Lay Dominican Leadership Meets at North American Gathering

PLYMOUTH, MI – May 14, 2008--The Dominican Laity Inter Provincial Council (DLIPC) gathered in Plymouth, MI, April 10-13 for their biannual meeting.

The DLIPC meets every eighteen months to share concerns, to review procedures and documents with a view to some measure of uniformity, and to formulate any recommendations for the international council.

During the opening session, guest Dustyne Farnan, OP (Adrian) spoke to the group of the North American Justice Agenda. She shared the brochure produced by the promoters of Justice, Peace, and Care of Creation and invited comments. A lively discussion ensued in which several suggestions were made about the priorities in presentation of the issues.

Primary on the agenda at this meeting was review of a new translation of  The
Rule to reach agreement among the member provinces that a common text would be uniformly used in the USA and Canada. The delegates worked on the wording of the translation, referring to the original Latin in order to remain faithful to it, and delivered to the plenary a translation acceptable to all.

That document will be reviewed by all members after adjournment and comments returned to Alvin Gallanosa for final determination. After that, the new translation will be submitted to the provincial councils for adoption by each province.

Other discussions revolved around the mobility of Lay Dominicans, both within and among the provinces. Agreement was reached in general to provide relocating or itinerant Lay Dominicans with a letter of introduction in order to ease their transitions. Formation practices were another topic, along with matters of finance.
The next meeting of the DLIPC will be October 1-4, 2009 in Mississauga, Ontario, Canada.

The Council members present included
(standing, above) Dominic Luyen Truong, President, Vietnamese Vicariate (No.
California region); Arvin Gallanosa, Delegate, Eastern Province; Dorothy
Murphy, President, Eastern Province; Cathy Neugebauer, Delegate, Canadian
Province; Teresa Lippingwell, President, Canadian Province; Doris Stukes,
North American Delegate to the international council of Lay Dominicans; Bruce
Trigo, President, Southern Province; fr David Kammler, Promoter General of
Dominican Laity and member of the Curia; Karen Woods, President, Western
Province; Gary Sims, Delegate, Western Province; fr Joseph Tran, Promoter,
Lay Dominicans of the Vietnamese Vicariate; (seated, above) fr John Lydon,
Provincial Promoter, Southern Province; Norman Laurendeau, Delegate,
Central Province; Scott Farris, Delegate, Southern Province; fr Jim Motl,
Provincial Promoter, Central Province; Ruth Kummer, President, Central
Province; and taking the picture, Cynthia Ricard who served as recording
secretary.