ROME — The April issue of Fraternitas, the monthly publication of the Order of Friars Minor, announced a formation course in Brussels, a recent conference of provincial ministers held in Assisi, a seminar in the Philippines. It also announced the elections of two provincial ministers: John O’Connor, OFM, and Fr. Ferdinando Campana, OFM, of the Province of St. James of the Marches in Italy.
The formation course for new missionaries, running from March through May, includes seven candidates three of whom are Friars Minor and four are Capuchins. More than 130 friars gathered Feb. 28 to March 1 for the formation of provincial treasurers and procurators of fraternities.
The monthly OFM publication also provided text from the 2011 Easter Letter of General Minister Fr. Jose Rodriguez Carballo, OFM. It read: “From far and near, as Brothers and Sisters, we make our own this profession of faith: ‘Christ is risen!’ (Lk 24: 34), while we take on, with renewed passion, the mission to which the Risen One calls us: ‘to preach to the people and testify that he is the one appointed by God as judge of the living and the dead’ (Acts 10:42).”
Fraternitas also announced the 90th anniversary of the magazine of the Custody of the Holy Land which began in 1921 in Jerusalem with the goal of informing Italian pilgrims of “the latest news about the Holy Places.”
This month’s Fraternitas also included:
- April schedule of the General Minister
- Descriptions of two books: La Mia Vita (My Life) and The Humility of God, Eucharist: the Mystery of a Presence
- Opening of the Centenary of Clare of Assisi: 800 Years of Consecration, April 16 to Aug 11, 2012
- Upcoming seminar in Rome sponsored by the Commission for New Forms of Evangelization
- Regional assembly of leaders of Franciscans International in Thailand
Information about the Order is provided in three languages on its website.
— Compiled by Jocelyn Thomas