On May 17-20, 2026, the Seraphicum College in Rome hosted a meeting of Ministers Provincial and Provincial Custodes with Formation Directors and Youth and Vocation Ministry Animators of the Federazione Inter-mediterranea Ministri Provinciali (FIMP).
Thirty-two friars accepted the invitation and gathered on the evening of May 17, from the various FIMP Jurisdictions. They dedicated two full days (May 18–19) to sharing experiences and receiving formation on relevant and timely topics in the field of formation and youth and vocation ministry. Friar Antonio PARISI, the coordinator and organizer of the meeting, led the sessions, which were also attended by the Assistant General for the FIMP Federation, Friar Colin SAMMUT, and the Assistant General for Formation, Friar Bernardino HOSPITAL POSADA.
The program dedicated ample time to presenting the various dimensions of formation and vocation ministry. Representatives from both fields outlined the formation paths they offer and the educational approaches that guide their ministries.
Sister Grazia VITTIGNI gave a compelling presentation on the theme, “Women in the Formation of Candidates for Religious Life.” Friar Alessandro ZOTTAREL opened the session by presenting key points from the new Ratio Nationalis (2025 Italian Episcopal Conference) and other recent documents on the topic. The participants also discussed the feedback from the friars in formation regarding the recent inclusion of Sister Grazia in the formation team of the FIMP Post-Novitiate in Padua.
The participants then spent much of the afternoon working in groups, divided into three areas of competence: Ministers, Formators, and Animators. The groups used a workshop approach, listening to a “typical case” and discussing it; each group produced a synthesis of the situation described.
The next day, Friar Bernardino Hospital POSADA lectured on “The Challenge of Adult Vocations: Sign or Strategy?,” presenting the draft Guidelines for Adult Vocations prepared in April of 2026 by the General Secretariat for Formation.
The topic is especially relevant today, and the shared reflection highlighted the growing need for careful discernment. One key insight was the call for a different but deeper formation that integrates two goods: the good of the person and the good of the Church or Order.
This requires respect for each candidate’s personal history while also discerning whether he is capable of living minority: listening attentively to his life story and verifying his openness and docility to the three vows. Particular attention was given to three essential areas: financial freedom, emotional and relational maturity, and a free, non-defensive obedience.
The speakers also stressed the importance of guiding candidates toward a renewed reading of their own lives, helping them integrate and redeem their personal history with docility and freedom from attachment to personal success, through a process of personal guidance and formation.
After the fraternal greeting of the Vicar General, Friar Igor SALMIČ, who was present at the meeting, the participants devoted the remainder of the morning and much of the afternoon to group work. This allowed them to reflect more deeply on the profile of adult candidates and on the present status of formation in their communities. The groups also discussed communal discernment and the skills and approaches needed to guide candidates in the discernment process. The reflection further expanded to continuing formation, stressing the need to move beyond simply responding to problems or immediate situations and instead address the deeper and more fundamental questions of life as a friar.
The assembly then collected feedback on the draft Guidelines for Adult Vocations, to be further considered by the Ministers Provincial and Custodes at the upcoming Ordinary FIMP Assembly scheduled for May 20-24, 2026.
Before the meeting concluded, Friar Paolo BARANI, National Assistant for the Militia of the Immaculata, addressed the assembly. Referring to previous meetings on Italian Episcopal Conference spirituality, he expressed the desire to revisit and renew this line of reflection, also in light of the Order’s documents, beginning again from formation.
Friar Daniele LA PERA,
FIMP Secretary
