Testimony of Michele Canone, OFS

“If you cut a photograph in half, each part only shows a fraction of the complete image. But if you divide a hologram, each part shows the whole picture in its entirety. No matter how small the subdivisions are, each piece still shows the whole image.” (P. Senge, The Fifth Discipline)

Dear brothers and sisters,

This fascinating ‘image of the hologram’ is, in my opinion, at this historic time, the best illustration of the International ‘vision’ of the SFO. Basically, the hologram fascinates me because it leads me inevitably to think of the ‘particle’, to which the same principle of ‘indivisible wholeness’ applies. No matter how small the consecrated bread is, each granule will always contain the same body of Jesus.

Today’s Franciscan Secular Order needs to reacquire the true sense of identity and belonging. Emanuela De Nunzio reminded the capitulars that “Every discussion of belonging, for every individual, is closely linked to that of identity and presupposes it. […] There is no identity without belonging and there is no belonging without identity: they are distinct, yet forever fundamentally joined. It is, therefore, obvious that to talk of belonging, it is necessary to talk of identity: to have self-awareness and to distinguish oneself dialogically from others”.
You know, the hologram divided into so many pieces does indeed show the same image, but it keeps letting us see it from a different angle and this is exactly what we notice on occasions like the General Chapter. Pausing with many of the capitulars to exchange ideas, opinions and experiences, I became more and more aware of how they represent for me the unique identity of the SFO, enriched by its very own outlook and perspective. The sense of belonging is so alive in the brothers, whose commitment is such that the unique ‘vision’ of the Order is for them the ‘background music’ to all that they do in their lives.

Attending the Chapter was for me a gift of infinite grace! Today I would like to thank the Presidency Council, not only for giving me the opportunity to be there, at the Chapter, but especially for giving me the honour of giving witness of the wonder of belonging to a Family so rich in its many forms and colours.

In Budapest, I was pleasantly surprised to have all my expectations proved wrong. Let me be honest with you. I confess that at thirty years of age, fifteen years of which I have devoted to Franciscan Youth, I found it difficult to imagine that I could find men and women aged 50 to 60 so full of light and charged with energy. I was always convinced that the light received by the thousands of young people I have met during these years with Franciscan Youth was unique and unrepeatable. I was wrong; today I know that that light, if it be real, cannot fade; indeed it must assume a nature determined enough to eliminate any shadow which might threaten the complete vision of the world.

The Lord has been generous to me. He has enabled me to experience the internationalism of Francis since my earliest years in Franciscan Youth. The first time I encountered Franciscan brothers and sisters outside Italy was in 1995, on the occasion of the III Interobediential Franciscan Youth Chapter (unity was still a long way off) in Pinarella di Cervia, a chapter linked to the European event EUROHOPE (Euro-hope of peace), strongly wished for by John Paul II during the years of the war in ex-Yugoslavia. I was barely 17, and you can imagine what it meant for a young man in love with Francis, a lover of foreign languages and cultures (I was specialising in languages at high school), to be able to share with young people like myself from Great Britain, Malta, Poland, France…. however, in those days Franciscan Youth did not have a proper ‘international impetus’ and so that meeting was just a one-off.

The true light, the one that allowed me to discover the furthest corners of the room, was lit in 2003, thanks to the “III European Congress of Franciscan Youth” in Croatia and Slovenia. There are no words to express fully the type of joy one experiences in ‘reciprocal universal sharing’. There then followed the “I International Meeting” in Cologne in 2005, the “IV European Meeting” in Assisi, the “I International Assembly” in Barcelona in 2005 and finally the “II International Meeting” in Sydney.

Thanks to this close collaboration with Brothers Ivan Matic, ofm and Xavi Ramos, sfo, Assistant and International Counsellor of Franciscan Youth respectively, I met some brothers and sisters of the Council of Presidency. In particular, Encarnacion del Pozo, an incredibly ‘maternal’ and ‘fraternal’ lady: we are in good hands and it is no coincidence that she was re-elected almost unanimously.

However, what was I doing in Budapest?
I have to laugh, because, in spite of the fact that it was 10 days’ hard work, what with secretarial work, musical activities, translating the proceedings and press releases and the coordination of the communication & web commission, I am convinced more than ever that, when it comes to giving and receiving, I surely have done much more receiving.

I would like to convey the emotions which packed my heart when each of the capitulars was called to confirm their own availability. So much peace and serenity. Both Encarnación Del Pozo, and the Canadian, Doug Clorey, elected vice-Minister General, actually appeared before everyone hand in hand with husband and wife respectively, confirming not only their own, but also their whole family’s availability to support the Order. Do you realize how involved their family, work and everything else must be in such a mission?

Today I feel I should tell you about how much consideration Ciofs is giving to certain aspects.
Personally, I like the direction it is intended to take in the next in the next six years. Reflecting once more on the ‘sense of identity and belonging’ in the light of the grace of the Profession is truly a responsible gesture against the relativism and subjectivism prevalent in this century. Entering into dialogue to create a shared vision will make us more genuine in the spirit of our mission. Today, belonging no longer means ‘taking part in’ but ‘being part of’. The emphasis needs to be placed on ‘being’ rather than ‘doing’, because it is identity which leads to action and not the other way round; on being opposed to the fashion of ‘believing but not belonging’, or believing without commitment, because we know that we believe in a God who asks no more of us than that we ‘remain part of his kingdom’. What article 30.1 of our Constitutions expresses in this regard is very beautiful: ‘Brothers are jointly responsible for the life of the Fraternity to which they belong and of the SFO as an organic union of all Fraternities throughout the world’. And like the hologram, wherever we are, we are part of the whole.

Concentrating on our presence throughout the world, Encarnita’s words, directed even towards the Ministers General of the First Order, stress the following: “I am convinced that the First Order, the Second and the Third Order Regular need, at all levels, the knowledge that we can offer” as people completely immersed “in situations of daily life and in problems relating to work, the family, politics, and education and science, not forgetting situations of extreme poverty and all types of misfortune”. We must be proud and aware of our being salt mixed through every situation of daily living.

The outcome of the Capitulars’ reflections has been condensed into a programme of 5 priorities:

Formation/Training
Communication
Franciscan Youth
Presence in the world
Emergent National Fraternities

I would like to pay particular attention to communication and Franciscan Youth
Communication: in the past, this meant to the Order little more than issuing a ‘circular’ which informed everyone about important events. Today, communication is ‘action’, communicating means living communion and making this known so that others can live it. This is the greatest challenge. Not to separate the two at the very outset, as Training will be necessary in Communication, which is the soul of sharing!

Franciscan Youth: it is nice to see Ciofs paying attention to Franciscan Youth. What surprises me is not so much that it does so, but how it does so. Encarnita has definitively asserted that “Franciscan Youth is not the future of the Order, but its present”. The youthful expression of Franciscanism which enables it to spread its presence in the world not only geographically but at a generational level. This is among the priorities since, although in the last six years a lot has been done, now is the time to involve the International Fraternity through the setting up of a coordinating committee to help heighten the sense of belonging and identity among young people as well.

Thanks to Elizabeth, Francis and Claire and overall thanks to the Father because he keep giving me such any chances to grow up in a very incredible and unique way and even if I don’t feel like deserving all of this but I’m sure He knows the reason to let me do this.