On Sunday, November 16, 2025, the OFM Minister General, Br. Massimo Fusarelli, presided at the Holy Mass in the College of St. Isidore, in Rome, to celebrate the institute’s 400 years of history.
In his homily Br. Massimo, taking up the words of the Gospel of the day – “Days will come in which, of what you see, no stone will be left on stone that will not be destroyed” (Lk 21:6) – emphasized that the four walls were not being celebrated, as much as “how much a living history, a history that continues to unfold, a light that continues to shine”.
Br. Massimo recalled the work of Br. Luke Wadding, an Irish brother born in Waterford in 1588 who arrived in Rome in 1618, to whom the Minister General at the time entrusted a small unfinished church and the adjoining convent dedicated to Saint Isidore of Madrid. “In 1625, exactly 400 years ago, Luke Wadding took charge of this unfinished convent with a clear vision: not to build a monument, but to create a house where faith and culture could continue to grow. A place to form young Irish Franciscans when their faith was persecuted at home. A place where the Gospel could be lived according to the Franciscan tradition and transmitted to new generations”, said the Minister, highlighting then the importance which over the centuries has become an important center of Franciscan studies even today.
And despite the variable events that followed in history, the College went ahead, continuing the evangelizing mission that the Lord himself has entrusted to each of the baptized. Br. Massimo invited everyone to move forward, “remaining faithful to the Gospel” and following Christ “in the way of Francis, with joy and humility, with love for creation and compassion for the poor, with academic excellence and humble service”.
During the solemn celebration, there was presented the letter of the Secretary of State, Card. Pietro Parolin, which conveyed the wishes of the Holy Father Leo XIV for the 400 years of the College’s history at the service of the educational mission of the Church: “His Holiness recognizes with pleasure the significant contribution made by so many Irish Franciscans to theology and to the broader culture, as well as the pastoral ministry, since the foundation of the College in 1625 on the part of the Venerable Luke Wadding, OFM”, the letter read, also containing an encouragement to “carry the mission forward”.
After his arrival in Rome in 1618, on behalf of the Minister General, Br. Luke Wadding took charge of a small unfinished church, and of the adjoining convent, dedicated to Saint Isidore of Madrid, patron of agriculture, recently canonized. In this place he founded a student residence for the Irish Franciscans. With the help of some benefactors – including the pontiffs in office during this period, many cardinals, princes and ambassadors – Br. Luke renovated and expanded the existing building and completed the construction of the church. Pope Urban VIII, with the bull of 1626, sanctioned the founding of the College of Saint Isidore of the Irish Franciscans as a center of recollection and studies under the rectorate of Wadding.
Read the Letter of the Secretary of State
Read the homily of Br. Massimo Fusarelli: Italiano - English
