American-Cassinese Congregation

The Constitutions and the Directory

Part III: Matters Pertaining to the Congregation

Chapter I: The Government of the Congregation and Its Officials

Article 2: The President of the Congregation

C 114. The President of the Congregation represents in a personal way the particular bond of unity that exists among the member monasteries of the Congregation.

D 114.1. The President is the personal representative of the Congregation in relations with other Benedictine congregations, with the Benedictine Confederation, with the superiors of other institutes of consecrated life, and with other competent authorities in the Church.

D 114.2. From the President’s initiative or with his support, ways of more effective cooperation among the monasteries of the Congregation may develop and prosper.

C 115. 1. The President has that power of governance over the Congregation that universal law (CIC 620) and the proper law of the Congregation attribute to him.

D 115.1. The President has the authority to give an authentic interpretation of the proper law of the Congregation in individual cases, with due regard for the prescriptions of C 5.1.

C 115.2. The President is to administer the affairs of the Congregation in accord with the requirements of universal law and the proper law of the Congregation.

D 115.2. It is his responsibility:

To convoke and preside at a general chapter;
To insure that the decisions of the general chapter are implemented;
To convoke and preside at meetings of his council;
To give direction or to make decisions in matters presented to him between meetings of the general chapter or the council of the president, always in accord with the provisions of universal law and the proper law of the Congregation;
To preside at the election of an abbot; likewise, to confirm the election or admit a postulation;
To accept the resignation of an abbot and to set the date on which the office becomes vacant;
To maintain vigilance over the financial situation of the monasteries of the Congregation by appropriate means;
To provide for visitation of the monasteries of the Congregation;
To grant dispensations, in individual cases, from the proper law of the Congregation;
To make provisions for the monks and property of a suppressed autonomous monastery;
To submit petitions and required reports to the Apostolic See in the name of and for the Congregation;
To convoke his council to act with him as a tribunal when so required by law;
To call for the required subsidies from the houses of the Congregation, to administer the funds of the Congregation, to present a financial statement to the general chapter, and, at the end of his term, to turn over all funds to his successor;
To appoint an archivist for the Congregation;
To maintain a file of all documents and correspondence pertaining to the Congregation; at the end of his term of office, to send the current material to his successor and the remainder to the archives of the Congregation at Saint Vincent Archabbey.

C 116. The President of the Congregation is elected by the general chapter for a term of six years. Upon acceptance of election the President assumes jurisdiction. He may be reelected indefinitely.

C 117. Any monk of the Congregation who possesses the qualifications for the office of abbot specified in C 13 may be elected President of the Congregation.

D 117.1. 1. The election of the President and his council shall be the last item on the agenda of the general chapter.

D 117.1. 2. Early in the general chapter, a preliminary ballot shall be taken in which each capitular may nominate two candidates for the office of President of the Congregation.

D 117.2. If the monk elected is not an abbot, he does not receive the abbatial blessing.

C 118.1. The first councillor assumes the responsibility of the President of the Congregation whenever it is impossible for the President to act in his own behalf, and for those matters which affect the President as the superior of an autonomous monastery.

C 118. 2. If the President dies in office, resigns, or becomes impeded from exercising his office, the first councillor assumes the office of president until the next general chapter. If the first councillor is impeded, the presidency passes to the second councillor and so on to the third and fourth, to the executive secretary, and then to the abbot with jurisdiction who is senior by election.

D 118.1. If, for serious reason, the President decides to resign his office, he is to prepare a document of resignation indicating the date on which the resignation is to be effective. He is to submit this document to the first councillor, though acceptance of the resignation of the President by the first councillor or by anyone is not required.

D 118.2. If it appears that the President is impeded from fulfilling his office, it is the responsibility of the first councillor to make the decision, with the consent of the remaining members of the council, whether the President is actually impeded.

C 119.1. In the discharge of his duties the President of the Congregation is to be assisted by an executive secretary who is to be a solemnly professed member of a monastery of the Congregation.

C 119.2. The executive secretary of the Congregation is nominated by the President of the Congregation for a term of three years, subject to the consent of the general chapter. He serves as secretary of the meetings of the council of the President and of the general chapter.

C 119.3. The executive secretary ranks last in seniority on the council of the President.

C 119.4. If the executive secretary dies, resigns, changes his status, or becomes impeded from exercising his office, the President, with the consent of his council, is to appoint another monk to take his place until the next general chapter.

C 120. Qualified individuals, normally monks from monasteries of the Congregation, may be appointed by the President, with the consent of his council, to assist him in the discharge of his duties.

D 120.1. 1. The Congregation will retain the services of a procurator to the Apostolic See who is nominated by the President of the Congregation for a term of three years and approved by the general chapter. Should the procurator be unable to fulfill his duties, the President, with the consent of his council, is to appoint another monk to serve as procurator until the next general chapter.

D 120.1. 2. The procurator is to receive appropriate remuneration from the Congregation.

D 120.2. Competent accountants or financial experts, normally monks from monasteries of the Congregation, are to be employed to assist the President and his council in reviewing the annual audit reports.

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