Meeting of the International Economic Commission
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Valladolid - Spain May 2012 |
At the meeting of the Order’s Economic Commission, held in Valladolid on May 29 and 30, and chaired by Fr. Franz Klein, the creation of a fund to subsidize projects of the Order was discussed at length. Presently the Order has several economic funds. The best known is the "Solidarity Fund", which the Prior General and his Council use to gather the money coming from the circumscriptions of the Order and which they distribute as aid where needed. In this regard it is important to recall that during recent General Administrations, funds have been obtained for various projects, mainly carried out Nigeria and Kenya.
This experience of knowing that there are monies in various parts of the world to which we can have recourse, has led the International Economic Commission to reflect on this issue and see the opportunity to present a proposal to the next Ordinary General Chapter of 2013. The possibility of having a member of the Order be responsible for coordinating a group of people to seek financial assistance, in order to create a fund that meets the needs of the Order should be considered. The needs are many, not just in Africa but at the Order’s center in Rome: for the Patristic Institute, the buildings of Santa Monica and the Curia, students from needy circumscriptions, etc.
This year the auditorium of the Patristic Institute Augustinianum, almost 40 years old, has been renovated. The budget for all the work that is to be done cannot be met by the resources of the Curia, even with the help of the circumscriptions that have generously made contributions. Because of this, the Prior General has considered it necessary to create a Foundation in the U.S.A. to obtain the means to accomplish the project which is not only desirable but necessary. The subsidizing of our projects, however, can also be done in other places as well. For this it would be necessary that someone be free to search out possibilities of material aid.
Additionally, there is a special theme that recommends the need to seek and share resources. It is the current situation of vocations which are generally abundant in the neediest countries. This leads to a fundamental question: cannot our circumscriptions share their resources? To do so, someone wisely noted it would be necessary for all the circumscriptions to have a centralized economy... The Commission believes this is true because "whoever does not share material goods, will not share spiritual ones either" either at the level of circumscriptions or of the Order. Only in this way will real needs be known.