For the first time in the eight-century history of the Order of Preachers, the Dominican Laity now have their own Ratio Formationis et Studiorum, an official framework to guide their formation and study.
The seed for this landmark initiative was planted at the International Congress of Lay Dominican Fraternities held in Fatima in 2018, when Br. Vivian Boland, then Socius of the Master of the Order for Formation and Intellectual Life, encouraged the creation of a Ratio for the Dominican Laity. A formation commission was established during the International Congress, marking the beginning of an extensive and collaborative process.
Gabriel Silva, ICLDF Coordinator from 2020-2023, initiated the project, which was then disrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic. Brothers and sisters from every continent contributed their insights, amendments, and cultural perspectives, ensuring that the text would be both authentically Dominican and adaptable to local culture and context.
In 2023, upon his election as ICLDF Coordinator, Sébastien Milazzo took up the task of guiding the Ratio to completion. On April 5, 2025, in Rome, the International Commission of Lay Dominican Fraternities unanimously approved the final draft for submission to fr. Gerard Francisco Timoner III, Master of the Order, who formally approved it on July 16, 2025.
Rooted in the Lay Dominican Rule and General Declarations of 2019, enriched by Catholic theology, and faithful to the Order’s communitarian tradition, the Ratio Formationis et Studiorum Laicorum is a synodal document designed to foster formation in community, in service to the Order’s preaching mission.
