On the 23rd May, the meeting of the “Our Lady of Guadalupe” Conference with the General Definitory took place in Veracruz, Mexico, in the context of the celebration of the 500th anniversary of the arrival of the twelve Franciscan apostles in Mexico.
The meeting began with the words of welcome from the president of the conference, Br. Fredy Gálvez Angulo, OFM: "500 years after the arrival of the Gospel, there are new challenges to be faced in order to carry out our evangelizing mission. Current needs and global challenges present new demands that, by virtue of our public commitment to be younger brothers following the example of St. Francis, call us to remember that we should never be afraid to start anew." Br. Fredy also thanked the presence of the Minister General and the General Definitory at this celebration.
Br. Joaquin Echeverry, Definitor General of the Conference, thanked the Ministers Provincial for their willingness to send friars for missions and services according to the needs of the Order. The Ministers then continued the dialogue with the Minister General on the realities of each Entity, they talked about how to help people in the reality of migration, human trafficking, and drug trafficking as part of the Franciscan mission. In the same way, topics were touched upon concerning the protection of minors, initial formation, the regularization of friars in irregular situations and the commitment not only focused on the care of parishes, but on evangelization as Lesser Brothers/Friars Minor starting from a project of life and mission.
Thereafter, the Secretary General, Br. Antonio Maria Iacona, presented the new Manual of the Provincial Secretary, emphasizing the changes made to it, asking for the necessary procedures and actions to be carried out, according to the changes in the procedures made by the General Curia. Br. Antonio also presented the functioning of the Order's new database.
In the afternoon, the Minister General in his speech invited the Provincials to give a different impetus to the mission, which embraces the whole life of the friars starting from a mission more shared out amongst the brothers: "Mission is not just an activity or a commitment or a job, it is the soul of our evangelical life, which must be integrated with our priorities: a life of contemplation and penance in fraternity, formation and studies, minority and poverty, witness to peace and care for our common home."
He also invited the brothers to always begin the mission from our charism, since it is not enough to do only good things: "We urgently need to revive this prophecy so that the flame of the charism does not go out and is extinguished in us."
He then went on to give an overview of the structure of the Entities of the Order in the world, showing how some Provinces are shrinking, whilst others are growing, and in this regard he asked to rethink the structure and mission of the Entities of the Conference: "Now we must take another step so that this collaboration becomes a presence and a stable mission, across national, cultural and linguistic borders".
The meeting ended with the Eucharist in the cathedral of Veracruz, where the Minister General recalled that 500 years ago the 12 apostles did not come to replicate what they did in Spain but came to evangelize in a new way. "What can we learn? That God is with us and in our midst, we can be witnesses of this reality: with the twelve apostles we learned that we can live in a new way," said Br. Massimo.
Download the message of the Minister General: Español - Italiano
