The course for Franciscan missionaries has changed continents. Last year’s course was held in Africa, in Kampala, Uganda. This year’s course is underway in Asia, in Cebu, the Philippines.
The course was inaugurated on Sunday, June 4, 2023. The Minister General, Friar Carlos A. TROVARELLI, on behalf of the Franciscan Ministers General, launched the event by presiding over Mass. He also oversaw the rite of presenting texts from the Earlier and Later Rules of St. Francis to the participants. The texts, drawn from various chapters, all dealt with missionary work. Next, the missionary course participants received the “flame of light” from the General Secretaries for Mission Animation of the Franciscan First Orders, namely, Friar Mariosvaldo FLORENTINO, OFM Cap.; Friar Francisco GÓMEZ, OFM; and Friar Dariusz MAZUREK, OFM Conv. Other attending the inauguration included the Assistant General for the Federation of Asian Minor Conventuals (FAMC), Friar Benedetto Seung Jae BAEK; and the Vicar Provincial of the Provincial Custody of the Immaculate Conception and Bl. Bonaventure of Potenza in the Philippines, Friar Dominic LIM.
The theme of the course was “Sent Forth to Asia to Deepen Our Missions, and to Proclaim the Gospel in the Spirit of the Franciscan Jubilee, as Friars Minor in Synodality.” The course lasts from June 4 to July 29, 2023. There are a total of seventeen participants. Seven belong to the Friars Minor, six are Capuchin Franciscans, one is a member of the Third Order Regular and three are Conventual Franciscans: Friars Justin Thomas PUTHENVEETTIL and Prince ILLINILKUMTHADATHIL JOSEPH, both missionaries in Sri Lanka; and Friar Maximilian BUMACOD Jr., a collaborator at the FAMC international novitiate in Tagaytay City, the Philippines.
As for the three members of the course leadership team, each Order has its own representative. The Conventual Franciscan representative is Friar Uriel (Rushky B.) M. SANTOS of the Custody of the Philippines. During the first two weeks of the course, the classes will be taught by Friar Alphonse Arun Sebastian VAZHAPPANADY, OFM Conv., who has organized this type of meeting several times before in Brussels. Friar Alphonse will present the following topics: “Fundamentals of the Asian Continent,” “Health Issues in Asia,” “The History of Evangelization in Asia (Highs and Lows)” and “The Fundamentals of Missiology from the Biblical, Theological, Historical, Franciscan, and Universal Perspectives and from the Standpoint of Asian Ecclesiology.”
As the course progresses, news and photos will be posted on the SGAM Facebook page at: https://www.facebook.com/AnimazioneFrancescana. We invite everyone to prayerfully support the missionaries taking this course and to pray for our missionaries around the world.
Friar Dariusz MAZUREK,
General Delegate for Mission Animation
