On January 15-19, 2018, the annual Meeting of the General Curia with the newly-elected Ministers Provincial, Provincial Custodes and Provincial Secretaries took place at the Friary of the Twelve Holy Apostles in Rome.
The attending Ministers Provincial were: Friar Aloisio DE OLIVEIRA of the Province of St. Francis in Brazil; Friar Cosimo ANTONINO of the Province of Our Seraphic Father St. Francis in Italy (Naples); Friar Vincenzo GIANNELLI of the Province of St. Nicholas and St. Angelo in Italy (Puglia); and Friar Mario CASTRO of the Province of Our Lady of Guadalupe in Mexico.
The attending Custodes were: Friar Ciprian BUDAU of the Provincial Custody of Blessed Agnellus of Pisa in Great Britain-Ireland; Friar Dariusz SZYMBORSKI of the Provincial Custody of St. Maximilian M. Kolbe in Tanzania; Friar José Andrés CASTRO FARAH of the Provincial Custody of St. Francis of Assisi in Colombia; Friar Carlos Antonio CATALAN of the Provincial Custody of St. Francis in Bolivia; Friar Jorge DOBLES of the Provincial Custody of Mary, Mother of Mercy in Central America; and Friar Ronaldo GOMES of the Provincial Custody of the Immaculate Conception of the B.V.M. in Brazil.
The attending Secretaries were: Friar José Hugo DA SILVA of the Province of Saint Francis in Brazil; Friar Ion HORVAT of the General Custody of the Sacred Convent of St. Francis in Italy (Assisi); Friar Giorgio TUFANO of the Province of Our Seraphic Father St. Francis in Italy (Naples); Friar Alessandro PRETINI of the Italian Province of St. Francis of Assisi (Central Italy); Friar Andrea VAONA of the Italian Province of St. Anthony of Padua (Northern Italy); and Friar Fausto de Jesús RAMÍREZ ROSARIO of the Province of Our Lady of Guadalupe in Mexico.
On the first day, the program included a presentation on the organization and duties of the General Definitory as well as that of the General Offices and Secretariats. In the afternoon there was a visit to the Kolbean Exhibition at the friary of St. Maximilian Kolbe on Via San Teodoro. The next day there was a meeting on the revision of the Constitutions, and another on economic management as well as a period for personal dialogue with the Regional Assistant General. On the third day, there was a presentation on the Promptuary for Procedural Practices between the Provincial, Custodial and General Curiae. After lunch, there was a visit to the archeological excavations under St. Peter’s Basilica in the Vatican. Thursday was dedicated to the discussion of specific cases with the Secretary General and the Procurator General. Next there was an opportunity to meet personally with the Minister General or the Area Assistant General. The last day was dedicated to a meeting with the members of the General Secretariat and a visit to the Basilica of St. Bartholomew the Apostle, of the New Martyrs of the 20th and 21st Centuries, located on Tiber Island. The annual meeting closed with an update on the Order, presented by the Minister General and the Vicar General.
As always, the week was very worthwhile; it gave the newly elected officials an opportunity to examine the responsibilities and the realities of the Order and to make a comparison between their local problems and those of the entire fraternity.
The General Secretariat
