The new European Forms of Life and Evangelisation meeting, organised by the Order’s Mission and Evangelisation Office, was held in Rome from 6 to 8 October 2022. The meeting was opened by the Secretary General, Br Francisco Gomez Vargas, and Br Massimo Fusarelli, Minister General, who invited the participants to listen with confidence to the call that has marked the Order throughout its history: “The search for new wineskins, that is, institutional structures adequate to contain and preserve the new wine of the charism, of our ever-new form of evangelical life, has represented and represents a challenge and, at the same time, a call for contemporary Franciscan history. The meeting that opens today is meant to help us listen to this call again, with confidence, seeking the fire that burns beneath the ashes“.
Br Massimo emphasised “a call to memory” on the path the Order has taken starting “from France in the 1930s, up to and after Vatican II”. Thanks to this movement, the Order prepared itself to face the renewal of the Council.
The Minister concluded his speech by inviting the participants of the European Conferences to retrace the last years of Saint Francis: “We are preparing to gratefully review the last decisive years of the human and evangelical adventure of St Francis. I hope we will also be able to do so with boldness, animated by the desire to listen and welcome the word of prophecy that the Spirit still delivers to us for our time“.
During the three days of work, the participants had time to share their experiences regarding the new presences. Starting from the document “Ite, nuntiate”, Br Darko Tepert, Secretary for Formation and Studies, Br Daniel Rodriguez, Justice, Peace and Integrity of Creation, presented the possibility of reactivating new forms of evangelisation in Europe.
Thirty-six friars from the European Conferences attended this meeting.
Testo Completo del Ministro Generale:
Documents:
Ite, nuntiate… Wytyczne do Nowych Form Życia i Misji Zakonu Braci Mniejszych (2017) [POLSKI]
Only in italian:
