The General Definitorium has drawn up an aid which presents the priorities for the sexennium 1997-2003. This aid, in line with the decisions of the General Chapter, aims to be an instrument of animation for the life of the individual friars and the Fraternities, local and Provincial, in making those options which are essential to the Franciscan charism. To achieve this aim, the document requests that it be examined in an atmosphere of reflection and personal prayer before being discussed in the Fraternities.

"This very morning the news reached us that yesterday evening in Kigali in Rwanda, in front of the church of the Holy Family, a missionary of the Order of Friars Minor was assassinated, Father Vjeko Curic. So another victim is added to the long list of missionaries who have with the sacrifice of their lives sealed their love for Christ and for the people of Africa" announced John Paul II at the Angelus to those gathered in St. Peter's Square on 1st February. Br. Vjeko, Bosnian-Croat in origin, missionary in Africa from 1983, was hit by eight bullets from a pistol.
The funeral took place on 3 February, presided over by the Apostolic Nuncio in Rwanda, Msgr. Janusz Juliusz. Together with the entire Episcopal Conference of Rwanda 136 priests concelebrated. There were representatives of all the religious men and women present in Rwanda, together with thirty or so Friars Minor, among whom the Minister General, Br. Giacomo Bini, and the General Definitor for Africa and the Middle East, Br. Peter Williams. Present also were the Prime Minister and other members of the government, as well as an immense gathering of Christians. Br. Vjeko was buried in Kivumu, in the church which he had built and where he was parish priest.
At the end of the celebration, the Minister General launched this appeal: "In the name of the whole Franciscan Family I want to express a special wish with all my heart to all Rwandans: allow yourselves to be reconciled with Christ! Let the Lord give you his peace, that peace and that reconciliation for which Vjeko offered his life!"

The Minister General has convoked a meeting of the Presidents of Conferences to take place at the General Curia from 17th to 23rd May, "in order to put into effect the deliberations of the General Chapter as well as to realize a fuller communion of the Order in the sharing of plans and projects". The topics submitted for study are the revision of the structures, the economy, putting into practice the priorities, and ongoing formation. Other topics may be considered if proposed by the Presidents. The task of preparation of this meeting and the formulation of the agenda and the method of working has been entrusted to Brs. Sean Collins, Peter Williams (General Definitors), Oscar Ante (Philippines, FCAO) and Fidelis Pradella (COMPI, Italy).

• 2-10 March Fraternal visit to the Provinces of Santa Fe and St Paul (Columbia)
  
• 11-14 March Guadalajara. Meeting of the formators of the Conference of Mexico and Central America.
  
• 30 March - 4 April Rome -Tempo forte.

The General Definitorium in its December session elected as members of the International Commission for Economic Affairs (CIRE): Brs. James Rempe (Sacred Heart, U.S.A.), Alvaro Rosatelli (St. James of the Marches, Italy) and Georg Scholles (Three Kings, Germany). The other two members will be elected after proposals by the Presidents of Conferences.

• On the occasion of the Feast of Saint Francis on 4 October 1997, the Vatican Post Office issued a special stamp which depicts the Patriarchal Basilica and in the background the face of the Saint. The stamp design is completed with the words "Festività di S. Francesco d'Assisi" and "Poste Vaticane + 4.X.1997".
  
• Msgr. Manuel Eguiguren, OFM, Auxiliary Bishop of El Beni (Bolivia) received the "Human Rights Prize 1997" granted by the Assembly for the Rights of Man of Bolivia, "for his exemplary contribution to the defence and promotion of human rights and democracy".
  
• Br. Gualbert Broudin of the Province of Blessed Pacificus (Paris), French Chaplain at the Sanctuary of Loreto, has been invested as "Chevalier dans l'Ordre National du Mérite" by the President of the French Republic.
  
• Br. Gualberto Gismondi of the Province of Genoa gave the main paper entitled "Religions for Civilization and Peace in the Third Millennium" at the Second International Forum EUROMED (Naples, 12-14 December 1997) on the problems of intercultural globalization.
  
• Chemin Faisant ("On the Road Together") is the title of the new bulletin of information for the friars of Togo, Ivory Coast and Benin (B.P.95, Dapaong, Togo).
  
• The Rector Magnificus of the Antonianum, Br. José Antonio Merino, has awarded Br. Cosimo Reho, Province of Lecce, a silver medal for his contribution to culture. Br. Cosimo was in fact for about 15 years Prefect of the Inter-Religious Theological Studium of Apulia, affiliated to the P.A.A.
  
• Br. Policarp Nowak of the Province of the Assumption (Poland), for the past five years in the service of the Secretariate of State of His Holiness, was promoted to the rank of Adetto di Segreteria of the First Class. He is also the translator of Fraternitas and documents of the General Curia into Polish.
  
