Silver Fern, New Zealand
Governance
Oceania Province of the Congregation of Christian Brothers is a canonical entity created by the Congregation Leader on 1 October 2007. It is an entity within the Congregation of Christian Brothers - a Religious Institute in the Catholic Church. Locally it is governed by the Province Leadership Team which answer to the Congregation Leadership Team which answer to the Pope.
The Oceania Leadership Team
The Oceania Leadership Team comprises four Christian Brothers, chosen from among all Brothers in Oceania. They are appointed by the Congregation Leadership Team following the Province Chapter.
The role of the Oceania Leadership Team is to oversee and govern the work of the organisation, working faithfully to the Constitution and directions of the Congregation and Chapter.
The Oceania Leadership Team has a central location in Melbourne. It aims to develop the right relationships at the local level as well as inter-relationships at all levels to serve the wider mission of the Christian Brothers.
The Canonical Entity
The Brothers, as members of the Province, form this canonical legal entity called a Public Juridic Person and the Province Leader and his team act as the Stewards of this canonical entity. The Constitutions and Statutes of the Congregation and the Acts of Chapter of the Province provided the specific law under which the Province operates within the Church.
Because the Christian Brothers are an Institute of Pontifical Right they are responsible for their stewardship directly to the Pope rather than to a specific local Bishop. The Oceania Leadership Team fulfils these reporting obligations through the Congregation Leadership Team based in Rome.
Civil Structure
The complexity of the civil structure of the Oceania Province is significant. Oceania Province is a cross-national entity as it spans five sovereign nations, New Zealand, Australia, Papua New Guinea, The Philippines, Timor Leste. Consequently it comprises a number of civil corporate entities. Additionally within Australia, entities that constituted the civil authority within the former Provinces remain constituted.
Congregational Leadership Team
The Congregation Leadership Team comprises five Christian Brothers, elected by the Congregation Chapter delegates for a period of six years.
The Leaders of the Congregation are:
Congregation Leader: John Casey
Councillors: Senan D’Souza, David Ryan Silva, Hugo Cáceres, Amandi Mboya
The Congregation Leadership Team provides guidance, encouragement and general leadership to all the Brothers around the world. They assist the Province Leadership and individual Brothers to respond to the Calls and Directions of the Congregation Chapter.
For more information, visit the Congregation website: http://edmundrice.net/
Congregational Leadership Team - 32nd Congregation Chapter
In June 2018 the CLT, together with the Province Leaders and their Deputies, gathered in Rome for the Congregation Leadership Group's annual two-week meeting. As a result of a desire for inclusive ways of creating the future of our Brotherhood, planning began towards developing participative processes to involve all Brothers. These processes would see the 2020 Congregation Chapter as a step on a longer journey.
Recent History
Oceania is an amalgamation of the former entities: Holy Spirit Province, St Francis Xavier Province, St Joseph’s Province, St Mary’s Province, St Patrick’s Province and the Edmund Rice Region of Papua New Guinea. The Oceania Province comprises communities of Christian Brothers and Ministries inspired by the Edmund Rice charism in Australia, Timor Leste, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea and The Philippines.
The Oceania Province is governed from the Oceania Province Centre in Melbourne, Australia, and the Oceania Leadership Team (OLT) of five members operate from this base.
Cristo Rei, Dili, Timor Leste