“Each day with the help of grace the friars are to strengthen their communion of life. For this reason they are to welcome each other as gifts from God; they are to love one another with their whole hearts; they are to respect their confreres’ lives in all their richness and fragility; they are to cultivate wide and open dialogue; they are to share their experiences with confidence; […] they are to place their gifts and creativity at the service of each other, and to express their sense of belonging to the Friarhood in the Friary, in the Province, in the Custody, and in the entire Order” (Constitutions 55 §4).
On September 1-5, 2025, in keeping with article 55 of the Constitutions and the Provincial Directory on the Use of New Media, the friars of the Delegation in Chile held their annual formation week. The event took place at the Inmaculada Concepción Friary in Santiago, Chile. Guided by Friar Riccardo GIACON, the friars chose “Communication in the Digital Age: From Challenge to Opportunity for Community Life” as the central theme of the week.
Friar Riccardo explained that living human relationships in the era of social media and artificial intelligence presents numerous challenges for society, the Church, and Franciscan religious life. Communicating with each other is essential, but in this digital age, we have completely new tools at our disposal that require different attitudes and skills.
“We live in an ‘on-life’ world, an environment that integrates real life and online life. We are immersed in the culture of the ‘like’,” observed Friar Riccardo. We live on an “online continent,” a place where, as early as 2006, Pope Benedict XVI, through several of his messages, invited everyone to become missionaries. Those who proclaim the Gospel can, through these new tools, reach places and communities that are geographically distant and yet accessible at the same time. On various occasions, Pope Francis emphasized how online communication can foster a more human encounter. He reminded us that behind every screen “there are real people…who breathe, laugh, and cry.”[1]
Therefore, as online missionaries, we should ask ourselves every day: Am I communicating Christ or am I simply communicating myself? The danger of the online continent is narcissism, the tendency to become a “priest or religious star.” To avoid this, friars must follow the guidelines of the Directory published by the Province and the Order, remembering that true Christian presence is measured in service and communion with the friars.
During the week, Friar Sidifredo de la Cruz CHAPARRO GUALDRÓN, using the Zoom Internet platform from Colombia, presented the topic: “Challenges and Tasks for the FALC Federation.” He gave an overview of the eighty years that the Conventual Franciscans have been present in Latin America. As President of the Federación América Latina Conventuales (FALC), Friar Sidifredo invited the friars to be bridge-builders―agents of change, openness, and transformation. He emphasized the importance of being shaped by others rather than trying to shape oneself. He called them to shift from seeing unity as uniformity to embracing unity in diversity. He encouraged them to balance the admiration they have for their own culture with openness and appreciation for other cultures where the charism has taken root.
He also highlighted the importance of a balanced approach when reinterpreting events related to the charism. Specifically, he urged them to balance the urgency brought on by present-day challenges with prudence—avoiding both rash decisions and inaction. This kind of discernment requires them to carefully evaluate new experiences that emerge in community life, while also considering the traditional expressions of the charism. He emphasized the importance of distinguishing between what is universal and unchanging in the charism—its spiritual and prophetic core—and what is contingent, namely, the particular forms, languages, and cultures through which it has been expressed over time.
During the formation week, the friars celebrated the birthdays of various confreres as well as Friar Christian BORGHESI’s 25th anniversary of priestly ordination. For the first three days, Friar Javier FONTANA, Minister Provincial of the “Rioplatense” Province of St. Anthony of Padua in Argentina-Uruguay, was also present as a sign of fraternal communion and collaboration between the two Jurisdictions.
Friar Jack GINTING
[1] Cf. https://www.vaticannews.va/it/papa/news/2025-04/papa-intenzioni-preghiera-aprile-tecnologia-unisca-non-divida.html; Pope Francis, Message of the Holy Father Francis for the 48th World Communications Day: Communication at the Service of an Authentic Culture of Encounter
