On January 20-23, 2025, the centenary of the foundation of the Order’s mission in China was officially inaugurated during the 34th Franciscan Missionary Assembly of the Federazione Inter-mediterranea Ministri Provinciali (FIMP). The assembly was conducted at the Seraphicum College in Rome.
This centenary commemorates a significant spiritual, cultural, and historical milestone in the Conventual Franciscan missionary journey. It marks a turning point and the beginning of a missionary outreach that started in China a hundred years ago and today has led to hundreds of missions in forty countries around the world.
The Missionary Center in Rome has just published a book recounting the story of the mission in China and the activities of its friars during their twenty-seven years of presence there. The book is entitled: “The Missionary Dawn of the Conventual Friars” (280 pages). It is co-authored by Friar Paolo FIASCONARO and Friar Matteo LUO (b. September 12, 1928 – d. September 14, 2013).
The first part of the book details the tumultuous historical events prior to the foundation of the mission. [In Europe] there had been two suppressions of religious orders and the subsequent confiscation their assets—the Napoleonic suppression in 1810 and another by the Kingdom of Italy in 1866-1867. Then came World War I (1914-1918). These drastic events reduced the number of friars from 25,000 in 1810 to 1,481 in 1918, resulting in a profound vocational crisis. After appeals from Pope Benedict XV in 1919, and Pope Pius XI in 1924, two Ministers General, Friar Domenico TAVANI and Friar Alfonso ORLINI, responded to the papal call. To encourage friars to become missionaries, Minister General Domenico TAVANI launched the “Franciscan Missionary Crusade.” During the 1924 General Chapter, the Capitulars decided to open a mission in China. They sent an initial group of eight friars from Italy. Six were from Sardinia, one was from Sicily, and one was from Tuscany. The friars departed from Brindisi, Italy, on July 31, 1925, and after three months and ten days, arrived in Hingan, a city in China’s Shaanxi Province.
The second part features a re-print of a book that Friar Matteo LUO wrote in 1975 for the mission’s 50th anniversary. It narrates the intensive apostolic and Franciscan activities of the friars and the Vatican’s appointments of four Apostolic Prefects from 1928 to 1952.
The Missionary Dawn of the Conventual Friars concludes with an extensive interview with our confrere from China, Friar Paolo LIU, who studied in Italy and was a student of Friar Matteo LUO.
The book was presented by Friar Paolo LIU himself, who traveled to Italy to celebrate the centenary, take part in the 34th FIMP Franciscan Missionary Assembly and attend the upcoming Chapter of the General Custody of the Sacred Convent of St. Francis in Italy (Assisi).
His Eminence Cardinal Pietro PAROLIN, Vatican Secretary of State, wrote the preface. In it, he states: “The centenary should be more than a commemoration of the past; it should inspire a deeper commitment to true spiritual and missionary renewal within the Order, following the example of St. Francis of Assisi.”
Friar Carlos TROVARELLI, the Minister General, remarked: “The ‘missionary dawn’ from one hundred years ago should continue to cast light on our presences around the world with the distinctive colors of fraternal witness, apostolic courage, and generous openness towards all forms of cultural expression.”
Recently, copies of this book were distributed to friars throughout the Jurisdictions of the FIMP Federation and will be presented during the course of the Provincial Chapters of the six Provinces in Italy, together with a documentary film about the history of the mission in China. The same will be featured at the upcoming 203rd Ordinary General Chapter scheduled for June of 2025.
Friar Paolo FIASCONARO, Director of the FIMP Missionary Center
