From the 4th-12th November 2024, more than 100 friars from the five states (Espírito Santo, Rio de Janeiro, São Paulo, Paraná and Santa Catarina) in which the Franciscan Province of the Immaculate Conception of Brazil is present gathered at the Santo Antônio Seminary, in Agudos (SP) to participate in the 2024 Intermediate Provincial Chapter.
Oriented on the theme "Revise, update and proclaim" and on the motto "Marked by love, pilgrims of hope", the capitulars reflect on three key themes such as Formation, Evangelization and Economy and Administration.
This Intermediate Chapter celebrated in the middle of the mandate of the current Minister Provincial, Br. Paulo Roberto Pereira, has the objective of reviewing the work done in the first three years, implementing the policies and mandates approved in the last elective chapter. It is also a time to review the Province's Plan of Evangelization and reflect on how the priorities taken on have actually been implemented by the Fraternities and works.
On the first day of activities, Br. Claudino Gilz, coordinator of the event's Organizing Committee, said that the Chapter "is a time to listen to the Lord, but also to listen to our brothers and sisters with their stories."
The Minister General, Br. Massimo Fusarelli, wrote a letter to the Chapter friars. The text bore the mark of a brother with a deep sense of care and closeness, highlighting elements perceived firsthand after his visit to the Province last year. The Minister General encouraged us to work to have a Province that can mature in the habit of healthy alternation of tasks, in view of the creative renewal of new perspectives and mentalities; to mature also in fraternal trust in which the sharing of gifts and income strengthens the commitment to poverty and fraternity; to overcome every spirit of competition and division born of individualism and the search for security, so that brothers and sisters can discern new paths in fidelity to those they have embraced and, together, take steps.
The activity of the Chapter friars alternates between celebrations and devotional moments and debates on delicate issues concerning the administration of goods, the care of the elderly friars, who today are the majority in the Province, as well as vocations, ongoing formation and service to Justice, Peace and Integrity of Creation (JPIC), as well as Evangelization with young people.
On Sunday, the 10th November, the Chapter friars elected the six Definitors who will form the new government of the Province for the next three years (2025-2027): they are the Robson brothers Luiz Scudela, Daniel Dellandrea, Diego Atalino de Melo, Volney José Berkenbrock, Gilberto da Silva, Gilson Krammer.
The Franciscan Province of the Immaculate Conception is present in Brazil and Angola. At the provincial level, the animation and coordination of the life and mission of the friars is carried out by the Minister Provincial, Br. Paulo Roberto Pereira, together with the Vicar Provincial, Br. Gustavo Wayand Medella and the Provincial Definitors.
The article is the work of Br. Elias Hebo Luís, Br. Rodrigo da Silva Santos and Adriana Rabelo
Leia o artigo original em português
