The Superior General and his Council
The Superior General and his Council reside in Rome outside of their time to visit the Provinces and Vice-Provinces of the Congregation.
t he full Council is present three times a year, in February-March, May-June and September-October for the three annual meetings. It is with joy that the “permanent” members welcome them and ask them to share the news from the Provinces visited
The Secretary General and Procurator to the Holy See
It is the duty of the Secretary-General to write the minutes of the General Council sessions, to meet the various demands of the Superior General and his Assistants, to resolve many questions concerning the physical travel, the visas and, as a Procurator, to intervene with the Holy See for the necessary permits and indults or provide the requested information.
The Treasurer General
Direct responsibility: keeping the accounts of the General Administration in Rome, the audit of the financial results of the Provinces and their presentation to the General Council, with the eventual economic assistance to the Brothers Provincial treasurers.
The strong decentralization of government of the Congregation reduces the workload and allows the Brother-Treasurer General to ensure the efficient publication of the Chronicle, the official journal of the Congregation, and update the website. The appointment of a lay Director for communication relieves him of the second responsibility.
The Archivist General
He ensures the proper order and indexing of the archives of the Congregation; receives and classifies new documents; and responds to requests from researchers or colleagues in search of diverse information.
Recent developments in the Archives allowed the realization of two air-conditioned rooms suitable for the preservation of more fragile documents or more confidential.
Knowledge of the files necessary to the reputation of a good Archivist is a long process that requires the reading of many archived documents.
– Catalogue General Archives FICP (pdf – 1,11 MB)
– Le contenu de nos Archives (pdf – 38,6 KB)
– Reglement des archives (pdf – 34,2 KB)
The possibilities offered by information technology are invaluable to the archives: to list the records and identify each document, scan, read the manuscripts and type in Word Processor, add the list of Brothers in the database and ensure its continuous updating, as many occupations for retired confreres, and especially for an Assistant Archivist on site who must combine strong technical skills to the legendary patience of a Benedictine.
The Postulator General to the Holy See
The Cause of Beatification of Jean-Marie Robert de la Mennais was introduced in 1897 and the active phase of the cause was closed in 1966 by the Roman recognition of the heroic practice of virtues. What is still missing is the official statement of a miracle.
This work involves the compilation of a detailed dossier of cases of inexplicable cures that occur and are attributed to the Servant of God: this is now the main function of the Postulator. Many files opened in the past have failed. A more recent serious case has come up against the reservations made by the Doctors.
The Postulator’s information organ is a monthly newsletter designed to animate the monthly Novena in Communities and schools.
The service of translation
This service is important at the Casa. While counting on the help of confreres in the congregation for this service, several Brothers of the Casa dedicate a lot of time to the translation of the publications and other documents of the General Council as well as the La Mennais Magazine.
The service of reception
Essential function if one needs and which requires a good linguistic culture linked to a sense of welcoming and availability. The Generalate has to be opened to families and to Brothers’ friends, and to various Mennaisian laypeople.