The use and current destination of material goods in the Institute

7. Our Constitutions indicate the preferred places for the use of our material goods, and point out to us the objectives and ways of putting those goods at the service of the Institute. The financial resources of the Province should be used primarily to maintain the houses of formation, the houses of study, infirmaries and retirement houses, to establish and develop educational works and other apostolic activities, and also to set up contingency funds. (Article 167,7)

In Provinces throughout the Institute, legal and administrative realities require that we draw a clear distinction between material resources that we allocate for "the life of the Brothers," and those that we assign to "Apostolic Works," most notably in the field of education. Economic resources used for one or the other, as well as the demands and responsibilities involved, are certainly different. To consider these two areas as separate categories can help us in adopting criteria as well as in making practical decisions.

I think that sometimes, without much thought, we use the same criteria for making judgments about these two realities, and this has led us to justify standing idly by and endorsing situations that make little sense. I will now write about these two realities, keeping them separate and distinct from the outset.

Poverty in the Institute, looked at in two ways, as the accumulation of wealth - capitalization, and what we use that wealth for, raises points that have not been sufficiently thought out. The 18th General Chapter in 1985 did address this issue. The apparent excess of funds that some Provinces had developed led Br. Basilio to ask for a study of this situation. From that came a proposal concerning "Capitalization." Later, the Council launched a study of this topic, and held some meetings with groups of Provinces, with contrasting results.

I do not want to fill up this letter with a host of supporting texts and documentation. I will limit myself to recalling a few references that I consider very important. These would include calls from the Church emanating from Vatican II, Perfectae Caritatis, no. 13, and the papal documents Sollicitudo Rei Socialis and the Apostolic Exhortation Vita Consecrata. We must also remember calls coming from within our Institute, especially from our origins, the Constitutions, and the last four General Chapters, which look upon poverty in terms of our paying preferential attention to the poor, of education and dedication to peace, justice, and solidarity. They also insist on both personal and communal poverty: simplicity, moderation, etc.

The key to interpreting Article 167,7 in our Constitutions, dealing with the use of Provincial resources, can be found in other Articles: 32, 33, 34, 83, 156, and 159, among others. And of course, in the documents of our 19th General Chapter. It would prove interesting to reread the documents Our Mission and Solidarity (Numbers 12, 14, second paragraph, 15, 16, 17, and 20). Another document to keep in mind is Br. Charles Howard's Circular, An Urgent Call: Sollicitudo Rei Socialis.