On February 6-9, 2020, the Federazione Inter-mediterranea Ministri Provinciali (FIMP) held its 31st Missionary Assembly at the Seraphicum in Rome. Those participating included mission animators from the various Jurisdictions and a group of lay collaborators from various Provincial mission centers.
The Assembly was conducted in a climate of fraternal discussion. The forty participants talked about the three dimensions of mission: “You and I, We are a Mission on This Earth”, which follows what Pope Francis invites us to do in Evangelii Gaudium.
There were reports presented by our confreres, Friars Gianni CAPPELLETTO, Raffaele DI MURO as well as by Professor Giancarlo PENZA, an expert in the “humanitarian corridors” implemented by Community of Sant’Egidio.
Members of the Assembly engaged in some interesting feedback with the speakers, which helped them to strengthen their missionary commitment and give witness to it with their own lives.
The Assembly was graced by the presence of eleven young people from our mission in Chile. They were accompanied by the Provincial Delegate in Chile, Friar Tullio PASTORELLI and Friar Valerio FOLLI. These young people were in Italy for a twinning project between the Churches and gave witness before the Assembly. For the participants, it was a time of joy and celebration, to be able to share with them the experience of a journey of collaboration and mutual missionary commitment. The Minister General, Friar Carlos TROVARELLI, was also present and presided over the Mass. Other participants in the Assembly included the new Secretary General for Missionary Animation (SGAM), Friar Dariusz MAZUREK with his collaborator Friar Elio ROJAS, and the three friars in charge of the Missionary Centers of Poland: Warsaw, Cracow and Gdańsk.
On the last day of the Assembly, Friar Agnello STOIA, the President of the BYNODE Association, together with Dr. Vittorio LAZZONI, highlighted the work that BYNODE does in promoting business projects in mission areas.
The Assembly ended with the report by the Director of the Franciscan Missionary Center, Friar Paolo FIASCONARO. He spoke about what the Center has been doing regarding missionary animation and formation including its relationship with the General Assistants and the SGAM, its collaboration with the Missionary Centers in Poland, its involvement in the Missionary Consult of the Vicariate of Rome, its meetings in the formation houses of the FIMP Federation, its trips to mission territories to make documentaries, its exhibition booth on the banks of the Tiber River in Rome and its good results in 2017 with the “Cinque per Mille” program [a percentage of tax revenues which the Italian State reallocates to provide support to entities that carry out socially relevant activities].
Friar Paolo FIASCONARO, Director of the Franciscan Missionary Center
