COLLATION OF MATERIAL RECEIVED

IN RESPONSE TO THE

SURVEY ON THE DOMINICAN CHARISM OF PREACHING

David Edward Rocks, O.P.

Santa Sabina,

July 2006

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Preface

Introduction

  1. The History of the Survey: From Bologna to Krakow
  1. The Process So Far – the Report and Requests for Responses

2.1Report of the Special Commission: ‘The Dominican Charism of Preaching: An Inquiry; The Charism of Preaching for Men and Women of the Order of Preachers’, May 2001.

2.2: Letter from the Assistants for Intellectual Life and Apostolic Life to the Dominican Family on the Dominican Charism of Preaching, 28 May 2003.

2.3:The Process after Krakow 2004.

  1. Collation of the Various Responses:

3.1Overview of Responses

3.2Responses from Contemplative Sisters (Nuns).

3.3Responses from the Friars

3.4Responses from the Dominican Laity

3.5Responses from the Various Congregations of Dominican Sisters.

  1. Response to the Two Questions of Krakow 111.

Conclusions

PREFACE

In July of 2006, I travelled to Santa Sabina in order to begin to collate the material that had been gathered on the Survey on the Dominican Charism of Preaching. I worked for three weeks under the direction of fr. Chrys McVey, OP, Socius for Apostolic Life. A vast amount of material had been gathered, and at first I did not know how I would approach it. As I began to read the submissions, I realised that they had more in common than they had in difference. I therefore began to make notes on the themes and issues that were reoccurring, and the ways that they were treated. I also kept in mind the focus of the two refining questions posed at Krakow 2004:

  • Is collaborative preaching by Dominican women and men, lay and ordained, essential to our witness to the Gospel?
  • How does profession in the Order of Preachers imply a commission to preach as a participation in the essential mission of the Order?

The experience of collation has been one that has confirmed me in my own Dominican vocation, as I witness the level of passion and enthusiasm with which our calling is lived out throughout the world, and the importance of our Preaching mission. It is my hope that this reflection will ignite new fires of passion in the Dominican Family.

David Edward Rocks, O.P.

Santa Sabina,

July 2006

INTRODUCTION

This is the document in which the results of the vast amount of material received as part of the survey on the Dominican Charism of Preaching have been collated. The survey has taken the form of a broad study of the Charism of Preaching as it is lived out by each branch of the Dominican Family throughout the world. It raises important issues that need to be addressed, and it gives us an insight as to how our Dominican vocation is experienced throughout the order.

This document begins with a brief outline of the background to the project, its initiation at Bologna 1998, its path through Providence and Krakow until this time of collation. It brings together the wealth of material that has been gathered on the issue from different sources. The document offers a synopsis of the key issues that were discussed in the Report on the Charism of Preaching that was submitted to the General Chapter of Providence in 2001. It then considers the responses that were received from the nuns, friars, laity and apostolic sisters as part of the reflection.

The survey uncovers some important issues that are worthy of continued reflection and discussion. These include:

  • Preaching from the pulpit of our lives – all our actions say something of our preaching vocation.
  • There is much more to our preaching mandate than ‘liturgical preaching’. We have a broad responsibility in our calling.
  • We need to pay more attention to the area of collaboration, in order that our preaching would have the effectiveness it requires.
  • Our profession in the Order imposes a strong responsibility to preach the gospel everywhere and always.

In the material that follows, there is much that can be reflected and discussed by the whole Order. There is great hope and vision, and our Dominican Charism is alive and well throughout the world. I hope that what follows has been as true to the material as I have endeavoured to make it, and that everyone who participated feels their voice has been heard. May these reflections inspire growth and renewal throughout the whole Dominican family.

THE HISTORY OF THE SURVEY

FROM BOLOGNA TO KRAKOW

The present survey is part of a long process of reflection on the Dominican experience of preaching. This was formally recognised by the General Chapter of Bologna, which mandated the Master of the Order to establish a commission ‘to examine the charism of preaching for men and women of the Order’[1]. Such a commission was indeed established, in response to the request that the Master of the Order:

[…] constitute a commission of highly competent theologian brothers and sisters of the Order, whose task will be to examine the […] charism of preaching for men and women of the Order and its relation to ordained ministry, and to advance the theological and ecclesiastical dimension of the question […][2]

The commission consisted of:

  • Sr Mary Catherine Hilkert, O.P.
  • Sr Benedikta Hintersberger, O.P.
  • Sr Mary O’Driscoll, O.P.
  • Fr Hervé Legrand, O.P.
  • Fr Paul Philibert, O.P.

This group responded to the task given and reported to the General Chapter of Providence. The General Chapter of Providence recommended the continuation of this process, but circumstances at the time prevented a full discussion of the issue, and so the Chapter at Providence related the following:

[We acknowledge] the interim report […] [and entrust] the Assistants for Intellectual Life and Apostolic Life with the continuance of this reflection, together with experts from diverse parts of the world.[3]

The work of the Assistants (Socii) being ongoing between 2001 and 2004, the General Chapter of Krakow 2004 stated the following:

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT AND RECOMMENDATION

We acknowledge the work of the commission established by Bologna 42 to ‘examine the charism of preaching in the Order’.

