Br. Sandro Overend, of the Malta Province was appointed Rector of the Students College at the Antonianum, after serving as Pro-Rector

The International Marian-Mariological Congress, organised by the Pontifical Marian Academy, will take place in Rome from 15-24 September 2000 as part of the official programme of events for the Jubilee.

The Franciscan Institute (St. Bonaventure University, USA) has finished a great project: the two volume edition of the critical text of John Duns Scotus Metaphysica. The project received financial help from the National Endowment for the Humanities. Br. Alan Wolter and Br. Gerard Etzkorn have published the same text in English.

The National Seminary in Glasgow for the preparation of future Scottish priests has been dedicated to Blessed John Duns Scotus.

UMA (Free University for the Atlantic Forest) has been founded in Cairu, Bahia (Brazil). It is a non-governmental organisation with the aim of preserving what remains of the Brazilian Atlantic forest through education and conscientisation of the people and raising the quality of life in the forest. UMA is established at the old Friars Minor Friary of St. Anthony and has St. Francis as its patron.

The Province of St. Anthony in Brazil celebrated a Chapter of Mats with the slogan: The Holy Spirit, Wind and Fire. The meeting took place at Ipuarana, 13-17 July.

Doctor of Hope was the definition of Cardinal Arns, Archbishop Emeritus of São Paulo, given by Mons. Antonio Ribeiro, Archbishop of Goiania (Brazil), on the occasion of the presentation of an honorary doctorate to Cardinal Arns from the Catholic University of Goiás.

The seven Rotary Clubs of Bologna together with its Mayor, have conferred the highest Rotarian honour, the Paul Harris, on Br. Ernesto Caroli, who conceived and founded the Antonianum of Bologna.

El Jubileo del año 2000: en camino hacia Roma y Asís is the title of a book by Br. Emerito Abad (Madrid, 1998, 144 pp). Embellished with beautiful photographs, the book guides pilgrims to Rome and Assisi for the Holy Year 2000, along a penitential itinerary full of poetry and faith. Text in Spanish.

Molteplici esperienze dell'unico Vangelo is the title of the book edited by Br. Tecle Vetrali (Chair of Ecumenical and Spiritual Theology, Venice 1998). The bilingual book (Italian and Russian) is the first of a series searching for points of contact between the spiritual experiences of the Russian Orthodox Church and the Franciscan Order. The Russian authors present St. Sergio of Radonez, St. Serafim of Sarov, St. Elizabeth and St. Nicholas of Mira. The Franciscans present St. Francis, St. Anthony and St. Clare.

The General Definitory has appointed Br. Barnaba Hechich, of the Venetian Province, as President of the Scotist Commission for a three year term. Br. Cesar Saco Alarcón, of the Province of Santiago di Compostela will be Vice-president.

Br. Felician Foy, of the Holy Name Province (USA) has been honoured with the Pro Ecclesia et Pontifice medal. Br. Felician, who has been editor of the Catholic Almanac since 1962, received the papal honour from the hands of the diocesan Bishop Mons. Frank Rodimer in Paterson Cathedral.

Br. Marcellian Madi, of St. John Capestran Province in Hungary, is one hundred years old. He entered the Order as an adult vocation and performed the service of porter at the Provincial Curia in Budapest for 40 years. The Minister General sent him a congratulatory message for the occasion.

The Mexican Province of St.s Francis and James has celebrated the 90th anniversary of its foundation. The celebration took place in the Basilica and Friary of Our Lady of Zapopan on 22nd July.

On 16 February 1998 the Sacred Penitentiary granted the Alcantarine Shrine of Arenas de San Pedro all the indulgences of a Jubilee Year during the V Centenary of the birth of St. Peter of Alcantara (19 October 1998 - 19 October 1999). Last year the BAC (Biblioteca de Autores Cristianos) published the Life and Writings of St. Peter of Alcantara (550 pp), text in Spanish.

The January/February 1998 edition of the review Studi Ecumenici (142 pp) published contributions to a seminar entitled Together for Prayer or Praying Together?. The seminar was organised by the Chair of Ecumenical Theology and Spirituality Uno il Signore at the St. Bernardine Institute of Ecumencial Studies from 15-17 March 1997. The text is in Italian. Studi Ecumenici is a quarterly, published by the St. Bernardine Institute of Ecumenical Studies, Castello 2786 - I 30122 Venezia. Fax: +39.041.5228323. - E-mail: isecat@micanet.it.

On 29 June Mons. Claudio Hummes, OFM, Archbishop of São Paulo (Brazil), and Mons. Angelo Massafra, OFM, Archbishop of Shkodër (Albania), received their pallia from the hands of Pope John Paul II.

In an old chapel, the Assumption Province, Argentina, has started a new Historical Archive of the Province equipped to use the most modern techniques.

The Doctoral thesis of Br. Nicola Giampiero, OFMCap on Cardinal Ferdinando Antonelli and the development of the Liturgical Reform from 1940 to 1970 (cf. Fraternitas, September 1996) has been published in the prestigious series Studia Anselmiana edited by the Benedictine Athenaeum in Rome. Text in Italian.

