SFO International Council - Weekly edition
Volume: 9 - N. 4 - 2003 - January - IV
From: Koinonia, 2002, n. 4
The tenth General Chapter of the SFO was celebrated in the "De La Salle" Centre, Rome, from the 15th till 23rd November 2002.
62 Chapter Members, among whom were the 9 members of the outgoing Presidency of the CIOFS and the 4 General Assistants, 43 delegates representing the nations where SFO National Councils are elected regularly and 6 International Councillors of Franciscan Youth (Fra.Youth) participated in the Chapter. Six countries were absent due to war and poverty.
The Chapter, presided by the outgoing Minister General, Emanuela De Nunzio, had as its topic Vital reciprocal communion in the Franciscan Family, which was the load-bearing element for reflection during the six-day assembly, during which the New International Statutes were discussed and approved in order to bring them into line with the General Constitutions approved in 2000.
The Chapter elections were held on the 19th November. The elective session was presided over by Br. John Corriveau, OFMCap, Minister General, in the name of the Conference of the Ministers General of the First Order and TOR. The following were elected Minister General and Members of the Council to the Presidency, which will guide the International Fraternity from 2002 until 2008:
1. Minister General: Encarnación del Pozo (Spain).
2. Vice-Minister General: Rosalvo Mota (Brazil).
3. Councillor for English area 1: Doug Clorey (Canada).
4. Councillor for English area 2: Lucy Almirañez (Philippines).
5. Councillor for the Spanish area: M. Consuelo de Nuñez (Venezuela).
6. Councillor for the French area: Felix Mbete (Chad).
7. Councillor for the Italian area: Bendetto Lino (Italy).
8. Councillor for the Portuguese area: Carlos Coelho de Moura (Portugal).
9. Councillor for the German area: Wilhelmina Visser-Pelsma (Holland).
10. Councillor for Fra.Youth: Xavi Ramos (Spain).
The work was continued in the morning of the 20th November with a "round table" on the topic of the Chapter with the participation of Br. Stefano Ottenbreit, OFM, Vicar General, Br. Agostino Gardin, OFMConv, ex-Minister General, Sr. Antonella Perugini, President of the Federation of Holy Family of Capuchin Poor Clares, Sr. Karola Thomann, President of the CFI-TOR, Rosa (President of the Italian SFO) and Attilio Galimberti, Davor Movric, International Councillor for Fra.Youth in Croatia.
The Chapter Members went on pilgrimage to Assisi on Thursday the 21st November. In the morning of the 22nd November the Chapter Members were received in private audience by the Holy Father. It was an unforgettable experience for all!
In the evening of the 22nd November the programme for the six-year period 2002-2008 was approved, with the following priorities: Formation, active Presence in the world, Franciscan Youth, Finances, Spiritual Assistance and Communion in the Franciscan Family.
Holy Father,
I address you with great love and gratitude in the name of the newly elected Presidency of the International Council of the Franciscan Secular Order, in the name of the participating members of the Tenth General Chapter of the Order, of all Secular Franciscans and of the members of Franciscan Youth throughout the world.
In the already distant 1982, You exhorted us, the Secular Franciscans, to study, love and live our Rule, approved by your predecessor, Paul VI, of happy memory. We can assure you, Holy Father, that the four hundred and thirty thousand Secular Franciscans and the almost fifty thousand young people of Franciscan Youth, present in eighty six countries of the world, have taken your words to heart. The principal activity of those responsible, to whom the task of animating and guiding our Fraternities has been entrusted during these years has been precisely that of helping the brothers and sisters to live, love and know the Rule of the Order, passing from life to the Gospel and from the Gospel to life.
Now, twenty years later, this General Chapter of the Order has concluded its work of up-dating its legislation with the approval of the Statutes of the International Fraternity.
St. Francis, the Poverello of Assisi, to whose tomb we went in pilgrimage yesterday, has taught all his followers to live always in communion with the Supreme Pontiff, with all Bishops and Priests in a trusting dialogue of apostolic creativity: it has been communion with the Church that has always animated Secular Franciscans.
Your Holiness, we are committed to defending and supporting the Christian and social value of the family and to be witnesses to the Gospel in public life and in the world of work.
Besides, together with our spiritual assistants of the First Order and Third Order Regular, we commit ourselves to continue and to develop, with all the imagination of charity, our service in favour of the most disadvantaged, identifying ourselves especially with the most humble: the mistreated women, children reduced to slavery, those sick from AIDS, clandestine immigrants and all who find themselves in difficulties.
We in the Franciscan Family, lay and religious in vital reciprocity, are ready to assume our specific mission in the Church and in the world. We are disposed, with joy and courage, to set out and live gospel radicality in fraternity in order to construct a more fraternal and gospel world.
Holy Father, we thank You for the attention and love that You have always shown to the laity in the Church. We assure you of our commitment to continue our path in the discipleship of Christ in the footprints of St. Francis of Assisi and we are here to listen to Your words and to receive, all the brothers of the world, Your blessing. Thank You.
Rome, 22nd November 2002
Encarnación del Pozo
Minister General of the SFO
The Presidency of the CIOFS met in the headquarters of the General Chapter, the House of the Brothers of Christians Schools, known as "De La Salle", from the evening of the 12th until 15th November '02, for the final preparations and the distribution of the different tasks.
The Presidency discussed the practical organisation of the Chapter under various aspects. The role of the moderators and the people to be proposed to the Chapter for such tasks were spoken about on the basis of the programme of each day of the Chapter. Then the criteria for the composition of the groups and for the questions to be submitted for discussion in the groups, to be proposed to the Chapter, were dealt with. The candidatures for the offices of Minister, Vice-Minister and of Councillors to the Presidency, which had come from the National Councils, were examined. The Presidency took time over the methods and times for the presentation of candidates before the elections. Another important subject was the budget for the Chapter and how to resolve the economic problems of those who have difficulty in paying the expenses of their participation. It was decided to deal with the National Fraternities that had tried to find a part of the necessary resources for participation in the Chapter in a different way from those that had not made much of an effort.
At the end of the meeting of the Presidency there were different decisions made and the still open situations that are to be given over to the new Presidency, which will be elected during the Chapter, were also discussed.
The services offered by members of the National Fraternity of Italy and, in a particular way, the support of the local Fraternity of Rome were of great help in the preparation of the Chapter and in welcoming the Chapter Members.
Immediately after the elections, the New Presidency of the CIOFS met to oversee the continuity of the Chapter and, especially, to prepare for the pilgrimage to Assisi and for the discourse of greeting to the Holy Father during the audience on the 22nd November.
The Presidency, besides, discussed and decided on the presence at the National Chapters and on the fraternal visits to be made during the next period. The first Meeting of the Presidency will be held in Rome from the 28th March till the 4th May 2003.