The Seed Continues to Grow in the Antipodes

From 12 to 17 February 2026, the Minister General, Br Massimo Fusarelli, and the Definitor General for Asia–Oceania, Br John Wong, visited the Friars Minor of the Province ad instar of the Holy Spirit in Australia.

The official presence of the Friars Minor in Australia began with the arrival of the Irish friar Br Bonaventure Geoghegan in 1838, the first OFM friar to exercise the priestly ministry legally in the country. He contributed significantly to the construction of some of Australia’s oldest Catholic churches.

The first missionary friars, including Br Peter O’Farrell, arrived individually to serve as chaplains in the early penal colonies. Having arrived independently in the 1860s, Br Peter saved his government salary with great sacrifice in order to found a future community of friars in Waverley, Sydney. Common life and a commissariat took shape in the 1870s, leading to the erection of the Province of the Holy Spirit in Australia–New Zealand in 1939.

Today the Province ad instar of the Holy Spirit is organised into three “hubs” (centres) or principal guardianates in Sydney, Brisbane and Auckland, although the friars live and serve in various other locations. Some are engaged in ministry to migrants from different parts of the world.

At the Provincial Chapter of 2025, the provincial leadership shared a clear vision: friars collaborating in visible and joyful ways, walking together in concrete service to the Church and the Province. The three “hubs” — in Sydney, Brisbane and Auckland — also express the post-Chapter priorities summarised in the acronym H.U.B.S.: Hospitality, Unity, Brotherhood, Service. This month, the friars begin their Key Initial Planned Actions for the period February–November 2026.

On 12 February, following their visit to Auckland in Aotearoa New Zealand, the Minister General and the Definitor arrived in Brisbane. That same day, at the friary in Kedron (guardianate of the Brisbane hub), they took part in a prayer of commendation and blessing for 30 newly appointed student leaders of Padua College, a boys’ secondary school led by the friars. Teachers and parents were also present. The evening concluded with a barbecue prepared by the Provincial Minister, Br Stephen Bliss.

The following day, Br Massimo and Br John attended the first Mass of the 2026 academic year at Padua College, with 1,500 students, 140 members of staff and representatives from neighbouring Catholic and Muslim schools. The school, part of Franciscan Schools Australia, strongly promotes Franciscan values. Approximately 85% of the students are Catholic. The celebration began with a Welcome to Country ceremony, led by a student descended from one of the local Aboriginal peoples, who formally welcomed the assembly to the land of his ancestors. During a meeting with a group of seventeen-year-old students, the young men spoke candidly about their challenges and hopes as the future adults of Australia.

In their meeting with the friars in Brisbane, the Minister General encouraged them to remain faithful to the Franciscan charism, even in parish, educational, administrative and migrant ministries, often spread across a vast geographical area. The friars shared what they consider distinctive about their presence in Australia: approaching people as equals and friends, being present without judging, and loving the People of God.

When asked what kind of Franciscan life they would propose to young men who might be interested, the Brisbane friars replied: a fraternity rooted in its own identity, which values each person’s gifts, offers mutual support, simple and welcoming, attentive to people, open to the Holy Spirit and connected to an international brotherhood.

On the evening of 14 February, the Minister General and the Definitor General arrived in Sydney, where they met the friars serving in Sydney, Wollongong and Canberra, including friars from Bosnia, Croatia and Slovenia, as well as four Anglican Franciscan friars.

In his address, entitled “The Seed Continues to Grow”, Fr Massimo took up the message of the Letter of the Ministers General for the Eighth Centenary of the Transitus of St Francis (1226–2026). At the heart of his reflection was the image of the seed: Francis as a seed of the Gospel, which continues to bear fruit. The Saint left three gifts: mercy, born of the encounter with the lepers; faith in the Church, loved as Mother even in her fragility; and fraternity as a circle of peace, not a pyramid of power. Br Massimo recalled that fruitfulness does not depend on efficiency, but on the love with which we have been “sown” by God. He also presented the new document of the Order, the Ratio Evangelizationis “Ite in Mundum”, which invites every friar to rediscover himself as fraternity-in-mission.

In Sydney there was also a meeting with members of the Franciscan Family: FMM, OFS, OFM Conventual, OSC, and Anglican Franciscans of the First and Third Orders. In this climate of communion, the seed of Francis continues to grow in the Antipodes, calling all to bear fruit in mercy, faith and peace.