The Order
of
Preachers
The Bologna Document:
On The Dominican Family
APPROVED BY THE
GENERAL CHAPTER OF ROME (1983)
1. Prologue
God continually calls a people out of darkness into the light of the good news of
Jesus Christ. He has always called men and women to worship him and to proclaim his name.
Dominic heard his call in the cry of the men and women of his time and brought them a
message of hope and freedom. From the very beginning people followed in the footsteps of
Dominic. Today Dominican men and women are attentive, as Dominic was, to the needs of our
time.
The Church, the people of God, is open to the gospel values wherever they are found and
proclaims these values to the ends of the earth. The followers of Dominic, because of
their diversity, are a microcosm of the Church, in the local community and throughout the
world, fully engaged in spreading the Word of God. Faithful to the example of Christ and
the vision of Dominic, we are open to the spirit continually calling the Church to make
the risen Lord present in every age and culture.
2. Charism of Dominic
2.1 Dominic was a man of the gospel in word and in deed. He had only one passion: to
know and to experience the Word of God in truth and from this experience to announce the
compassion of God to men and women.
2.2 The word of God who became man in the womb of Mary now takes flesh in us, a Word
contemplated, celebrated in joy, studied attentively, lived and announced as good news.
Dominic was at the heart of the Church in the service of the world. He was sensitive to
the Word spoken in the heart of every man and woman, especially those who were enslaved in
misery and need. We share in that charism and his prophetic vision, proclaiming the Word
that the Lord puts into our heart.
Our apostolic way of life is continually renewed in dialogue with our brothers and
sisters and challenged by the values of the gospel. Dominic associated women with his
mission, thus affirming their place in the Church and its mission. As his heirs we have
the task of manifesting the equality and complementarities of men and women.
We are open to the world, celebrating the goodness of creation and encouraged to use
our freedom and develop the gifts God has given us.
3. Followers of Dominic
3.1 From the very beginning the charism of Dominic was realized in different groups.
New forms are still emerging, but all find their roots in Dominic. He is their common
father.
The first group to be called into existence by Dominic's preaching was the nuns. In the
first stage they formed part of the Jesu Christi Praedicatio of which Dominic was the
leader. After he had established an Order, the nuns became part of that Order. They were
deeply rooted in Dominic's work of preaching by their totally contemplative way of life.
The nuns retain their original relationship to the Order through their profession made to
the Master of the Order, the successor of Dominic.
In 1215 Dominic founded his Order of Preaching Friars, whose purpose was summed up by
Honorius III. "God has inspired you to embrace a life of poverty and regular
observance and to devote yourselves to preaching the Word of God, making known the name of
our Lord Jesus Christ throughout the world." The friars comprise priests and brothers
forming a branch of the Dominican Family, under the Master.
From the beginning groups of lay people associated themselves with the Order, some of
whom committed themselves to its life and mission in a more integral way, either in
fraternities or as "Brothers and Sisters of Penance of St. Dominic," with their
own proper rule. The Dominican laity is directly under the authority of the Master.
In a similar way fraternities of priests arose, who wished to be integrated into the
life and charism of Dominic and his Order.
Over a period, especially in the nineteenth century, different congregations of sisters
were formed, who by their mission shared directly in the Order's charism of preaching.
Each congregation is independent, and profession incorporates the sisters into their
congregation and the Order. In the twentieth century secular institutes sprang up. Their
call to evangelization is by way of a presence to the world in which they live out their
total gift of themselves to God. They make profession of counsels in the spirit of
Dominic.
A phenomenon of our time is the emergence of groups with looser structures who look to
Dominic and the Order for inspiration. These new groups, together with members of
associations connected with the Order along with relatives, friends and collaborators
belong to the Dominican Family in a broad sense.
3.2 Sharing in Dominic's charism these various groups participate in the one Dominican
vocation. In complementarity and mutual collaboration, these branches constitute the
Dominican Family and realize their mission while respecting the autonomy and vocation
proper to each.
The principle and sign of unity of the Dominican Family is the Master of the Order,
successor of St. Dominic, the one who grants aggregation to the Order, the one who outside
the General Chapter guarantees and promotes fidelity to the spirit of St. Dominic.
On the basis of their equality the different branches discover their responsibility for
one another. This care for one another is expressed by regional, national and
international organizations. All of these serve to foster cooperation at the local level,
which remains the most fundamental area of mission and unity.
4. Evangelization as Common Mission for the Kingdom
4.1 The members of the Dominican Family live out their baptismal commitment and
their special Dominican charism. The particular mission we receive is the proclamation of
the Word of God, above all by sharing, as Dominic did, God's mercy as a sign of
liberation.
In the spirit of Dominic this Word is addressed to all, to "the sinners, the
destitute and the afflicted" (Cf. Blessed Jordan of Saxony, Lib, 12), and is awaited
especially by the poor, the blind, captives and those on the margins of society.
Preaching in the various forms as understood in the Dominican tradition, is the
indispensable liberating force most needed in the contemporary world and without it the
command to spread the Kingdom cannot be fulfilled.
Open to the actual needs of the time we search for a path to young people and their
world.
The Dominican Family, especially the Dominican laity, show to its contemporaries the
richness of an authentic apostolic lay spirituality.
4.2 The Dominican charism of preaching is continually nourished by the Word shared in
community. Thus, in the proclamation of the Word of God the Dominican Family expresses a
unity centered on the Word of God and seeks to give common witness to the good news.
4.3 So that we might be effective preachers we see ongoing formation as a central task.
Our study is, above all, of the Word of God, but we must also seek to understand the world
in which that Word is proclaimed. In a rapidly changing world Dominicans listen to and
welcome the Word of God already present in the cultures in which we live. We must also be
in the vanguard in proclaiming the liberating good news in diverse cultures.
5. Conclusion
The Dominican Family is present with a certain vitality in all five continents. We
are united to one another by the deepest bonds of the Lord's love. We affirm our
solidarity with all our suffering brothers and sisters, especially those who are
persecuted for their fearless proclamation of the gospel of peace and justice. Grounded in
the profound peace of our common vocation we move full of hope into the future. We pray
the Holy Spirit to renew in us the courage to continue in the footsteps of Dominic,
"speaking only to God and of God."
The Bologna Document: "On the Dominican Family"
was authored by the Congress of Bologna (April 11-16, 1983), a gathering of Dominicans,
representing each of the branches of the Dominican Family, which had been called for by
the General Chapters of Quezon City (1977) and Walberberg (1980).
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