SFO International Council - Weekly edition
Volume: 10 - N. 7 - 2004 - February - II
From: CIOFS Bulletin, 2003, n. 3
Lucy A. Almirañez
During the 2002 General Chapter, some delegates from Asian countries talked in passing about the possibility of organizing a Congress for the SFO. Somebody said it was talked about as early as in 1987, then in 1993 and again, in the succeeding Chapters. The delegates would leave after the Chapter without discussing it seriously nor making any concrete plan. When this was brought up to the CIOFS Presidency meeting in April this year (2003), it was taken seriously. For one thing, reports on emerging national fraternities in the region such as Thailand, Sri Lanka, Taiwan, Hong Kong-Macau, Mainland China and Malaysia caught the attention of the Presidency, some, with a tone of urgency. The time was ripe for such a Congress.
On November 6-10, 2003, 37 bothers and sisters, mostly Secular Franciscans from various Asian countries and from Oceania, joined by the CIOFS Presidency and some spiritual assistants gathered in Claret Retreat House in Quezon City, Philippines to realize what was once a passing remark but actually an expression of a need. A parallel event took place among the Spiritual Assistants from Asia and Oceania from November 8 to 15, 2003.
The SFO had a total of 26 delegates from 12 countries while the Spiritual Assistants had 22 delegates from 13 countries. Represented were: Australia, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Thailand and Vietnam. The Spiritual Assistants' meeting included New Zealand and Pakistan and were distributed as follows: OFM - 12; OFMCap - 4; OFMConv - 4; and TOR - 2.
The SFO Congress had 5 spiritual assistants from Asian countries as observers while the spiritual assistants opened two of the days of the meeting to about 30 participants from various local congregations.
The presence of the General Minister, Encarnacion del Pozo and the four General Assistants -- Fr. Valentin, Fr. Michael, Fr. Ivan and Fr. Samy -- was a big boost to both meetings, and, looking back, would have been indispensable.
The reports from various countries, the interventions and the dialogue between the delegates and the CIOFS Presidency represented by the General Minister and the four General Assistants proved to be the most enlightening and the most enriching parts of the entire Congress. A combination of established 6 national fraternities (India, Korea, Japan, Philippines, Vietnam and Oceania) and 6 emerging national fraternities (Malaysia, 'Singapore', Indonesia, Sri Lanka, Thailand and Hong Kong - Macau); the commonality and variety of experiences, uniqueness and peculiar problems presented gave everybody a picture of the national fraternities in Asia and Oceania.
The reflections on the Church documents, Ecclesia in Oceania (Peter Keogh); Ecclesia in Asia (Fr. Samy) and the presentation of Encarnita on the Rule with reference to the document "Ecclesia in Asia" were valuable inputs.
One thing which I personally thought to be extremely helpful was the opportunity on the part of the CIOFS Presidency to insist (almost endlessly!) on the need to "read, study and live" the Rule and the General Constitutions. This obviously did not fail to register in the minds of the participants.
Croatia -- On October 11-12 in Samobor, near Zagreb, a Symposium on the SFO Rule took place. Some of the themes treated: The previous Rules of the SFO; Genesis of the Rule of Paul VI and the collaboration of the Croatian SFO; Bible aspects of the Rule; Vatican II and the Rule; Franciscan spirituality of the Rule. The entire text of the Rule was analyzed and commented in the conferences, grouped according to the Rule's chapters, presented by Franciscan brothers and Secular Franciscans. At the end of the Symposium two former general Assistants of the SFO gave presentations: Ben Brevoort, OFMCap, with the conference The Rule of some Third Orders, and Zvonimir Brusac, TOR, with the conference The Rule of the SFO (1978) and the Rule of the TOR (1982).
The participants included members of the ordinary national Chapter of the SFO, about sixty representatives of the regional fraternities and some provincial Ministers, totaling near one hundred persons. The participants showed great interest in the conference, especially the discussion periods, asking questions for clarification after every conference, and declaring themselves very happy to have received so many useful directions in this rich formation encounter.
Belarus -- On 9 - 12 October our brothers and sisters of the SFO in Belarus had their fraternal and pastoral visit in Grodno. The fraternal visitor was: Presidency Councillor Wilhelmina Visser-Pelsma, and the pastoral visitor was Fr. Irudhayasamy OFMCap. The visit was prepared with the help of Emilia Nogaj, the international representative of Poland, and Etol Maria, the responsible for the SFO in Belarus, as well as the Spiritual Assistant, Br. Jozef Makarczijk, OFM Conv. Emilia and Etol Maria both speak Polish. This is due to the fact that a considerable part of Poland was added to Belarus after World War II.
The SFO in Belarus has developed since Eufra (European Franciscans' meeting) in 1998. The last years have seen rapid development. The purpose of the visit was to help toward the establishment of Belarus's own Provisional National structure in the near future.
Sweden -- The Chapter took place from October 17-19 2003 in Vadstena, a small medieval town that represents the catholic heart of Sweden, since from there it has radiated through the apostolate of St. Brigida. Even though the Swede SFO is not yet a national Fraternity, formally constituted, because of its situation as "frontier" the Chapter was held under the Presidency of Benedeto Lino, Councillor of the Presidency, accompanied by Fr. Michael Higgins TOR, General Assistant.
Yvonne Ricci was elected National Minister, she is a Swede of Finnish origin and the widow of an Italian. She remarried and has a son from the first marriage, and three grandsons. She is an anesthesiologist, and a specialist in resuscitation.
Some news of the situation of the SFO in Sweden: there are 4 Fraternities; 39 professed members; 2 novices and 9 postulants. Fr. Henrik Roelvink, National Assistant, merits special mention. He has founded and guided three of the local fraternities, translated into Swedish the Constitutions, the Ritual, and the formation texts; wrote formation material himself and authored books about the history of Franciscans in Sweden. The SFO owes him a great debt of recognition.