ROME — The Order’s Justice, Peace and Integrity of Creation Office has distributed resources for International Day of Family Prayer, celebrated May 15.
A reflective prayer is available in numerous languages, including English, Italian, Spanish, French, German, Korean, Slovak, Albanian and Thai with more translations to come. The announcement was one of many on a document distributed by Joseph Rozansky, OFM, and Fr. Fabio L’amour OFM, last month.
In other news from the General Curia, Fraternitas, its monthly newsletter, reported that this year, the Franciscan Order is celebrating the 600th anniversary of the siege of the Franciscan community in 1412. The siege began with the bull of Benedict XII at the famous Marian Shrine of the Betic Franciscan Province.
During the struggle, the Shrine of Rabida in Huelve, Spain, became a pilgrimage destination, where people could express their devotion to Our Lady of Miracles, represented by an alabaster sculpture from the 14th century. This shrine may be better known as the place where Christopher Columbus launched his trip to explore the world.
The celebration ends on Dec. 16, 2012, with the participation of the General Minister.
In addition, the May 2012 issue reported on:
• Announcement of the 8th Annual Ongoing Formation Course on Ecumenical and Interreligious Dialogue in Istanbul, Turkey. Offered in both English and French, the course takes place Oct. 15 to 29, and is open to all friars and members of the Franciscan family. Topics include formation to dialogue in the Franciscan charism, Islam-Christian, Judeo-Christian and Buddhism ecumenical dialogue, and more.
• Br. Pierre Charland of the Province of St. Joseph in Canada was elected visitor general to the Province of Christ the King in Canada. Br. Pierre is a member of the Communicators Committee of the OFM English-speaking Conference.
— Compiled by Wendy Healy