The first meeting of the Ministers Provincial and the Provincial Definitors of the Franciscan family in Lazio took place at St. Crispin friary (OFM Cap) in Orvieto on 11th June. After the talk by Br. Faustino Ossana OFM Conv, there was a sharing of experiences and ideas. There were many proposals for a joint initiative for the Jubilee. The meeting, was organised to help the participants to come to know each other better and increase their communion and mutual respect in the spirit of Francis of Assisi. Among the initiatives agreed upon was a meeting of the Guardians of the Franciscan families of Lazio at Rieti in the friary of St. Anthony al Monte on the 9th Septbember 1998.

Br. Pedro Ruano, of the Castile Province, Spain and Br. Diego Tiphrine Kenny, of the Buenos Aires Province, Argentina, have been appointed as members of the International Commission for Economic Matters (CIRE).

The General Definitory approved the aggregation of the the International Pontifical Marian Academy (PAMI) to the Pontifical Athenaeum Antonianum (PAA) as a scientific institution specialising in the area of Mariology.

The PAMI has as its aims:

1. To promote the establishment of the Blessed John Duns Scotus chair of Mariology and to oversee its running in agreement with the academic authorities of the PAA.
2. To promote research and academic study in Mariology especially within the Franciscan Family, organising the publication of theses and other studies in the academic series of the PAMI.
3. To encourage, in conjunction with the PAA, the study of Mariology in the Order's formation centres.
4. To make its library and the Balic collection with all its works and manuscripts available to the PAA.

The Cologne Province celebrated the 20th anniversary of the death of Br. Kajetan Esser, known throughout the Order for his studies on the Writings of St. Francis. The celebration took place in Mönchengladbach on the 10 July. Br. Herbert Schneider gave a talk on the personality of Esser and Br. Johannes-Baptist Freyer on his intellectual activity and the history of his work. In a letter to the Minister Provincial, Br. Klaus-Joseph Färber, the Minister General wrote: Br. Kajetan Esser was certainly a gift from God for the Province of the Three Kings, for the Order and for the entire Franciscan family... There seem to be two roads along which the the character of K. Esser invites us to travel further: above all the commitment to an ever more profound knowledge of St. Francis, of the authentic Francis, who emerges from his writings and of the formidable experience of life in the Spirit that emerges from those pages. The second challenge concerns the importance and the role of study in the evangelical form of life that we are committed to follow: a study that is not followed for its own end but a study that is a passionate search for truth, a profound desire to see reality with mind and heart so as to be able to believe ever more strongly in the love of God who acts in the world and in history.

A Spiritual-formative Chapter was held in the Province of St. Vigilio in Trent, from 1st-4th June, with the theme To Fill the Whole Earth with the Gospel of Christ.

The Minister General , Br. Giacomo Bini and the General Definitor Br. Antonio Riccio both spoke at the Chapter. They were accompanied by the Vice Secretary General, Br. Pio Vulcan.

In the afternoon of the 3rd June the Minister gave his witness on the subject of Evangelisation by examining, through this lens, his experience of Franciscan life in Italy, Africa and as a servant of the Order from the point of view of evangelisation.

On the morning of the 4th he presented the priorities of the Order to around 50 friars, insisting on the priority of the spirit of prayer and devotion, on itinerant fraternity and on formation.

In the afternoon of the same day he met representatives of the SFO of Gifra (Franciscan Youth) and of Franciscan religious women.

Br. Giacomo met with the Provincial Definitory, the young friars in formation, the sick in the Provincial Infirmary, the Poor Clares of the Borgo Valsugana Monastery and visited the welcome house for the new poor in Cles.

The Province needs its Pentecost renewal. It needs fire in its heart, words on its lips, prophecy in its gaze... that is why I feel and ask that the province should be entrusted and consigned into the maternal hands of the omnipotentia supplex of Mary".

With these words the Minister Provincial of Assisi invited all the Fraternities of the Seraphic Province to go in pilgrimage to Loreto. On the 28 May, early in the morning, about 160 friars set off for Loreto from the Porziuncula.

There they were given a fraternal welcome by the Capuchins who serve the shrine. After an introduction to the history and spirituality of the Shrine a time for personal prayer in the Holy House.

The Eucharistic celebration at the end of the morning was presided over by Mons. Angelo Comastri, Pontifical Delegate for the Loreto Shrine. In a spiritually intense moment the Minister Provincial, Br. Giulio Mancini, led the act of consecration to the Virgin.

After lunch at the St. Francis House of the OFM Province of the Marches, the friars visited the Conventual shrine of St. Joseph of Cupertino at Osimo.

The Pilgrimage thus united the three Franciscan families in fraternity.

The Cultural Centre of the China-Europe Institute (Louvain) is publishing in Louvain Studies, a chronicle of the Chinese Church evangelised by the missionaries from Flanders, Belgium. Volume III is entitled: The China Archives of the Belgian Franciscans - Inventory.

The first two Flemish missionaries left for China in 1872. In 1891 the Congeregation for the Propagation of the Faith entrusted the Apostolic Vicariate of South-west Hubei. After the communist revolution the Belgian friars fled to Taiwan.

