On October 20-21, 2020, the annual plenary meeting of the Foederatio Europae Mediae et Orientalis (FEMO) was held in Cracow, Poland. The meeting took place using a mixed approach, face-to-face and online.
Those participating in the meeting included Friar Tomáš LESŇÁK, Assistant General for the FEMO Federation; Friar Marian GOŁĄB, FEMO President and Minister Provincial of the Province of St. Anthony and Blessed James of Strepar in Poland (Cracow); Friar Wojciech KULIG, Minister Provincial of the Province of St. Maximilian M. Kolbe in Poland (Gdańsk); Friar Grzegorz BARTOSIK, Minister Provincial of the Province of the Immaculate Mother of God in Poland (Warsaw); Friar Piotr PAWLIK, Minister Provincial of the Province of Saints Cyril and Methodius in the Czech Republic; Friar Dariusz HARASIMOWICZ, General Custos of the Russian General Custody of St. Francis of Assisi; Friar Lucjan BOGUCKI, Provincial Custos of the Provincial Custody of the Immaculate Conception of the B.V.M. in Slovakia; Friar Stanisław KAWA, Provincial Custos of the Provincial Custody of the Holy Cross in the Ukraine; Friar Stanisław ROCHOWIAK, Provincial Delegate in Uzbekistan; Friar Antoni POŻECKI, Provincial Delegate in Belarus; Friar Piotr STROCEŃ, Provincial Delegate in Lithuania; Friar Paweł CEBULA, Provincial Delegate in Hungary and Transylvania; and Friar Jarosław BARTKIEWICZ, Provincial Delegate in Bulgaria.
The Minister General, Friar Carlos TROVARELLI, called in from South Korea, where he was visiting to attend the Provincial Chapter. He stressed that the FEMO Federation is characterized by its missionary enthusiasm in proclaiming the Gospel, by its passion for the Kingdom of God and by its Franciscan tradition, in its Jurisdictions large and small. He expressed his hope for even more of this kind of liveliness, a dynamism that creates new lifestyles, new experiences in being disciples of the Lord, new missionary impulses, and new presences.
The FEMO President invited representatives from some of the offices and secretariats of the General Curia in Rome to attend the meeting and explain the services they provide. The representatives included Friar Maurizio DI PAOLO Procurator General; Friar Robert LEŻOHUPSKI, a member of the General Procuration Office; Friar Dariusz MAZUREK, General Delegate for Missionary Animation; Friar Valerio FOLLI, Coordinator of the Project Office; Friar Leszek ŁUCZKANIN, General Exactor; and Friar Piotr STANISŁAWCZYK General Delegate for Formation.
Friar Wojciech KULIG was elected the new FEMO Vice-President and Friar Robert ZBIERAŃSKI, of the Province of Gdańsk, was elected the new Secretary for Formation.
During the work of the meeting, the friars planned various formation courses for simply and solemnly professed friars, which will be carried out next year.
An online meeting for FEMO Federation members on the theme of “ecological conversion” will be held at the beginning of December. The next plenary meeting is scheduled for October 18-23, 2021, in Vilnius, Lithuania.
Friar Jan Maria SZEWEK
