On November 29, 2023, members of the Franciscan Family will gather in Rome.
November 29, 2023, will mark exactly 800 years since the Later Rule drafted by St. Francis was confirmed by Pope Honorius III at the Apostolic Palace of St. John Lateran in Rome.
This anniversary has great historical, charismatic and spiritual value; therefore, to celebrate it, the members of the Franciscan Family, namely, the friars, sisters, and lay people belonging to the three Orders founded by Francis, are invited to gather at the Basilica of St. John Lateran on November 29, 2023, at 3:00 p.m., for a celebratory and reflective liturgy. The event will provide a deeper understanding of this foundational text, which has been at the heart of the whole Franciscan spiritual experience, in its many declinations, throughout the world, until today.
The celebration will be presided over by His Eminence Cardinal Angelo DE DONATIS, Archpriest of the Lateran Basilica and Pope Francis’ Vicar for the Diocese of Rome. He will read a message sent by the Holy Father to all Franciscan men and women around the world, inviting them to renew their creative fidelity to the insights of St. Francis and to apply them in today’s Church, going forth on a synodal journey toward the outskirts of history and society, for the good of the whole world.
The celebration will be live-streamed on the official website of the Franciscan Centenary (2023-2026) at: www.centenarifrancescani.org.
The event is being promoted by the Coordination Committee for the Franciscan Centenary established by the Conference of the Franciscan Family. The Committee is comprised of the Ministers General: Friar Massimo FUSARELLI, OFM; Friar Roberto GENUIN, OFM Cap.; Friar Carlos A. TROVARELLI, OFM Conv.; Friar Amando TRUJILLO CANO, TOR; Tibor KAUSER, OFS; and Sister Frances Marie DUNCAN, President of the International Franciscan Conference of the Sisters and Brothers of the Third Order Regular.
The original parchment of the Later Rule, with its papal seal, is preserved at the Basilica of St. Francis in Assisi where it is exhibited to visitors and pilgrims.
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