On February 12-15, 2019, the Federazione Inter-mediterranea Ministri Provinciali (FIMP) held its 30h Missionary Assembly at the Seraphicum in Rome. The theme of the meeting was: “Animated by the Spirit—to Animate the Mission.” The assembly was organized by the Franciscan Mission Center (ONLUS) in Rome.

Those attending included thirty missionary friars, two Franciscan Missionary Sisters of Assisi and ten lay people. The presence of the three mission animators from the Conventual Franciscan Provinces of Poland, and the presentation of their experiences was significant. They were: Friar Dariusz GACZYŃSKI of Cracow, Friar Robert KOZIELSKI of Gdansk and Friar Eugeniusz RÓŻAŃSKI of Warsaw.
The Assembly was conducted in a climate of fraternal discussion. It dealt with various formative topics and covered operational and practical aspects in order to make mission animation more impactful: communication through the use of the media, the process for conducting a Missionary Day and what approach to use in the world of laity and youth. Six presentations were made which focused on the properties of the mission in many aspects: “The Holy Spirit Animator of the Mission” by Professor Salvatore MARTINEZ, the National Director of the Renewal in the Holy Spirit movement; “The Mission of the Friars,” a sapiential reading of Chapter IV of the new Constitutions by journalist and writer Friar Gianfranco GRIECO, OFM Conv.; “Dialogue As a Legacy of the Meeting of St. Francis with the Sultan” by Franciscanist Friar Felice AUTIERI, OFM Conv.; “Formation Workshop” by the former head of “Missio Giovani” of Italian Episcopal Conference (CEI), Mr. Alex ZAPPALÀ; A video presentation of “The Story of the 85th Anniversary of the Magazine ‘The Franciscan Missionary’” by a columnist of the same magazine for twenty years, Friar Vittorio TRANI, OFM Conv.; and finally, “The Franciscan Experience at World Youth Day in Panama” by the Secretary General for Mission Animation, Friar Jarosław WYSOCZAŃSKI, OFM Conv.
The Assistant General for the FIMP, Friar Joaquín Ángel AGESTA CUEVAS, and the Minister Provincial of the Province of St. Nicholas and St. Angelo in Italy (Puglia), Friar Vincenzo GIANNELLI, spoke about the difficult and dramatic social situation in Venezuela.
During the Assembly, the participants visited TV2000, CEI’s large TV and radio network, led by its Director, Dr. Vincenzo MORGANTE. At the end of the visit, a reflection was conducted on “Being Missionaries in Communication”.
The Assembly ended with a report from the Director of the Missionary Center, Friar Paolo Fiasconaro, OFM Conv., on the life and activities of the Missionary Center and on the new legal framework concerning the abolition of Socially Oriented Not-for-Profit Organizations (ONLUS) which pass through the Unified Register of the Non-Profit and Voluntary Sector.
A video-recording of the conferences is available at the site of the Franciscan Missionary Center and on the YouTube channel, “Canale Missioni”.
[ https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCBjypscEEGGONUKIqKfNgwA ]

Friar Paolo FIASCONARO, Director of the Missionary Center
Lorenza CASSANELLI, Secretary of the Missionary Center