At today’s liturgy, Br. Faustino Paludo was the main celebrant. He celebrated his 27th and Br. Jan Wouters his 41st anniversary of perpetual profession. Brs. Joseph Nacua, Josè Soares da Silva, Jose Costa Guedes da Silva and Joy Fernandes celebrated their name day. At the beginning of the morning session, the moderator, Br. Sergio had a special greeting for everyone with the name of Joseph. He also thanked the drafting committee and the translators for their late night work. The delegates of the four groups submitted a total of 77 proposals. The drafting committee edited them into 66. The first set of proposals (25) was given to the council at this hour in Italian and English and the rest would be ready by the afternoon session. After some remarks from the drafting committee and the council secretary, the brothers went into group discussion on the first 25 proposals. During the discussion period, some groups sent their representatives to other groups to explain their point of view on their propositions. At 5.30 P.M., the moderator, Br. Giovanbattista Urso asked Br. Mark Schenk, the secretary of the drafting committee to brief the Council regarding their work on the proposals. Then, each of the four groups presented their opinions and decisions on the 25 proposals.

PCO7 could not really function without its capable translators and interpreters. Br. Charles Sérginat (Province of England) is one of the five interpreters here at the Plenary Council. The job of the interpreters is to make sure that, whenever someone is speaking in the Plenary Session, as well as sometimes in one of the smaller groups, the other people can hear what he says in their own language. Br. Charles translates everything into English. Daniella Persia, who is a professional interpreter, does the same in Italian. Br. Giampero Gambaro, (Prov. of Genoa) is also an interpreter for the Italian-speaking brothers. Br. Giampiero is the legal representative for the Capuchin Curia. Br. Fernando Ventura (Province of Portugal) is the interpreter for Spanish and Portuguese. Br. Fernando is the Director of the Portuguese Biblical magazine, Biblica. He gives biblical courses and retreats. Rachel Balsan is the interpreter for the French-speaking brothers. She works for the International Catholic Renewal in Rome as a translator. She also has found the CPO7 to be a very enriching experience of Franciscan Spirituality for herself.