From the Editor – October 2013

This entry was posted in Life of the Charter, News. Bookmark the permalink.
Logo de la Charte

The “Charter” of the Charter

Since 2012, our association has been working on a three year project, called “Charter 2015”, aimed at the consolidation, energising and unifying our network of Cistercian sites.  Among the objectives of this project, the development of a “Charter” for our association is key. After the huge effort we have made since inception to identify and assemble the documentary and digital information on our Cistercian sites, our aim is now to take the next step of identifying the core values, which from an aesthetic and symbolic viewpoint unite us around a Cistercian heritage.

We commenced work in this direction, with the aim of launching this Charter at the next AGM.

At the time of writing, this work is well under way.  We have already organised, starting in early 2013, two regional meetings in Francein order to gather the views of those present.  These were discussed informally with other members.  A first draft was presented and approved last April at the AGM in Morimondo (Charter Bulletin 20132 No. 55 – June 2013).  A further agreed draft will be presented to our members at the regional meetings planned to be held here in January and in Germany,BelgiumandFrance.

There is therefore no reason why our association should not have a Charter for approval at the General Meeting at Clairefontaine in April 2014.  Technically this will be an Extraordinary General Meeting, as this Charter will effectively mean a revision of our Constitution.

This EGM will therefore be an important step in developing our association.  We certainly hope for the widest possible participation by our members.  A formal invitation will be sent to you early next year at the latest.  This will include a Proxy form for those who are not unfortunately able to be present. This Charter will aim to give a balanced expression of the stances of our different members in the context of our Constitution, the histories and estates, to preserve and invigorate our exceptional European heritage.

Dominique Mangeot
Charter President