14)

17. Mass Media (1/14)

18. Culture of the Order (1/14)

19. Dominican Sisters (1/14)

20. Laity (1/14)

21. Priorities (1/14)

22. Continued Formation (1/14)

23. Angelicum University (1/14)

24. The Order in Africa (1/14)

25. General Curia (1/14)

26. Mission in new places (1/14)

27. Restructuring and Collaboration (1/14)

28. Apostolic Creativity (1/14)

29. Vocations and Renewal (1/14)

II. Economy has been discussed in the last 14 Chapters, does it have problems to be fixed or does it need to be frequently considered and reviewed in the fast changing world?

III. Dominican Family has been discussed as often as some other main subjects: preaching and governance (7/14). This shows that the Order is very much concerned about fraternity and collaboration between the friars and sisters sharing the same Dominican spirituality.

IV. There are some very particular subjects/issues so that they was discussed only once, such as Angelicum University, Mission of the Order in Africa, Mission of the Order in new places, Mission of the Order in China…