On October 1-3, 2025, a meeting was conducted in Niepokalanów for the Secretaries for Missions of the three Conventual Franciscan Provinces in Poland, namely, the Province of St. Anthony and Bl. James of Strepar (Cracow), the Province of the Immaculate Mother of God (Warsaw), and the Province of St. Maximilian M. Kolbe (Gdańsk). The meeting was organized by the General Delegate for Mission Animation, Friar Dariusz MAZUREK.
The main topic of discussion was the implementation of Motion No. 12 of the 2025 General Chapter. This document calls the entire Order to renew and rekindle its missionary spirit through six concrete actions:
1.) Prayer – deepen prayer for renewed fervor and missionary conversion, mindful that the Holy Spirit is the true agent of the mission.
2.) Mission Formation – integrate the theme of mission into every stage of formation, including preparation for online mission presence, in keeping with the principles of the “Ethical Charter on Artificial Intelligence” (the “Assisi Act”).
3.) Lay Missionary Volunteering – promote and create structures for laypeople who wish to participate in missionary work in the Franciscan spirit.
4.) Missionary Diaconate – nurture new vocations in countries where the Order is not yet present, providing formation opportunities through dedicated missionary structures.
5.) Mission Experience for Friars – provide friars an opportunity to take part in a missionary experience, in collaboration with the Provincial Secretariats for Missions and missionary friars.
6.) Promoting Conventual Franciscan Missions – actively promote the Conventual Franciscan missionary charism through the media, emphasizing the Franciscan commitment to spiritual and social development.
The Chapter also decided to have the Order open a new missionary presence in a country where the Conventual Franciscans do not yet have a permanent presence. On this point, the General Delegate shared his reflections from a recent working visit to Rwanda, carried out with a delegation from the Province of Kenya.
Missionary Diaconate and New Vocations
During the initial phase of the meeting, the participants focused on the topic of missionary diaconate — the admission of candidates to the Order from neighboring countries where the Conventual Franciscans are not yet present, with a view toward opening religious communities in the future. Progress on this was first made in Burkina Faso, where the friars expressed their willingness to form young men from the Ivory Coast, especially those interested in becoming religious brothers specializing in the medical field
Lay Volunteering
A significant portion of the session was devoted to the development of lay missionary volunteering: creating preparatory programs, developing training courses, and fostering collaboration with European mission secretariats and centers.
Mission Experience and Formation
The friars emphasized the need to provide missionary experiences from the formation stage onward. They pointed to the example of the Province of Cracow, which allows temporary mission assignments as part of formation.
Common Prayer and Evangelization through Media
The meeting also provided an opportunity for an interview on Radio Niepokalanów on topics such as Conventual Franciscan missionary activity and the upcoming World Mission Sunday (celebrated on the second-to-last Sunday of October). Moreover, the interview gave the friars a chance to thank the friends of the missions for their prayers and support.
Cooperation and Next Steps
The friars updated each other on current activities and on the status of individual missions in their respective secretariats. The friars decided to hold regular meetings of the mission secretaries, both in person and online, to continue reflecting on the points of the Motion and to undertake concrete missionary initiatives.
Friar Robert KOZIELSKI, Provincial Secretary for Missions
