“We are truly very grateful to the Custody of the Holy Land, which is offering us hospitality for this week of study and reflection and which gives us the chance to return to the heart of Christianity, to the places that represent the Fifth Gospel and where everything started.” With these words, Brother Sergiusz Baldyga, Deputy Secretary General for Formation and Studies introduced the experience of the 13th OFM International Council for Formation and Studies which was held in Jerusalem from 9th to 16th October, with the participation of the Delegates of the Conferences of the Order from five continents. The International Council meets every two years and is a body that contributes to the work of the Secretariat General for Formation and Studies, fostering knowledge of the respective formative experiences and reviewing the projects and initiatives implemented in different situations. This is very useful for promoting mutual aid in the field of formation and to ensure adequate knowledge and periodic updating of the various situations of permanent formation.
The theme of the work of the 13th International Council found its inspiration in Psalm 24: Make known to me your ways, Lord, teach me your paths (Psalm 25,4). The Franciscan vocation between perseverance and belonging. Its intention was to promote a reflection which, starting from an aware examination of the current difficulties to persevere in the Franciscan religious vocation, succeeded in studying in depth the aspect of the positive motivation of the religious choice, the reasons why it is necessary and it is beautiful to persevere and the spiritual sources that inspire the Franciscan proposal.
The programme for the week was divided into two main parts. The first part, after the opening Holy Mass and the introductions by the Father Custos, Brother Pierbattista Pizzaballa, and the Secretary General for Formation and Studies, Brother Vidal Rodriguez Lopez, was dedicated to an in-depth study of the topics of the vocation and perseverance and lack of fidelity in the Bible, through the respective contributions of Brother Claudio Bottini, Dean of the Studium Biblicum Franciscanum of Jerusalem, and Brother Frederic Manns, professor of Exegesis of the New Testament and Judaism at the Studium Biblicum. Discussion and dialogue between the participants and speakers were followed by a brief presentation of the formative activities of the various Conferences of the Order. The second part then focused on the problems of the crisis in religious life, thanks to the address by Brother Niall O’Connel ofm, a teacher and psychologist from Ireland, and the possible paths to follow and answers to this crisis, through the analysis of don Giuseppe Crea, a Combonian father from Rome.
In between these two periods of intense work there were some important visits to the Holy Places, in particular Jerusalem, Nazareth, Capharnaum and Tabgha, with Brother Eugenio Alliata, professor and archaeologist of the Studium Biblicum Franciscanum as guide and, in Bethlehem, Brother Stephane Milovitch, the current Guardian of the Basilica of the Nativity as guide. The liturgical celebrations in the main Holy Places were also fundamental: at the Holy Sepulchre with the Holy Mass presided by Brother Noel Muscat, Discreet of the Holy Land and Secretary for Formation and Studies for the Custody of the Holy Land; at the Basilica of the Annunciation in Nazareth, with the Holy Mass presided by Brother Sergiusz Baldyga; at the Basilica of the Nativity in Bethlehem, with Holy Mass presided by Brother Stephane Milovitch; and lastly, at the Basilica of the Agony in Gethsemane, with Holy Mass presided by Brother Vidal Rodriguez Lopez. These activities, together with the daily moments of conviviality and fraternal sharing, were an extraordinary opportunity for the group of formators to penetrate with awareness and competence the exceptional value of the Holy Land and rediscover the genuine meaning of the religious vocation and their own Christian and Franciscan vocation.
A course of study, reflection and introspection, an intense and touching path of experience made up of communion and discussion, in order to increase the sensibility of the friars who work in the delicate context of formation, on the themes of the vocational call and the human paths in which this flourishes, on the problem of the crisis in religious life and on the educational answers to offer to those going through moments of difficulty and bewilderment. This commitment is in harmony with the study Service to fidelity and perseverance, conducted by the Franciscan Order on the abandonments of consecrated life.
The elections of the new Executive Committee were held at the conclusion of the work of the International Council.
Human formation, including to fidelity and perseverance in religious life, is an infinite task, an open path that is always measured with the mystery of the human heart, with man’s greatnesses and miseries, with the opposing tendencies that divide him and contend him. Only God, with His charity and His Spirit, is able to redeem the limit, the finiteness and the anguish of human nature with an intervention which opens up, in faith and along a common path, unhoped-for scenarios of proximity and dialogue. A great “chance of love”, which has and gives meaning to the mysterious yearning of the individual to be raised spiritually and his infinite desire to find a correspondence in the face of a close and friendly God in an absolutely pure and constant way, who teaches real fidelity, real friendship and real communion in the intimacy of a full life.
