On January 20-23, 2025, the Franciscan Missionary Center of the Federazione Inter-mediterranea Ministri Provinciali (FIMP) conducted its 34th annual missionary assembly at the Seraphicum College in Rome. The theme of the event was: “Missionaries by Vocation, Free to Serve, Pilgrims of Hope.”
The Assembly was attended by mission animators from the FIMP Jurisdictions in Italy, Poland, Spain and Romania. There were also some lay collaborators who work with the friars in various local mission centers.
The Assembly was filled with moments of prayer and reflection, featuring four speakers who shared insightful topics focused on living a faith journey. They emphasized the importance of keeping hearts and minds open to the virtue of hope, which serves faith and charity.
On the first day, Professor Marco BARTOLI, an expert in Franciscanism and a lay member of the Sant’Egidio Community, revisited St. Francis’s journey with biblical references and connections to Franciscan Sources. He exemplified him as a “missionary open to the world and the challenges of his time.” In the afternoon, Friar Marius-Petru BÎLHA of Romania, a Missionary of Mercy who served in Honduras, Bolivia, and Colombia for several years, encouraged the leaders to embody the “Church of the Apron” (Father Tonino BELLO) to live an itinerant, creative, Franciscan lifestyle and to “evangelize with the heart.”
The second day began with an audience with Pope Francis in the Paul VI Hall. Next, the participants were welcomed at the friary of the Vatican Penitentiaries where they were met by Friar Vincenzo COSATTI, Rector of the College of Penitentiaries. The Assistant General for the FIMP Federation, Friar Giovanni VOLTAN, prepared the participants to enter the Holy Door by offering them an engaging, experiential reading of Pope Francis’s Jubilee Bull “Spes non confundit.” At 3:00 p.m., a pilgrimage took place along Via della Conciliazione led by the Jubilee cross. The participants prayed and sang as they passed through the Holy Door at St. Peter’s Basilica. When they arrived at St. Peter’s tomb, they recited the Creed and received a blessing.
On the third day, the Secretary General for Mission Animation, Friar Dariusz MAZUREK, gave a lecture on concrete and charismatic examples of the need to “keep the doors of our lives wide open to the mission,” emphasizing this as an attitude of commitment to Christ. This approach involves walking alongside Christ in both missionary work and the everyday moments of our lives. Community liturgies were presided over by the Vicar General, Friar Jan MACIEJOWSKI, the Assistant General Friar Giovanni VOLTAN, and our confrere from China, Friar Paolo LIU. The assembly concluded with the official opening of the centenary celebration for the mission in China (1925-2025) and the presentation of a book co-authored by Friar Paolo FIASCONARO and Friar Matteo LUO. This book recounts historical events leading up to the establishment of the mission in China and details the life and activities of the Conventual Franciscans during their twenty-seven years of presence in China (1925-1952).
Friar Paolo FIASCONARO, Director of the FIMP Missionary Center
