When the Church entrusted the pastoral and spiritual care of the Secular Franciscan Order, to the Franciscan First Order and the TOR (Third Order Regular), the respective Ministers General of those Orders unanimously accepted the gift, saying: “We, the Franciscan Ministers, with all our friars, are ever ready and open to offer you all our assistance so that we may walk together in the way of the Lord. “ (Letter of the General Ministers of the First Order and the TOR to the Secular Franciscans, as published in the Rule of the Secular Franciscans, Rome, October 4, 1978).
The Conference of General Spiritual Assistants (CAS) is composed of the Delegates of the Ministers General of the Franciscan First Order and the TOR. They are: Friars Pedro ZITHA, OFM; Tomás GINGA PANZO SUVA, OFM Cap.; Stefan ACATRINEI, OFM Conv.; and Antonio Guadalupe HERNÁNDEZ HUERTA, TOR. The CAS meets annually in December for an intense week of work called “Tempo Forte.” This year, the Conventual Franciscans took their turn hosting the CAS, together with representatives of the Secular Franciscan Order (OFS) and Franciscan Youth (YouFra). The Conference was conducted on November 29 to December 5, 2025, at the Conventual Franciscan Santissima Annunziata Friary in Cagliari (Sardinia) Italy.
All CAS activities—meetings, celebrations, and community events—were held in the Santissima Annunziata Friary, while the CAS members themselves were accommodated at the nearby San Francesco d’Assisi Friary, a former Conventual Franciscan presence now used as a shelter.
The work week began with Mass at 7:00 p.m. in the Santissima Annunziata Parish Church. During the Mass, the friars present renewed their religious vows, while the Secular Franciscans of the local Santissima Annunziata fraternity renewed their promises. On Sunday, November 30, the CAS met with the Secretariat for Formation of the regional fraternity of Sardinia.
The CAS’s work proceeded according to the established agenda which included an evaluation of activities carried out in 2025, including the difficulties and challenges that emerged, and the planning of activities for 2026.
During the Tempo Forte, the CAS always tries to meet with local OFS fraternities in the area. Therefore, at 5:00 p.m. on Tuesday, December 2, the CAS met with fraternities in Cagliari and the surrounding area. The meeting was held at the headquarters of the local Santissima Annunziata OFS fraternity. Representatives from nine local fraternities attended. The meeting began with a spiritual reflection led by Friar Ștefan ACATRINEI. Next, the OFS Regional Minister, Roberto LIGES, gave a presentation on the regional OFS fraternity of Sardinia, which has 1,100 professed members distributed across forty-seven local fraternities. He highlighted both the beauty and vitality of this regional fraternity, as well as its challenges. He lamented bitterly that only seventeen of the local fraternities have a friar of the Franciscan First Order as their Spiritual Assistant. Sardinia has eighteen First Order friaries. Four belong to the Friars Minor, four belong to the Friars Minor Conventual, and ten belong to the Friars Minor Capuchin. A discussion followed between the friars of the CAS and the members of the OFS.
At 6:40 p.m. Evening Prayer was conducted, followed by Mass. The meeting concluded with a fraternal agape meal provided by the local hosting fraternity and its Minister, Anna Carla MUNTONI. The meeting was greatly appreciated by the fifty participants involved. In the end, they thanked the CAS for making this meeting possible, a meeting that transformed into a truly fraternal time of reflection, mutual understanding, information sharing and discussion.
On Friday, December 5, after lunch, the CAS thanked the friars of the Santissima Annunziata Friary for their generous hospitality and bid them farewell. Special thanks went to the Guardian, Friar Daniele GIOMBINI, who is also the Spiritual Assistant for the local Santissima Annunziata OFS fraternity.
Friar Ștefan ACATRINEI
