In 1982, Br John Vaughn, then Minister General, wrote a letter to the Order entitled: Africa is calling us. Thus began our presence in East Africa and on 2 June just past I celebrated this remembrance with the brothers of the Province of St. Francis in Nairobi. It was a moment of thanksgiving, remembering and a look to the future for this young and lively Entity, currently spread over nine countries in that part of Africa, up to Madagascar and Mauritius.
In 1982 I began my novitiate and I remember well that the letter from the Minister General aroused in us enthusiasm and passion for the future. We felt that we belonged to a fraternity with broad horizons and that was going to new lands.
Recalling this anniversary, I asked myself, precisely in Africa, what is left of that drive in us today.
I must admit that I find this missionary movement in various Entities of the Order, such as for example in Asia, which is now becoming more and more missionary for Asia itself.
Even in Africa this step is beginning to be seen, so that the brothers of that continent begin to take responsibility for the opening of new presences precisely in Africa.
For the rest, I believe we are called to a new missionary zeal. For example, today I would like to tell the Order that the Amazon is calling us, because this region transcends itself and with its challenges is a sign for the whole planet. The brothers of Latin America are taking charge of it, but the opening to the friars of the Order for possible vocations in this area remains.
Even the Caribbean is asking to have our presence there.
How can we fail to think then of the Custody of the Holy Land, the first of our missions, which urgently needs new friars, to respond to the mission that the Church has entrusted to us of guarding the Holy Places and accompanying the journey of Christians, less and less , who live in that land, and of the many pilgrims who visit it.
I have already asked for attention for our small and precious presence in Morocco, where we have been present among that people for 800 years, to bear witness that God alone is good.
We have the same type of charismatic presence in Turkey, as well as in Libya where it is urgent that some brothers respond to the call to stay in that war-torn country.
..In Asia we are responding to several calls: Thailand, Myanmar, Papua New Guinea, Laos and Cambodia… Little seeds waiting to grow
There is another missionary front that we perhaps think of less: the countries that are now Christian, where our presence is increasingly weak. I am thinking of Europe, North America, such as Australia and New Zealand and certain countries of Latin America.
It is these realities that ask us for a new openness: in fact, how to proclaim the Gospel in countries that have received it for centuries and today need a testimony that can speak to people who have by now forgotten Christianity or have never known it.
The new international presence in London that will start in the coming months is a small sign in this sense.
We are rethinking our presence in Russia, which we want to keep as a mustard seed, a witness of encounter, peace and reconciliation.
Witness and mission belong intimately to our charism. Answering you is vital for us. Leaving our countries, our languages and cultures and making ourselves pilgrims and strangers in new lands puts our vocation back in motion.
Let us think about it while we thank the Lord for the forty years of our presence in East Africa, remembering with gratitude, among others, Br Giacomo Bini, who with other brothers gave a decisive impulse to that reality.