From the 2nd to 8th June 2025, the International Chapter of Mats of the Order of Friars Minor will be held in Assisi.
The path that led to this appointment starts from the last General Chapter, celebrated in Rome in 2021, which in mandate no. 4 indicated to involve the Ministers, the Custodes and their respective councils to promote authentic fraternal life and to listen to each person, especially young people, at several levels.
Subsequently, the Minister General and his Definitory considered it enriching to undertake a synodal journey involving the friars of the first Order, but also the sisters and brothers of the second and third Orders, religious and laity, in order to succeed in prophetically renewing the identity of Friars Minor.
"We wanted an experience," says Br. Cesare Vaiani, OFM, Definitor General, "in which the friars and other people could meet on an equal footing, with the same rights and duties, in a fraternal exchange on the essential issues of our lives. This is why we drew on our tradition the image of the Chapter of Mats, which allowed us to do what we wanted". The Definitory then decided to "connect" it to the Plenary Council of the Order (PCO), deciding that "the members of the PCO were all friars who had participated in the Chapter of Mats and who could express its spirit in that juridical structure that is the PCO, which can propose topics to be discussed at the General Chapter", explains Br. Cesare.
The Entities of the Order were therefore asked to celebrate first of all at the local level their own Chapter of Mats, always with the modality of listening to lay men and women religious, proposing to turn attention to three fundamental nuclei: Charism, Communion and Mission.
The next step was to summarize the results of the local Chapters at the level of Conferences, which in turn sent their contributions to the General Curia. From those texts, an Instrumentum Laboris was drawn up that will provide material for discussion and comparison to the International Chapter of Assisi, which will be attended by 150 friars, Franciscan religious, lay men and women from all the Conferences of the Order.
How did the Chapter of Mats come about?
Even today there is no legal definition or regulation of the Chapter of Mats.
The term takes its name from the great General Chapter of May 30, 1221: we read in chapter XVIII of the Little Flowers of St. Francis that more than 5000 friars flocked to Our Lady of the Angels. They gathered in groups, in prayer or in dialogue, in an orderly and devout manner: "In that field there were roofs of trellises and mats, and distinguished by crowds, according to the friars of different provinces; and therefore that Chapter was called, the Chapter of trellises or mats" (FF 1848).
It was the Chapter of the meeting between Francis and Anthony of Lisbon; the importance of obedience to Holy Mother Church, of the observance of the most holy poverty, of fasting was emphasized: Francis had asked the friars not to concern themselves with corporal things, including food. But the "chief shepherd, the blessed Christ," who always cares for His sheep, inspired the people of Perugia, Spoleto, Foligno, Spello, and Assisi to bring food and drink to that "holy gathering." St. Dominic himself, who was also present at the Chapter, "was greatly edified by the faith of the most holy Francis, and by the obedience and poverty of so great and orderly a college, and by divine providence and the abundant abundance of every good."
Br. Chryzostom Fryc, OFM (Director of the Historical Archives of the General Curia) and Br. Giuseppe Buffon, OFM (Professor of Church History at the Faculty of Theology of the PUA) recall how the Chapters of Mats have regained vigor, at the local level, especially after the Second Vatican Council. One could speak of "synodality", a term very much in force today, but both underline that the original word "chapter" already implied the desire for dialogue, mutual listening, confrontation, and walking together.
As evidence of what the friars said, in the Photographic Archive of the Antoniano of Bologna of the Friars Minor we found shots dating back to May 25, 1966, concerning the celebration of the local Chapter of Mats.
On the occasion of the 800th Anniversary of the birth of the Order, from the 15th to 18th April 2009 an Inter-Vocational Chapter of Mats was held between Assisi and Rome: Friars Minor, Conventuals and Capuchins met to celebrate the "Centenary of the origins", to "renew fidelity to the charism and re-encompass all the spiritual heritage" of the founder St. Francis (cf. Acta Ordinis 2009/A, pp. 9-43). About 2000 capitulars from all continents participated in it.
The Chapter ended on the 18th April: in the Apostolic Courtyard of Gastel Gandolfo, the Ministers General in audience with Pope Benedict XVI renewed their commitment to live according to the Rule of St. Francis in the name of all the friars scattered throughout the world. At Castel Porziano, a delegation of capitulars led by the Ministers General met the then President of the Italian Republic, Giorgio Napolitano, who addressed them, amongst other things, these words: "Wars change in nature or change in size, but they are never erased, even today they continue to scourge our world, starting with the Holy Land, and, we can say, in a more general and broader way, the dangers of war never cease. […] We need your presence: we need your work, we need your commitment to carry forward values that must also be continuously renewed and continuously transmitted in our country".
Thanks to Br. Cesare Vaiani, Br. Chryzostom Fryc, Br. Giuseppe Buffon and Br. Juan Isidro Aldana Maldonado (Secretary of the Chapter of Mats) for the collaboration.
Check out the new section of the site dedicated to the Chapter of Mats