General Chapter of Diffinitors
3rd day
Tultenango, July 18, 2022
The capitular friars began Monday with lauds in Spanish, and the celebration of the Eucharist, presided over by Friar Fabio Herrera, OP, of the Vice-Province of Santa Catalina de Siena of Ecuador and the homily by Friar Carlos Terán, OP, of the Province of San Juan Bautista of Peru, who exhorted the friars to be extraordinary signs of the Kingdom, according to three points: sense of vocation, inheritance of the Dominican tradition, and projection of the tasks to be carried out.
In his homily, Friar Carlos mentioned that “one of the main signs that the Order has tried to manifest is the prophetic sense. The preaching of Christ was prophetic, and the Order, during these eight centuries, carries on its shoulders the responsibility of showing itself renewed in its prophecy”.
In the first session of the morning, Friar Gerard Francisco Timoner III, OP, presented the Relatio of the Master of the Order for the General Chapter of Tultenango. Friar Gerard called it “a time of grace”, taking into account: the eighth centenary of the dies natalis of Saint Dominic of Caleruega; the commemoration of the eighth centenary of the first General Chapters celebrated at Pentecost in the years 1220 and 1221, and “the pandemics” that have raised questions: How do we preach in times of pandemics? How do we preach hope in times of despair? How do we preach the friendship of God in a time when we hear people fomenting fractures and divisions? How do we preach in a time of pernicious pandemics of indifference, clericalism, divisions, fake news, and so on?
The Master of the Order pointed out that since 2010 the Order has embarked on a “restructuring, synergy of life and mission”. In addition, he highlighted the vision and tasks for the future of the Order in relation to the recipients of preaching. How do we imagine the Order, in its service to the Church and the world, in three to six years?
He then presented the situation of the Order in the world: the friars, present in 37 provinces and 6 vice provinces; the General Curia as a community that serves the mission of the Order and leads in accompanying the Dominican Family in the service and realization of the mission; fraternal life and formation; intellectual life and study; apostolic life and promoters: Justice and Peace, Care for Creation, Rosary, Media, Dominican Nuns, Lay Dominicans and Youth Movement, and Priestly Fraternities of Saint Dominic.
Finally, he thanked God that they were raised to the altars: Saint Bartolomeu dos Martires, “the Holy Bishop of the Council of Trent”, on November 10, 2019, in Braga, Portugal (approval of equipollent canonization on July 5, 2019); and Saint Margherita da Città di Castello, patroness of the blind, persons with disabilities (PWD), on September 19, 2021, in Città di Castello (approval of equipollent canonization on April 24, 2021). To date, the Dominican Family counts 74 saints (of whom 51 are martyrs) and 315 blessed (of whom 222 are martyrs); thus, the saints and blessed of the Order total 389.
Friar Gerard concluded by thanking Friar Bruno Cadoré, OP, former Master of the Order, and the capitulars.
In the second session, Friar Juan Luis Mediavilla Garcia, Syndic of the Order, presented the economic report for the last three financial years: 2019, 2020 and 2021. Friar Juan Luis emphasized that the data is available to the Provinces and Vice Provinces through the Provincial and the Syndic. He concluded by inviting the generosity of the different entities of the Order and thanking the Economic Council for their contributions and advice.
After the presentations of Friar Gerard and Friar Juan Luis, the linguistic groups met to discuss the echoes of both presentations. The secretary of each linguistic group presented the conclusions to the plenary.
