The interobediential community is a community formed by Friars belonging to different Franciscan families (Friars Minor, Conventuals and Capuchins). There are only two such communities in the world, both in Italy, in Assisi and Rieti: they serve the Church, the people, the needy and the needs of the people of God in a spirit of service.
The aim of the new communities was to be reconciled with the history of the charisms and the Franciscan families of Assisi, also in view of two important centenaries (which have now passed): 2016 marks the "Pardon of Assisi", 8 centuries after 1216; and 2017 marks the 5 centuries since Pope Leo X's bull "Ite vos in vineam meam" of 1517, which led to an important division within the Franciscan Families. The bull 'Ite vos' definitively separated the Conventual Friars from the Observant Friars and incorporated all the other existing Franciscan Congregations into the latter, with the title 'Order of Friars Minor'.
The creation of interobediential communities is the fulfilment of a path born of the impulse of Pope Francis who, on 4 October 2013, addressing the Ministers General of the four Orders (including the Secular Franciscan Order) at the tomb of St Francis in Assisi, gave them a decisive encouragement: "Good! You must remain united".
Also in November 2017, when the Pope met 400 members of the Franciscan Families of the First Order and the Third Order Regular in the Clementine Hall of the Apostolic Palace, he explicitly referred to the ongoing journey. "Without mercy there is neither fraternity nor minority," Bergoglio said on that occasion, reminding the friars that "while justice will lead you to recognise the rights of each one, charity transcends these rights and calls you to fraternal communion, because it is not rights that you love, but brothers, whom you must welcome with respect, understanding and mercy: brothers are important, not structures."
"I believe that inter-obediential communities are an important sign of our charismatic communion", said Br. Massimo Fusarelli, OFM, Minister General, "that goes beyond historical differences and even our divisions, which have been so important in the past. It is a way of being today a Fraternity dedicated to the mission, starting from the common evangelical root, in order to elaborate, with the help of the Spirit, a common point of view".
In Assisi, the community is located in the Shrine of the New Church (the paternal house of Francis); it has been active for 4 years and is made up of 3 Friars Minor, 2 Conventuals and a Capuchin. "We have focused on prayer in common, living in a shrine: a prayer made together and with the People of God," says Br. Rosario Gugliotta, OFM, who continues: "We want to be a visible sign of unity, overcoming the divisions and dualities of the past, in the desire to live in communion, being all sons of Francis. In the diversity of the charism, there are differences more related to traditions, to the approaches of our own Provinces. The Conventual Friars emphasise fraternity, we emphasise identity, the Capuchin Friars emphasise mission. We serve the Church and the local works as much as we can and without ceasing. Each helps with different ministries. The diversities in charism are a richness for the People of God, but they are not a limitation, rather it is the personal sensitivities that can be more critical, even within the same religious order".
The community of Assisi is also international, with brothers from Indonesia, Lebanon, Slovenia and Brazil.
In Rieti, the community has been active since December 2017 and is made up of three friars: a Conventual, a Friar Minor and a Capuchin. Br. Luigi Recchia, OFM, Br. Franco Bonamano, CONV, and Br. Gianfranco Palmisani, CAPP, wrote to the Bishop of the Diocese of Rieti, Monsignor Domenico Pompili: "Dear Bishop Domenico, we have shared and approved the idea of founding an interobediential community in Rieti, one of the loci francescani of origin. We are aware that the birth of this community is one of the prophetic fruits of a journey that underlines the primacy of the Gospel, the joy of which awaits our convulsive and God-hungry society. The three friars who have been nominated will be able to get to know each other and to define together the tasks that await them with regard to their presence, which will be of value in welcoming, in guarding the ancient church of Saint Francis and in strengthening the Franciscan way of the Sacred Valley".
On 7 December 2017, the eve of the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception, Queen and Patroness of the Seraphic Order, it was the Provincial Ministers themselves who accompanied the brothers of the community who settled in San Rufo, a structure provided by the Diocese, in the heart of Rieti and Central Italy.
"Br. Marcello Bonforte, OFM, who added: "We do and joyfully carry out all the services that are asked of us in order to be close to the people. Differences, both personal and charismatic, are not a limitation. Today we are not a clearly defined entity, and in a few years we will have to evaluate this new entity we have created. Things are going well, we need to look at ourselves as an experience that bears a beautiful seed for the future. Today the dialogue and service we offer to the local Church and to the Bishop is more alive than ever. We are committed to building mutual relations with the local church, and not mute".
