Provincial Secretary Manual
for the use of the
Provincial Secretary: US Province
Prepared by:
Fr. Bernard J. Rosinski, SCJ
Fr. David Szatkowski, SCJ
September 8th 2006
Foreword
Dear Colleague(s):
Building upon work done by our predecessors in the office of provincial secretary of the US province, and taking advantage of an internship offered in the practice and exercise of the duties of a provincial secretary, we believe that the time and effort we spent in developing this manual over the past summer will prove very useful to you.
“How useful?” you might ask. We believe it is useful, first of all, because it provides a broad overview of what you are responsible for in your service to the province as provincial secretary.
Some of your duties as provincial secretary are recurrent. We have tried to identify recurrent duties as best we can according to calendar periods: every six years; every three years; every year; every quarter; every month; every week....
Other duties of the provincial secretary are occasional. We have tried, as well, to identify certain irregular tasks that might occur while you hold office. Other jobs and duties may arise; everything cannot possibly be anticipated.
Additionally, the manual is useful, we believe, because it provides models and forms for a variety of juridical acts: letters of presentation and notification, juridical forms, and the like. We think you will like the overviews as well.
Lastly, apart from creating this written manual that is topically indexed and can be read like a book, we believe that its digital counterpart (Adobe Reader PDF format) will permit rapid, on-line searches allowing you to look up matters by key-words and permit cross-referencing of what you find with similar matters – –just to make sure you are in the right ball-park.
In preparing this manual, we were thinking of you and how we might best help you complete your tasks. Good luck and God bless you for accepting this duty
Fr. Bernard J. Rosinski, SCJ
Fr. David Szatkowski, SCJ
September 8, 2006 – Mary’s Birthday
Preface
This manual is designed to be used in conjunction with two other very handy weapons in the armory of a provincial secretary. The two in his arsenal are books prepared for use in the canon law of religious life.
The first book is called Procedures and Documents for Canonical Separations and Other Canonical Processes: Religious Institutes and Societies of Apostolic Life. . Its format is an 8.5" x 11" three ring binder and it was prepared by Jane Mitchell and Daniel Ward, OSB, members of the LegalResourceCenter for Religious (LRCR) for the Conference of Major Superiors of Men (CMSM). This manual may be found along with other canon law reference books in the bookcase of the office of the provincial secretary. It is occasionally updated by a mailing from the CMSM.
The second book is called The Sacrament of Orders and the Clerical State (rev. 2nd ed.) by Fr. William H. Woestman, O.M.I. The book was published by the Faculty of Canon Law, St. PaulUniversity (Ottawa, 2001). The text is also located among the books in the office of the provincial secretary.
Model Letters
In this manual, as well as in supplementary books, models of letters are provided to assist your practice. Please be aware that these letters are simply model letters. They call attention to a number of elements that ought to be contained in such letters, but, as model letters, they serve neither as absolutes nor do they reflect specific circumstances. Use the models to design your own letters.
Scope
It is not possible to foresee all possible situations that a provincial secretary will face. This manual, however, does attempt to foresee all possible canonical situations that a provincial secretary normally faces. Hence, this manual revolves about law: about what is prescribed in the code of canon law as it relates to general religious and priestly practice, to our own proper SCJ law contained in the Rule of Life and in our own Provincial Directory, and our American SCJ religious and priestly practice.
Organization
Periodicity, or the regular segmentation time into periods, is the primary factor according to which this manual is organized. You can see that by glancing at the index which is provided. The manual begins with what ordinarily occurs once every six years (e.g., the provincial chapter) and ends with what may occur monthly or even more frequently. Topic is then handled within the time period. If you need to deal with some canonical matter that occurs weekly, that would be the time period in which to look up that topic. After that, the manual deals with matters that do not occur on a regularly occurring basis, but occasionally only. One example of such irregular occurrence would be a separation of a religious from SCJ religious life.
Contents
The ordinary provincial chapter and its related activities are the first item the manual deals with in its treatment of regularly recurring matters. It is followed by a series on appointments to offices in the province. There are several that relate to office holders within the structure of the province: president/rector of Sacred Heart School of Theology, the directors of the various fund-raising offices. This is followed by treatment of office holders outside the structure of the province: the appointment of pastors, parochial vicars, new assignments, contracts for religious who work in a non-parochial setting.. The province election assembly is next in the series of periodic considerations.
There are a number of regularly recurring activities that relate to formation. The provincial secretary should make use of the General and Provincial Formation Ratios, the national Program of Priestly Formation, and the Rule of Life for additional clarifications. The CMSM Procedures and Documents... is also helpful in this respect. First to be treated in this portion of the manual are temporary and perpetual vows. This is followed by what is required by minor orders. and the formation requirements that must precede ordination. Next in line are the major orders and all the canonical activities related thereto. This manual has a number of checklists that may prove helpful to the provincial secretary in having an overview of particular order requirements as well as the opportunity to see what is common to all ordination processes.
Occasionally the provincial secretary will need to send letters of petition or testimonials, e.g. brother as local superior , celebrets, notifications to be inscribed in the baptismal registry of the parish of baptism: perpetual vows, ordinations to diaconate and priesthood, secularization, dispensation, etc. The general curia also needs to be informed about status changes.
From time to time, a local community undergoes administrative changes: an appointment of local superior, treasurer, etc. There are a number of related processes and correspondences that should be kept in mind.
Separation of a religious from the community also occurs from time to time, unfortunately. The CMSM handbook, Procedures and Documents... is very helpful in these instances. Separation may take the form of simple exclaustration, or it may involve dispensation from religious vows, or it may involve secularization or incardination¸ or it may mean a return to the lay state, or it may involve dismissal from the congregation and religious life. We have tried to facilitate your handling of all these matters.
Other events may occur in the life of a religious province that call for the assistance of a provincial secretary: assemblies of various sorts; a provincial conference; an extraordinary provincial chapter. By researching province archives you may come up with models of how to proceed. This province has never, in all its history, felt the need for an extraordinary provincial chapter. In this matter, you are on your own. But make sure you research the Rule of Life or consult with the General Secretary.
This province has been blessed with a number of remarkable men who served as provincial secretary since our founding in 1934: Among our deceased predecessors are: Fathers Aresta, Coyle, De Palma, Hogebach, Lindon, Miller, Monley, Nitzki, O’Connor, Pinger, Rotermann, and Brother Mueller. Say a prayer for them. Still alive and still SCJ are: Fathers Bisgrove, and Pujdak along with Brother Kozuch; they deserve a prayer as well. Names of others who served are: Van Duren, Kasparek, and Tucker. Pray for them, too. Oremus pro invicem.