From the 18th to the 22nd September, 2023, the VII Session of the African Conference of the Order of Friars Minor took place in Johannesburg, South Africa, in the presence of the General Definitor of the area, br. Victor Quematcha, and the friars representing 12 Entities.
The first two days were dedicated to sharing the Life and Mission of the entities, with an eye towards the future, in view of the meeting between the Conference and the General Definitory which will be held in January 2024 in Nairobi (Kenya).
On the third day, br. Victor, using the works of br. Cesare Vaiani and br. Claudio Durighetto, retraced the history and objectives of the Conferences, whose creation dates back to 1967 with the Decree of br. Costantino Koser (at the time Minister General) .Conferences existing in the 1970s and following probably had different starting dates and had changes in membership numbers during their lifetime. In 2005, there was a review and legal arrangement of the conferences.
During the meeting it was decided to accept and present to the General Definitory the request of the Provinces of Egypt and Morocco to join the Holy Land with the possibility of also including the two Vicariates of Libya to create a conference. Amongst the reasons for this proposed reorganization are factors such as the difficulty of language, culture and geographical distance with sub-Saharan entities.
To encourage communication and collaboration between the Entities, it was also established that from now on the Conference will be divided into two large areas: the French-speaking region (the Province of the Incarnate Word, the two Provinces in the Democratic Republic of Congo, the Congo Brazzaville Foundation, the Central African Republic Foundation, the Custody of Guinea Bissau and the Custody of Madagascar) and the English-speaking region (the Province of Saint Francis of Assisi of East Africa, the Province of Our Lady Queen of Peace of South Africa, the Custody of Saint Clare of Mozambique, the Custody of the Good Shepherd of Zimbabwe and the Immaculate Mother of God Foundation in Angola)
At the end of the meeting, the Minister General of the Order of Friars Minor, br. Massimo Fusarelli, sent a message to those present: “Greetings to all. I am following the work of the African Conference, I wish to encourage you. In December I will be in South Africa and Zimbabwe on a fraternal visit to these two Entities, in January in Kenya for the conference meeting with the General Definitory".
The following participated in the Assembly:
br. Virgile Agbessi, Prov. Incarnate Word (West Africa); br Fredick, Prov. Saint Francis of Assisi (East Africa); br. Gregoire Bowa-Kateta, Prov. of Our Lady of the Angels (Democratic Republic of Congo); Br. Andre Marhabale, Prov. Saint Benedict the African (RDC); br. Siphelele Paul Gwanisheni, Prov. Our Lady Queen of Peace (Southern Africa); br Stéphane Delaveue, Cust. Holy Martyrs (Morocco); br. Lage Afonso, Cust. St. Claire (Mozambique); br. Armando Cossá, Cust. Saint Francis of Assisi (Guinea Bissau); br. Thomas Makamure, Cust. of The Good Shepherd (Zimbabwe); br. Canga Manuel Mazoa (representing br. Ivair Bueno de Carvalho, President of the Immaculate Mother of God Foundation of Angola); br. Jerôme, Foundation of the Central African Republic; br. Peter Tindo, Foundation of Saint Francis of Assisi (Sudan and South Sudan).
The African Conference meets once a year. It has 15 Entities, 6 Provinces, 5 Custodies, 4 Foundations, 3 Franciscan presences. Of the 54 countries on the African continent, the friars are present in 32 countries. The next Assembly will be held in October 2024 in South Africa and Togo.
Source: br. Canga Manuel Mazoa – www.franciscanos.org.br
