Dear All,
Like mother, like son! Two years ago, Pope Francis promoted a major reform of Mother Church’s Vatican Curia with his Apostolic Constitution Praedicate Evangelium. Just a year later, the Rector Major issued the letter of convocation for the 29th General Chapter, indicating that the third core area would be a “courageous review and re-planning of the Congregation’s governance at all levels”.
At the Vatican it was out with the old: ‘Congregations’, ‘Pontifical Councils’ out (or in terminological language, became deprecated terms), subsumed for the most part into either existing or new ‘Dicasteries’. And, perhaps with the exception of the 'Secretariat of State’ at the top of the list (which, by the way, received a third ‘Sezione’ or branch for diplomatic staff), Francis declared that all the new bodies were ‘legally equal’ in status.
And now the same Rector Major is a potential member of the Curia! It would seem appropriate, then, to regard what has gone on at the Vatican as a best practice for us, at least in certain respects, so this is what this week’s Best Practice is all about.
But in the meantime, anyone involved in the translation field will need to be keeping a close eye on the kind of terminology that might emerge in six month’s time, because even if you are not involved precisely in translating at or for the Chapter, you will be involved in translating materials that arrive as a consequence of that Chapter, and knowing what terms to use in your language will be crucial. I would not be sure to what extent this would eventually affect the FMA, so our FMA readers can feel free to comment, especially if there is any discussion of organisational shifts, changes of terminology employed within the Institute.
Be prepared for some potential tectonic shifts, though, at SDB level, and getting the terminology right will be important. There are all kinds of terms floating around at the moment: settori, dicasteri, segreterie, segretariati, uffici, commissioni, consulte, consigli.... and, even more importantly, how they will relate to each other, and, ultimately, how they will improve the efficiency of government, decision-making and shared responsibility.
Let’s just consider the English translation of the 2015 3rd Edition of the SDB Constitutions and Regulations for a moment. Certain terminology is already out of date because of Pope Francis’ reform of the Curia: R 23. "In accordance with the prescriptions of the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples, formal agreements are to be drawn up with the ecclesiastical authorities in the territories where an apostolic work is entrusted to us.” That now has to become “Dicastery for Evangelization”, and there are several other references to Vatican “Congregations” which have to change. Then there is the looseness with which the Italian text uses the word “settore”, sometimes with reference to ‘Sectors‘ with a capital S and at other times to “sectors” of work in general, e.g. R 108 “Per settori di particolari importanza che non rientrino nei compiti assegnati dalle Costituzioni a singoli Consiglieri, possono costituirsi appositi segretariati centrali....” It would be better in English to say “For areas of importance...” rather than “sectors”. But at one point the confusion becomes even more egregious in translation: C 133 “ The general council is made up of the vicar general, the councillors in charge of special departments, and the regional councillors in charge of groups of provinces.”
All highlighted (red) items have changed in the revised translation (which you have... I gave you a copy some months back, but if you need it again, just ask): General Council is capitalised, as are Councillors. “Vicar General” is a diocesan term, so “General” disappears. He is the “Vicar of the Rector Major”, and the Councillors in question are Councillors of Sectors (capital S and up until now regarded as charismatic aspects like formation, missions, communication....) not departments, which are merely administrative features. But will formation, missions, communication, economy, youth ministry.... be called “Sectors” after April 2025? Keep tuned!
best_practice_36-Curia-terminology.docx