Prot. N. 1860/08
Circ. 70/02-08

Rome, 25th July, 2008
Feast of Saint James the Apostle

Subject: Guidelines for the celebration of SFO Fraternity chapters

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

Peace and Good!

As we all know, one of the governing structures of our religious community life created to express and promote the spiritual qualities of our charism, is the gathering of the components of the community convoked to deal with issues regarding their professed form of life, an assembly which is generally called Chapter.

In the present SFO legislation there is a distinction between the various types of chapters according to the level of the Fraternity celebrating them and their purpose. From the purpose point of view, we can distinguish the deliberative Chapters from the elective ones; from the point of view of level, we find the local Chapter (or Assembly) (G. C. art.49.2), the regional one (G. C. art. 64), the national one (G. C. art. 68) and the General Chapter (G. C. art. 70.3 and 4).

The document we are sending you concerns the celebration of the National Chapter which, suitably adapted, serves the regional and local levels as well. Its purpose is to provide standard guidelines for celebrating chapters in the life of the Fraternity.

With this in mind, the Juridical Commission studied and prepared the attached document which has been approved by the CIOFS Presidency. It is now at the disposal of all the National Councils worldwide.

With fraternal regards,

Your sister and Minister

Encarnación del Pozo, SFO

Encl. 1: Guidelines for the celebration of SFO Fraternity Chapters