On October 1, 2024, the New Academic Year was inaugurated at the Franciscan Study Theological Institute in Kalwaria Zebrzydowska, Poland. The Franciscan Study is composed of friars from five of the ten Franciscan Provinces in Poland. There are sixty-nine students and seven free auditors.
During the event, the first-year seminarians publicly swore their academic oath: “We promise before our Lord Jesus Christ, the giver of life and wisdom, our fidelity to God, to the Gospel, to the Church and to the Order. We want to acquire philosophical and theological knowledge with pure intention, to serve humanity in the contemporary world, in the spirit of evangelical truth and on the basis of the Magisterium of the Church. We will do everything to set a good example to others and to fulfill all the commitments we have made, by means of our attitude as students, with religious discipline and discipline in studies. So help us God.”
Friar Franciszek Salezy Artur NOWAK, OFM, is the new Rector of the Franciscan Study. He believes that the friars of the three Franciscan Orders together form a unique academic community. “We want to look with hope to the future that the Lord gives us. We also want, like the Poverello, to recognize that everything in our life is a free gift out of God’s love. St. Francis not only received gifts from God, but also chose to share them. Following in Francis’ footsteps, we, too, want to share our experiences, our talents and our knowledge.”
The Vicar Provincial of the Friars Minor, Friar Arkadiusz BELCIK, said that according to St. Francis of Assisi, the Friar Minor’s desire for knowledge must match his desire to know Jesus Christ. The desire for this kind of knowledge means union with Him. “This desire must be expressed in the desire to serve using the knowledge one has received and to serve with simplicity.”
The Major Superior of the friary in Kalwaria Zebrzydowska emphasized that was the attitude taught by St. Bonaventure. The 750th anniversary of his death is being celebrated this year. Paraphrasing Bonaventure, the saint wanted the friars to “learn how to read carefully, to study with devotion, to investigate with admiration, to reflect with joy, to be diligent concerning reverence, to acquire knowledge with love, to be intelligent yet humble, to be zealous about divine grace, and to explore with wisdom inspired by God.”
The other Major Superiors of the Franciscan Provinces also offered their best wishes to the students, teachers and formators. During the Mass, they prayed with them for the grace they will all need in the coming months.
Also present was Father Roman BOGACZ of the Pontifical John Paul II University, to which the Franciscan Study is affiliated. “We very much need your witness of poverty, obedience, chastity and Franciscan joy,” he emphasized.
This year, the inaugural lecture was given by Friar Marceli GĘŚLA, OFM. He reflected on the need for the mission activity of the Church and its theological motivation. “The mission activity of the Church is rooted in the teachings of Jesus Christ,” said the speaker. In this context, he mentioned that, from the very beginning, this work was undertaken by the spiritual sons of St. Francis of Assisi.
To learn more about the Franciscan Study Theological Institute, go to: https://sf.franciszkanie.pl/
Friar Jan M. SZEWEK