• Acceding to the requests of the Bishop of Albenga-Imperia, Msgr. Mario Oliveri, and of the Minister Provincial of Genoa, Br. Giacomo Massa, the Roman Province has entrusted for an unlimited period the relic of St. Leonard to the Ligurian Province of the Order. The body will remain in the Co-Cathedral of St. Maurice.
  
• In the Auditorium in Nagasaki there was a performance of a lyric opera based on the history of the first Japanese martyrs. This performance took place on the occasion of the 4th centenary of their martyrdom. The opera is the work of Professor Arakarki Tsugutoshi, a well-known composer of Japanese liturgical hymns, to a libretto by Tanaka Sumie, a Catholic writer.

Four friars of the Irish Province live in an apartment in the heart of the city of Belfast. Their aim is to establish a fraternal presence of prayer among the people. In Northern Ireland at the moment there is in place a truce and politicians of both communities are engaged in trying to find a permanent solution. The friars are acting as promoters of dialogue and reconciliation among clergy of all confessions and among local politicians. Recently there was a meeting of the Provincial Justice and Peace Commission in Belfast, during which they met "Loyalist" (i.e. Unionist) politicians and visited the City Hall to talk with Alban Maginness, first Catholic Mayor of Belfast.
In the North-West of the Republic, in Rossnowlagh, Donegal, a Centre of Peace and Reconciliation has been set up, visited by many people from every part of Ireland. The friars living there try to lead them to an attitude of deeper peace, helping them to taste the presence of God and the regenerative power of the quiet beauty of the Donegal coast.

With an edict of 21 November 1997 the Archbishop of Valencia, Msgr. Agustín García-Gasco Vicente, officially published his intention of acceding to the request made to him by the Franciscan Province of Valencia, Aragón and the Balearic Islands and set in motion the canonical procedure for inquiring into the presumed martyrdom of another 36 Friars Minor of that Province who died, led by their Minister Provincial Br. Ricardo Pelufo Esteve, during the years of the Spanish persecution of 1936-1939. With them the number of Spanish O.F.M. friars martyred in this century will rise to 252. The Valencia Province also has in course the Cause of the presumed martyrdom of the Servants of God Pascual Fortuño Almela and his three Companions, who died for the Faith in 1936.

At the request of the Ministers Provincial of the Middle European Conference (MEFRA), the Bavarian Province of St. Antony is this year once again organizing intensive language courses in German for friars who wish to become versed in German language and culture. The courses are free of charge, and the friars will be given hospitality in small international groups in our friaries.
The conditions: inscription in a course must be made through the respective Minister Provincial; the candidate must participate fully in the course continuously from the first day to the last, that is from 1 July to 15 August 1998; the choice of the most suitable course will be made after an initial language test; Inscriptions must be made by 15 May 1998 and should be addressed to:
Br. Franz Gruber, St. Anna-Strasse 19, D-80538 München. Telephone: +49-89.211.260 - Fax: +49-89.211.26.161.

The General Definitorium in its session of 14 November 1997 decided upon the institution of the Legal Office of the General Curia from 1 January 1998. The new Office assumes the tasks and coordination of the Juridical Commission, of the Commission for Appeals, and of the Commission for the Revision of particular and special Statutes. The Office is at the service of the other Offices of the General Curia for the study of problems under their legal and canonical aspects and for an opinion on the proper way to proceed in the causes which are submitted to it. The General Definitorium has named as Director of this new Office Br. Andrea Boni of the Province of the Sacred Heart of Mary (Genoa, Italy) and Professor Emeritus of the Pontifical Athenaeum Antonianum.

The Province of the Assumption of Mostar is in the Republic of Bosnia-Herzegovina and exists and operates in the diocese of Mostar, except for one house in Zagreb for post-novitiate formation. The Province consists of about 260 members, with an average age under 50, of whom 32 are in other parts of Europe (Germany, Switzerland, Austria, Albania and Italy), 36 in the U.S.A. where there is a Custody now immediately dependent on the Minister General with its seat in Chicago, 7 in Africa. A large part of the friars are graduates and many speak, besides Croat, one or more other languages. The painful events of recent years, the "burden" of past history, the kind of formation and pastoral work almost totally dedicated to running parishes, have left a profound mark on the life of the friars, the Fraternities and the Province. The Vicar-General, Br. Estêvão Ottenbreit, and the General Definitors Brs. Kapistran Martzall and Peter Schorr carried out a visit from 17 November to 7 December 1997. The aim was to meet the friars individually and help them put into effect the decree "Romanis Pontificibus", to work out proposals together to bring about the normalization of the Province's "structures" and make a new life for it possible. More particularly, the visit began and ended with a meeting with the Provincial Definitorium, the first of which served to draw up a declaration to be signed by all the friars recalling the decisions of the General Chapter and adding a promise to put into effect the Decree in obedience to the Pope and the Minister General. The second meeting served to evaluate the visit and the conversations with the Brothers. Between the first and the second meeting there were 182 conversations with individuals or groups of friars (including those in Germany, Switzerland and Austria), in each case concluded with a local Chapter. From the conversations and the declaration signed by the friars it is clearly evident that a large and solid majority desires and wills a solution of the present problems, in particular the putting into effect of the Decree "Romanis Pontificibus".

