On Sat?ur?day, May 18, 2019, the 202^nd Ordi?nary Gen?er?al Chap?ter of the Fri?ars Minor Con?ven?tu?al began at the Sacred Con?vent in Assisi.

Its first duty was to elect the Record?ing Sec?re?tary, Fri?ar Emanuele RIMOLI, who then offi?cial?ly opened the work of the Chap?ter. There were 91 Capit?u?lars and 13 audi?tors (with?out the right to vote). The tal?ly of Capit?u?lars accord?ing to their Fed?er?a?tion of ori?gin was as fol?lows: African Fed?er?a?tion of Con?ven?tu?al Fran?cis?cans (AFCOF) – 9; Cen?tralis Europae Foed?er?a?tio (CEF) – 11; Con?ven?tu?al Fran?cis?can Fed?er?a?tion (CFF) – 13; Fed?eración Améri?ca Lati?na Con?ven?tuales (FALC) – 16; Fed?er?a?tion of Asian Minors Con?ven?tu?al (FAMC) – 8; Foed?er?a?tio Europae Medi?ae et Ori?en?tal?is (FEMO) – 19; and Fed?er?azione Inter-mediter?ranea Min?istri Provin?ciali (FIMP) – 28.

The next day was ded?i?cat?ed to reflec?tion and prayer. His Emi?nence, Luis Anto?nio Gokim Car?di?nal TAGLE, Met?ro?pol?i?tan Arch?bish?op of Mani?la, the Philip?pines, and Pres?i?dent of Inter?na?tion?al Car?i?tas, gave two talks, one in the morn?ing on prophe?cy and anoth?er in the after?noon on mis?sion. He also presided over the Mass.

On Mon?day, May 20, Fri?ar Tomasz SZYMCZAK was elect?ed Sec?re?tary Gen?er?al of the Chap?ter and Fri?ars Jan MACIEJOWSKI, Col?in Charles SAMMUT and Fri?ar Mau?r?izio BRIDIO were elect?ed Mod?er?a?tors. In the after?noon, the out?go?ing Min?is?ter Gen?er?al, Fri?ar Mar?co TASCA, read his report. In it, he men?tioned the vital?i?ty of our Juris?dic?tions in the south?ern hemi?sphere, and the aging of the fri?ars in some of our more ancient Juris?dic?tions.

As the Chap?ter pro?gressed, reports were heard from the Gen?er?al Procu?ra?tor, Fri?ar Mau?r?izio DI PAOLO; the Gen?er?al Del?e?gate for the Sec?ond Order and Affil?i?at?ed Insti?tu?tions, Fri?ar Ger?mano TOGNETTI; the Gen?er?al Assis?tant for the Sec?u?lar Fran?cis?can Order (OFS), Fri?ar Alfred PARAMBAKATHU; the Inter?na?tion?al Pres?i?dent of the Mili?tia of the Immac?u?late (M.I.), Fri?ar Raf?faele DI MURO; the Gen?er?al Econom, Fri?ar Nico?la ROSA; the Sec?re?tary Gen?er?al for For?ma?tion, Fri?ar Louis PANTHIRUVELIL; the Sec?re?tary Gen?er?al for Mis?sion Ani?ma?tion, Fri?ar Jaros?aw WYSOCZA?SKI; the Pos?tu?la?tor Gen?er?al, Fri?ar Dami?an-Ghe?o?rghe P?TRA?CU; the Gen?er?al Del?e?gate for Jus?tice, Peace and Integri?ty of Cre?ation, Fri?ar Joseph BLAY; the Gen?er?al Del?e?gate for Ecu?menism and Inter?re?li?gious Dia?logue, Fri?ar Sil?vestru BEJAN, and the Sec?re?tary of the Exec?u?tive Com?mit?tee for the Revi?sion of the Con?sti?tu?tions, Fri?ar Tim?o?thy KULBICKI.

After?wards, the reports were dis?cussed in mixed groups. On Sat?ur?day, May 25, the Capit?u?lars elect?ed Fri?ar Car?los Alber?to TROVARELLI as the 120^th Min?is?ter Gen?er?al of the Order. Fri?ar Car?los belongs to the reli?gious “Rio?platense” Province of St. Antho?ny of Pad?ua in Argenti?na and Uruguay. He was born in Cin?co Saltos (Rio Negro), Argenti?na, on June 21, 1962. He made his solemn pro?fes?sion on Octo?ber 4, 1990, and was ordained to the priest?hood on March 25, 1995.

