Young Friars Fill Assisi

European Franciscans in formation meet for renewal and fellowship

With religious life in Europe declining, the sight of 300 young Franciscan friars filling Assisi’s narrow medieval streets the week after Easter almost seemed out of place, a page out of a glorious past.

From April 10 to April 14 the Order of the Brothers Minor Conventual called together in Assisi all of its European friars who have not yet taken life-long vows of poverty, chastity and obedience. Franciscan seminarians from Poland, Romania, Russia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Croatia, Germany, Austria, England, Italy, Czech Republic, Malta, France, Spain, Turkey and Lebanon were present for a week of prayer, fraternal sharing and testimonies in the small Italian where the order was originally founded in the 1200’s.

Yet despite the “success” of the large number of participants, I did not sense that the week was about glorying in our numbers.

Rather, two prevailing sentiments flavored the entire week: a realistic awareness of the order’s need for renewal, and a contagious joy at discovering the breadth of our fraternity that crosses linguistic and cultural barriers in a united desire to follow Christ.

“We need friars who are in love with the Lord, not friars who are good at doing things,” stated Minister General Marco Tasca in his homily at the week’s closing mass, held on Mount La Verna. Tasca said that he feared that within the order in Europe the focus of “being” in a deep relationship with Christ has shifted in the direction of “doing” lots of activities that are not essential.

Life testimonies of friars from unique mission experiences were one way that the event’s organizers attempted to stimulate new thinking within the young Franciscans gathered in Assisi. One of the most controversial testimonies was the experience of a Franciscan community in Cholet, France which has attracted thousands to its family conferences and youth meetings with its deliberate poverty, community oriented lifestyle, and charismatic worship.

The French model was praised by many of the friars gathered in Assisi, but raised questions for others. “How can you refuse to receive a salary and then ask for money from others, especially during this economic crisis,” said one friar. “It’s not real poverty and it’s not right.”

The second theme that flavored my experience of the week was the richness of being together with brothers from all walks of life who are seeking to follow Christ. Whether meeting up with old friends, or talking with a Polish brother from a Catholic rock group about various worship bands, or listening to an English brother who had previously been part of a monastic order share about the grace of silent Eucharistic adoration, I was struck by a deep joy at being a part of this diverse Franciscan family.

a brother from the community

Mardi Gras in the Friary

Pre-lenten fun and games 

the evening of Fat Tuesday

 

"Missionary Listening" in Assisi

How a missions display reaches out to pilgrims, seekers.

“Go into all the world… and proclaim the Gospel”

Much time has passed since the day Jesus entrusted this mission to his disciples, yet today it remains as relevant as ever.

Moved by this invitation, frontiers have been crossed and cultures and nations have been reached. Today there is no corner of the earth that has not known the proclamation of the Good News.

Friar Francis felt this necessity to share the Gospel which had transformed his life. Moved by this desire, he left for the lands of the Middle East and invited his friars to do likewise.

For eight centuries the friars have continued to announce the beauty of the Gospel, moved by the same desire as that of Saint Francis. Today they seek to give life to the same passion in their various missions on six continents, enriching the local churches with the Franciscan Conventual charism, enabling interaction between the Order’s new and ancient communities through reciprocal aid, and meeting Christ in the face of every person.

Even in Assisi, among the various initiatives of our community, the Franciscanum, we seminarians seek to live out “the mission.” Our Missionary Center works to promote our Order’s missionary efforts by educating pilgrims and tourists that pass through our doors, located on one of the main streets of Assisi.

Using stands, photos, and objects typical of various cultures we seek to present our missions and collect funds for their operation. But beyond this activity we are involved in another effort, just as important, directly tied to supporting missions. It’s what we call, “missionary listening.” We want to truly meet the needs of those who enter our missionary display and who ask for information about the missions, about the organization of our Order, and about our identity as consecrated religious brothers. We listen to them express their doubts and talk about their daily lives. They ask only to be listened to.

One rainy day this winter when no one was on the streets of Assisi, we received a young woman who, in telling us about her life, expressed a desire to offer her medical training in the mission-field to serve those who do not have adequate medical care. In this way, we allowed the Gospel to continue its work, offering meaning to someone who at the moment was having difficulty making sense of her life.

When we have moments like the one mentioned above (and there are many) we realize that in reality we are not that far away from the activity that our confreres carry out on the mission-field; we find ourselves interacting with strangers who immediately become friends, people from all parts of Italy and the globe who, following a route opposite to that of a traditional missionary, come to us. Many are attracted by the simplicity unique to Saint Francis and his friars, which is enough to make us stand out from everything that surrounds daily life. These are people thirsty for truth, for justice, for peace, but especially for God. They see us as “sign” of his presence in the world and feel the need to find in our lifestyle, in our Franciscan charism, an appeal to a different and better reality than the apathy and indifference common in our modern culture.

Being a missionary just by remaining where we are and waiting for pilgrims, shows that mission is about much more than the physical movement of “going.” The patron saint of missions, Theresa of Lisieux, lived out this reality. The Carmelite nun was obedient to her mission by remaining in the small cloister of her French convent.

This is the account, not so much of what we do, but of what we are (because one does what one is). And we are content to be able to be “missionary listeners,” witnesses for the Gospel, witnesses of Love.

Fr. Rocco Predoti

Fr. Anton Giulio Vacanti

Community Chapter

Saturday February 18 we met together for our monthly chapter: a time of sharing and fraternal revision that is typical of our franciscan charism. 

An Evening on Martyrdom and Missions

On Wednesday, February 8, we met after dinner with our order's General Secretary for Missions, friar Jarosław Wysoczański. He talked with us about our Franciscan missions around the world and about his own experiences overseas.

In 2006 our order’s first International Missionary Conference was held in India in order to define our missionary strategy. A mission is authentic when it is born about of a real encounter with Jesus. Those who have met Christ cannot keep him to themselves, they must announce him. Christian communities and groups need fresh apostolic impetus, lived out as a daily commitment. Nevertheless this evangelization must be done with complete respect for each individual and for the various cultures into which the Christian message enters.

At the end of the evening, friar Jarosław talked about what it means to be courageous witnesses for God. He shared with us his experience in Pariacoto, Peru where two of our friars were killed by guerillas of the „sendero luminoso” in 1991. The witness of Christian martyrs illuminates our contemporaries, who are often distracted and disoriented. It pointes them to the One in whom they can place their trust in order to give sense to their lives. The martyr dies with the certainty that he is loved by God and knowing that he has chosen the better part, having left everything behind for the love of Christ.