On September 21 and 22, 2026, the Guardians and Definitors of the Conventual Franciscan Italian Province of St. Anthony of Padua (Northern Italy) and those of the Friars Minor Province of St. Anthony, met jointly for the first time. The meeting took place at the Oasi Sant’Antonio Spirituality Center in Camposampiero, Italy. During the meeting, the friars shared their journeys, challenges, and hopes for Franciscan life.
The two Provinces are led respectively by Friar Roberto BRANDINELLI, OFM Conv., and Friar Antonio SCABIO, OFM. Together, their Jurisdictions cover much of northern Italy and oversee shrines, friaries, parishes, and various service and charitable ministries. Thirty-one Conventual friars, out of a total of 213, and fifty-two Friars Minor, out of 364, participated in the meeting.
These two branches of the Franciscan First Order have traditionally held such meetings separately, with their own local Superiors and governing bodies. Now, for the first time, they have chosen to meet jointly, creating an opportunity to get to know one another better, share concerns and hopes, and discuss the projects and future paths of both Provinces.
History and tradition led the original Order founded by St. Francis to develop into three branches: the Friars Minor, the Friars Minor Conventual, and the Friars Minor Capuchin. While meeting in Camposampiero, the participants acknowledged fraternity as a gift from God and, at the same time, a responsibility that requires daily commitment. In this sense, the words of St. Francis, “brothers all,” guided their shared reflection.
Their discussions revealed significant common ground. Both Provinces are engaged in processes of assessment and planning centered on common themes: the primacy of God, evangelical authenticity, fraternity, the preferential option for the poor, hospitality, poverty, and the building of increasingly fraternal communities.
The discussions also took a practical look at the difficulties facing religious life today: the decline in vocations, the need to rethink their presences and ministries, and the closure of some friaries. The participants saw these situations as an invitation to conversion and to a process of reform and restructuring so that the friars might live more simply and with greater fidelity to the Gospel. Without minimizing the suffering that these changes would entail, the participants realized that they could accept them as a time of pruning, gratitude, joy, and renewed passion for their vocation.
The participants also saw their joint meeting as a gift of the Holy Spirit and a sign of fraternity, in the context of the Franciscan Jubilee Year, which marks the 800th anniversary of the transitus of St. Francis of Assisi.
From: messaggerosantantonio.it
Editorial Staff
