During the last hundred years, the life and activities of the Order were characterized by a boundless missionary drive. A that time, the Order’s missionary thrust had been rediscovered, revitalized and carried forth by generations of generous friars who changed the geography of our presences, going forth with the charism of St. Francis, who was himself a missionary to the Middle East and witness of the Gospel.
This missionary style of living the missio ad gentes is recounted in the thousands of pages of the magazine Il Missionario Francescano [The Franciscan Missionary]. 2023 marks the 90th anniversary of its foundation (1933/2023).
For the first eighty years, the magazine was directly managed by the Government of the Order. In 2014, its publication was entrusted to the Missionary Center of the Federazione Inter-mediterranea Ministri Provinciali. Every year since then, it has continued to report on the missionary journey and the missions opened in the various Jurisdictions of the Order.
Analyzing the first two decades of the last century and the period after World War I, the Order’s real missionary turning point came when Pope Pius XI called upon the religious Orders to open themselves to doing missionary work. Accepting the Pope’s invitation, the then Minister General, Friar Dominic TAVANI, founded the Franciscan Missionary Crusade. In 1924, the Minister General, Friar Alfonso ORLINI, at the General Chapter in Assisi, invited the Ministers Provincial to send their friars to distant lands; thus in 1925, the first mission in China was opened with friars from what were then the Italian Provinces of Sardinia, Sicily and Tuscany.
This opening gave a push to the missionary journey of the Order, even though the Order was recuperating from the Napoleonic suppression of ecclesiastical property, the suppression in 1866, imposed by the Kingdom of Savoy, the elimination of religious communities and the beginning of the slow recovery of vocations after World War I.
After founding the mission in China, the mission in Japan was founded in 1930, with St. Maximilian M. KOLBE. In 1931, the mission in Zambia was opened with Friar Francesco Costantino MAZZIERI. The journey intensified during the last half of the 20th century, under the leadership of two Ministers General: Friar Vitale BOMMARCO and Friar Lanfranco SERRINI. Subsequently, thanks to the foresight of the Jurisdictions in today’s FIMP Federation, the Foederatio Europae Mediae et Orientalis (FEMO), and the Conventual Franciscan Federation (CFF), thirty new missions were opened, including seven founded in the first decade of the 2000s.
After reviewing some historical data published by our news agency MissioConvInforma, some Ministers Provincial stated, “Today, as vocational and community consolidation is occurring in many of our missionary presences, we can affirm that the great good done by our missionary friars, some of whom were even martyred, has left an indelible impression in the lives of many peoples. We owe these friars a debt of gratitude and we are invited to reawaken the missionary spirit following the style of Pope Francis who dreams of a Church that goes forth and is open to mission.”
The following is a historical overview of our missionary presences in the world with some news regarding the Franciscan Missionary Center and the Order’s mission animation centers.
THE FRIARS MINOR CONVENTUAL AROUND THE WORLD
The Order maintains presences in 65 nations, with 75 Jurisdictions and 7 Federations.
There are 30 Provinces and their presences in 11 missionary Jurisdictions and 19 other locations.
There are 20 Custodies and their presences in 12 missionary Jurisdictions and 8 other locations.
There are 20 Delegations, with presences in 12 missionary Jurisdictions, and 8 other places.
There are 5 missions.
There are a total of 40 mission Jurisdictions and 35 other Jurisdictions.
OUR MISSIONS (Jurisdictions and presences)
AFRICA: Zambia (founded by the then Province of the Marches, Italy, in 1931); Ghana (founded by the then Province of Padua, Italy, in 1977); Kenya (founded by the Province of Gdańsk, Poland, in 1984); Tanzania (founded by the Province of Warsaw, Poland, in 1989); Burkina Faso (founded by the Province of Abruzzo, Italy, and the Province of Warsaw, Poland, in 2001); Uganda (founded by the Province of Cracow, Poland, in 2002); Malawi (founded by the Province of Zambia in 2004).
