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GENERAL CHAPTER |
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Secular Franciscan Order Elects Leaders to Serve for the Next 6 Years HUNGARY, 19 Nov. 2008 – Encarnacion del Pozo of Spain was re-elected general minister of the world-wide Secular Franciscan Order by an overwhelming majority during a general chapter held Nov. 15-22 near Budapest The 111 attendees, including 68 voting delegates, gave her a standing ovation. The general minister and other newly elected leaders will serve for the next six years. The Order's international leadership, known as the Presidency, includes the general minister, general vice minister and the Presidency's international councilors. Seven councilors are elected according to a combination of major language groups and geographic areas, and one represents YouFra, or Franciscan Youth and Young Adults. Doug Clorey of Canada was elected general vice minister. Clorey was previously a Presidency councilor for English-speaking area 1 (North America and Europe), and before that, he was Canada's international councilor, or delegate. Clorey by avocation is a musician and song writer who sang one of his original compositions to the assembly when he was introduced as a candidate. The newly elected Presidential councilors are: · Consuelo Nunez of Venezuela, representing Spanish-speaking areas. · Tibor Kauser of Hungary, English-speaking area 1 (North America and Europe). · Lucy Almiranez of the Phillipines, English-speaking area 2 (Africa, Oceania, Asia). · Michele Altmeyer of France, French-speaking areas. · Maria Aparecida Crepaldi of Brazil, Portuguese-speaking areas. · Ewald Kreuzer of Austria, German-speaking areas. · Benedetto Lino of Italy, Italian-speaking areas. · Ana Fruk of Croatia, YouFra (Franciscan Youth). Presiding at the elections was Fr. Marco Tasca, OFM Conv., Minister General of the Conventual Franciscans. He led the assembly in a hymn to the Holy Spirit, “Veni Creator Spiritus,” and commented on the inspiration of St. Francis of Assisi before proceeding to the balloting. Father Marco offered his gratitude, on behalf of all the general ministers of the first order and third order regular families, “for your service to the Secular Franciscan Order.” With Secular Franciscans in over 110 countries, he said, “This is a vast army for good in the world!” Reflecting on the conversion of St. Francis, Father Marco said: “Francis started changing his way of thinking,” thus accomplishing a conversion of the mind. Francis moved from being centered on himself to being totally centered on Christ, with his mind giving full attention to the Jesus of the Gospel. After conversion of the mind, “we come to conversion of the heart.” Prayer and penance are good, but fall short without conversion of the heart – which shows itself in love, in giving a witness that inspires others. If one is easily irritated and doesn't have love in his heart for others, then there is no conversion of the heart. Commenting on Francis' Gospel life, Father Marco noted how the saint said, “It is God who manifests Himself to me.” “It is God who takes the initiative” and reaches out to the human person... “two loves that meet and enter into relationship. It's really a beautiful thing. God comes to save us.” Father Marco went on to note that Francis said: “The Lord gave me brothers.” That's a lesson for all Franciscans, he said. “Do I think of my brothers and sisters in fraternity as a gift?” That kind of attitude is what animates the fraternity. Referring to the secular cultures where people live as if God did not exit, in a world that is centered on self, Franciscans and people of faith have a crazy logic – the logic of self-giving. “It's by dying that we live. We acquire something by giving things away.” So the lesson for all of us here is that the heart of Francis' choice was Christ, he said. The general chapter convened near Budapest in conjunction with the closing of the 8th centenary of the order's patron saint, St. Elizabeth of Hungary.
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