We support the ongoing study committed by the Socii for apostolic life and intellectual life by Providence 435.

We encourage responses to this study, the purpose of which is:

  • To stimulate wide discussion among the branches of the family;
  • To gather data on the different experiences of preaching (by the end of 2005);
  • To make this known to the Dominican Family.

We recommend focusing on the following two questions for the future:

  • Is collaborative preaching by Dominican women and men, lay and ordained, essential to our witness to the Gospel?
  • How does profession in the Order of Preachers imply a commission to preach as a participation in the essential mission of the Order?

We recommend that before the next chapter a small meeting of theologians, historians, pastors, and canonists be held to evaluate responses, continue the reflection, and propose future steps to be taken.[4]

This survey is quite a task, encompassing a great deal of consultation throughout the world with all peoples who identify their lives and actions as Dominican in nature and description. This report will examine the response made to the recommendations of the last three General Chapters by the General Curia, and the vast array of responses received from the many branches of the Order throughout the world.

2 – THE PROCESS SO FAR – THE REPORT AND REQUESTS FOR RESPONSE

2.1Report of the Special Commission: ‘The Dominican Charism of Preaching: An Inquiry; The Charism of Preaching for Men and Women of the Order of Preachers’, May 2001.

The General Chapter of Bologna made the following petition:

We petition the Master of the Order to constitute a commission of highly competent theologian brothers and sisters of the Order, whose task will be to examine the question of the charism of preaching for men and women of the Order and its relation to ordained ministry, and to advance the theological and ecclesiological dimensions of the question. In addition, other related issues of the priestly and prophetic roles ought to be explored.[5]

Fr. Timothy Radcliffe, O.P. established that Commission as Master of the Order to examine the charism of preaching in the Order and the manner in which it is expressed today following the signs of the times. The Report treats preaching under many aspects: history, theology, the signs of the times, ecclesiology, the social context, and the cultural context. There are sections on liturgical preaching, the title to preach, and the report ends with theological concerns, challenges and some recommendations.

2.2.1 – The Preaching Mandate of the Dominican Order

The Report begins by stating the privileged mandate that the Order possesses for the preaching of the Gospel in the fulfilment of its very nature. It expresses the fact that Dominic founded the Order from the beginning ‘especially for preaching and the salvation of souls’.[6] The development that concerned Dominic and Diego at the very beginnings of the Order was the inauthentic spirituality of the Cathars that was seducing the uncatechised Christians of the time. The response of Diego and Dominic was twofold: public disputations with the character of theological debates, and revivalist preaching both within and outside church buildings. The original idea of Dominican preaching was therefore not restricted to normative homiletic within the Eucharistic celebration, but catechetical preaching in any context where adult faith formation could effectively occur. It is evident therefore that this preaching could be fulfilled by men and women with a variety of vocations – priests, brothers, nuns, sisters and laity – all of whom could equally share in a charism of Dominican preaching.

2.2.2 – Dominican Life – a Structure for Preaching

When the Order began, its convents were called ‘Sacred Preachings’,[7] and the whole life of the Dominican was designed to foster a ministry rooted in the Word of God. So, the common prayer of the community and the primacy of study were directed towards the preaching ministry. Thus the goal of Dominican life is twofold: divine intimacy and a passion for popular evangelisation.[8] The early Friars Preachers were also at the centre of the renewed approach to theology in the Universities, moving from the model of lectio divina to sacra disputatio. From the beginnings, a spirit of mission was evidently present, and this spirit has endured.

2.2.3 – The Role of Women in an Order of Preachers

From the very beginnings, women have played a significant role in the Order. The first Dominicans were the nuns of Prouille, and one of the greatest Saints of the Order is St Catherine of Siena, Patroness of Europe and Doctor of the Church. St Catherine was a Dominican lay woman. Of her, Pope Paul VI said that she possessed a ‘lucid, profound and inebriating absorption of divine truths’ and a ‘charism of exhortation.[9] These qualities made Catherine (a non-ordained Dominican woman) a great preacher.

It is significant therefore to note the importance of women as members of the Order of Preachers in an integral way when they cannot function as priests. This reality, in the eight centuries of the existence of the Order, has not inhibited the effectiveness of female Dominicans active in different capacities in their valiant and passionate preaching of the Gospel. This does not merely apply to women either. Generations of co-operator brothers and lay Dominican men have been equally faithful to the Dominican charism of preaching which they adopted at their profession.

