General Secretariat

On this feast of St. Francis, as we prepare to celebrate the 800th anniversary of his transitus into the heavenly homeland, we certainly want to look beyond and live in a way that is truly alternative to the dominant culture of our day, a culture often far removed from humanizing and Gospel values. In this jubilee atmosphere, we wish to renew and revitalize all that characterizes us as Conventual Franciscans!

The echo still resounds in our hearts of all that the Lord gave us in the person and ministry of Pope Francis, whom just...

Speaking from the depths of my heart, I wish to honor Jorge Mario BERGOGLIO who became Pope Francis by means of a conclave and...

If the preparations for the General Chapter were compared to a race, we would now be rounding the final turn and heading into the...

Today is Monday, December 2, 2024. Exactly six months from now, it will be June 2, 2025, and it will also be a Monday....

Here I am, writing to offer you my warmest wishes on the feast of our Seraphic Father St. Francis of Assisi. I made the decision to write to you with some trepidation because a few months ago, when the other Ministers General and I prepared and sent out the guidelines for celebrating the Franciscan centenaries, I had resolved to hold off writing more letters to the Order; I didn’t want them to overlap with the abundant stimuli and initiatives connected with the aforementioned centenaries.

During the session of the General Definitory held September 17, 2024, at the Friary of the Twelve Holy Apostles in Rome, Friar Giuseppe Myoungjin...

Rome, July 14, 2024  Dear confreres, On July 14, 2004, the first General Custos in Russia, Friar Gregory CIOROCH, lost his life in Belarus while returning...

The 203rd General Chapter begins In less than eleven months. Preparations for the Chapter are already underway and so far everything is proceeding according to...

On June 24th of this year, I was saddened to hear the news of the death of our confrere Archbishop Gianfranco Agostino GARDIN, former Minister General and member of the Italian Province of St. Anthony of Padua (Northern Italy). He led our Order with fraternal wisdom and foresight from 1995 to 2001, before being consecrated a bishop (August 26, 2006) and taking on the role of Secretary of the Dicastery for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life. Finally, he passionately served the Church in Treviso, Italy, as a diocesan bishop from 2009 to 2019.