Thanks to an invitation from Cardinal Kazimierz Swiatek, Archbishop of Minsk-Mohilev, the friars recently returned after an absence of many years to the Sanctuary of the Madonna of Budslav which had for centuries been an important spiritual centre for the whole of White Russia. At this moment there are two friars: Brs. Leonard and Alojzy, who belong to the Province of the Immaculate Conception in Poland. The church in Budislav suffered a great deal of damage during the long years of Communist persecution and is in need of restoration: the friary is situated in a hut. In spite of this the friars do not lose heart and are preparing for the coming feast of Our Lady of Budslav (2 July), which will be particularly solemn this year, because the miraculous image of the Mother of God will be crowned with a Papal crown.
In addition to this, for some years our friars have been present also in the city of Sluck, where they have constructed the friary and church dedicated to St. Antony of Padua. At present three friars of the Polish Province of the Assumption are serving there: Brs. Aleksy (Guardian and Parish Priest), Kosma and Cherubin. Last year Br. Sobieslaw had to return to his Province because of serious illness. Every Sunday the friars carry out their pastoral ministry in the near-lying villages as well, seven locations in all. Also attached to this community is Br. Ptolomeusz who serves the Catholics of Smolensk in Russia.

From 21 to 26 July 1997 the Province of the Holy Martyrs of Korea celebrated its 60 years of existence in Korea with a Chapter of Mats in which 126 friars took part, and with a course of Franciscan spirituality from 29 September to 2 October open to the whole Franciscan Family in Korea in which 280 people participated. The principal lecturer was Br. Charles Finnegan of the Province of the Most Holy Name (U.S.A.). The course will be published in English and Korean. On 3 October a Mass of Thanksgiving for the 60 years was celebrated in Seoul in which 1,500 people took part. After the Mass an historical exhibition was opened on the work of the Province over the six decades. In future meetings a study is planned of the document "To Fill the Earth with the Gospel of Christ", which Br. Silvester Shim has translated into Korean. The Korean Province has begun to send out missionaries: besides Br. Diego Kim for some years in Kazakhstan, Br. Francis Yun will be chaplain to the Koreans in Japan and Br. Stephan Shin will dedicate himself to the lepers in South China. Two other Korean friars are in the Holy Land.

Br. Peter Ho Cheng-Yen, 40 years old, has been elected Minister of the Province of Our Lady Queen of China, Taipei.

The General Chapter of Assisi asked for a revision of the structures of the Order. To prepare a study of this revision and the establishment of an International Commission, the Definitory has set up a small Preparatory Commission composed of Brs. Peter Williams (General Definitor), Romain Mailleux (Three Companions, France-Belgium and ex-Vicar General), Hermann Punsmann (Holy Cross, Germany and Professor at the PAA), Joseph Chinnici (S. Barbara, U.S.A.), with the Secretary General Pierantonio Norcini. This Commission will prepare a brief guide to facilitate both the treatment of the matter and the work of the Assembly of Presidents.

At the Retreat House "Porziuncola" at Bahar-ic-Caghaq in Malta there met together for a day of fraternity and prayer 270 Franciscan men and women of the O.F.M., the O.F.M.Conventual, the O.F.M.Capuchin, the Franciscan Sisters of the Heart of Jesus (founded in Malta in 1880), the Franciscan Sisters of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, of the Little Franciscan Family and of the S.F.O. One encouraging detail: on the little island of Malta there are altogether 600 Franciscan religious, men and women.

• Br. Mauro Baetens, ex-Definitor General, for the Dutch Province.
  
• Br. Heribert Rembecki, of the Vice-Province of the Assumption (Brazil), for the Vice-Province of St. Benedict the Moor (Brazil).
  
• Br. Fernando Peixoto de Castro, of the Vice-Province of the Most Holy Name (Brazil), for the Foundation of Our Lady of Fatima (Uberlândia, Brazil).

