The meeting of the Capuchin Conference of India, CCMSI, was held February 11-13, 2025 in Hyderabad, Mary Matha Province, Andhra Pradesh-Orissa. The meeting was attended by 12 Provincial Ministers, 2 Custodes and 5 Provincial Delegates. The assembly elected new appointees in the following roles: Br. George Antony Assaricheril (Provincial Minister of St. Joseph, Kerala) as President, Br. Joseph Mathew Arulmarianathan (Provincial Minister of Tamil Nadu North) as Vice President, Br. Brian Bandya (Provincial Minister of Maharashtra) as Secretary.
The meeting focused mainly on discerning and planning the way forward for the Conference over the next 6 years. There were two main objectives: to deepen our witness to the Capuchin charism, emphasizing our contemplative dimension and to improve our self-sustainability, keeping in mind our charismatic identity. To achieve these objectives, some ways and means were identified.
Some other decisions came as a result of the assembly, including:
– July 28, 2025, World Nature Conservation Day, will be celebrated this year as the Conference’s recognition of the Canticle of the Creatures Jubilee, coordinated by JPIC of India.
– Completion of the Ratio Formationis Localis by 2026.
– A two-year preparation was planned to begin to celebrate the 500th anniversary of the Capuchin Reform. It will begin with the gathering of post-novices in India (about 300) in November 2026 and conclude with the Indian Chapter of Mats in October 2028.
In addition, it was reaffirmed that we want to give continuity to the commitment of some friars in India, along the lines of the St. Lawrence of Brindisi international communities, in order to bring intense witness to our charism in the specific Indian context of religious pluralism and poverty. The meeting also emphasized the need to continue to deepen the collaboration that already exists within the Conference. In this regard, the Conference was pleased with the recent coordinated efforts to support the victims of ethnic violence in Manipur, India: here CCMSI has contributed to the construction of 50 houses for the victims, bringing together all the Franciscan families in India with other religious congregations in Tamil Nadu, South India (all together they have raised about 300,000 euros). The housing area was named St. Francis Veng (village).
