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Report to the Chapter: first part of the presentation
Br Giacomo Bini, ofm
Ministero general
The fulfilment of the Chapter mandates
1. The General Chapter of 1997: from memory to prophecy
We have been privileged by the Lord with a Franciscan vocation and with the acquisition, at the same time, of the great and rich heritage of our charismatic tradition. Century after century it has come down to us, thanks to the inspired and innovative tenacity of our confreres that preceded us in the different historical eras.
We Friars Minor, at the beginning of this new millennium, must be grateful to the Lord for having called us to participate in this heritage; but this rich tradition of sanctity is entrusted to us as a grave responsibility and task to make it give fruit yet again. It is not enough to guard it just as it has been transmitted and assigned to us: it is necessary to see to it that it remains alive and life giving for the Church and world of our times. The gospel parable of the talents clearly shows us with what seriousness it is necessary to invest and make fruitful the gifts received in order not to be deprived of everything.
The 1997 Chapter Document basically asked us to renew ourselves from the starting point of an open dialogue:
*dialogue of the Fraternity with the world and its different cultures: a requirement born of our vocation and mission;
* nterreligious and ecumenical dialogue, of which our times have a particular need;
* dialogue within the Franciscan Family and our own Fraternities as a sign of hope and the basis for new vaster goals.
In order to carry out these projects of dialogue it was requested to have:
* a global revision of the structures in order to make them adaptable to encouraging a vocational and missionary journey that was more brisk and creative;
* a “solid” ongoing and initial formation, integrated into the radical search for God;
*fraternal sharing of means and personnel, of all we are and have, in order to joyfully “restore” all to the Lord.
2. To encourage dialogue: some instruments
The Church and the world expect a profound disposition for dialogue from us in order to give credibility to our testimony and “to incarnate” the message of reconciliation of the Pasch of Jesus. The means that the last Chapter suggested are:
* The Service of Dialogue;
* commitment to JPIC;
* the strengthening of communications.
The Service of Dialogue (n. 7; Attachment. 1)
Established by the previous General Definitory, this tool would have had to continue and grow in order to always express better this dimension in the three sectors of dialogue: ecumenical, interreligious and with cultures. They are a testimony to the serious commitment devoted to conscientisation. The Conferences were asked to study the possibility and convenience of also establishing this service locally, in accordance with the different situations. It was not easy to involve Conferences and Entities in this sector; they lack a consciousness of the importance of this aspect of our vocation and the required structures. But I continue to believe that it would be serious to renounce, because of the existing difficulties, this dimension that is essential to our vocation and mission. “Dialogue is the new name of charity” Paul VI used to say and this is valid for us also.
How can we create a culture of dialogue, understood as an encounter, and what structures should we encourage?
The commitment to JPIC (nn. 8-10; 103; Att. 2.)
It seems to me that during these years there has been a growth of a much wider consciousness of this important aspect of our vocation. The Office of the Curia has been strengthened and has defined its role more clearly; it has seriously committed itself to animation (Congresses, aids, web site, initiatives of solidarity, etc.). There remains, however, a kind of “fear” when it is a question of committing ourselves as Friars to values such as peace, justice, life, reconciliation. At other times the path to follow is not clear. Sure, the problem is complex and it is not always easy to have the required wisdom... Perhaps we think it does not concern us, that it is not our role. But the Church invites us to this, as does our legislation (cf. GGCC 96-97). The world, more than ever, has need of people that are “pacified”, wise and committed to reconciliation, justice and peace. Our own charism asks us to be bridge builders, to be actively present, in minority and fraternity, in the “frontier” areas. Perhaps we also need to have new provincial structures for this aspect that are better linked to the process of formation and communication. There is certainly need for more conviction.
How can we put the fabric of the everyday life of the Friar into contact with this vital dimension of our spirituality?
Communion is not constructed without communication (nn. 50; 197; Att. 6)
The office has been upgraded and strengthened, thanks to the taking on of new personnel, more suitable technical means and the necessary economic support.
It is a question of a most important instrument for the growth of mutual knowledge as well as for communion and the sense of belonging through the exchange of different documents, of ongoing experiences and of what is happening in the various Entities.
We now have the necessary technical means: we lack, perhaps, a relational consciousness. The Office in the Curia must certainly improve continually, but it will also be necessary to find ways to improve communication with the Entities: a provincial office? A contact person?
Communication is a dynamic and reciprocal flow, it can never be in one direction only: our capacity to communicate can die at birth if it stops in the Curia without provoking dialogue and the involvement of every Friar.
3. New forms, new modes of evangelisation (nn. 11-25; Att. 3)
We are all agreed on the fact that we are called today to profoundly review our way of living the Gospel and, consequently, our way of giving witness to, presenting and communicating it to others, taking into account the ever more global historical and cultural changes. The 1997 General Chapter invited us to creativity, to try “new forms and new modes of evangelisation” (MP 14). This invitation can mean:
*doing new things, in the sense of “inventing” new apostolic or missionary activities;
* transforming what is already being done by adapting it to the vital demands of today;
* knowing intuitively what is being born and maturing in order to integrate it into a gospel journey of conversion and annunciation;
* reviewing our mode of serving in the Parishes entrusted to us in order to verify if it corresponds to our Franciscan identity;
* making a converted and impassioned heart, “conquered” by God, grow in us in order to be sent into the world;
* encouraging thoughtlessness for/freedom from all impediments that could hold back our progress;
* the charismatic consciousness of being sent in fraternity, so different from the arbitrary and individualistic “self-management” of “one’s own” mission, of “one’s own” apostolate, etc
Many Entities, with courage and openness, have tried new forms of evangelisation consistent with our charism and the demands of the world in which we live (cf. From the signs of the times to the time of signs); others are organising themselves. I personally have been able to see that there are many well disposed Friars, but they come up against the main difficulty of harmonising the new with the old: take risks with new forms without abandoning anything of what was received. Often the choice implies renunciations that, sooner or later, will become necessary if we do not wish to remain on the margins of history or to reduce ourselves to the role of simple supply for the local clergy in the respective Churches with the added risk of losing our vocation and new vocations. There are Friars that are living very tense situations: we must feel the responsibility to pray that these situations are not transformed into frustration and abandonment of one’s vocation or into a passive adjustment to a daily routine in which the gospel spirit is absent.
