Talk:Oratory of Saint Philip Neri

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this site http://www.oratoriosanfilippo.org especially this page http://www.oratoriosanfilippo.org/costituzioni.html

cold be quite useful in creating a fuller description of the Oratorian life. My Italian is not up to the Job of translating it.

The Oratorians, are, I gather, fairly independent and relatively democratic - each house having its own autonomy and all the full members of the community having voting rights on descisions - which once made, even the Provost must abide by even if he strongly disagrees with them.

The constitution should allow someone to write a fuller and more accurate description of these issues.

Your points about the democratic nature of Oratorian houses is correct. I was a member of an Oratorian house for a time. The head of the house, the provost, is more or less a "first among equals" and is elected by all the priests and brothers in the house. Another aspect of Oratorian life that is distinct from most Catholic forms of religious life is that each member continues to own his own personal property and earn his own salary (as opposed to those under a vow of poverty who give up ownership of property, although they may still have the use of the property.) Each member contributes to the common expenses of the house voluntarily in proporation to his ability. The house also is typically supported by benefactors as well. CrazyElk 05:36, 24 June 2006 (UTC)