"Setting out from the Chapter document, we, the members of the Definitorium as a body, have identified certain priorities which will guide our actions in the coming years.
- We are convinced that the form of life revealed in Saint Francis is possible and has meaning only if nourished by passionate converse with God: for this reason, spurred also by Your Holiness's message to the Chapter, we have put in the first place the contemplative dimension of our vocation, convinced that the criterion by which our vocation is to be measured is not the effectiveness or the quantity of our activity, but its authenticity, which can be guaranteed only by a never-ending scrutiny of the face of the Lord.
- Francis discovered the special nature of his vocation when `the Lord gave him brothers'. We, too, are convinced that our form of life has meaning only if lived within a Fraternity. The primary proclamation of the Gospel which is demanded of us is that of witnessing that it is possible to live as brothers, in spite of the diversity of mentalities and cultures. In the last 15 years of my life, in the missionary experience lived in Tanzania, Rwanda and Kenya, I have become aware how much this simple `being together' of the friars of different continents can be meaningful for those peoples.
- Then we have to cultivate a particular `style' in our search for God and in our witness to our brothers, and ours is one of minority and poverty, and of solidarity with all those brothers and sisters who experience the fundamental rights of the human person being threatened: a solidarity not of mere words, but of life by a sharing in the sufferings and privations, the risks and disappointments.
- Next, we would like a continuing of our commitment to owning again the task which, according to Francis, is the principal duty of every friar: evangelization, that missionary impulse which should characterize every manner of our presence, using those forms which appear the most apt in different situations.
- It is evident that these four priorities demand a considerable effort of formation: formation is the humus from which they receive their life. In particular we feel the need for a real ongoing formation to help us overcome the risks of habit and repetition".
From the greeting by the Minister General to the Holy Father during the meeting of the General Definitorium with John Paul II on 16 December 1997.

On 16 December John Paul II received the General Definitorium in audience. After a salutation by the Minister General, the Pope turned to the friars with cordial expressions of esteem and exhortation.
Here are two extracts: "Your presence offers me a welcome occasion for conveying to all your confreres spread throughout the world my feelings of gratitude for their generous and priceless fidelity to Christ and commitment to active evangelization.
Your apostolic work, very much appreciated, is directed in various ways to the care especially of the poor and the less fortunate, following in the foot-steps of your holy Founder...
Attentive to the signs of the times, you want to accept every call to intensify the enthusiasm and generosity of your service to the Church with a great and never-changing fidelity to the spirit of your origins. Welcoming the prompting of the Spirit of the Lord you want to open yourselves, in a dynamic continuation of your authentic tradition, to the expectations and the challenges of the present, in order to cooperate in guiding men towards the Lord who comes."

On 10 January a Reception was held by the Minister General and the
Fraternity of the General Curia for Msgr. Marco Dini Brogi, ordained Bishop by John Paul II on the Solemnity of the Epiphany. Msgr. Brogi presided at Vespers and shared supper with the Fraternity. The new Archbishop, named Apostolic Nuncio in Sudan and Apostolic Delegate in Somalia, was born in Alexandria, Egypt, on 12 March 1932. He entered the Order in the Tuscan Province in 1956. He then obtained the title of Doctor of Canon Law at the Pontifical Oriental Institute in Rome. When he returned to Egypt he carried out for some years the ministry of teaching in the formation houses of the Order. In 1973 he was called to Rome to work at the Congregation for the Oriental Churches which in 1984 named him Head of Office and in 1991 Under-Secretary. Besides this, he maintained his teaching commitments in Canon Law both at the Pontifical Athenaeum Antonianum (from 1974 to date) and at the Pontifical Oriental Institute (from 1983 to 1997). He is the author of numerousstudies on Oriental Canon Law. Besides Italian, he speaks French, English and Arabic.

• Br. Pierdamiano Rinaudo, ex-Economo General, has been appointed Economo of the International College of St. Antony (CISA).
  
• Br. José Antonio González Porres, Province of SS. Francis and James (Mexico), has been named Guardian of the CISA Fraternity.
  
• Br. Paulus Waldmüller, of the Province of Bavaria, has been named Guardian of the House of Penitentiaries at the Lateran.

• Br. Pino Noto, Province of Sicily, as Vice-Economo General and Legal Representative of the Order.
  
• Br. Francisco O'Conaire, Province of Central America, as Vice-Director of the Office for JPIC.
  
• Br. Pierre Beguin, Province of the Three Companions (France-Belgium), for the Translations Office.
  
• Br. Nils Thompson, Province of Our Lady of Guadalupe (USA), as General Assistant to the SFO.
  
• Br. Andrea Boni, Province of Genoa (Italy), as Director of the Legal Office.

Mistici Francescani (14th Century), Various Authors, Edizioni Francescane, Milan 1997, 1134 pp. Under the auspices of the Italian Franciscan Movement the second volume has appeared of the Collection Mistici Francescani, dedicated to the writers and witnesses of the Thirteen Hundreds. Furnished with ample introductions and two indices, one of the names of persons and the other of topics, the Volume aims at making available original texts which will allow scholars and a wider public directly to approach these examples of the many forms of the experience of God.