4. Dialogue and relations within our Fraternity (nn. 26-29)
Some requests of the Chapter were directed to either the General Definitory or to the Ministers Provincial. From the General Definitory was requested:
* - aids for the animation and mission of the old and infirm Friars (cf. Letter for the feast of St. Francis 1998; The Order Today, 2000);
* - the continuation of the dialogue with the CICLSAL on the recognition and re-acquisition of our identity as a “mixed institute” (VC 61).
The Ministers Provincial were asked to:
* “elaborate a project of fraternal life and evangelisation, taking account of the document To fill the whole earth with the Gospel of Christ”
*promote the identity of the Order and the equality of the Friars;
*create ongoing and initial formation programmes in order to encourage a change of mentality, especially in the pastoral care of vocations, by presenting the Order as a Fraternity composed of clerics and lay brothers, emphasising Franciscan formation (during the years of temporary profession) and inserting the lay Brothers into the services of evangelisation.
The result is that a fair amount has been done in different Entities with regard to Franciscan formation, at least on the theoretical level. Less has been done for a “change of mentality”, for the insertion of all the Friars into the evangelisation programmes and especially for the provincial evangelisation plan.
The Conferences and the Entities were asked to study some emerging situations in our life:
* Friars who live alone;
* individualism;
* activism and affective problems.
What have we done? Many problems remain and they are getting more acute: we should take up this reflection again.
5. The sharing of goods (nn. 45-45; 50-52; Att. 5)
This is the expression of fraternal dialogue in action: it is a matter of collaboration on the level of personnel and of economic means. In recent years we have progressed a lot in the growth of the awareness of a solidarity that expresses trust and the sense of belonging. There is a solidarity that refers to the General Curia and which is necessary in order to continue to serve the Order as a structure of coordination (cf. funds for missionary evangelisation, formation, emergency help to Entities, Jubilee Fund, etc.).
A principle that seems essential, but which all do not accept as such, is that nobody is so poor (in personnel, structures, finances, etc.) as not to have anything to give. I think more could be done.
6. Formation and Studies (nn. 30-39; Att. 4)
As the General Definitory, we tried to carry out all that was asked of us by the Chapter.
Some important challenges were entrusted to the Ministers Provincial: to take care of a solid ongoing and initial formation in order to avoid two extremes, being absorbed by the spirit of the world and being on the margins of history:
A formation that is capable of favouring the human, Christian and spiritual growth and that opens up to authentic fraternal relationships.
A formation capable of preparing for the evangelising mission (including the case of Parishes and other Franciscan pastoral operations).
What has been done in the Provinces?
7. FOR REFLECTION
Formation to an open dialogue: we are, perhaps, too “preoccupied” with our structures and internal problems and this “holds back” our missionary effort. We are called to a formation of the mind and heart open to the problems of present-day people:
*the great social problems: violence, marginalisation, war, drugs, refugees, evermore numerous poor, the most elementary rights trampled on, difficulties for trusting openness to relationships with others, difficulties in ecumenical and interreligious dialogue...
*Formation must also include a critical reading of the social organisation in order not to make us become ingenuous victims of the hegemonic cultures of death.
*Educating for a prophesy that knows how to identify the signs of new life and to accept them with an impassioned heart that knows how to “construct itself” through the risks of experience.
*And still, to form for dialogue within the Church, with all its components and movements, with all those that seek God...
The provincial evangelising project: we cannot put off the study and realisation of such a project. It constitutes the occasion for overcoming the “survival crisis” and the beginning of a new journey of faith and evangelisation. Do we have the necessary structures, on the level of the individual Entities, to reflect on this so important topic?
How can we create a culture of dialogue, of relationship, and what structures have to be created to facilitate it?
The JPIC Office: it will be necessary to find personnel or structures with which to dialogue in all the Provinces. How can we improve the dimension of solidarity in the entire Order? And how can we reach the “everyday life” of each Friar?
The Development Office, support for the Secretariat for Missionary Evangelisation, The Fund for Formation and Studies: participation by all in these projects would be a concrete sign of solidarity and collaboration that involves all the Entities. I think that the Chapter should once again encourage this fraternal sharing.
The importance of interprovincial and international Congresses and Conventions: I would like to say a few words about these events that have been repeated during recent years. Beyond the more or less visible results, these meetings have been powerful experiences for the individual Friars that have participated and for their Entities. The first fruit is a clearer awareness of our identity as a worldwide Fraternity, a place of recognition and belonging, a belonging that enhances, without diminishing, the provincial Fraternity. It is always a stimulus and an injection of hope since it opens one up to more universal dimensions, more adapted to our vocation and mission. In the areas of formation and JPIC certainly there have been significant steps made to show the Friars and the Provinces the importance of commitment in these fields.
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