{"id":25292,"date":"2020-06-09T20:28:20","date_gmt":"2020-06-09T18:28:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ofmconv.net\/usa-speranza-tra-le-spine\/"},"modified":"2020-06-09T20:31:36","modified_gmt":"2020-06-09T18:31:36","slug":"usa-speranza-tra-le-spine","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ofmconv.net\/en\/usa-speranza-tra-le-spine\/","title":{"rendered":"USA: Hope amidst the Thorns"},"content":{"rendered":"

In response to recent events in the United States, following the death of George FLOYD, the four Ministers Provincial of the U.S. Provinces issued a joint declaration calling for peace and reconciliation on behalf of all American Conventual Franciscan friars.<\/strong><\/p>\n

The declaration is entitled “Hope amidst the Thorns”. The four Ministers Provincial addressed a message of peace and hope to all people of good will. They mention St. Francis of Assisi, a saint of peace and dialogue, but also a man who took courageous and strong action aimed at restoring justice. The four Ministers Provincial remind us that the heart of the Gospel is precisely this: to include<\/em>. The only thing to exclude<\/em> is exclusion itself.<\/p>\n

Office of Communications<\/p>\n

Hope amidst the Thorns <\/strong>(Spes inter Spinas)
\n<\/em>Statement from the 4 Ministers Provincial
\nof the Franciscan Friars Conventual in the USA<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

The Franciscan Friars Conventual raise our voices in solidarity with all people of good will in grieving the death of George Floyd.  In the wake of his killing, we echo humanity\u2019s plea for justice, reconciliation, unity, and peace.  May God fire our hearts these days with new hope.
\nAt the Last Supper, Jesus Christ prayed for unity \u201cthat all may be one\u201d (Jn. 17:21). <\/em>After He took His last breath amidst the violence of Calvary, Jesus rose on the third day with an urgent message of hope for the world: \u201cPeace be with you\u201d! <\/em> Empowered by the Risen Christ\u2019s Gospel message of peace and hope, St. Francis of Assisi sent his followers to become instruments of peace and healing in the broken, fragile world of the Middle Ages.
\nNow in modern times, the message of Jesus and the mission of St. Francis are as crucial as ever for our country and world.  As Franciscans, we friars understand the frustration and outrage of our African American brothers and sisters.  St. Francis walked gently into tense situations of discord, seeking paths to peaceful reconciliation.  He dialogued with the Sultan of Egypt during the divisive animosity of the crusades.  He knelt to reverence society\u2019s poor, and he stood to challenge society\u2019s wolves and powerbrokers.
\nWe friars reaffirm the words of the Second Vatican Council: \u201cEvery form of social or cultural discrimination in fundamental personal rights, on the grounds of sex, race, color, social conditions, language, or religion must be curbed and eradicated as incompatible with God\u2019s design\u201d <\/em>(Gaudium et Spes <\/em>#29.2).  There can be no peace without justice.  Ever since the first Africans were brought to Virginia as slaves in 1619, a long history of systemic racism has existed in our country.
\nWe Franciscan Friars pledge ourselves to prayer and witness in actions of solidarity for the ending of racial injustice and for peace in our streets. Prayer alone is not enough.  We call for genuine dialogue among our country\u2019s diverse peoples \u2013 the courageous seeking of ways to change disordered systems of human, economic, political, and ecclesial interaction which exclude and demean \u201cthe other.\u201d  We embrace a Gospel of Hope for the inclusion, equality, and unity of everyone in America \u201cfrom sea to shining sea.\u201d While we have time, let us do good.<\/p>\n

Fr. Victor Abegg, OFM Conv., Minister Provincial of St. Joseph of Cupertino Province
\nFr. Wayne Hellmann, OFM Conv., Minister Provincial of Our Lady of Consolation Province
\nFr. James McCurry, OFM Conv., Minister Provincial of Our Lady of the Angels Province
\nFr. Michael Zielke, OFM Conv., Minister Provincial of St. Bonaventure Province<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In response to recent events in the United States, following the death of George FLOYD, the four Ministers Provincial of the U.S. Provinces issued a joint declaration calling for peace and reconciliation on behalf of all American Conventual Franciscan friars. The declaration is entitled “Hope amidst the Thorns”. The four Ministers Provincial addressed a message […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":25287,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[105,147,132,148],"tags":[537],"class_list":["post-25292","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-cff-en","category-ufficio-comunicazioni-en","category-federations","category-news","tag-usa-en"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ofmconv.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25292","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ofmconv.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ofmconv.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ofmconv.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ofmconv.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=25292"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.ofmconv.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25292\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ofmconv.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/25287"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ofmconv.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=25292"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ofmconv.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=25292"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ofmconv.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=25292"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}