ROME — 500 years ago, Franciscan Cardinal Francisco Ximenez de Cisneros established the Major College of St. Idelfonso and the University of Alcala. In 2010, the General Curia commemorated the anniversary of the decree by the then archbishop of Toledo, Spain.
The yearlong commemoration was reported in the December issue ofFraternitas, the newsletter of the General Curia.
“These same constitutions were the normative and regulative picture in which the academic life of generations of students graduated in the ‘century of gold’ right in the hall of the cathedrals of this illustrious university, the first stone of which was placed and blessed by the promoter, our Franciscan cardinal and archbishop of Toledo on March 14, 1500,” Fraternitas reported.
The commemoration began Jan. 22 in the Cathedral Church with Eucharist.
Other news in the December issue included information about:
• Gianliugi Pasquale’s recently-published Franciscan Mystics IV. Franciscan Spanish Mystics of the XVI Century
• An October gathering of friars in Istanbul for ongoing formation and ecumenical and interreligious dialogue
• The 25th anniversary of a Franciscan presence in Thailand, in conjunction with the feast of St. Francis
• The General Minister’s Dec. 9 to 12 visit to Vatican congregations in Rome
• A November meeting of the Order’s General Definitory and general visitors at the General Curia
— Compiled by Wendy Healy