“Our mission must not be fragmented but unified”
On the themes discussed yesterday in sensing groups, the time has come for coworkers and brothers together to ask themselves the following questions: What have I understood? What surprised or touched me? A day of intense work aimed at addressing the very essence of essential questions. Formulating them means being aware of what works, but also of the limits.
In the morning, following yesterday's discussions on sensing themes, each group is invited to reflect on different themes and to present the key elements they have retained.
Health: education in health matters, collaborations with external partners, holistic care including families.
“The question of end-of-life care is essential. Life is precious.”
Professional pathways: a decreasing number of volunteers and staff in the health sector leading to a negative impact on the quality of care provided; continuous training is therefore a crucial issue to address this recruitment problem.
Climate and biodiversity crisis: climate migrants; increasing precarity due to natural disasters; rising energy costs...
Financial crisis: high levels of regulation and requirements that increase the costs of service delivery; economic issues in the provinces; proactive approaches to crises in several provinces from which we should draw inspiration.
Moreover, some participants noted that financial crises can be seen as an opportunity to adopt a different approach.
Demographic trends: fewer and fewer young brothers; more patients to care for, with fewer brothers...
Spirituality: The Church does not always meet people's spiritual needs: brothers must set an example; the Order meets spiritual needs through pilgrimages, retreats, and visits to sacred places.
“How can we provide spiritual support in a society where spiritual needs are often neglected?”
Living and working together: How to convey the charism of Saint John of God with a high turnover in collaborator teams; a pastoral approach led by collaborators and volunteers is necessary; we must react when young collaborators leave us, as they carry the charism of Saint John of God wherever they go.
“We need to offer collaborators a project that goes beyond their job description so that they remain committed and are even better bearers of the charism of Saint John of God.”
Governance: Strong professionalism rooted in the values of hospitality; what role for the brothers in governance bodies in the future?
Life of the brothers: Increasingly older brothers; however, older brothers can transmit the charism and history better than younger ones, based on their own experience. We need to emphasize consecrated life in a changing world and adopt a new way of living hospitality.
Emerging new realities: The necessity to manage natural resources well; issues of violence, especially sexual violence; associated poverty and migration; telemedicine as a lever for exercising our activities differently; mental health and care in this area; addressing addictions; loneliness among the elderly; dehumanization of the healthcare system.
“I am convinced that our Hospitaller Order has the capacity to respond to the challenges raised during this Chapter. We have answers to provide for the most vulnerable, collaborators, and volunteers. They spontaneously respond to the needs of society.”
Are there essential things we have not mentioned?
“If I had an hour to solve a problem, I would spend the first 55 minutes determining the right question. Once the right question is defined, I would need less than 5 minutes to solve it.” — Albert Einstein
Participants gradually descend the U in the methodology adopted for the Chapter. In the afternoon, they are invited to consider what fundamental questions need to be asked to “go back up the U” and help discern this General Chapter.
After group discussions and fruitful reflection time, participants expressed the following questions by the end of the day, categorized into three non-exhaustive themes:
The mission of hospitality
- What should we focus on?
- How to sustain the charism of hospitality as faith becomes increasingly rare in our societies, and the number of Brothers declines?
- Which aspects of hospitality reinforce the fulfillment of our mission?
- How can we protect our mission and identity?
- What are our future expectations regarding the transmission of hospitality to collaborators?
- How to make our mission sustainable and effective?
- How to strengthen the management of the charism so that the Hospitaller Order remains a tool for transmitting hospitality in a transitioning world?
- How to make our collaborators the heroes of our hospitality?
- How to live our hospitality to attract Brothers and collaborators and engage them in service to the mission?
- How to ensure that hospitality remains sustainable in a constantly changing world?
- How to promote a strong spirituality in religious life to ensure the transmission of the charism?
- How will we utilize internal and external resources to regain a living experience of hospitality?
Finance and financial sustainability
- How to ensure that finance does not compromise the charism of Saint John of God?
- How to ensure the sustainability of the Order as well as its charism?
- How can we make our services sustainable to minimize the risks of bankruptcy?
- How to develop a healthy fundraising strategy at the level of the general curia?
- What are the best management structures?
- What strategy for responsible governance to incorporate economic, social, and ethical dimensions in our current and future activities?
Governance
- How can the family of Saint John of God transmit its mission of hospitality with a small number of brothers?
- How can we ensure the sustainability of our works and strengthen our resilience while attracting new talents to our mission?
- What can we do in the context of the clergy and spirituality crisis?
“The convergence of your discussions has led to very promising results,” concluded Matthieu Daum, facilitator of this 70th General Chapter.