Fraternity, availability, commitment to peace: papal encouragement for Capuchin Franciscans
September 02, 2024
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CWN Editor's Note: Pope Francis encouraged members of the Order of Capuchin Friars Minor to live out “fraternity, availability, and commitment to peace” as an aid to their discernment and their missionary apostolate.
The Pope addressed participants in the order’s general chapter on August 31. The chapter’s theme was “The Lord gave me brothers to go out into the world”; it was the 86th general chapter since the order’s origins around 1525.
The “fundamental condition” of the Capuchin Franciscan charism, the Pontiff added, is “to be, in Christ, neighbors to all, especially the poor, the outcast and the despairing, none excluded.” He explained:
St. Francis, as we know, came to be universally known as the “man of peace,” beginning with his encounter with lepers, in whose embrace he discovered and accepted his own inner need for healing and in whose presence he came to recognize Christ as his Saviour. Thus forgiven, he became a bearer of forgiveness; thus loved, he became a source of love; thus reconciled, he was able to reconcile many others.
At the beginning of his address, Pope Francis recalled the ministry of Capuchin Franciscan friars in Buenos Aires—particularly their ministry in the confessional—and how he named one of them (Luis Pascual Dri) a cardinal.
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