On September 2-7, 2024, the Foederatio Europae Mediae et Orientalis (FEMO) conducted its annual plenary assembly in Ravda, Bulgaria.

Those attending included Friar Tomáš LESŇÁK, the Assistant General for the FEMO Federation; Friar Wojciech KULIG, FEMO President and Minister Provincial of the Province of St. Maximilian M. Kolbe in Poland (Gdańsk); Friar Piotr PAWLIK, FEMO Vice-President and Minister Provincial of the Province of Sts. Cyril and Methodius in the Czech Republic; Friar Mariusz KOZIOŁ, Minister Provincial of the Province of St. Anthony and Bl. James of Strepar in Poland (Cracow); Friar Marian GOŁĄB, former FEMO President; Friar Wiesław CHABROS, Vicar Provincial of the Province of the Immaculate Mother of God in Poland (Warsaw); Friar Martin KOLLÁR, Custos of the Provincial Custody of the Immaculate Conception of the B.V.M. in Slovakia; Friar Dariusz HARASIMOWICZ, Custos of the Russian General Custody of St. Francis of Assisi; Friar Stanisław PĘKALA, Vicar Custos of the Provincial Custody of the Holy Cross in Ukraine; Friar Mariusz GRUSZKA, Delegate of the Provincial Delegation in Uzbekistan; Friar Piotr STROCEŃ, Delegate of the Provincial Delegation in Lithuania; Friar Jarosław BANASIAK, Delegate of the Provincial Delegation in Belarus; Friar Jarosław BARTKIEWICZ, Delegate of the Provincial Delegation in Bulgaria; and Friar Piotr MATUSZAK, FEMO Secretary.
During the assembly, Friar Ventsislav NIKOLOV from the Provincial Delegation in Bulgaria gave a lecture on the 800th anniversary of St. Francis of Assisi receiving the stigmata. He touched on such topics as the signs of profound union with Christ, the inspiration to live in poverty, humility and mercy, the stigmata as a sign of compassion towards all creation and the ecclesial and community meaning of the stigmata. During the course of the assembly, the friars discussed:

  • the meeting of the Presidents of the Federations with the General Definitory (June 24-27, 2024);
  • the report of the Assistant General, Friar Tomáš LESŇÁK, prepared for the General Chapter based on questionnaires sent out to the individual Jurisdictions;
  • the state of preparations for the Jubilee of the Canticle of the Sun (​​May 23-25, 2025, in Kalwaria Pacławska – Poland) as reported by Friar Stanisław JAROMI, President of the Organizing Committee;
  • the election of the members of the existing Commissions within the FEMO Federation and the election of the members of the Commissions for Formation, and for Justice, Peace and the Integrity of Creation;
  • the ongoing formation courses organized within the Federation (courses for friars ten and twenty-five years after solemn profession, a retreat for friars over sixty, and a retreat following in the footsteps of St. Francis);
  • questions regarding initial formation (the postulancy program, novitiate and post-novitiate).

The next meeting will be held October 13-18, 2025, in Gdańsk, Poland.

The participants of the FEMO Federation Assembly express their heartfelt thanks to the friars of the Provincial Delegation in Bulgaria, under the leadership of Friar Jarosław BARTKIEWCZ, for their warm welcome and for the work they did in organizing this year’s assembly in Ravda.

Friar Piotr MATUSZAK, FEMO Secretary