The newly elected ministers and custodes for 2018. (Photo courtesy of OFM.org)
The following descriptions summarize recent news from the Order of Friars Minor. Additional details can be found by visiting the links to the news items mentioned as well as following the Order of Friars Minor on Facebook and Twitter for information throughout the month.
► The Commission on the Order’s Ministry in Education met for the first time from Jan. 7 to 10 at the General Curia. The meeting was convened by Russel Murray, OFM, General Animator for Evangelization. Members of the commission include Rashid Mistrih, OFM, of the Custody of the Holy Land; Walter Verdezoto, of the Province of St. Francis in Quito, Ecuador; and Neil Badillo, of the Custody of St. Anthony of Padua in the Philippines.
► This year’s international JPIC course is titled “Migration: Causes, Walls, and Franciscan Perspectives” and will be offered – in both English and Spanish – from April 9 to 16 in Guadalajara, Mexico. It will cover a variety of issues related to migratory movements, human trafficking, sexual and labor exploitation, corruption, and the reality of refugees in the context of the American continent. Participants are asked to register by March 31. More information is available on the Order’s website.
► The annual meeting of the General Administration with the newly elected provincial ministers and custodes took place from Jan. 17 to 25. Among those in attendance was Fr. Thomas Nairn, OFM, of Sacred Heart Province, and Fr. Mark Soehner, OFM, of St. John the Baptist Province.
► The January 2018 Tempo Forte was held from Jan. 8 to 26. Among the topics discussed was the program of celebrations that the Commission on Service for Dialogue, of which Michael Calabria, OFM, is president, is organizing in conjunction with the Province of the Holy Family in Egypt. These celebrations, which will commemorate the meeting of St. Francis with Sultan Melek-El-Kamel, will take place in Damietta, Egypt, in 2019. A summary of the meeting is available on the Order’s website.
► The December 2017 Tempo Forte, held from Dec. 18 to 22, focused on the planning of the “Under-Ten Chapter of Mats,” which will take place in Taizé, France in July 2019. Delegates from each of the Order’s entities will be selected to attend the Chapter, and all young friars will be engaged by means of a preparatory phase and a phase that will follow the Chapter. Information regarding the Chapter will be sent to the friars shortly. Other topics discussed include the Plenary Chapter that will take place this June, as well as the establishment of a new missionary fraternity in Cuba.
The February 2018 edition of Fraternitas, the Order’s monthly newsletter, can be found on the OFM website and on the US Franciscans Facebook page.
— Maria Hayes is communications coordinator for Holy Name Province.
Related Links
- “Update from the General Curia” – Jan. 9, 2018, HNP Today
- “Michael Calabria Named by Order to Help Guide Relations with Muslims” – June 13, 2016, HNP Today