National Council

OCDS National Council

Meeting Highlights

Members of the OCDS National Council met June 14 and 15 in Bellevue, Wash. Following are some of the points discussed:

• Province updates:

· The California/Arizona Province has completed its statutes and is working on a procedure manual. The province has 2,300 members in 60 communities,

· The Oklahoma Province will be having its first provincial elections. There are 870 members in 40 communities.

· The Washington Province is continuing to work on statutes. Washington has 4,000 members in 123 communities.

· OCDS had a tax-exempt IRS number! I was informed the latter part of August by a banker in Oregon that the tax id number formerly listed here is not operative. He said an annual financial report must be submitted to keep the number filed active. I was never asked for a financial report, so the feds must have retired my OCDS number years ago. I apologize for this inconvenience. If you are thinking of using that number to your community's bank account, please do not use it. If you already have your account listed under that number, it would probably be best to close that account and take out a new one. Treasurers, it is important that you keep good records of money earned and spent while using that number, in case you are investigated. We will try to file for a new number and appoint someone to file the needed reports to keep the tax exempt status active.

· If an OCDS member moves to another province, he or she is under the jurisdiction of that province. The two communities involved in the transfer must be in dialogue about the individual who has moved. The community receiving the transfer is not obligated to accept the individual. The receiving community is in charge of the individual's formation.

· In general, OCDS members should be attached to the community they are most proximate to. It is recommended that seculars maintain membership in communities closest to them; they should not divide along political lines. OCDS must be assigned to a community. Provincial councils decide on questionable cases.

· Father Deeney spoke about dismissals of definitively professed members from the order. Canon law must be followed in exercising penalties. Other valid punishments (e.g., being taken off an active role, not being allowed to vote or to participate in business meetings) must be used first. Penalties must be discussed with the offender. For dismissal, the problem must be grave, provable, consistent and recorded. The Provincial must be consulted.

· Good formation is essential. The local council has the responsibility to refuse progress to those in formation if they do not have vocations. Councils should not commit sin against the community in the name of being charitable to an individual in formation.

· Promises make a person a full member in OCDS. Vows are distinctly personal, not institutional. The key is to focus on good formation in preparation for promises before spending much time on the details of vows.

· All three provinces are committed to a three-year cycle of regional congresses. Provinces will do their best to decrease the costs associated with congresses. Regional congresses will attempt to have more workshops and more OCDS speakers.

· The National Council will provide a theme for the National Congress. Each province will submit a list of speaker suggestions to the host community for that congress.

· When it is decided to extend the first promise, an extension of the promise is to be made before the Spiritual Assistant. It is best if all promises could be received by a Carmelite priest.

· Spiritual assistants cannot sub-delegate their responsibilities to another priest [if they are appointed by the Provincial delegate].

· Father Deeney plans to set up secretariats in Asia, India, Europe-Africa and the Americas. These secretariats will be made up of committees of OCDS members.

OCDS are full members of the order, dependent on the friars.

· The National Council has not authority to dictate decisions to the provinces. Provincial Statutes take precedence over National policies. The National Council proposes policies to the three provinces. Each Provincial Council may accept or reject or amend these suggested policies. Then each Provincial Council can make an addendum to its Provincial Statutes. These addenda are binding to OCDS in that province. When the policy is published, it is considered promulgated and carries the weight of law.

· Any community that does not accept the Constitutions ceases to be a community of the order.