AMERICAS: Costa Rica (founded by the then Province of the Immaculate Conception in the USA in 1946); Brazil, Custody of the Immaculate Conception (founded in 1945 by what is now the Province of Our Lady of the Angels in the USA); Argentina-Uruguay (Province of Padua, 1947); Brazil, Province of St. Francis (Province of Padua, 1949); Brazil, Custody of St. Bonaventure (founded by the then Province of Rome, Italy, in 1968); Brazil, Province of St. Maximilian M. Kolbe (Province of Warsaw, 1974); Bolivia (Province of Cracow, 1977); Colombia (Province of Spain, 1977); Mexico (Province of Sicily, Italy, 1977); Venezuela (founded by the then Province of Puglia, Italy, in 1978); Honduras (founded by the Province of Our Lady of Consolation in the USA in 1979); Peru (Province of Cracow, 1989); Paraguay (Province of Cracow, 1992); El Salvador (Province of Our Lady of Consolation in the USA, 1994); Chile (Province of Padua, 1995); Ecuador (Province of Gdańsk, 1995); Cuba (Province of the Marches and the then Province of Sardinia, Italy in 2002); Guatemala (Province of Our Lady of Consolation in the USA, 2012).
ASIA: China (founded by the then Provinces of Sardinia, Sicily, and Tuscany, Italy in 1925); Japan (Province of Warsaw, 1930); South Korea (Provinces of Padua and Abruzzo, 1958); Indonesia (founded by the then Province of Bologna, Italy in 1968); India (Province of Malta, 1979); The Philippines (Province of Naples, Italy, 1979); Uzbekistan (Province of Cracow, 1992); Vietnam (founded by the Province of St. Joseph of Cupertino in the USA in 2004); Kazakhstan (founded by the Russian General Custody in 2005); Sri Lanka (Province of India, 2009).
EUROPE: Belarus (Province of Warsaw, 1990); Denmark and Sweden (Province of Gdańsk and the Province of Our Lady of Consolation in the USA, 1990); Lithuania (Province of Gdańsk, 1990); Romania (several Jurisdictions-reorganized in 1990); Ukraine (Province of Cracow, 1991); Russia (founded by the Government of the Order in 1993 ); Orient and the Holy Land (multiple Jurisdictions, now Romania in 2010).
OCEANIA: Australia (multiple Jurisdictions, 1953).
Note: the data about the years shown refers to the year the Jurisdiction was opened
EDITORIAL DIRECTORS OF THE MAGAZINE
1933/1938 Friar Domenico STELLA
1939/1943 Friar Giuseppe ABATE
1943/1945 Suspension of the press due to the war
1946/1966 Friar Giovanni BASTIANINI
1967/1972 Friar Angelo RUCCI
1973/1974 Friar Gentile DE SANTI
1975/1985 Friar Nicola GIANDOMENICO
1986/1988 Friar Salvatore ZAVARELLA OFM
1988/2003 Friar Vittorio TRANI
2004/2007 Friar Luciano MARINI
2007/2013 Friar Giambattista BUONAMANO
Since 2013 Friar Paolo FIASCONARO
DIRECTORS OF THE MISSION CENTER
1973-1990 Friar Matteo LUO
1990/1992 Friar Alessandro RICCIARELLI
1993/1994 Friar Francesco NOLÈ
1994/1998 Friar Antonio DI MARCANTONIO
1999/2007 Friar Luciano MARINI
2007/2013 Friar Giambattista BUONAMANO
Since 2013 Friar Paolo FIASCONARO
MASS MEDIA OF THE FRANCISCAN MISSIONARY CENTER
IL MISSIONARIO FRANCESCANO – quarterly magazine printing 6,000 copies per issue
MISSIOCONVINFORMA – online news agency with 600 mailings
WEBSITE: www.ilmissionariofrancescano.org
YOUTUBE: Canale Missioni OFMConv
EMAIL: centromissionario.roma@gmail.com
ONLINE ARCHIVE: single missions, distance adoptions, benefactors and subscribers
HISTORICAL FILM LIBRARY (70s/80s)
(Historic footage on 35mm film, re-released on DVD in 2014)
I miei frati vadano per il mondo [Let My Friars Go throughout the World] (33min.)
