05301978 Paulo VI centenary arrival Franciscans to the Philippines

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Letter to the General Minister of the Friars Minor on the fourth centenary of the arrival of the Franciscans in the Philippines

Rome, May 30, 1978

To the dear son Constantino Koser, Minister General of the Order of Friars Minor.

The missionary splendor and apostolic luster of the entire Order of Friars Minor will soon shine with a new sparkle, and its tenacity -as we wish- will be strengthened with new momentum, when the forty-hundredth anniversary of the Order is solemnly fulfilled next July. date on which the first fifteen Friars Minor disembarked on the shores of the recently discovered Philippine Islands, with an ardent desire to preach the Gospel, and immediately entered an immense field of multiple and very fertile activities, where, throughout this memorable period of four centuries, this religious community did not fail to distinguish itself both for its many examples of Christian holiness and for its salutary initiatives of pastoral action.

Thus, on the one hand, the knowledge of this long past history, of the merits incurred in it and of the multitude of Franciscan missionaries -friars, religious and lay people-, and on the other, the awareness of the work that the Franciscan family carries out currently taking place in these Islands, we are strongly encouraged to express our congratulations and show joy for this anniversary in the first place to you, dear son, and through you, as interpreter of our sentiments, to all the beloved Order entrusted to your government, At the same time, the honorable and fruitful work of your members in those lands offers us not only a valid reason for praise, but also a propitious occasion for exhortation. Indeed, this secular celebration of this Filipino vicarage comforts us as much as it worries us and stimulates concern for its future, so that the work successfully carried out up to now may continue with constancy and profit.

In our opinion, the greatest merit of the Friars Minor who during these four centuries worked tenaciously among the Filipino people, is undoubtedly the fact that they have always known how to unite, together with the primordial and absolutely unbreakable will to preach Jesus Christ and his heavenly kingdom correctly to all the inhabitants of those islands, the provident care of the terrestrial needs of that beloved population, promoting their education and progress, the medicine of the bodies and the cultivation of the fields, effective institutions and social assistance.

Indeed, by doing so they contributed significantly to the evangelical message of peace, hope and salvation taking deeper roots in the souls of the baptized, to Christian doctrine more fully configuring the customs of society and the religious habits of that nation, even until the most recent times and, finally, to the fact that the Catholic Church, built on these very solid foundations of truth and charity, justice and holiness, later flourished with the passage of time, turning the Philippine nation in turn into a kind of lighthouse that, in that region of the world, shines in all directions.

Thus, while the Franciscan family deservedly glories in these glorious days of so many undertakings and sufferings, fruits and memories, crowds and achievements of its missionaries - among whom are Saints and Blesseds of the First, Second and Third Orders, as well as laymen-, in the Philippine Islands throughout four centuries, it is to be hoped that this commemoration of the past illuminates the future, corroborates the spirits and purposes of the workers who currently work in the same chosen vineyard, sustains and makes prosper your excellent apostolate of administration of the sacraments and catechetical instruction, as well as your work of renewal and social equity.

This is what we expressly wish with great confidence, dear son, to the Order of Friars Minor; this is what we earnestly ask Almighty God for you; This is, finally, the congratulations that we offer and the exhortation that we direct to your Filipino missionaries of any condition, for whom we implore light and strength from on high, while we impart the apostolic blessing in proof of the joy that we share with them.

Vatican City, May 30, 1978, the fifteenth year of our pontificate.

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