CHAPTER IV

THE CO-OPERATOR BROTHERS

Co-operator Brothers in the Mission of the Order

135.
1. The Order of Preachers, from its beginning, has had brothers who were not ordained. These brothers have served the "Holy Preaching" in profound ways, even affecting the life and spirit of the whole Church. We need only think of men like James of Ulm, Juan Macias, and Martin de Porres. In addition to the wide variety of domestic services offered within a community, the brothers have enriched provinces as builders, architects, artists, etc. Often it is the brothers at the doors of the priory or church who first encounter people, understand their problems, promise their prayers and show them hospitality and compassion. In the priories themselves, the brothers have been at the heart of the community, manifesting a spirit of deep prayer and fidelity to their religious life as well as offering countless services to all the brethren.

2. Because it is the whole community which preaches, we cannot neglect this vocation within our Order without weakening our mission and community life. It is important for us to identify the vocation of the co-operator brother within the friars preachers. This identity must be looked at in two areas: A) in terms of religious profession, and B) in terms of participation in the mission of the Order.

Religious Life:

136.
1. As the Master of the Order noted in his Relatio to the General Chapter of Bologna, co-operator brothers "remind us that we are all indeed brothers, and they are able to bring the good news to places that we cannot reach." Thus, as brothers in St. Dominic who have made solemn profession, we are all equals. The recent history of the Order has moved us to a greater sense of this equality. First the title "lay" brother was dropped, then the habit became uniform, active voice was given as well as passive voice with some exceptions. Recent General Chapters have even requested the Holy See to grant full passive voice to all the friars which would be the next logical step in this evolution.

2. All friars preachers, both ordained and non-ordained, find their vocation rooted in baptism and a call from God. Further, our radical "belonging" to one another comes from solemn profession which unites us to God and to one another until death. We are always first religious, friars preachers. Because the Order, by reason of its mission, will always have a greater number of priests, the brother is a witness that we are first of all religious and that what binds us together is not our ordination, but our religious profession. Thus, the brother is at the very core of our fraternity and is a constant reminder that even the ordained members of the Order exercise their ministry as Dominican religious brothers.

Participation in Mission

137.
1. While emphasising who we are, at the same time we must address what we do. Our doing flows from our being. One model of the role of co-operator brothers is that they do the manual and domestic labour in our houses, sharing directly in the common life while participating only indirectly in the preaching mission of the Order. Another model, is that some brothers, through their particular skills and talents, including academic and professional credentials and expertise, contribute directly to the preaching mission of the Order. We believe there is room for both models in the Order. (cf. LCO n.100,II)

2. In the past, we have been content to say that the brothers "cooperate" in the mission of the ordained friars. This response is no longer adequate since it relates the mission of the brothers to that of the priests. Today, the brothers can engage in the direct and explicit preaching mission of the Order which at one time was reserved for the ordained friars. The entire range of apostolic work available to the ordained friars is also available to the non-ordained except that which directly and explicitly requires the Sacrament of Orders.

3. Given the full participation of all the brethren in the mission of the Order, then we must reflect on whether the title "co-operator" should not be dropped and acknowledge that we have both ordained and non-ordained friars in the Order of Preachers

The Formation of Co-operator Brothers

138.
In order to realise this vision of the role of the Co-operator brothers, we make the following ordination and recommendations concerning their formation. Even those Provinces which have no vocations to the co-operator brothers should prepare the basic outline of a formation program as tangible evidence that this vocation is both valued and welcomed.

Ordination:

139.
We ordain that those brothers entrusted with the promotion of vocations actively promote the vocation of the co-operator brother with every possible means, even by enlisting the help of a co-operator brother.

Recommendations:

140.
We recommend that the co-operator brother candidates make the pre-novitiate together with the candidates who are preparing for Sacred Orders in order to be formed in common life and Dominican life.

141.
We recommend that after first profession the co-operator brothers follow a program of basic philosophical and theological studies for at least three years (LCO nn.217-220) if possible within an accredited curriculum. Such a program would be established by those responsible for the intellectual life of the province or vicariate.

142.
We recommend that courses on Dominican history and spirituality, professional ethics, management and economics, and pastoral practice be integrated into this program.

143.
We recommend that the Provincial or the Vicar, in consultation with the Formation Council, should provide the brothers with a professional or technical formation according to each one's capacity and the needs of the province. This complementary formation shall be in addition to the basic philosophical and theological studies. (LCO nn.217-218)

144.
We recommend that the period of post-novitiate formation should, where possible, occur in houses of study in which the brothers who are preparing for Sacred Orders are being formed.

145.
We recommend that, during this period, the cooperator brothers receive a thorough theological formation deepening their understanding of ministries and Sacred Orders in the Church.

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