For fifty-five years, the Provincial Custody of St. Bonaventure in France-Belgium has carried the Franciscan charism into the heart of our local parish communities. Today, facing structural challenges and other difficulties, the Custody is discerning its future. This evaluation takes place during the Custodial Chapter, attended by all the friars, held every four years, and guided by the findings of previous General and Provincial Canonical Visitations.
Indeed, our Constitutions require a Custody, after thirty years of existence, to evaluate its path. A Custody is required to have at least four friaries and fifteen solemnly professed friars. Several friars living in the Custody have, for a time, provided a welcome presence and temporary stability. In recent years, some friars have moved elsewhere, and we no longer have the required fifteen friars in residence. We should also mention that we have several young men in formation: four temporarily professed friars, four novices, and one postulant.
On February 9-13, 2026, the first part of the Custodial Chapter was conducted in a fraternal and trusting atmosphere at our Saint-Maximilien Kolbe Friary in Lourdes, France. The friars heard reports and listened to the Word. While working in small groups, each participant got to express himself in a synodal manner. The temporarily professed friars also joined the discussion, a sign of the friars’ desire to work together in conducting this evaluation.
Those attending the Chapter included the Minister General, Friar Carlos TROVARELLI; his Vicar, Friar Igor SALMIČ; the Assistant General for the Federazione Inter-mediterranea Ministri Provinciali, Friar Colin SAMMUT; the Assistant General for the Centralis Europae Foederatio, Friar Vincenzo COSATTI (who served as the Chapter Moderator); the Minister Provincial of the Custody’s Mother Province, the Italian Province of St. Anthony of Padua (Northern Italy), Friar Roberto BRANDINELLI; and his Vicar, Friar Franco GIRALDI. The Capitulars studied several important issues: our Franciscan identity, initial formation, the sense of belonging, and how we carry out governance today. This led to a call to recognize our strengths, allow ourselves to be guided, and to rethink the structure of the Custody.
In March, at the proposal of the Provincial Definitory, the Minister General appointed a pro tempore Commissioner, Friar Franco GIRALDI, to guide the Custody until the Mother Province conducts its extraordinary Provincial Chapter in November of 2027. Friar Franco is supported in his mission by Friars Grégoire LEFÈVRE, Antonello FANELLI, and Jean-François-Marie AUCLAIR, who serves as Custodial Secretary.
At that time, as per our Constitutions, the Provincial Chapter of our Mother Province will assess our situation and decide our status: to remain a Custody meeting the Order’s requirements, or become a Delegation. As a Delegation, the friars in France–Belgium would depend directly on the Minister Provincial, while still maintaining a fraternal presence in their own Jurisdiction. The same is true for the Delegations in Portugal and Chile.
On April 6-9, 2026, the second part of the Custodial Chapter took place. Several priorities were identified for our life: refocusing on the Word, growing in unity amid diversity, making fraternity a vibrant place of witness, and laying out concrete plans for the coming year.
Changes in community organization are already taking shape, with further adjustments to follow in the coming months. For now, we can share the following updates: Friar Paweł Leszek PILSZAK, currently in Cholet, France, has been appointed Custodial Econom and will join the community in Brussels, Belgium, in September. Friar Grégoire LEFÈVRE has been appointed Guardian of the community in Brussels. Friar Bernard Marie CERLES has been appointed to the community in Lourdes, and will move there soon, and Friar Iulian GHIUZAN has been appointed Guardian of the community in Narbonne, France.
Our hope is also strengthened by some happy events ahead. On June 20, we will gather in Madrid to celebrate the diaconal ordination of Friar Clément BERTHAUD, who is continuing his studies there. On August 22, we will joyfully celebrate a solemn profession in Cholet.
Friar Jean-François-Marie AUCLAIR
