PASTORAL VISIT TO THE CIOFS PRESIDENCY

In the Pastoral Visit that Fr. José Carballo, OFM General Minister, performed during the CIOFS Presidential Consular Meeting, in the month of April, 2006, in representation of the Conference of General Ministers, Fr. José covered interesting subjects, which we will be presenting in this Bulletin for the reflection in the fraternities.

Concerning Formation, Fr. José said:

Formation should be integral. Reach to the whole of the person. The center of our life is not Francis. I do not serve Francis but we all serve Christ. It is not enough to form Franciscans, we have to form persons. The human element is essential. We are persons before Christians. And we have to form believers before Franciscans. It is true that all these elements go together, though these three elements should be together, to not form fragmented persons, which is not a positive sign for the world.

Formation should be permanent. As S. Francis said that at last five minor monks have been born, and it was then when they were made into martyrs. Formation concludes the next day of our death. There are two types of persons, those who are in formation and those who are in deformation. Several brothers and sisters entered into the SFO when formation was reduced to the minimum novice teaching. We have to make an effort so that formation is integral and permanent.

Formation should be personalized. Because for formation to be truthful, it should start from the person’s own situation. To accompany it in its trail until plenitude. Although it is not easy for seculars, you have to make this possible. Because it is a requirement from today, so values really enters into the person.

Formation should be practical, covering four points of the person, as follows:

• The mind. Taking care on the content and trying to have a minimum uniformity in the initial formation, basing us in a Formation Manual which should be good for all the Order..

• The heart, because it should change my life. It is changed by the fundamental sentiment. We are more sentimental than mind users. If knowledge does not go trough sentiment, it does not transform. We continuously talk about fraternity, but we are terribly individualistic. We have to bare this in mind very much.

•  Hands, third vital center. Hands are for the practical life. Franciscanism is not an ideology.

•  Feet, that we use to walk. Meaning, to be in contact with reality, so that formation is kept always open to reality, as it is necessary to live the gospel in the world.

Regarding the sense of pertinence that we should have, Fr. José explained:

The sense of pertinence is fragile in the SFO also among us friars. If the Bishop convokes the Parrish priests, they are all there. But if provincials convoke them, they cannot make it because they are busy at the parish church. Among you, difficulties are higher, because you have familiar obligations that complicate things. But it is not trouble that somebody does not come to the Fraternity because he or she has a familiar problem. The bad thing is that somebody does not come because he or she has a meeting with another movement.