THE ARCHDIOCESAN MONASTIC COUNCIL
The Charter of the Monastic Estate of the Italo-Greek Byzantine Orthodox Catholic Church, originally drafted by His Beatitude, Archbishop CHRISTOPHER is the governing document by which all monasteries and monastic communities in the Archdiocese operate.
The Monastic Council of the Archdiocese oversees and regulates the organization, administration, and life of all monasteries and monastic communities in the Archdiocese. It fulfills this mission by ensuring that the regulations and precepts of the Charter of the Monastic Estate are faithfully adhered to and observed in all monasteries and monastic communities of the Archdiocese.
The Council advises the Metropolitan on all matters pertaining to the condition, well-being, and life of the monasteries and monastic communities of the Archdiocese. The Council also coordinates and performs the annual visitation, inspection, and audits of the monasteries and monastic communities by the Monastic Council and other Archdiocesan authorities. The Council advises the Metropolitan regarding petitions to establish new monasteries and monastic communities within the territorial boundaries of the Archdiocese.
One of the primary responsibilities of the Monastic Council is to ensure the efficient and uniform operation of the monasteries and monastic communities of the Archdiocese and to promote and safeguard the basic monastic principles of quietude and serenity, of prayer and meditation; of forbearance, hospitality, obedience, and humility; and the general order and discipline that should prevail in the monasteries and monastic communities.
The Archdiocesan Monastic Council is made up of the Metropolitan as Chairman, the Episcopal Vicar for Monasteries, Monastic Communities, and Consecrated Life, the Abbots and Abbesses of each monastery, the heads of the other monastic communities, and one representative of each monastery and monastic community.