2.2.4 – The Charism of Preaching in Dominican History

The Report highlights three key elements:

  1. The Dominican preaching charism is a faithful and compassionate response to an uncatechized (or poorly catechized) world.
  1. It is a broad weaving together of words and contexts: study, proclamation, teaching and earnest conversation on the one hand; and books, churches, universities and other social contexts on the other.
  1. The charism is also a title for members of the Order – not only ordained, but all members – to participate in the broad structures of a highly diversified apostolic existence.

2.2.5 – Theological Considerations

The Report turns to the consideration of the theological implications of Dominican preaching, and as such it recognises that the efficacy of our ministry arises from the power of the Word of God. It is the saving Word of God that we preach that brings the grace of salvation. It is also through obedience to that saving Word that our preaching ministry arises. All the General Chapters of the Order since 1977 have stated that preaching is the priority of priorities for our Dominican ministry.

The Report envisaged a more clear development of the theological rationale for our pastoral practice according to the spirit of our preaching charism. This concerns the relationship between the word and the sacraments. It appears that a great deal of the pastoral practice of the Catholic Church today treats preaching as an ‘accidental ornament of a substantially ritual experience (especially at Eucharist).’ However preaching obviously encompasses more than this; it is a theological act for both the preacher and the assembly. The Eucharist arises out of the ministry of the Word, and is shaped by the Word. Those who partake it the celebration give themselves to the Body of Christ through both sacramental life and apostolic witness.

The Report also recognised the clear link between preaching and contemplation that is at the heart of the Dominican vocation. Knowledge of the saving Word of God arises from the experience of God received in anointed silence. A ‘shared praxis’ of study and prayer are essential to the fullness of Dominican life. In this way the Dominican tradition which holds that the community is the subject of the preaching act, is realised in practice. One person addresses the assembly in proclamation and catechesis, but the whole community has lifted up the preacher in dialogue and community support.

2.2.6 – The Signs of the Times

This phrase has seen much usage in the Church in the course of the last fifty years. It refers to the activity of God in the world and the changing events of human history. The Church has a responsibility to examine the signs of the times and interpret them in the light of the Gospel.[10] It is an inevitable priority for an Order of Preachers to pa due attention to the signs of the times, so that the preaching ministry will be effective and valid. We must constantly renew our understanding of the preaching mission ‘with due consideration for the conditions of persons, times and places’.[11]

The Report makes several observations of the signs of the times:

  • The Church is changing from one directed almost exclusively by Clerics to one in which lay people are playing a more prominent role.
  • Areas of the world once vastly populated with priests are experiencing a sharp decline in vocations to the priesthood. Increasingly, lay people are being required to provide leadership in parochial communities.
  • The vast amount of catechetical formation throughout the world falls to lay people, and particularly women.
  • There has been a vast increase in the level of theological education among the laity, and among congregations of religious sisters formerly involved almost exclusively in the ministries of teaching and nursing.
  • As a result of this, it has emerged that the laity have a particularly important pastoral voice arising from their life experience – being often radically different from the experience of a priest or religious. The laity evidently possess a voice of ‘graced spiritual experience’.

2.2.7 – Ecclesiology

Inevitably, a reflection on the preaching charism must take adequate account of developments in ecclesiology. The theology of the ‘People of God’ imagines a church whose horizons reach outside of itself.[12] A major theme of the encyclicals of John Paul II was the missionary church. A living ecclesiology must therefore envisage an apostolic people who can alone close the gap between gospel and culture.

The use of the theological category in persona Christi capitis[13]for the presbyter must also take adequate account of the complementarity of the category in persona Christi corporis for all the baptized. We must never over-emphasise the role of the ordained in the mission of preaching. Our membership of the Body of Christ by baptism imposes on us a share in the mission of that body.[14] This takes on a specific emphasis in light of a Dominican vocation.

2.2.8 – Social and Cultural Context

The western Church was formed essentially within the context of the Roman, Latin and European cultures, which were all androcentric in nature. This pattern has been changed by our modern, industrialised societies – and for objective and not ideological reasons. This has led to what John XXIII termed the ‘promotion of women’. Two factors seem to be significant here:

  • Medical progress means that few women now die in childbirth, and most newborn babies now survive. The biological role of women in the species no longer removes them from social effectiveness.
  • There has been clear injustice based on gender. Previously, the role of wife was also one of servant. The role of women in society is now more important. It is recognised that women have a specialised and invaluable contribution to make, particularly from their feminine experience and social location. As a result, many women now hold positions of leadership in areas such as business, politics, education, science and communications. These sorts of developments are not generally apparent in significant ways within the Church.

As an Order, women have been prominent since our very foundation. We have a specific responsibility in our reflection on preaching to fully appreciate the importance and indispensable role of women in the mission of the Order. Successive General Chapters have made strong statements on the solidarity of the Dominican Family. Walberberg 1980 asked the brethren to form ‘preaching teams’ with the sisters: ‘in this way our preaching will more easily and effectively reach the whole person’.[15] The late Damian Byrne emphasised strongly the importance of collaboration within the Dominican Family, ‘not just to help each other, but to make our preaching more effective in people’s lives’.[16]