Letter to the Ministers - 2011-2012
|
Collegio San Lorenzo da
Brindisi
1 July 2010 Dear Brother Minister, may the Lord give you peace! First and foremost, we want to alert you to the deadlines for applications for the General Study Grant (and for the Admission of friars outside the European Union) for the next Academic Year (2011-2012): · 15 December 2010 – deadline for requests for the General Study Grants (Borse) · 08 January 2011 – meeting of the Commission for Admission to consider all requests · 11 January 2011 – The Commission submits the requests to the General Definitory · 15 January 2011 – Response of the General Definitory and the communication of the decisions to the Superiors involved. · From 25 January (after the meeting of the New Ministers in Frascati), we begin the process of pre-registration a the Universities and the preparations of the Official Invitations for the Italian visa. If you apply after December 15, you run the risk of not being able to receive the Scholarship for the next academic year. Since it is not an unlimited source of funds and is, in fact, limited to 80 scholarships per year, we advise you and your Council to plan ahead. Unfortunately, the presentation of the request for a Study Grant does not necessarily imply that the Grant will be conceded. The number of Grants available and the reasons for each request must be taken into consideration. I. Admission to the Collegio -- For those who have access to the Internet, we highly recommend our website where you can make your requests directly online or you can download the necessary forms to send by mail or fax. The site dedicated to admissions can easily be reached at: http://www.collegiosanlorenzo.org/Ammissione In order to facilitate the process for admission, we ask that all ministers complete the provided forms and to send them to us by fax or through the form on the Website. II. Letter of Obedience from the General Minister Upon receiving your requests for both Italian and foreign-born friars, the Commission will discern the request of each friar. After the Commission recommends the friar, we will request the necessary obedience letter of our brother Minister General, fra Mauro. III. Choice of University, Years of study and “Modern” Languages The Collegio houses students registered at any number of Roman Universities. The breath of the studies undertaken show the diversity and strength of the Roman educational system. To help you decide upon the specific area of studies for your friars, we have compiled a helpful guide to the most frequented Roman Universities with some basic information regarding the course of study and the years required to obtain a degree. You can find the information by choosing “Universities” (Università) on our website for Admission. The information, for now, is only in English and Italian. We will have a student help you with the translation for your own language group if you let us know of your need. To help the friar students, the dates of the beginning and end of their stays at the Collegio are determined according to the chosen course of study (see the pages attached on the Instructions for Admission). This does not mean that, in particular cases, the time cannot be exceeded. Above all, the friar students are asked to plan to complete their work in the time established. It’s the responsibility of the friars to complete their work in the time allotted. This norm is intended both to guarantee that other friars might profit from the Study Scholarship and to help students in bringing their academic work to its completion. It is, in fact, a common experience that maintaining a “deadline” allows the possibility for greater “focusing” on one’s own work. In the distribution of the Study Grants, consideration must be given to the ability of the friaries to do graduate/advanced studies. Students who cannot do graduate work should not be sent to the College. Registration at the Universities usually requires grades (“votes”) which are “above average” in previous studies. You’ll note that, in the Admission form, we have added a question which asks you to evaluate the performance of the candidate in his previous work, indicating a corresponding level on a scale from “poor” to “superior.” Often, friars arriving find (and are surprised!) that their choice of study requires the knowledge of at least two “modern” languages (three for the doctorate). This is particularly difficult for those outside of Western Europe. A solid talent for languages, particularly when united to previous studies in a Romance language (based on Latin), is extremely useful. The cost for courses in the modern languages (except, for those with a Study Grant, the study of Italian) is the responsibility of the jurisdictions. Studies in Rome are provided as a help to the Provinces in the fields of education and formation. They must not be considered as “sabbatical years,” especially for those requesting the Study Grant. Friars who are not predisposed to a life of study should not be sent for University studies. Finally, friars who are seeking to study “Spirituality” at the Gregorian University instead of “Spiritual Theology” at the Antonianum will be asked to make the reason for their choice explicit. While desiring to maintain the utmost respect for the freedom of a Province’s decision, we are especially reminded that the Institute of Spirituality is supported by the Order and remains the preferred faculty for the study of Spirituality. IV. Living at the Collegio The community of the Collegio is, in many ways, like any other fraternity. Receiving friars from more than 30 countries across the world, we try to form one family from this diversity. However, our family is not a “therapeutic community.” The tendency toward isolation in so large a house is a reality. Thus, we discourage ministers to send friars who present problems in their own Provinces or to send friars for a year of psychological or spiritual “therapy.” Usually, these experiences have not proven helpful to the particular friar, and normally carry consequent difficulties for the entire Collegio family. The primary work of the friar student is to study. The work and time dedicated by the friar students to seek sufficient funds to cover their personal expenses, or to satisfy the needs of the Jurisdictions, is always a delicate issue. We encourage the Jurisdictions to consider the fact that pastoral activity can distract a student from his primary work and can take away from one’s needed time for sufficient rest and recreation. During the Academic Year, from October through June (except for “break” periods), the labor of the friar must be spent for studying, leaving the summer months for other activities. The granting of eventual extensions will take into consideration the time which a friar has spent away from his study. Any extension of the period for study is discouraged for those friars who seek it owing to a lack of attention to their principal work of study during the academic year. Regarding the extension of the Study Scholarship or of one’s Obedience, we quote here from the Statutes of the Collegio which express the situation well: “The duration of one's stay in the College depends upon the normal time required by the course of studies chosen (a diploma, licentiate, doctorate). Problems that necessitate a change in residency, or new situations or opportunities that arise, will be discussed by the student with his major superior, the Rector and the Prefect of Studies.” (#48) And, from the General Definitory’s decision of June 2004: “The Minister General is able to grant an extension of not more than 3 months to any friar in receipt of a Scholarship who exceeds the time allotted for his stay at the Collegio. Beyond this period, a new request for a Scholarship must be addressed to the Commission for Admission.”
Requests for extensions should coincide with the annual requests present from the Jurisdictions; thus, they should be submitted by December 15, 2010 for 2011-2012. V. Type of VISA A major change for us in recent years is that we now ask the friars to obtain the “Visa – Type ‘D’” for the intention of "religious motives" (‘motivi religiosi'); this visa allows the friars to obtain a residence permit for two years, rather than having to renew it every year. It is certainly a cost-saving benefit for the friar student. This, however, also demands that the friars make no mention of their "studies" in Rome, but rather their "assignment to live at our friary here in Rome." The local Questura assures us that this is the best way for religious to pursue their residency permits. *************************** We take this opportunity to express our fraternal gratitude, as well as our promise of prayers for your ministry to the brothers. We hope to hear from you soon! May the blessings of the Lord and the goodness of the friars bring you peace.
fra
Isidor Peterhans, OFM Cap.
fra Bona
Marcel Rodriquez, OFM Cap. |
