With the solemn opening celebration, presided over by Br. Massimo Fusarelli, Minister General of the Order of Friars Minor, on Sunday, July 27, 2025, the work of the Chapter officially began, an event that brings together friars and delegates from the entire region.
The Chapter represents a particularly important moment in the life of the Custody, an occasion to reflect on current challenges, listen to the voice of fraternity, and plan the future path of Franciscan presence in the Holy Places. Within this setting, a Jerusalem wounded by violence but still living in hope, the Franciscan community gathers to entrust its steps to God and renew its commitment to peace, service, and gospel witness.
The choice to open the proceedings with the Eucharist is not by chance: "Today we begin the chapter of the Custody here in Jerusalem, in this blessed and wounded land yet again by territorial violence," Br. Fusarelli began, emphasizing how common prayer and listening to the Word are the foundation and compass for the whole journey ahead. Thus, the inaugural liturgy not only formally opens the work but calls each friar to rediscover the deep root of his vocation: to be "instruments of peace and reconciliation" in a context that today needs it more than ever.
In the homily, Br. Fusarelli offered a reading of Sunday's scriptures as a source of hope at a time when the cry for peace seems unheard. "The readings this Sunday offer us a word of hope precisely at the moment when the world seems deaf to the cry for peace," he emphasized. The figure of Abraham (Gn 18, 20-32), who intercedes boldly before God, was presented as a model of faith able to "attune itself to the heart of God," always invoking salvation and good even in adverse circumstances.
Continuing the homily, the Minister General, recalling the words of St. Paul (Col 2, 12-14), remindedthat forgiveness and grace are pure gifts, not the result of our works. "It is not our works that save us, however heroic, but it is Christ who has freed us from sin and death."
Thus, the life ofbelievers becomes "the life of the risen," able to transmit hope even amidst difficulties. Br. Fusarelli linked St. Francis’s experience to the concrete reality of the Holy Land, highlighting how the Poor Man of Assisi found grace in serving the poorest and in acts of mercy that transform life.
At the heart of the celebration, the prayer taught by Jesus becomes the place in which every pain and longing are given voice (Lk 11, 1-13): "Father, may your name be sanctified, your kingdom come," with at its center the filial cry of Abba, Father. Br. Fusarelli gave an invitation to continue praying with faith, even when everything seems to be collapsing: "We repeat it when everything is crumbling, even materially around us, when so many conflicts continue to tear the world apart."
The message from San Salvatore is clear: even in the heart of division, the path of forgiveness and fraternity is possible. The example of St. Francis, who placed forgiveness at the heart of his witness, becomes a contemporary call to renew the search for peace and reconciliation.
The work of the Chapter of the Custody thus begins: in the footsteps of Franciscan tradition but with an eye to the future, entrusted to the intercession of Abraham and Francis and sustained by bold confidence in the mercy of God.
Francesco Guaraldi