By Caterina Foppa Pedretti
Photos by Maria Grazia Sanna
The theme of the work of the 13th International Council found its inspiration in Psalm 24: Make known to me your ways, Lord, teach me your paths (Psalm 25,4). The Franciscan vocation between perseverance and belonging. Its intention was to promote a reflection which, starting from an aware examination of the current difficulties to persevere in the Franciscan religious vocation, succeeded in studying in depth the aspect of the positive motivation of the religious choice, the reasons why it is necessary and it is beautiful to persevere and the spiritual sources that inspire the Franciscan proposal.
The programme for the week was divided into two main parts. The first part, after the opening Holy Mass and the introductions by the Father Custos, Brother Pierbattista Pizzaballa, and the Secretary General for Formation and Studies, Brother Vidal Rodriguez Lopez, was dedicated to an in-depth study of the topics of the vocation and perseverance and lack of fidelity in the Bible, through the respective contributions of Brother Claudio Bottini, Dean of the Studium Biblicum Franciscanum of Jerusalem, and Brother Frederic Manns, professor of Exegesis of the New Testament and Judaism at the Studium Biblicum. Discussion and dialogue between the participants and speakers were followed by a brief presentation of the formative activities of the various Conferences of the Order. The second part then focused on the problems of the crisis in religious life, thanks to the address by Brother Niall O’Connel ofm, a teacher and psychologist from Ireland, and the possible paths to follow and answers to this crisis, through the analysis of don Giuseppe Crea, a Combonian father from Rome.
In between these two periods of intense work there were some important visits to the Holy Places, in particular Jerusalem, Nazareth, Capharnaum and Tabgha, with Brother Eugenio Alliata, professor and archaeologist of the Studium Biblicum Franciscanum as guide and, in Bethlehem, Brother Stephane Milovitch, the current Guardian of the Basilica of the Nativity as guide. The liturgical celebrations in the main Holy Places were also fundamental: at the Holy Sepulchre with the Holy Mass presided by Brother Noel Muscat, Discreet of the Holy Land and Secretary for Formation and Studies for the Custody of the Holy Land; at the Basilica of the Annunciation in Nazareth, with the Holy Mass presided by Brother Sergiusz Baldyga; at the Basilica of the Nativity in Bethlehem, with Holy Mass presided by Brother Stephane Milovitch; and lastly, at the Basilica of the Agony in Gethsemane, with Holy Mass presided by Brother Vidal Rodriguez Lopez. These activities, together with the daily moments of conviviality and fraternal sharing, were an extraordinary opportunity for the group of formators to penetrate with awareness and competence the exceptional value of the Holy Land and rediscover the genuine meaning of the religious vocation and their own Christian and Franciscan vocation.
A course of study, reflection and introspection, an intense and touching path of experience made up of communion and discussion, in order to increase the sensibility of the friars who work in the delicate context of formation, on the themes of the vocational call and the human paths in which this flourishes, on the problem of the crisis in religious life and on the educational answers to offer to those going through moments of difficulty and bewilderment. This commitment is in harmony with the study Service to fidelity and perseverance, conducted by the Franciscan Order on the abandonments of consecrated life.
The elections of the new Executive Committee were held at the conclusion of the work of the International Council.
Human formation, including to fidelity and perseverance in religious life, is an infinite task, an open path that is always measured with the mystery of the human heart, with man’s greatnesses and miseries, with the opposing tendencies that divide him and contend him. Only God, with His charity and His Spirit, is able to redeem the limit, the finiteness and the anguish of human nature with an intervention which opens up, in faith and along a common path, unhoped-for scenarios of proximity and dialogue. A great “chance of love”, which has and gives meaning to the mysterious yearning of the individual to be raised spiritually and his infinite desire to find a correspondence in the face of a close and friendly God in an absolutely pure and constant way, who teaches real fidelity, real friendship and real communion in the intimacy of a full life.
By Caterina Foppa Pedretti
Photos by Maria Grazia Sanna