SFO International Council - Weekly edition
Volume: 8 - N. 6 - 2002 - February - II
From: Letter to the Assistants, 2001, N. 3
(Part I)
Following the new language that the Rule and General Constitutions of the Secular Franciscan Order use, on which Ivan has already expounded, I think it interesting to begin talking about collegiality, among other concepts, in order to pass immediately to the difficulties we find or that are simply presented to us in the meetings held with the brothers and sisters of the SFO and in the assistance they receive.
The Conference of Assistants General (CSA = The Conference of Spiritual Assistants) has a significant role in the International Council and in the Presidency of the CIOFS [1 , of which they are members [2 . I will divide our presence into two levels: charismatic and collaboration. On the charismatic level it is important to recognise in the Secular Franciscan Order a charismatic life that was born of Francis of Assisi, as happened with the life of religious men and women – The First and Second Orders -, except that it has a secular expression. It is a sign of the expressive richness of the gift of the Spirit through the man Francis and of the rich complementary that is born within the Franciscan Family on living elbow to elbow the religious and secular expressions. It underlines the vital reciprocity that there is between the different Orders within the same Franciscan Family [3 . To this is added the spiritual and pastoral care of the SFO that the Holy See has entrusted to the First Order and TOR. The spiritual and pastoral care is like the service of the Good Shepherd (cf. Jn 10, 1-21), which makes the assistance be a "fundamental element of communion" [4 . On living the same charism, the Franciscan, the Assistants are "witnesses to the Franciscan spirituality" [5 , and as members of one and the same family, witnesses to the "fraternal affection" of Franciscan religious towards the Secular Franciscan and to the links of communion between the Orders [6 .
On the level of collaboration [7 , the Assistant collaborates in all the activities of the Council. He exercises it with the CIOFS in both the ordinary and the extraordinary chapters, like that celebrated in Madrid in October 1999, in which the General Constitutions were revised. With the Presidency of the CIOFS he gives his assistance on four particular occasions: in the ordinary and extraordinary meetings of the Presidency, in carrying out the programmes of activities (formation courses or seminars), in the pastoral visits and in his presence at the national Chapters.
The two aspects proper to the assistants, assistance and animation, are carried out in an interesting spirit of collaboration within the Conference of the Assistants General and of this with the Council of the CIOFS and with the Conference of the Ministers General of the First Order and TOR.
As expressions of collegiality in the assistance to the SFO, there were two meetings that the Conference of Assistants General for the SFO held, in the person of its President, with the Conference of Ministers General of the First Order and TOR on the 27th of December 1996 and the 10th of April 2000. Besides this, the Conference of Spiritual Assistants must give account of its work to the Conference of General Ministers of the First Order and TOR by means of a short annual report.
The assistance to the SFO is carried out collegially. The aim and object of this is that of favouring communion in the Church, to give witness to fraternal affection and to the link of communion between all those who wish to live the charism of Francis together with cooperation in formation. In the sphere of the Conference of General Assistants, Seminars for the Assistants of Eastern Europe (Frascati 1998), Africa (Frascati 1998), Italy (Assisi 1999), Central America (Diriamba – Nicaragua 1999), Cuba (2000) were held. The animation of the Friars to a knowledge and assistance to the SFO is a duty and task of each Assistant within the ambit of his Order. But even here he works in collaboration, with the aim of underlying two aspects, collegiality, a structure that must always be supported, apart from the local fraternity, and the unity and autonomy of the SFO.
The expression of collegiality that animates the four Assistants General of the SFO are: the monthly meetings, the intense times, the monthly prayer meetings, seminars of formation for the Assistants, presence at National Chapters, Pastoral Visits and the elaboration and publication of Koinonía, a small three-monthly magazine that helps to maintain communication and the formation of the Assistants, which at times is also used by the fraternities of the SFO themselves, and the Letter from Rome.
The pastoral Visits and presence at the national Chapters are important for collaboration with the secular Franciscans. The purpose of the Visit, including those carried out for urgent and grave reasons [8 , is to revive the Franciscan evangelical spirit, to help and animate the progress of the Fraternity, consolidate the unity of the Order, as well as its autonomy, in the collaboration and corresponsibility between Assistants and secular Franciscans [9 , together with promoting its more efficient insertion into the Franciscan family and the life of the Church [10 .
The national Chapter is a vital moment for revision, decisions and options as well as for the programming of the national Fraternity. The presence of the Assistant is testimony of the communion of the SFO with the First Order and TOR [11 .
Both the visits and chapters, if they are well organised, are a precious time for on-going formation [12 .
One point that I would like to underline is that of the need for formation and information on the SFO, both in the centres of our initial formation and in on-going formation. It is necessary to know its history, its spirituality and its apostolate. They have the same charism as we religious, but they show it from a different point of view, the secular, and if it is not so, something is wrong. This is why it is necessary to go into the life and internal history of the SFO. I give two reasons on why we require this formation. First, to know this part of the charism of Francis that complements us, from the lay point of view. Secondly, because it is only by knowing the SFO that it will be loved, by loving it, it will be wanted and wanting it, it will be helped and accompanied with affection.
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