On Mon?day, May 27, the Gen?er?al Defin?i?tors were elect?ed. They are: the Vic?ar Gen?er?al, Fri?ar Jan MACIEJOWSKI, cur?rent Min?is?ter Provin?cial of the Province of St. Max?i?m?il?ian M. Kolbe in Poland (Gdańsk); the Sec?re?tary Gen?er?al, Fri?ar Tomasz SZYMCZAK of the Province of the Immac?u?late Moth?er of God in Poland (War?saw); the Assis?tant Gen?er?al for the FIMP Fed?er?a?tion, Fri?ar Gio?van?ni VOLTAN, cur?rent Min?is?ter Provin?cial of the Ital?ian Province of St. Antho?ny of Pad?ua (North?ern Italy); the Assis?tant Gen?er?al for the FEMO Fed?er?a?tion, Fri?ar Tomá? LES??K, cur?rent Provin?cial Cus?tos of the Provin?cial Cus?tody of the Immac?u?late Con?cep?tion of the B.V.M. in Slo?va?kia; the Assis?tant Gen?er?al for the FAMC Fed?er?a?tion, (recon?firmed) Fri?ar Benedet?to Seung-jae BAEK; the Assis?tant Gen?er?al for the CFF Fed?er?a?tion (recon?firmed) Fri?ar Jude Mar?tin WINKLER; the Assis?tant Gen?er?al for the CEF Fed?er?a?tion, Fri?ar Dominique Joseph MATHIEU of the Provin?cial Cus?tody of the Ori?ent and the Holy Land; the Assis?tant Gen?er?al for the FALC Fed?er?a?tion, Fri?ar Rogério PEREIRA XAVIER of the Province of St. Fran?cis in Brazil; the Assis?tant Gen?er?al for the AFCOF Fed?er?a?tion, Fri?ar Antho?ny Bezo KUTIERO, cur?rent Provin?cial Cus?tos of the Provin?cial Cus?tody of St. Antho?ny of Pad?ua in Ghana.

On Tues?day, May 28, the Chap?ter was trans?ferred to the Sanc?tu?ary of Mer?ci?ful Love in Coll?e?valen?za, Italy. On Wednes?day, May 29, dis?cus?sion and vot?ing on the Gen?er?al Statutes began. Its chap?ters fol?lowed the themes of the Con?sti?tu?tions. As was done at the 2018 Extra?or?di?nary Gen?er?al Chap?ter, the Capit?u?lars vot?ed arti?cle by arti?cle and there were many iux?ta mod?um.

At the same time, the Capit?u?lars dis?cussed and vot?ed on the Motions. Of note was Motion No. 8, which con?cerned the revi?sion of a Spe?cial Statute for the Gen?er?al Cus?tody of Assisi and the Sacred Con?vent of St. Fran?cis in Assisi. Its main issues con?cerned the mis?sio of Assisi’s three com?mu?ni?ties (Sacred Con?vent, Fran?cis?canum and Riv?o?tor?to), the priv?i?lege of its “dou?ble belong?ing” and the vot?ing mem?bers of its Cus?to?di?al Chap?ter.

Motion No. 11 was equal?ly impor?tant. It dealt with the redesign of the Juris?dic?tions of south?ern Italy. It involved the Province of St. Bernar?dine and St. Ange?lo in Italy (Abruz?zo), the Province of the Seraph?ic Father St. Fran?cis in Italy (Naples), the Province of St. Nicholas and St. Ange?lo in Italy (Puglia), The Province of St. Agatha and St. Lucy in Italy (Sici?ly) and the Provin?cial Cus?tody of St. Daniel and Com?pan?ion Mar?tyrs in Italy (Cal?abria). The approved pro?pos?al called for Abruz?zo and Puglia to unite into one Province; Sici?ly and Cal?abria to unite into anoth?er Province; and Naples was asked to redesign its pres?ences before it joined with oth?er Juris?dic?tions. The whole process is to be con?clud?ed by East?er of 2024.

On Fri?day, June 7, the over?all text of the Gen?er?al Statutes was unan?i?mous?ly approved.