Japan – Zepisa: “Luci ad Oriente” [Lights in the East] (40 min.)
Japan – Nagasaki: “Solo l’amore crea” [Only Love Can Create] (40 min.)
Korea: “Il paese del calmo mattino” [The Land of the Morning Calm] (25 min.)
Indonesia – Sumatra: “I Karo” [The Karo People] (30 min.)
Ghana: “Lebbra, tramonto di un dramma” [Leprosy, Sunset of a Drama] (30 min.)
Ghana: “Tempo di preghiera” [Prayer Time] (40 min.)
Ghana: “Una piccola storia africana” [A Little African Story] (25 min.)
Zambia: “Il regno della speranza” [The Kingdom of Hope] (35 min.)
Zambia e Malawi “100 anni di attività cattolica” [100 Years of Catholic Activity] – Episode 1: “La preghiera” [Prayer] (27 min.)
Zambia e Malawi “100 anni di attività cattolica” [100 Years of Catholic Activity] – Episode 2: “La solidarietà” [Solidarity] (25 min.)
Zambia e Malawi “100 anni di attività cattolica” [100 Years of Catholic Activity] – Episode 3: “La Fede” [Faith] (30 min.)
CURRENT FILM LIBRARY
(On YOUTUBE: Canale Missioni OFMConv)
I Beati Martiri del Perù [The Blessed Martyrs of Peru] – 2015 (Italian/Spanish)
Brasile – Una presenza per servire – 50° anniversario [Brazil – A Presence to Serve – 50th Anniversary] – 2015 (Italian/Portuguese)
Fra Antonio SINIBALDI: il frate, il missionario, l’eroico sacrificio [Friar Antonio SINIBALDI: The Friar, the Missionary, the Heroic Sacrifice] – 2015 (Italian/Portuguese)
Ghana: The Franciscan Presence in the Footsteps of St. Anthony of Padua – 2018 (Italian/English)
Kenya: With Francis in the Spirit of Father Kolbe– 2018 (Italian/English)
P. Quirico PIGNALBERI: testimone di misericordia [Father Quirico PIGNALBERI: Witness of Mercy] – 2017
La carità non ha confini – la pastorale carceraria nel carcere di Regina Coeli [Unconfined Charity – Prison Ministry at the Regina Coeli Prison] – 2019
Frate movida – mission possibile sulle banchine del Tevere [Friar Nightlife – Mission Possible on the Banks of the Tiber] – 2021
90 anni di storia della rivista Il Missionario Francescano [90th Anniversary of the Magazine The Franciscan Missionary] -2023
MISSIONARY MUSEUM
Occupies four rooms on the fourth floor of the former Santa Dorotea Friary in Rome
Features relics and objects from Conventual Franciscan missions around the world
Features displays and thematic installations in the various rooms
MISSION ANIMATION LOCATIONS
GENERAL SECRETARIAT FOR MISSION ANIMATION (SGAM) –
The General Delegate: Friar Dariusz MAZUREK, Friary of St. Maximilian M. Kolbe, Rome
PROJECTS OFFICE OF THE ORDER –
Coordinator: Friar Valerio FOLLI, Friary of St. Maximilian M. Kolbe, Rome
FRANCISCAN MISSIONARY CENTER ONLUS –
Director: Friar Paolo FIASCONARO, Santa Dorotea Church, Rome
Note: The historical data was taken from the magazine “Il Missionario Francescano” with updates from the book “Andate e annunziate…presenza missionaria dei Frati Minori Conventuali nel mondo – 2022” [Go and Proclaim: The Presence of Friars Minor Conventual in the World – 2022]
Friar Paolo FIASCONARO
Director of the Franciscan Missionary Center
