{"id":99998,"date":"2026-06-22T14:21:05","date_gmt":"2026-06-22T12:21:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ofmconv.net\/lusaka-ospita-lincontro-biennale-dei-formatori-dellafcof\/"},"modified":"2026-06-22T14:22:36","modified_gmt":"2026-06-22T12:22:36","slug":"lusaka-ospita-lincontro-biennale-dei-formatori-dellafcof","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ofmconv.net\/en\/lusaka-ospita-lincontro-biennale-dei-formatori-dellafcof\/","title":{"rendered":"Lusaka Hosts AFCOF Biennial Meeting for Formators"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>From June 15-20, 2026, the African Federation of Conventual Franciscans (AFCOF) conducted its biennial meeting for formators. The meeting was attended by the Directors of all the formation houses in Lusaka, Zambia. The Directors are responsible for guiding more than three hundred young men at various stages of formation throughout the AFCOF Federation.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>The meeting opened with a fraternal greeting from the Minister General, Friar Carlos Alberto TROVARELLI, OFM Conv., via the Zoom Internet platform. He highlighted key topics concerning the life of the friars in formation in Africa. He emphasized the importance of collaboration among the Jurisdictions, the rising number of friars within the AFCOF Federation and the need to change from a formation model focused solely on discipline to one that is more personalized and responsive to the needs of each friar in formation.<br \/>\nOver the five-day meeting, the formators reflected on their ministry of forming young people in the African context. Friar Moses Kabenla ARTHUR, President of the AFCOF Formation Commission, moderated the discussions, which unfolded in a spirit of fraternity and prayer. Key topics included deepening our understanding of Franciscan identity in light of the Order\u2019s Six-Year Plan, ensuring the presence of a Spiritual Director on the formation team at each post-novitiate house, strengthening collaboration between formators and Superiors for a more holistic formation, and addressing the challenges of fostering fraternity and strengthening collaboration in formation, despite having so many formation houses in the AFCOF Federation.<br \/>\nThe formators also examined the impact of emerging technologies, particularly Artificial Intelligence and its relevance regarding formation and fraternal life. One important part of the meeting were its group discussions. They were organized according to the various levels of formation\u2014the postulancy program, the novitiate, and the post-novitiate. The group discussions gave the formators an opportunity to share notes and inspire one another regarding best practices in formation ministry.<br \/>\nThe meeting was hosted by the Rivotorto Friary community, located at St. Bonaventure University in Lusaka. The student friars who animated the liturgy helped create a prayerful atmosphere for reflection. Evenings were spent together watching World Cup soccer matches. The week concluded with a fraternal outing on the final day, strengthening bonds between the formators.<br \/>\nThe AFCOF Federation holds this meeting for the Directors of formation every two years. In alternate years, it offers a separate, two-week course for friars who assist in formation who have not yet received formal training.<br \/>\nWe extend our gratitude to the twenty friar formators who participated and to those who provided lectures and reflections, namely, Friar Blasio Ooko OLENGE, the Assistant General for the AFCOF Federation; Friar Stephen Owieno Ochieno OCHWADA, the Spiritual Director at the Seraphicum College in Rome and a member of the General Secretariat for Formation; Friar Matthews Felix KASONGO, the President of the AFCOF Federation; and Father Arthur NTEMBULA, a diocesan priest of the Archdiocese of Lusaka and the Director of its Office of Communications. Thanks also to the members of the hosting community for their hospitality. Finally, thanks to the Minister General and the Superiors of the AFCOF Federation who participated at various points using the Zoom Internet platform.<br \/>\nMay the Spirit continue to guide the formation of our young friars in Africa, that they may grow in faith, fraternity, and fidelity to the charism of St. Francis.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: right;\">Friar Moses Kabenla ARTHUR<\/p>\nngg_shortcode_0_placeholder\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>From June 15-20, 2026, the African Federation of Conventual Franciscans (AFCOF) conducted its biennial meeting for formators. The meeting was attended by the Directors of all the formation houses in Lusaka, Zambia. The Directors are responsible for guiding more than three hundred young men at various stages of formation throughout the AFCOF Federation. The meeting [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":99994,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[98,132,148],"tags":[607,655],"class_list":["post-99998","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-afcof-en","category-federations","category-news","tag-formation","tag-formators"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ofmconv.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/99998","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=99998"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.ofmconv.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/99998\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":100002,"href":"https:\/\/www.ofmconv.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/99998\/revisions\/100002"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ofmconv.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/99994"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ofmconv.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=99998"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ofmconv.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=99998"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ofmconv.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=99998"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}