Chapter Calls Congregation To Be Who We Say We Are
The second session of the 23rd Congregation Chapter came to an end on Monday, March 21, 2022. Because of the global coronavirus pandemic, the 23rd Congregation Chapter took place in two parts. In April 2021, delegates met in Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey for the Chapter of Elections and Chapter of Affairs Part I. The Chapter of Affairs Part II took place in Teaneck, New Jersey, beginning on the Feast of St. Joseph, March 19 and ending March 21, 2022. The Chapter is the highest decision making body in the Congregation. On Monday, March 21, the Chapter delegates unanimously approved the following Chapter Act:
To Be Who We Say We Are
“The year 2020 looms large as we embark on a new decade of life, and especially a new decade in the life of the Congregation. What will the new decade ask of us? How will it gift us? How will it surprise us?
How will it break our hearts?”
– Sheila Lemieux, CSJP,
January 2020 Letter Convoking the 23rd Congregation Chapter
NOW …
There has been plenty to break our hearts: the global pandemic, racism, war and violence, the mass migration of people, political polarization, and environmental destruction. But we have been gifted and surprised, too. Disturbed again and again by the Spirit – by, for example, the gift of Laudato Si’, the Black Lives Matter movement, our Church’s call to synodality, and the challenge of the global pandemic still with us for this concluding session of the 23rd Chapter – the reality of our interconnection and interdependence is undeniable. We are committed to respond to the challenge of Laudato Si’. We are truly one family of God and Earth is our common home.
Each Chapter faces new challenges and, in light of our charism, the objectives of former Chapters still remain relevant to us. Yet we find ourselves at a place we’ve never been, at the edge of tomorrow, the dawn of our reCreation. These new times demand a change of heart: to be, think, and act differently. Our spiritual lives require deep re-examination and transformation; our outward actions must confront privilege and power in ourselves and society.
Urged by a burning desire to speak and act boldly with open, loving and adventurous hearts, and in collaboration with others, we now commit to:
Cultivating and practicing peace through justice by the intentional living of interculturality, anti-racism, and inclusion
Addressing, healing, and being present to the wounds and broken relationships among ourselves and all of God’s Creation
Resisting every form of war and violence
Making a place for everyone at the table where all are welcomed and gifts are honored
It is time to be who we have always said we are. It is time to live our words. We embrace these promptings of the Spirit with courage, humility, hope and trust.
