05271989 SJPII General Chapter OFM conv

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May 27, 1989: John Paul II, Address to the General Chapter of the Friars Minor Conventual

Dear brothers:

Obedience and reverence to the successor of Peter

1. I am pleased to welcome and greet each one of you, fathers and brothers of the Conventual Order of Friars Minor: at the end of the General Chapter, celebrated in Assisi from May 2 to 27, faithful to the mandate of Saint Francis, which promised "obedience and reverence to the Lord Pope Honorius, to his successors and to the holy Roman Church" (2 R 1, 2), you have wanted to pay homage to the Pope and receive his apostolic blessing.

First of all, I thank the Minister General, Fr. Lanfranco Serrini, for the words he addressed to me and I wish him every success in carrying out the delicate mission in which he has been confirmed for a second six-year term; I cordially wish the same to the new assistants, called by the confidence of the more than 4,000 brothers throughout the world, to help the major superior in the government of the Order.

Fidelity to the capitular definitions

2. The general chapter, beginning with the famous one of "Le Stuoie" [the mats] convoked and presided over by the founder himself, as well as a fraternal meeting, is always a strong moment of reflection and spiritual strengthening.

You too, gathered around the tomb of Saint Francis, have had your moment of grace under the action of the Holy Spirit, who has guided you in renewing and defending the spiritual patrimony proper to the Order (cf. CRIS, Elementi essenziali). Moving along three main guidelines: review, programming and priority options, you have committed to deepening the service that the Order provides to the Church, your capacity to welcome and availability in the face of the new demands of contemporary society.

Positive conclusions have surely emerged from the important debate which, converted into concrete decisions, will be a necessary and binding point of reference for all until the next General Chapter. And I do not doubt that you will be the first witnesses of this indispensable fidelity to the chapter definitions, so that the chapter does not remain just a historical fact, but rather becomes an effective stimulus for a process of growth, both for the Order as of each of the religious.

Perfect harmony with the Church

3. Dear brothers and sisters: At the moment when you are about to return to your countries of origin, where you carry out your apostolate, allow me to remind you with Saint Francis of the duty to give preeminence to the spirit of prayer and devotion, without which all it would be vain and you would exert yourself in vain (cf. 2 R 5). The Church needs above all your contribution of prayer, sacrifice and evangelical witness.

In addition, so that the activities of the order in its different provinces and custodies respond to the demands of our time and of the Franciscan mission in terms of options, concrete forms of action, testimonial value (cf. Costituzioni, n. 149 ), we must bear in mind that the world, today more than ever, awaits a testimony like the one embodied in his century by Saint Francis, that is, a testimony of perfect harmony with the Church and obedience to the Pope, of which the Code informs you. imposes a special duty (cf. can. 590, par. 2); a testimony, moreover, of collaboration in the face of the needs of the brothers, especially the destitute.

Franciscans have a lot to say to today's society

4. The fascination that Saint Francis still exerts on believers and non-believers today is enormous: we have verified it together also in the unforgettable prayer meeting in Assisi, on October 26, 1986. Among the innumerable paths that divine mercy opens before the men in search of the truth, the one that Saint Francis traveled is perhaps the richest in suggestions: it is true that even today Saint Francis exerts on many souls the attraction of an original and captivating experience. The Franciscans above all have to remember this when they introduce themselves to the men of their time.

Precisely for this reason, my predecessor Pius XII predicted a revival of the Franciscan spirit and a Franciscan vision of life (cf. Discourse on July 1, 1956). The same desire is sometimes expressed by men who belong to very distant zones of experience and culture. Yes, because Franciscanism has a lot to say to today's society, especially in the most industrialized countries, trapped by consumerism and inattentive to the suffering of millions of creatures dying of hunger; to those who, instead of building peace, arm themselves for war, and instead of defending nature, of which Saint Francis was a lofty and pure singer, they contaminate it to the point of making it an enemy of man.

Recover authentic Christian values

5. Therefore, it is up to you, Franciscan religious, in the first place and as such, to give an answer to the man of today, educating him for a correct vision and for a dignified use of things, collaborating in the formation of his conscience , according to a bright and balanced interior attitude.

Your effective presence, in this sense, can mean a lot for the peace and progress of humanity and the recovery of authentic Christian values.

As children of the Saint of evangelical poverty, of the man of peace, of the friend of nature, you are the best interpreters of the message left by Saint Francis to the men of his century, a message that is always current due to its power to renew consciences and of the society. Therefore, the mission of reproposing it with courage and Franciscan pride falls to you.

Being men of the Gospel

6. But how? Presenting yourselves to the world as friars and as men of the Gospel.

a) As friars above all: that is, as brothers who, with a pact of love, have consecrated themselves to the worship of God and for love of God place themselves at the service of man. For this, it is necessary, however, that in all your communities the adequate spiritual conditions are created that allow each friar to have the interior impulse to transmit peace to the hearts of the brothers;

b) then, as men of the Gospel: because you have formed a Franciscan fraternity that is, at the same time, evangelical, that is, willed by God and by the Church to announce salvation to men; a fraternity of men who have believed in the Gospel and testify to it with their lives so that all, in goodness, welcome the paternity of God, the fraternity of Christ and the communion of the Holy Spirit.

In other words, what Francis' program was at one time is also your program today: it is a question of firmly believing that even today the Gospel has not lost any of its transforming energy; that also today, as in the times of Saint Francis, the Gospel is the power of God for the salvation of those who believe. And it is precisely this salvific power that the world needs today.

But from the moment that this world of ours seems to have lost contact and the very knowledge of this perennial source of life and renewal, people are needed for this very reason who, I repeat, with their lives, even more than with their words, are capable of renewing relations and of favoring the approach to the Gospel of all those who are far from it, voluntarily or involuntarily.

For this reason, just as Saint Francis, at the end of the chapter of "Le Stuoie", sent his friars two by two along the roads of the world to announce peace, I also send you to preach and bear witness to the Gospel with the encouragement of my apostolic blessing.

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