On June 5, 2019, a new President of the Conventual Franciscan Foederatio Europae Mediae et Orientalis (FEMO) was elected.
The new President is Friar Marian GOŁĄB, the Minister Provincial of the Province of St. Anthony and Bl. James of Strepar in Poland (Cracow). The Federation’s Vicar is Friar Wiesław PYZIO, the Minister Provincial of the Province of the Immaculate Mother of God in Poland (Warsaw). The Secretary of the Federation is Friar Jan M. SZEWEK of the Province of St. Anthony and Bl. James of Strepar in Poland (Cracow).
According to the new Constitutions, the Jurisdictions work with the Federations in order to promote collaboration in initial and ongoing formation, become economically self-sufficient, organize apostolic activities, undertake pastoral projects, and coordinate the availability of friars to work outside their own reality.
To facilitate this, FEMO has several common formation initiatives: ongoing formation courses for the solemnly professed (for the tenth and twenty-fifth anniversaries of solemn profession); a common “Second Novitiate” for those who are about to take their solemn vows; and a formation course for new Guardians.
The Federations are composed of Provinces, Custodies, Delegations and missions, according to geographical, cultural and linguistic criteria. Jurisdictions are represented by Ministers Provincial, Custodes, Provincial Delegates and representatives of the mission structures. The Assistants General for a Federation area participate in the meetings of their corresponding Federations. For FEMO, the Assistant General is Friar Tomáš LESŇÁK.
FEMO is composed of Jurisdictions that cover the following countries: Belarus, Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Kazakhstan, Lithuania, Poland, Slovakia, Russia, the Ukraine, Uzbekistan and Hungary.
The next FEMO meeting will be held October 21-26, 2019, in Bilshivtsi, the Ukraine.
Friar Jan Maria SZEWEK, Spokesman for the Province of Cracow / Editorial staff
