The General Assembly of the Community of the Beatitudes, which brought together, 71 delegates from 5 continents, came to a close in Nouan-le-Fuzelier (France) on Sunday, November 5.
The 2023 General Assembly of the Community of the Beatitudes ended on Sunday, November 5, with the adoption of the orientations set forth for the Community and its government.
The General Assembly was an opportunity for delegates to work on issues of importance to the Community. The two main themes on the agenda were the historical review of the Community and the deepening of the experience of the Community’s structure as an Ecclesial Family of Consecrated Life.
“I would like to share with you how much this general meeting has been the occasion for all to have a wonderful experience of synodality and community discernment in the Spirit. I say this despite the fact that the Assembly’s program was modified in view of the postponement of the elections. Our Assembly took action on many items, fixing a direction both for our present government – the one I preside over and which will continue its service for the next six months – as well as the government which will be elected by the elective assembly next spring, around the Feast of the Ascension.
We listened to each other, brainstorming in working groups – in particular using the ‘conversation in the Spirit’ method used in Rome during the recent synodal session. The the high quality of the exchanges of points of view demonstrated to all the delegates the Community’s progress towards real maturity”
–Sr Anna Katharina POLLMEYER, President of the Community of the Beatitudes.
On the subject of re-reading the Community’s history, delegates were able to exchange views, listen to various experts, and express their wish for the Community to engage in objective, professional work on its history. At the end of its work, the assembly decided the following:
– to actively seek out experts with a view to setting up an independent, multidisciplinary commission to shed light and shadow on the Community’s history.
– to place themselves at the disposal of Mr. Tangi Cavalin and his team in the context of the mission entrusted to them on October 18, 2023 by the Conférence des évêques de France (CEF) and the Conférence des religieux et religieuses de France (CORREF) concerning the effects of the abuses and excesses of the Philippe brothers and their influence in the Church of France, beyond the institutions they themselves helped to bring into being or develop.
Delegates also worked to deepen the identity and experience of the Community’s canonical status as an “Ecclesial Family of Consecrated Life”. The General Assembly was unanimous in its desire to give greater priority, in a spirit of synodality and collegiality, to “inter-branch” functioning (between consecrated brothers, consecrated sisters and lay people) at all levels: government, fraternal life, formation, mission, etc.
The elective session of the General Assembly of the Community of the Beatitudes will be held on Ascension Day, from May 8 to 12, 2024.
