Report of the CIOFS Presidency to the 2005 General Chapter

Activities of the CIOFS Presidency

Secretariat

Conclusion

Activities of the CIOFS Presidency

6. Principal topics and decisions:

f) Fraternal and Pastoral Visits conducted

This Presidency, like the previous one, has considered it appropriate not to have national election chapters coincide with fraternal and pastoral visits, since the aims and objectives of these respective events are very different. Where the two have coincided for particular reasons, experience has shown that the brothers and sisters are more involved in the election of candidates, which detracts from the importance of the visit as such, which is considered to be of fundamental importance in the life of any National Fraternity. This can be seen from arts. 92 and following of our General Constitutions. Nevertheless, given the precarious state of our economy, we invite the Chapter to consider whether to support or to modify this principle.

g) Election Chapters presided

During this triennium the national elective Chapters of the 59 constituted Fraternities were regularly held, with the exception of the following national Fraternities which, because of the socio-political and economic situation in their countries, asked for their Chapters to be deferred:

Honduras and the Central African Republic. In the case of Zimbabwe, with whom we were not in contact, we have only recently managed to establish contacts.

h) Attendance at Continental Congresses.

The Presidency took part in and assisted with the organization of the following continental events:

I Congress of Asia, in the Philippines, October 2003, Encarnación del Pozo, Lucy Almirañez and the four General Assistants.

VI Latin-American Congress, in México, September 2004, Encarnación del Pozo, Maria Consuelo de Núñez, Xavi Ramos, Fr, Ivan Matic, OFM, and Fr. Martín. P. Bitzer, OFMConv.

III Congress of English-speaking Africa, in South Africa, October 2004, Lucy Almiranez and Fr. Irudaya Samy, OFMCap.

j) Meetings of Jufra

The Presidency organized the following Jufra events:

• European Congress, held in Croatia and Slovenia, in August 2003.
• International Jufra Meeting and World Youth Day, held at Vossenak, Germany, in August 2005, with the participation of over 25 countries and some 200 young people.

Secretariat

1. Restructuring the Secretariat

When we began our service we fund that we had no-one to help in the secretariat. It took us some time to find suitable people to do the necessary work.

Today our General Secretaries are a married couple: Francesco and Anna Maria Crescenti, who from the start assumed their responsibilitries with great love, respect and enthusiasm. In a short space of time they mastered all the necessary jobs, taking on the responsibility of reorganising the archives, initially with the help of the archivist of the OFM General Curia, Fr. Pedro Gil.

Actively collaborating with them are Irene Litta and Alda Badanai, who are paid expenses by the Presidency, but this obviously does not recompense them for the services they offer us so devotedly and enthusiastically, even though they are not members of the SFO.

The Presidency has set up a team for the translation of communications and documents, and we are extremely grateful to them, because this is one of the really serious needs we have. These are the members of the team:

As you can see, many of the people who have taken on these tasks, which require much time and attention, already have other responsibilities in the international Fraternity, which means that we will need to find other help as soon as possible.

2. Refurbishment of the present Secretariat

At the beginning of our term of office, we found that the premises lacked the minimum conditions necessary for the people working at the service of the international Fraternity. Among other things, it had no heating, which meant that in winter we had to work with our coats on, and even gloves and hats! The electricity supply was connected to the Capuchin friary opposite and was not powerful enough to install a heater. After speaking with Br. John Corriveau, Minister General OFMCap., we obtained permission to install a power supply and heaters on the premises. In the end, since the friars would need the space within 2 or 3 years – they had given us free use of it - they bore all the installation costs. Our only responsibilities were the cost of paint and other small expenses. And so at least we enjoyed some warmth and a minimum of conditions necessary to carry out the service entrusted to us. Therefore we owe a debt of gratitude to our brothers of the Capuchin Curia for this new gesture of fraternity.

Thanks to donations from the national fraternity of Korea, at the beginning of our mandate we acquired a portable computer, with all the necessary programmes for work in the secretariat. Later on, other members of the Family, aware of our needs, donated the two large computers which we are using today.

3. Headquarters project

From the communications you have received on the subject, you all know about the need to acquire a headquarters and the details of how this is to be done. Next year, on a date to be decided, at the latest by the end of 2006, we will have to give back to the Capuchin General Curia the premises we are now using. All the details of the contributions and donations, together with the current situation regarding the acquisition of a new headquarters, are available in appendix 6.

We must say that the decision to seek help from our brothers and sisters and Institutions of our Family has been providential – despite the reluctance and emotional unease we feel whenever we have to “ask” for something because, of ourselves, we are unable to finance a place that will be a reference point for the whole Order. But that does not mean we can lower our guard, because we still need to find the rest of the sum we have to pay within 5 years, which amounts to ___.

CONCLUSION

To conclude this Report, it only remains for us now to thank all those who have cooperated in any way with the Presidency to make it possible for us to serve the international Fraternity. Especially I thank the international Councillors, who have been very aware of their responsibilities and have enabled our brothers and sisters in so many countries to look with confidence to this body, charged with the animation and guidance of our Order. From our sisters and brothers on the occasion of our visits and our presence at various events we have received love and trust. They have aroused in us the energy, the hope and the immense enjoyment that come from experiencing brotherhood in all its concreteness, wherever in the world the SFO is present. Our brothers and sisters have given meaning to our service, which would not have been possible without their prayer, support and overflowing affection.

Some things we did manage to implement, others have been left along the way, though not forgotten, while we look for ways in which to tackle them and solve them. We must ask your forgiveness for the times when we might have disappointed you or did not measure up to the confidence you had placed in us, or the expectations you had in our regard. We are open to hearing your opinions. We need them. And we are ready to continue this service, if you judge us worthy of doing so.

And now, we await from the Chapter illumination and a clear mandate to tackle some of the questions raised in this Report.

We hope that the Chapter will be able to enlighten the SFO and this Presidency, so that it will place the emphasis not on this or that dominant ideology, but on gospel and Franciscan values, so as to share in the building of a Church and a society that are more just, peaceful, welcoming and respectful, in a word, more fraternal and evangelical. This is the hour of mission, especially for the SFO. It is time to fully take up our mission, which consists in giving witness to Christ, courageously and consistently as Francis of Assisi did, matching our lives to those values in the ordinary and extraordinary circumstances of life, since, as the Lord tells us in the Gospel, “Anyone who saves his life”, in other words, anyone who holds back, opts out, or is not ready to risk his life and spend it in His service, “will lose it”; but “anyone who loses his life for my sake”, which means, anyone who devotes himself or herself to the service of the Gospel, giving witness to Christ, “will find it”, will have it restored in abundance.

My dear brothers and sisters, whoever gives witness to Christ becomes His “sacrament” for anyone who observes him and shares his life, since Christ Himself shines through that person. Let us be conscious of this mission to let Christ shine through us, and responsible for it, for it is a responsibility entrusted to us by the Lord and by our brethren.

To the Lord, who is supremely, totally good, we can only give thanks for the gift of each brother and sister with whom we have shared our lives, and for the opportunity of serving them even in the midst of the many limitations we have shown. To Him, too, we give special thanks for the gift of our vocation, asking Him to enlighten us so that we may give light, to strengthen us so that we too may impart strength to our sisters and brothers. May He continue to fill us with His love, so that we are able to proclaim Him by the witness of our lives, and serve Him in the mission to which He has called each one of us, and which this Chapter should help us to rediscover.

Assisi, 6 November 2005
For the CIOFS Presidency,

Encarnación del Pozo
General Minister SFO