SFO International Council - Weekly edition
Volume: 2 - N. 8 - 1996 - February - IV
From: Koinonia, 1995, N. 4
in the formation of the secular leaders and members of the local Fraternity
Antonio Morichetti TOR, General Assistant SFO
(continuation)
On the formation team
As a member of the formation team, the Assistant is not the only leader nor should he behave as if he were: there is also the Formator, and even though they are not present, the Minister and the Council with their guidelines. His task is to give witness to the authenticity of the charism and to be a safe and enlightened guide. Therefore he neither commands nor directs, neither administrates nor organizes. Rather he gives witness to the Word of God, of which he is the representative and signpost.
He must collaborate in the formation of all, especially in initial and ongoing formation. How he is to exercise his role of formator, he will find out in meetings of the Council, in assemblies, in spiritual direction, in celebrations and when he animates the prayer, if he keeps the following factors in mind:
Objectives
-- to help new members prepare themselves for the definitive
"-proposal-";
-- to accompany the professed in persevering and entering more
fully into their commitment.
Method
-- by the example and witness of one who lives as a
Franciscan;
-- by collaborating as a member with the formation group, without
imposing his own ideas; rather by forming the group itself, helping
it particularly in dealing with subjects which are often unfamiliar
to the seculars; by evaluating together the progress already
achieved and that still remaining;
-- by proffering support through what he has to say and what
preparations he makes.
Period of Initiation
The Assistant has the principal duty of:
-- Counsellor: he enters into personal dialogue and if
requested, sacramental dialogue with the aspirant. He helps the
aspirants clarify their own vocation, purifying it and bringing it
to greater clarity. He offers them his priestly service as a
spiritual guide, in prayer and in the journey of conversion. He
accompanies them along the way of living the Gospel;
-- Guide: together with the Council, he will organize the
course of formation which he, together with the Formator, and where
present, the Animator, will develop further, in the manner of an
"-expert-" and "-guarantor-" of the magisterium and fidelity to the
Franciscan charism. Naturally he will enter into dialogue with the
aspirants so as to introduce them progressively and methodically to
a deepening of the truths of faith and the knowledge of Franciscan
spirituality.
Period of formation
The Assistant plays a particularly delicate and fundamental
role:
-- through his ministerial function;
-- through his spiritual discernment;
-- as a guide in the journey of faith and of acquiring the criteria
of Church life;
-- by mediating an authentic Franciscan spirituality.
By virtue of his priestly ministry he can, in a very special way, enlighten and mould the candidate, particularly in spiritual direction and the sacrament of reconciliation. In this way the Assistant completes the overall formation of the candidates.
It is not by chance that the Constitutions require the opinion of the Assistant before the admission of a candidate to profession (cf. Const. 41,1).
Ongoing Formation
The Assistant will seek to collaborate with the Minister and
Council, by giving his support as a person of education and
experience, so as to provide the brothers and sisters with a
programme of ongoing formation:
-- as a help and accompaniment to the continual conversion
requested by the Gospel;
-- to form all in bringing them to the completion of their proper
mission in the Church and society by means of witness and
evangelization;
-- to educate the Fraternity in learning how to discern the signs
of the times.
In everything suggested by the Constitutions (cf. Const. 44) and in all initiatives of a formative nature taken by the Council, he should be present and should lend as much support as will be required of him.
Bolivia
Carl Schafer OFM accompanied Alicia Gallardo, Councillor of the Presidency for the Spanish language, at the national elections during the Fifth Assembly of the SFO in Bolivia, 13-15 July, 1995. The visitors met the National Council in the Franciscan Centre, Cochabamba, to confirm the list of voters and to check the process of the elections. The Chapter was held in "-Betania-" Retreat House. About 50 persons attended, of whom 22 had the right to vote. Orlando Castellón Ce'spedes was elected National Minister. The visitors held a meeting with the newly-elected National Council, who represent 392 members in eleven local Fraternities.