When the Spirit blows upon the mats
In the days leading up to Pentecost, amid so many rumors of war and cries of hope, something unprecedented in our history happened at Santa Maria degli Angeli. From June 1st to 8th, right next to the Porziuncola, the first International Chapter of the Mats was celebrated with friars, sisters, and Franciscan laity sitting together, as equals, on the same mats.
The name is not folklore: it recalls Francis who gathered his followers on the ground, without prestigious chairs, in the huts of Santa Maria. This year, however, the mats welcomed an absolute novelty: brown habits of the friars alongside the veils of the sisters, colorful clothes of the OFS laity and the YouFra. Different voices, experiences that interweave, cultures that speak to each other. For the first time in our eight-hundred-year history, the entire family gathered not to celebrate but to discern the future together.
From five continents came representatives of every Franciscan vocation, bringing the fruits of the chapters that had prepared this moment. The objective was clear: to renew the common charism in a prophetic way, but this time doing it truly together. Incarnating the charism, living the Gospel of fraternity, responding to the mission - three pillars that guided intense days of listening and dialogue.
One of the most beautiful discoveries was recognizing how much we can learn from young people. Not the usual generational lament, but sincere admiration for their desire for authentic faith, creativity, passion for climate justice. They reminded us of the taste for evangelical freshness.
We did not avoid difficult questions. There was open discussion about clericalism, about voices that dominate by suffocating the more fragile ones, about the real struggle to become co-responsible for life and mission as brothers and sisters. The reflection on the "Church going forth" challenged us: the Franciscan of the future is called to be increasingly a pilgrim on the roads of the world, free and poor.
The confrontation between different languages, mentalities and experiences was sometimes difficult - as in every true family - but always crossed by that tenderness that comes from belonging to the same tree. Differences in sensitivity, diverse pastoral urgencies, even the struggles to get in tune found space in a climate of common search.
The final Document that the Plenary Council approved immediately afterwards represents the synthesis delivered to all the brothers of the Order journeying toward the General Chapter of 2027 and to laity and sisters who are co-responsible with us in the common service to the joy of the Gospel.
The Chapter concluded on Pentecost day, around the Porziuncola. As eight hundred years ago, the Spirit descended upon this family, somewhat tested but always alive, whispering that Francis continues to walk ahead of us, barefoot and smiling.
The mats have been folded, the participants have returned to their lands. But something has truly changed: we have discovered that together we can look further. Without fear. Perhaps it is the beginning of a new Franciscan season.