On Sat?ur?day, June 8, Fri?ar Kaz?imierz SZULC, the Provin?cial Cus?tos of the Provin?cial Cus?tody of St. Fran?cis of Assisi in Kenya, pre?sent?ed a Motion to erect the Cus?tody as a Province. Kenya has around forty solemn?ly pro?fessed fri?ars and six fri?aries. Like?wise, Fri?ar Max?i?m?il?ianus Kalef SEMBIRING the Cus?tos of the Provin?cial Cus?tody of Mary Immac?u?late in Indone?sia pre?sent?ed a Motion to erect the Cus?tody as a Province; Indone?sia has eight fri?aries and around sev?en?ty-five solemn?ly pro?fessed fri?ars. After some dis?cus?sion, the Capit?u?lars vot?ed by accla?ma?tion and unan?i?mous?ly approved the erec?tion of both Provinces.

On Mon?day June 10, Fri?ar Louis PANTHIRUVELIL and Fri?ar Franklin Anto?nio DUR?N ZAMBRANO, Sec?re?tary and Vice-Sec?re?tary Gen?er?al for For?ma?tion, sum?ma?rized the con?tents of Fran?cis?can Dis?ci?ple?ship. In its Part I, for?ma?tion is seen as one being con?formed to Christ. Part II deals with the stages of for?ma?tion. Part III is about ongo?ing for?ma?tion as a con?tin?u?ous for?ma?tive jour?ney of the fri?ar; and Part IV deals with the com?pe?tences of the Supe?ri?ors in the for?ma?tion field and in the for?ma?tion of for?ma?tors. The Capit?u?lars dis?cussed the doc?u?ment in the Aula and worked on its eval?u?a?tion, grouped accord?ing to Coe?tus.

On Wednes?day, June 12, the Ratio Stu?dio?rum was pre?sent?ed, again by Fri?ars Louis PANTHIRUVELIL and Franklin Anto?nio DUR?N ZAMBRANO. The first chap?ter deals with the intel?lec?tu?al for?ma?tion of the fri?ars. The sec?ond chap?ter cov?ers the areas of study in var?i?ous for?ma?tion stages. The third chap?ter is about the pro?tag?o?nists of intel?lec?tu?al for?ma?tion. Final?ly, the fourth chap?ter exam?ines the struc?tures and means used for stud?ies.

On Fri?day, June 14, the Motion pre?pared by the Steer?ing Com?mit?tee for Fran?cis?can Dis?ci?ple?ship and the Ratio Stu?dio?rum was approved. Fran?cis?can Dis?ci?ple?ship will be approved ad exper?i?men?tum by the Gen?er?al Defin?i?to?ry by 2022 and be sub?mit?ted for the approval of the 2025 Ordi?nary Gen?er?al Chap?ter. The Ratio Stu?dio?rum will be defin?i?tive?ly approved by the Gen?er?al Defin?i?to?ry itself, by 2022, because the approval of the Chap?ter is not required by the Con?sti?tu?tions.

On Sat?ur?day, June 15, An “Open Let?ter to All the Fra?ter?ni?ties of the Order from the Fri?ars Gath?ered at the 202^nd Ordi?nary Gen?er?al Chap?ter of 2019” was pre?sent?ed in the Aula. All the con?fr?eres were invit?ed to be signs of reconciliation—friars in har?mo?ny with all of cre?ation. In ful?fil?ment of its final duties, the Chap?ter assem?bly elect?ed the Gen?er?al Econom, recon?firm?ing Fri?ar Nico?la ROSA from the Province of St. Nicholas and St. Ange?lo in Italy (Puglia). Fri?ar Leszek ?UCZKANIN of the Province of St. Max?i?m?il?ian M. Kolbe in Poland (Gdańsk) was elect?ed the Gen?er?al Exac?tor.

On June 17, His Emi?nence, Ange?lo Car?di?nal COMASTRI, presided over Mass in St. Peter’s Basil?i?ca. At noon, there was an audi?ence with Pope Fran?cis in the Clemen?tine Hall. After a salu?ta?tion from the new?ly elect?ed Min?is?ter Gen?er?al, Fri?ar Car?los TROVARELLI, the Pope then spoke and invit?ed the fri?ars to live as “broth?ers and in minor?i?ty.” After impart?ing his apos?tolic bless?ing, Pope Fran?cis bade the Capit?u?lars farewell and thanked them for their prayers for him and his ser?vice.

Fri?ar Aure?lio ERCOLI, Chron?i?cler