Rome: Invitation to the Celebration of the 800th Anniversary of the Later Rule

Committee of the Franciscan Family for the Franciscan Centenary
Rome, November 11, 2023

To the leaders of the Franciscan fraternities
and to all the brothers and sisters of the Franciscan Family

Dear sisters and brothers,
As the Committee of the Franciscan Family for the Franciscan Centenary, we are writing to invite all of you to promote and participate in the celebration taking place on the anniversary of the promulgation of the Later Rule, either in person or online through the centenary website: www.centenarifrancescani.org.

This celebration will be held in Rome, at the Basilica of St. John Lateran, on November 29, 2023, at 3:00 p.m.

In this prayerful setting, the chapters of the Later Rule will be read aloud, accompanied by brief reflections and testimony of the Rule’s relevance today. In conclusion, His Eminence Cardinal Angelo De Donatis, Archpriest of the Lateran Basilica, will read a special message from Pope Francis written for this occasion.
In November of 1223, in this very basilica, Pope Honorius III confirmed the Rule that St. Francis had presented to him. The pope returned the Rule to Francis and his brothers as a mandate from the Church. Just so, eight hundred years later, Pope Francis will return the Rule to us, with the mandate to go around the world living and bearing witness to the Gospel.
We hope that all of the members of the Franciscan Family, lay people, sisters and friars, will experience and participate in this important moment of this year’s centenary.

We send you our fraternal greetings as we celebrate this centenary together.

The Committee of the Franciscan Family
for the Franciscan Centenary