To the Superiors of Regions/Delegations,

To the Administrators of Regions/Delegations,

To the Directors of Formation.

Rome, June 29, 2001

My dear brothers,

 with this letter the General Council would like to call your attention to the question of expenses for travel, study and residence of our confrères and students.

 In recent years our accounting operations for these items have multiplied; consequently there has been a certain amount of confusion or uncertainty about responsibility for these expenses.

 Superiors of Regions, their administrators and the directors of formation must know and follow the stipulations of this communication.

 These arrangements refer to that section of our Directory (nos. 60 – 62) concerned with the administration of resources, the recent instructions of the General Office for Formation and Studies concerning new situations that have recently arisen in our Institute. 

 We are entrusting these arrangements to you – superiors, administrators and formation directors – so that everything can be carried out in that family spirit we cherish. We would ask that all those involved in the Consolata Missionary administration be kept informed in a timely fashion.

    Fr. Antonio Bellagamba

    Vice-Superior General

Expenses for travel, study and board

For missionaries

1. Expenses for traveling to a destination and procuring the necessary documents (visas, residence permits) are the responsibility of the Region that receives the missionary.

2. Expenses for traveling somewhere for language study will be defrayed by the Region for which the language is being learned.

3. Expenses for traveling to or participating in renewal courses are the responsibility of the sending Region – even if the missionary will belong to the Region in which he studies, for as long as his course lasts.

4. Expenses for travel to meetings called by the General Council or Administration are to be defrayed by the respective Regions.

5. Expenses for room and board for missionaries studying (this includes language studies) will be borne by the host Region which will keep the Mass stipend.

6. All other expenses will be defrayed by the sending Region (if the missionary is returning to the same Region) or by the Region of his new assignment.

7. In those cases where the General Council assigns a missionary to studies, the General Council will bear all the expenses.

8. Since doctoral studies depend directly on the General Council, the General Council is responsible for all the expenses involved.

9. Upon previous agreement between the General Council and the Regions, expenses for training formation directors will be borne by the General Council.

10. On a case by case basis the General Council may assume the expense involved in sending members for particular assignments or studies, for renewal courses or for special cures; in these cases the General Council will previously notify the General Administration and the Superiors of Region involved. The General Council will pay the expenses for sabbaticals by missionaries who are awaiting a new assignment.

11. Each Region will determine – in a family spirit – how they will handle the expense of missionaries passing through or on holiday in their own or some other Region.

For Students

1.  Expenses for travel to the novitiate and afterwards to the international theological seminary should be paid by the Region of origin. This holds true for trips back to the Region of origin and for the vacation between the novitiate and the beginning of basic theological studies. 

2. If a novice must go home for the funeral of a parent, the expense will be borne by the novitiate; if a temporary professed student must attend the funeral of a parent the theological seminary will defray the expenses.

3. It has been the practice that the expenses of a seminarian on vacation or visiting his family will be paid by the seminary to which he belongs. 

-The formation director should give the seminarian an amount of pocket money commensurate with the length of his vacation;

-The formation director should write to the Superior of the Region the seminarian is visiting that outlines the ordinary expenses foreseen during the vacation; the host Region will give this money to the student and will be reimbursed by the seminary which has sent him;

-Extraordinary expenses (family assistance, medical attention should the seminarian fall sick) will be sorted out by the formation director and the Superior of the host Region; should unforeseen expenses arise, the seminarian should make contact with his formation director or the Superior of the Region he is visiting.

4. When a student moves from one seminary to another (philosophy to novitiate, novitiate to theology) the formation director should send a letter that describes what the Region has given the student (clothes, money …).

5. Travel to one’s Region of origin on the occasion of ordination – perpetual profession for brothers - should be paid for by the subject’s seminary.

6. The Region in which the “celebration” for ordination – or perpetual profession for brothers – is held should contribute to its cost. The Superior of the Region should speak to the person involved about the details of the celebration and the assistance which the family or the parish community can contribute.

7. After ordination – or perpetual profession in the case of brothers – expenses for travel to the first assignment will be borne by the Region receiving the newly ordained or professed subject.