From the 23rd to the 25th of June 2026, at the Shrine "Our Lady of the Cloud", in the city of Azogues, Ecuador, the Province of St. Francis of Quito celebrated the Chapter of the Mats, within the framework of the VIII Centenary of the Transitus of St. Francis of Assisi.
The meeting was convened by the Provincial Minister, Fr. Ángel Montoya and was attended by Fr. César Külkamp, General Definitor for Latin America. 85 solemnly professed friars, 15 temporary professed, 3 novices and 6 postulants participated, who lived these days as a time of fraternal encounter, grateful memory and vocational renewal.
The Chapter had as its theme: "Reviving our life and mission. Transition to the essential: to put off oneself in order to be reborn", inspired by the Rule: "to observe the holy Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ". From this perspective, the friars accepted the call of the Minister General for the Province to start again with renewed hope, returning to the essentials of the Franciscan vocation and discerning together the ways to live the Gospel more faithfully in today's Ecuador.
They were days of prayer, reflection, dialogue, and fraternal work. The reflection began with the life of St. Francis, from the letter of the Minister General to the Provincial Chapter of 2025 and from the Letter addressed later to all the brothers of the Province. These texts helped to look with serenity at the present and future of Franciscan life, seeking a more evangelical and coherent response to current challenges.
Ten months after the last Provincial Chapter, the joy of the reunion helped to strengthen the bonds of fraternity. In a simple and fraternal atmosphere, the friars shared their experience, listened to different voices, and reflected on the mission of the Friars Minor in a society that needs more fraternity, peace, and reconciliation.
The methodology of the meeting was marked by three attitudes: listening, discerning, and deciding. This journey began previously in each fraternity, where the brothers reflected on the two testaments of St. Francis, the bull "Mira circa nos" of Pope Gregory IX, the encyclical letter of Brother Elias and the document "Congregavit nos in unum Christi amor". Thus, the Chapter was not only a moment of a Provincial meeting, but also the expression of a process of community listening and a common search for God's will.
One of the most significant moments was the skylight, during which the friars renewed their religious profession together. In this same spirit of renewal, each brother received a commemorative copy of the Regula Bullata and the Testament of the Seraphic Father St. Francis, as a sign of return to the sources of Franciscan life.
At the conclusion of the Chapter of Mats, the friars returned to their fraternities with a renewed desire to serve, to live the Holy Gospel more faithfully and to continue building a more fraternal, evangelical, and missionary Province, in the style of St. Francis of Assisi.
