New Zealand, visit of the Minister General and the General Definitor

The Minister General, Br Massimo Fusarelli, and the Definitor General for Asia-Oceania, Br John Wong, recently visited the Franciscan presence in New Zealand. In the Māori language, New Zealand is called Aotearoa, which means “the Land of the Long White Cloud”. The Franciscan mission in this country forms part of the Province ad instar of Australia–Aotearoa New Zealand. During the visit, the Minister General and the Definitor were accompanied by the Provincial Minister, Br Stephen Bliss.

The Franciscan presence in Aotearoa has a significant history. The first group of friars arrived in 1860 from France and Italy. They served in three missions on the peripheries, two of them among the Māori people. However, around twelve years later, they were obliged to leave the country, as conditions no longer allowed them to maintain adequately their Franciscan fraternal life and mission. In 1938, a new group of Australian-Irish friars arrived to begin a new phase of the mission. Today, the Franciscan presence in New Zealand is dedicated to St Andrew, the patron saint of the first Māori friar, Br Andrew Young, who died in 1979.

The programme of the visit was both intense and fraternal. At the St Francis Retreat Centre in Puketāpapa (Mount Roskill), the Ministers participated in the Eucharist and in a shared meal with the Board of the New Zealand Friars Minor Trust. They then met Bishop Steve Lowe of the Diocese of Auckland. A central moment of the visit was the meeting with all the friars at the Retreat Centre, followed by Holy Mass and a fraternal dinner with the friars, the Secular Franciscans (OFS), some members of local religious communities and clergy, together with parishioners and friends.

There are currently seven Friars Minor in Aotearoa, all living and serving within the Diocese of Auckland: two born in New Zealand, three in Indonesia, one in India and one in Vietnam. This international composition is a concrete sign of the universal face of the Order and represents both a richness and a challenge.
Among the principal difficulties is living fraternity within the reality of dispersed ministries. The friars are called to serve very diverse pastoral contexts: the Pākehā (New Zealanders of European origin), the Māori (the indigenous people), communities from the Pacific Islands (Samoa, Tonga, Fiji and the Cook Islands), and numerous Asian faithful from India, Sri Lanka, China, Hong Kong, Indonesia, the Philippines and Malaysia. 
In addition, they minister in a strongly secularised society: only 12% of the population identify as Catholic and 53% state that they have no religion. As Bishop Lowe observed, “a lack of spirituality leads to individualism, egocentrism and isolation”.

In this context, the friars renew their commitment to live fraternity authentically: praying and taking meals together each day, gathering weekly for a fraternal meeting and shared meal, fostering open communication, organising outings together, and favouring communal pastoral presences and shared ministries.
Their evangelical service is expressed in the parishes and in the Retreat Centre, which offers a spiritual sanctuary in the heart of the city, open to individuals and groups of every religious tradition. They also represent the international face of the Franciscan Order in Aotearoa.

In his address, the Minister General exhorted the friars to live truly as a fraternity, to care for ongoing formation concerning the motivations of Franciscan life, and to develop a shared fraternal mission. He warned against the risk of identifying too closely with parish ministry and encouraged them to study and apply the Ratio Evangelizationis of the Order. He urged them to be among the people and to help the People of God experience the Franciscan charism as a genuine richness.

During the meeting, the internationalisation of the Order was also discussed: the need to be truly pilgrims and strangers, capable of going beyond national and cultural boundaries. Reference was made to the international novitiates already present in the Philippines, Italy and various African and South American Entities, as well as to international houses of formation, such as that in Lusaka. Young friars, before Solemn Profession, are likewise encouraged to undertake experiences outside their own countries.

Br Stephen Bliss summarised the spirit of the encounter in these words: “What I am hearing is your encouragement for each of us to commit ourselves to renewing our fraternity and renewing our lives as Franciscans.”