On May 21- 25, 2018, the communities of the Order from the Brazilian states of Bahia and Paraiba met for a second time in Salvador, State of Bahia, Brazil. The meeting was held at the historic friary of San Francisco.
The communities belong to two different provinces: the Province of St. Francis (São Francisco de Assis) headquartered in São Paulo, and the Province of St. Maximilian M. Kolbe (São Maximiliano Kolbe), based in Brasilia.
The meeting was convened and presided over by both Ministers Provincial, Friars Aloisio Antonio DE OLIVEIRA and Marcelo José VERONEZ MARIN. Friar Carlos TROVARELLI, the Assistant General for the Federación Conventuales America Latina (FALC) also participated. He brought greetings and a message from the Minister General, Friar Marco TASCA.
The goal of the meeting was to spend time together for fraternity, prayer and ongoing formation, drawing from the current ecclesial guidelines and the local situation. In fact, although the Order has an extensive presence in various Brazilian states, the so-called “North East” has very particular characteristics, in terms of its culture (especially enriched by “Afro” traditions) its history (Bahia was the first capital of modern Brazil), and its social situation, which is filled with challenges of every kind.
All of the friars from the five communities participated: the Santa Clara de Assis friary in Itaberaba; the Nossa Senhora das Candeias friary in Candeias; the São José de Copertino friary in Feira de Santana; the Nossa Senhora Aparecida friary in João Pessoa; and the filial house of the Santa Clara de Assis friary in Salvador.
The ongoing formation was led by two speakers: Father Miguel RAMON, a fidei donum missionary in Bahia, and Friar Luciano BERNARDI, a member of the Salvador community. The first presentation was on the Apostolic Exhortation Evangelii Gaudium, and dealt with the social content of evangelization. The second presentation was on “Religious Life in the Border Areas”, based on an article by the Colombian religious, Carlos GÓMEZ RESTREPO.
On the last day, with coordination from Friar Jorge GERALDO, the assembly made an evaluation and raised various proposals to continue using the meeting space and to continue reflecting together.
Friar Carlos TROVARELLI, Assistant General for the FALC
