By Elizabeth B. Scott
Title: SSE Committees. Constitutions, 1968-1986
ID: SSE 7/SSE 7.13/
Extent: 3.0 Linear Feet
This collection is arranged into subseries by each Standing Centennial Committee and the files of the individual drafter, Rev. Richard Myhalyk, SSE. It also includes a bibliography of materials accumulated during the 18-year drafting period. The 1968-70 series contains many drafts. The 1970-74, 74-78, and 78-82 series contain correspondence, drafts, and protocols, which are sometimes actually minutes of meetings. The 1974-78 series also includes a list of the documents consulted by the committee. The principal drafter subseries is the largest. It includes correspondence, many drafts, reports from the cluster meetings and consultations, and some commentary.
Processing notes. Over the many years that this committee was in existence, it accumulated a large number of documents from a number of different sources. For the most part, these documents were only consulted, or looked to for examples, rather than used in any substantive way. The committee collected articles on all aspects of constitution writing and canon law, in addition to requesting copies of constitutions from many other religious orders. For reasons of space and condition, most of these documents
The Constitutions Committee was formed in 1968 to draft a new version of the SSE Constitution. All religious orders were given this task following the Second Vatican Council. The drafting of the SSE Constitution was a long process that began as a committee assignment but ended as the work of one man, Rev. Richard Myhalyk. The records of the Constitutions Committee offer incredible insight into the Edmundites, as they include information from all aspects of the society, and document the processes used by the Edmundites both in and out of committee.
The process of drafting the constitution was quite lengthy. The committee needed to understand not only the governance of the Society, but also the spiritual life of the Society. They also needed a working knowledge of Canon Law in order to create the new Constitutions in the proscribed manner. The committee consulted works from scholars, religious organizations, other religious orders and material from the Edmundites own files. They also consulted with Edmundites. The Committee drafted a Provisional Constitution in 1970; it then went through two drafts that were never submitted to Rome for approval. The drafts languished for a number of years before Superior General Edward Leary appointed Rev. Richard Myhalyk,SSE the principal drafter of the constitution.
Myhalyk worked on the constitution for four years before it was sent to Rome. He consulted all the materials left by the committee members, worked with other SSE committees, including former members of the constitutions committee, and held a series of cluster meetings at Edmundite apostolates. He created a great number of drafts over the years, based in part on the feedback and input he received. In 1986, the constitution was approved by the General Chapter and then sent to Rome, where it received final approval.
