Frascati, ROME – During the week of June 28 through July 4, 2026, at our friary in Frascati, a meeting was held for the new ministers who had been elected or appointed over the past year in the various circumscriptions of our Order (Provincial Ministers and Custodes).
This meeting is a very important opportunity for learning and sharing for our friars who have recently been called to serve as Provincial Ministers and Custodes. During these days, the participants had the opportunity to explore in depth the responsibilities that await them as major superiors, to learn more about and become familiar with the Order’s general structures; furthermore, they had the opportunity to meet and share with the General Minister and his Council.
The General Minister opened the proceedings by encouraging the newly elected members to perform their service with diligence and care, keeping in mind the direction of the Order’s journey today and the various initiatives for the sexennium we are currently in.
This was followed by the topics on the agenda, supported by reports prepared in advance in the necessary languages and presented by several General Councilors and friars in charge of various offices of the General Curia.
Here is a list—which is by no means exhaustive—of the topics covered, which can be divided into three groups: the values of our charism as they apply to the ministry of the Major Superior (fidelity to the consecrated life, the exercise of authority and obedience, the leadership of a Circumscription, fraternal collaboration, formation, fraternal stewardship, missionary leadership, JPIC leadership, etc.); certain operational elements pertaining to their service (canonical aspects—the office of the Procurator—of governance in various areas, the mid-term report, postulation, the St. Lawrence of Brindisi fraternities, communication, relations with the General Secretariat and the Offices of the Curia, assistance to the OFS, etc.); the Order’s central cultural institutions (Central Library, International College, Historical Institute, Franciscan Museum).
On the morning of July 3, the meetings gave way to the celebration of the 10th Annual Capuchin Family Day at our friary on Via Vittorio Veneto in Rome, where we spent the morning reflecting and sharing on the journey of the centennial celebrations we are experiencing as an Order (the Transitus of St. Francis and the anniversary of the Capuchin Reform). They then proceeded to the General Curia to meet the friars from the various offices with whom they will be working in their role of governing and animating their own Circumscription.
That same afternoon, the entire group visited our International College of St. Lawrence of Brindisi to learn firsthand about the work of this institution, the Central Library, the Historical Institute, and the Franciscan Museum.
The course concluded on July 4–5 in the cradle of Franciscanism: Assisi. There, the Provincial Ministers were able to reflect on the information they had received and the atmosphere of fraternity experienced during the gathering, bringing it all back to the words that inspired the Poverello: “Francis, go and repair my house” (heard in the church of San Damiano—a source of great inspiration for the new Ministers as they face the work ahead of them). The Sanctuary of the Spoliation welcomed our friars for a celebration of Eucharist, and the other churches in Assisi provided further opportunity for reflection and personal prayer, after which they returned to their respective circumscriptions enriched by the journey.