This scientific and historical work of 416 pages is a catalogue of the missionary documents kept in the archives of the St. Joseph Province in Belgium.

The Holy Father appointed Br. Célio de Oliveira Goulart, of the Holy Cross Province in Brazil, as Bishop of Leopoldina on 24.06.98.

After the studies presented by the pre-Commission at the Conference Presidents' meeting in May, the General Definitory has appointed the Commission for the Reform of Structures in the Order, asked for by the General Chapter: Br. Peter Williams, General Definitor; Br. Romain Mailleux (Grottaferrata); Br. Hermann Punsmann (Antonianum), Br. Joseph Chinnici (Santa Barbara Prov., USA), Br. Manoel Blanco (Castile Prov., Spain), Br. Velimir Blazevic (Holy Cross Prov., Bosnia), Br. Sebastião Kremer (Immaculate Conception Prov., Brazil) and Br. Pierantonio Norcini (Secretary General).

Br. Stephano Ottenbreit, Vicar General, Br. Romain Maileux, Director of Publications/Grottaferrata, Br. José Antonio Merino, Rector of the Antonianum, Br. José Carballo, General Definitor and General Secretary for Formation and Studies, Br. Constancio Nogara, Rector of St. Francis University, Brazil and Br. Anthony Carozzo, Director of the Franciscan Institute, St. Bonaventure University, USA, constitute the new Commission for the development of Grottaferrata. The commission is to develop a plan to strengthen studies, research and formation at Grottaferrata and to build on its heritage.

After a prolonged process of discernment over a number of years, the Byzantine Custody of St. Mary of the Angels, USA, with its headquarters at Sybertsville, Pennsylvania, decided at their April 1998 Chapter to join the Assumption Province (Pulaski, Wisconsin). The decree of integration from the Minister General (13.06.98) was promulgated by the General Delegate for the Byzantine Friars, Br. Romano S. Almagno, of the Immaculate Conception Province, USA, during the provincial assembly of the Assumption Province. The friars of the Custody were given a warm and joyful welcome. The friars of the ex-Custody will keep the Byzantine rite.

Francesco d'Assisi, Jacques Le Goff. Col. Presenza di San Francesco, 42. Edizioni Biblioteca Francescana, Milano 1998, 128 pp.

Originally written in French, the book was never published in the language of its author. The Italian publication goes back to 1967 and it was published in the series Protagonisti della Storia Universale. Jacques Dalarun in a long introduction gives the history of the text and says that this small book has three cardinal virtues: it is generous, new and simple. Text in Italian.

San Francesco d'Assisi, Tommaso Gallarati Scotti. Edizioni Biblioteca Francescana, Milano 1998, 90 pp.

This Life of St. Francis was published in 1926 on the initiative of the Associazione nazionale per gli interessi del Mezzogiorno d'Italia (National Association for the Interests of Southern Italy) to celebrate the 7th centenary of the death of the saint and to promote the culture and moral stature of the people. It is the third book of the series "Sesto sigillo" (Sixth Seal), a series designed to recover Franciscan texts that have made history. Text in Italian

In June the General Definitory appointed the members of the three commissions of the Office for Dialogue.

For the Ecumenism Commission: Br. Tecle Vetrali (Venetian Prov., President), Br. Felix Neefjes (Holy Cross Prov., Brazil), Br. Corrado Trabucchi (St. Francis Foundation, Russia), Br. Hilaire Valiquette (Our Lady of Guadalupe Prov., USA), Br. Romualdo Fernández (Holy Land Cust.) and Br. Joseph Masloum (Holy Family Vice-Prov., Egypt).

For the Culture Commission: Br. Fabio Duque (Santa Fe Prov., Colombia, President), Br. Francisco M. Fresneda (Cartagena Prov., Spain), Br. Jorge MartÌnez (Assumption Prov., Argentina), Br. Hilário da Cruz Massinga (St. Clare Cust., Mozambique), Br. Rigoberto Caloca-Rivas (Santa Barbara Prov., USA) and Br. Samuel Truong Dinh-Hoè (Vietnam Prov.).

Interreligious Dialogue Commission: Br. Giorgio Bertin (missionary in Somalia, President), Br. Alan Castillo (Philippines Prov.), Br. Ivo Markovic (Holy Cross Prov., Bosnia), Br. Frédéric Manns (SBF Jerusalem) and Br. Dominic Chovallor (India Prov.).

Br. Stephano Ottenbreit, Vicar General, is the co-ordinator of the three commissions.

Br. Józef Czura, 45, has been elected Minister Provincial of the Assumption Province, Poland..

The SFO Assistants of Argentina, Uraguay and Chile met on 25-26 May in Buenos Aires, with the aim of deepening their knowledge of the Statutes and documents on spiritual assistance to the SFO. Minors, Conventuals and Capuchins participated.

The meeting invited all the Provinces of the First Order to organise provincial meetings of Assistants and to include the subject of assistance to the SFO in their next chapters. The participants, furthermore, expressed their desire for a second meeting in two years time of all the Assistants of Conor Sur.