July 5 1982 JPII speech General Chapter OFMcap

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ST. JOHN PAUL II TO PARTICIPANTS IN THE GENERAL CHAPTER

OF THE FRANCISCAN ORDER OF CAPPUCCINI FRIARS MINOR

Monday, July 5, 1982

Dear brothers!

1. I am pleased to be with you today, who, as Chapter Fathers, not only represent all the Capuchins throughout the world, but are responsibly rethinking your Constitutions. This takes place in the year of the eighth centenary of the birth of St. Francis, of whom you are disciples and to whom I cordially recommend you.

This circumstance, therefore, adds a further reason of relevance and interest to our meeting, while I warmly thank you for having desired it.

2. In the decree Perfectae Caritatis of the Second Vatican Ecumenical Council it is written that "the renewal of religious life involves the continuous return to the forms of every Christian life and the primitive inspiration of the Institutes, and at the same time the adaptation of the Institutes themselves to the changed conditions of the times "(Perfectae Caritatis, 2). Of these two fundamental requirements - return to sources and adaptation to the times -, in the years immediately following the Council, the second aspect was emphasized above all, and for understandable reasons, namely the adaptation to what the conciliar text itself calls " the needs of the apostolate, the needs of culture and social and economic circumstances "(Ibid. 3). In this line, you Capuchins too have, on several occasions, revised your Constitutions and your life, to make them more responsive to the needs of the times and to the directives drawn up by the Church at the Second Vatican Council.

Now, however, having completed this effort of updating in its essential aspects, you too have felt the need - as, indeed, many other Institutes in the Church - to address with renewed commitment to that other primary need that the conciliar text calls "The continuous return to the sources". This is not to deny or set aside the legitimate adaptations and new values ​​discovered and tested in recent years, but rather to enliven them too, grafting them onto the living trunk of tradition, from which your Order draws its physiognomy and its strength.

Precisely to foster such a balance between the two needs, in your present General Chapter, after having elected the new Superiors, you wanted to revise the Constitutions, to give them, after the period of experimentation, the structure that - following the approval of the Apostolic See - must become definitive and allow your Institute to undertake, with renewed enthusiasm and without any uncertainty, a new stretch of its journey in the service of the Church and of the world.

3. You have rediscovered your "primitive inspiration" by reflecting, with a new sensitivity, on the very name received as an inheritance from your father St. Francis, namely: "Friars Minor". In this name, in fact, the Saint contained what was most dear to him in the Gospel: "fraternity" and "minority", to love each other as brothers and to choose the last place for oneself, following the example of Christ who did not come "to be served, but to serve" (Mt 20:28). In this we can see how the return to the sources is often the best way also for the purpose of adapting to the expectations and signs of the times. A truly fraternal life, conducted under the banner of simplicity and evangelical charity, open to the sense of the universal brotherhood of all men and, indeed, of all creatures, and in which every person - small or great, learned or induced - is recognized equal dignity and attention, it is, in fact, perhaps the most current and most urgent testimony that can be given, of the Christian novelty, to a society so marked by inequalities and a spirit of dominance, as ours is.

You have tried to propose these two fundamental traits of your Franciscan identity - fraternity and minority - to the new generations, in the light of the Capuchin tradition, which gives them that unmistakable note of spontaneity and simplicity, of joy and at the same time of austerity, of radical detachment from the world and at the same time of great closeness with the people, which made the presence of the Capuchins among the Christian populations and in the missions so effective and incisive, and produced such a large group of saints, including St. Crispin of Viterbo that I had the joy of writing myself, a few days ago, to the register of the heroic holiness of the Church.

4. Speaking of that primary instance of renewal which is the return to the sources, the decree Perfectae Caritatis highlights that it is not just a return to the "primitive inspiration" of one's own Institute, but also necessarily a "continuous return to the sources of every Christian life ”, that is, to Jesus Christ, to his Gospel and to his Spirit. This is the meaning of those words with which all the religious of the Church, to whatever Institute they belong, are exhorted to consider the following of Christ as the supreme rule, to choose him as the only thing necessary (cf. Lk 10:42) , to live, in short, for God alone (cf. Perfectae Caritatis, 5).

Aware of this, you have rightly reaffirmed, in all ways, the primary place that prayer and, in particular, according to your most genuine tradition, contemplative prayer must occupy in your life, both personal and community. Of all the "roots", in fact, it is the "root-mother", the one that immerses man in God himself, who keeps the branch united to the vine (cf. Jn 15: 4) and ensures that contact for the religious. constant with Christ, without whom - as he himself affirms - we can do nothing (cf. Jn 15: 5) and with his Spirit of holiness and grace.

5. The eighth centenary of the birth to the world of your founder Francis of Assisi, with the extraordinary echo that it has aroused, has shown how much today's world is still sensitive to the call of the Poverello, how much it needs and, therefore, say, nostalgia for him. It is up to you, in a very particular way, to keep this hope always alive in the world and, indeed, to make it ever more visible and recognizable. This will happen, as far as your Institute is concerned, if, after having renewed and perfected your Constitutions with so much commitment and seriousness, each of you and your confreres feel urged to translate them into practice, mindful of that word spoken by Christ to his disciples: "Knowing these things, you will be blessed if you do them" (Jn 13: 7).

Indeed, it seems that the time has now come for Religious Institutes to pass resolutely from the phase of discussion about their own legislation to that of the practical implementation of certain and fundamental values, from concern for the letter to that of the spirit, from words to life, and this so as not to fall into that danger of illusion that St. Francis himself denounces, in one of his Admonitions, when he writes that "those religious who do not want to follow the spirit of divine Scripture, but wish to know only words and explain them to others, are killed by the letter "(Administration 7: FF 156).

Due truthfulness and sincerity before God requires from an Institute a renewed will of conversion and fidelity to one's vocation, so that it is always authentic, as far as human frailty permits, the image that it has given to itself. Church and to the brothers, through their own Constitutions.

6. Dear brothers and children, welcome these words as a sign of my esteem for you. At the same time, be assured that you have a special place in my prayer. I entrust you to the Lord: you and the whole worthy Family of the Capuchin Friars Minor. The Holy Church and the world itself, which have already benefited a lot from your zeal in the past, still expect from you a generous and intelligent contribution of luminous evangelical witness.

May the Lord fill you with his graces; and in the spirit of St. Francis proceed joyfully and confidently.

May my apostolic blessing always accompany you, which I cordially impart to you, Chapter Fathers, with a special thought to your new Minister General and which I extend to all the beloved members of your Order.

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