Humble new beginnings in Thailand

From 9 to 11 December 2025, the Minister General, Br. Massimo Fusarelli, and the General Definitor for Asia-Oceania, Br. John Wong, visited the Order’s new mission in Ubon Ratchathani, in north-eastern Thailand. Their presence was an important support for a missionary initiative that marks the third time the Order of Friars Minor has established a presence in the country.

The first presence dates back to the 16th century, with Portuguese missionaries from Macao and Malacca (in present-day Malaysia). It ended tragically with the Burmese siege of Ayutthaya in 1767. The second presence began in 1985 with a retreat centre and hospice for HIV-AIDS patients in Lamsai, as well as a convent for initial formation in Samphran, near Bangkok. However, in 2022, after careful evaluation of the situation and the lack of conditions necessary for the continuity of life and ministry, the General Definitory made the difficult decision to close both presences.

The choice was to reconfigure the mission in Thailand under a single entity, focusing on a simple, evangelical missionary presence oriented towards the peripheries. On 1 September 2023, the new Province of St Anthony of Padua in Visayas-Mindanao (southern Philippines) responded to the invitation to open a mission in the Diocese of Ubon Ratchathani, near the borders with Laos and Cambodia. The diocese has 61 parishes, 39 priests and about 25,000 Catholics. It is marked by the witness of seven martyrs — six catechists and a young mother — who were killed during the Franco-Thai conflict of 1940.
The first two missionaries, Br. Crisologo Dragon, a clerical brother, and Br. Christopher Villanueva, a lay brother and artist, officially began their mission in August 2024. Today, they serve alongside the Franciscan Sisters of the Immaculate Conception (SFIC) in three parishes near the Cambodian border, in an area affected by armed conflict due to a territorial dispute. In some areas, the faithful have been forced to evacuate.

The mission presents several challenges, including the time needed to obtain missionary visas and to learn the Thai language and the local Isan dialect. Br. Crisologo candidly recounts the difficulties of the first few months: “I really struggled a lot, but I learned so much. My patience and humility were put to the test. I had so many plans, but I had to accept my personal limitations and those of reality. I am learning to be patient with myself and with the process of inculturation. All I can do is maximise the opportunities I have.”
When the Minister General asked him, “Can you continue this mission?”, Br. Crisologo replied without hesitation, “I am sure we can. Together.”

The missionaries enjoy the full support of the local bishop and diocesan clergy, the SFIC sisters and the people of God. Bishop Stephen Boonlert has already initiated plans to build a new friary for the fraternity, which hopes to welcome a third friar next year. There are many opportunities for missionary evangelisation and interreligious dialogue, although the friars recognise that everything must begin with the building of a small but solid fraternal community. “My hope,” says Br. Christopher, “is that we can have the same direction as a community and as a Province, so that we can walk together. This mission belongs to the Province and to the Order. It is not so much about what we can achieve, but how we live and walk the path as a fraternity.”

In his homily on 10 December 2025, the Minister General encouraged the friars with words of realism and hope: “You live your mission in a different land, amid many challenges. As Friars Minor, we learn to recognise our limitations with serenity. We learn to need others. Humility is looking at reality as it is, without trying to change it according to our plans, but discerning God’s will in it. Live with humility in Thailand. Remember that your mission does not depend on your strength, but on the presence of God working through your reality of littleness.”