In the last part of March, I visited the Province of St Mary of the Angels in Poland on the 400th anniversary of its foundation. An important anniversary for a great history in which the charism of the Friars Minor has been expressed in the most diverse contexts.
A month later, from 22 to 26 April, I am in Asia for the erection of the new Province of St Anthony in the Philippines and the Autonomous Custody of Singapore Malaysia and Borneo. On the one hand, a centuries-old history, while on the other, much more recent presences are finding their juridical structure and stability of life and mission.
Then in the March Tempo Forte, we started restructuring processes in Africa, from the Democratic Republic of Congo to East Africa, for the birth of new entities.
From these, we can see that the Order's journey moves at different speeds and can express both old and new realities.
I find this by visiting and listening to the friars in different parts of the world. On the one hand, we are aware of our roots that are so important and rich, and the Franciscan Centenary reminds us of this. But, on the other hand, we desire to live the charism today, in this new time that asks us for more vision and evangelical boldness.
This month I visited the friars of Turkey who live in Istanbul and Izmir, and here I saw how the presence of the Muslim world and the contact with Christians of other confessions are elements that help us to live our charism today. It is the dream of a reconciled humanity and an ever-wider fraternity.
We live the same in various other parts of the world, and what we manage to do is always little, but it keeps us alert and attentive to living inter gentes. It is here, in fact, that we receive a great challenge to live the Gospel today.
I had the grace of visiting the friars who live in Sri Lanka, few in number and amid many difficulties. Yet, they are one with their people and show by their lives the living among the people that St Francis offers us. And this has impressed me greatly this month, as it has in the Philippines. Even living in very developed contexts, such as Singapore, makes us see that our presence as brothers and minors can be found in any land if we can always put life according to the Gospel at the centre, in the pursuit of the Lord, in a truly fraternal life and friendly closeness to the lives of people, especially the poorest and most excluded.
Meeting the friars, discovering their faces and stories, gathering their hopes and tears, and feeling from within how our family is moving and what the Holy Spirit is working in it, is undoubtedly the greatest gift of the ministry entrusted to me. And for this, I feel a responsibility to remind all the brothers and sisters that so much good is moving in our midst. Let us not deaden life; let us allow the beauty of the vocation we have received and for which we are responsible to the new generations of friars to emerge and explode.
