The Procurator General of the Order has organized a conference on the proper law of the Order, following the revision of the Constitutions, and in view of the upcoming General Chapter in which the General Statutes will be revised. The conference will take place March 21-23, 2019, at the Conventual Franciscans’ Seraphicum International College in Rome.

The conference is open exclusively to the friars of the Order. Its aim is to foster juridical reflection on many issues in our fraternal and ecclesial life: the exercise of the authority of Superiors and Chapters, the autonomy of the individual Jurisdictions, departures from the Order and the departures from religious life by friar priests who transition to diocesan life.
The hope is to raise awareness in the friars generally, and in the Superiors especially, to prevent some problems and solve others which occur more often than one might think.
The methodology will be simple and discursive to allow everyone, even those less-experienced in law, to understand and actively participate. The speakers are all religious of our Order and others from the Vatican Dicasteries. They will help to dive into these problems and perspectives with a strongly experiential approach.
We hope that this conference will initiate a systematic juridical reflection in the Order, perhaps with recurring meetings to address other emerging issues.

Friar Maurizio DI PAOLO, OFM Conv., Procurator General