Visit of the Novices to the General Curia

On Tuesday, the 27th  May 2025, the Minister General, Br. Massimo Fusarelli, and the Definitor General, Br. Cesare Vaiani, met in the General Curia with the 21 Novices of two Novitiates present in Italy: those of San Damiano and La Verna.  

Accompanied by Br. Simone Ceccobao, Master of Novices at San Damiano, and Br. Francesco Bartoli and Br. Raffaele Messa, vice Masters at La Verna, the young friars were welcomed in a fraternal meeting by Br. Massimo and Br. Cesare, with whom they spoke about the traits of the charism of the Friars Minor in dialogue with the challenge of interculturality.  

Afterwards, before the celebration of the Eucharist, Br. Cesare acted as their guide in the church of Santa Maria Mediatrice, dwelling on the large and small works present there: from the spacious mosaics that tell the history of the Order, to the sculptures of the Via Crucis, the work of a young Giacomo Manzù.   

After the celebration and a moment of conviviality with the friars of the General Curia, the Novices continued their Jubilee pilgrimage to Rome, which in these days will take them through the 4 Holy Doors of the City in the footsteps of the "Pilgrimage of the 7 Churches" of St. Philip Neri.  

The two Novitiates bring together young friars from different Provinces, not only Italian: in San Damiano there are currently the novices of the Provinces of St. Francis of Assisi (Umbria-Sardinia), St. James of the Marca (Marche), Immaculate Conception (Salerno-Lucania), Assumption of the BVM (Salento) and Immaculate Conception (New York, USA). In La Verna, on the other hand, the novices of the Province of St. Bonaventure (Lazio-Abruzzo), the Custody of the Holy Land and the Custody of Albania are present.