On October 7-8, 2022, the Province of St. Joseph in Slovenia organized a conference to celebrate the 50th anniversary of its foundation. The event took place at the Friary of Saints Peter and Paul, Apostles in Ptuj, Slovenia.
The event had an international character, with experts from Croatia, Italy and Slovenia participating. Fourteen authors contributed seventeen scholarly lectures. The participating authors included the Assistant General for the Centralis Europae Foederatio (CEF), Friar Igor SALMIČ; Father Roberto REGOLI; Friar Ljudevit MARAČIĆ; along with other confreres and lay experts. Also present was the Vicar General, Friar Jan MACIEJOWSKI, who greeted the assembly speaking Slovenian.
Although the conference was convened to mark the 50th anniversary of the Province of Slovenia, the participants also discussed historical period prior to the foundation of the Province, as well as its current status. It was shown that the Order responded appropriately to the situations faced in each period; it took up those challenges and responded in a concrete way.
The discussion was not limited to history alone; it also covered art history, librarianship and archival science. The greatest focus was placed on the Province itself, covering its historical development from the Province of Styria-Carinthia (16th to 19th centuries), to the joint Dalmatian-Yugoslav Province and, most recently, its erection as an independent Province in 1972.
In conclusion, it is certainly important to continue to learn more about our spiritual-pastoral foundations and to embrace new forms of apostolate that represent the current commitment of the Friars Minor Conventual.
We are right to be grateful and proud of the past, rejoice in the present and have hope for the future, as St. Francis of Assisi promised us.
Friar Milan KOS, Minister Provincial
