Thank you for surrounding the three United States Franciscan pilgrims attending the YouFra International Gathering in Portugal with your heartfelt prayers. Aldo Morocho, OFS, his daughter Dalia Morocho, and Fr. John De La Riva, OFM Cap, arrived safely and are fully engaged in the activities.
The National Executive Council is pleased to announce the rolling out of our new national database starting in August 2023. After more than two years of work, the Database Committee is ready to go live with this new tool.
St. Bonaventure University is offering Secular Franciscans a free mini-course featuring a faithful and contemporary view of Jesus as He is presented in the Letters of Paul and the Synoptic Gospels. Fr. David B. Couturier, O.F.M. Cap., a keynote speaker at the Quinquennial, will present the sessions online via Zoom on June 3, 10, and 17.
The Chapter of Elections held Oct. 11-16 in Detroit, MI, produced a new set of leaders on the National Executive Council of the Secular Franciscan Order and provided counsel for continuing ways for servant leaders to go forth into the community.
On March 12, former National Minister, Jan Parker, OFS, visited the current National Executive Council to transfer documents, or so she said. In reality, she stopped by to transfer a special gift. She presented Jane DeRose-Bamman, OFS, the current national minister with a relic of our seraphic father, St. Francis of Assisi.
It is that wondrous time of year again! Our Seraphic Father Francis said that for us. Lent is all year round. And for these six weeks, Holy Mother Church will share it with us!
Have you ever dreamed of celebrating in joy and fraternity with Franciscans from around the world? The opportunity is coming Nov. 14-19, 2024, in Rome, Italy, with the Chapter of Mats for the Secular Franciscan Order and YouFra.
The messages of joy, hope, service, and the onset of our celebration of Franciscan centenaries are expressed in CIOFS General Minister Tibor Kauser’s Christmas letter. “Do not think about Christmas as a cozy feast but let us make it a feast of being children of God,” Tibor said.
The new National Executive Council was elected Saturday, Oct. 15, at the Chapter meeting in Detroit. Jane DeRose-Bamman, OFS, was elected minister, and Diane Menditto, OFS, was elected vice-minister.
Franciscan discernment starts with listening, and National Minister Jan Parker, OFS, called upon fraternity members to do just that in her State of the Order address delivered at the National Chapter meeting on Oct. 11-15 in Detroit.