{"id":114179,"date":"2025-07-05T11:04:41","date_gmt":"2025-07-05T09:04:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ofmcap.org\/incontro-dei-fratelli-laici\/"},"modified":"2025-07-19T12:14:06","modified_gmt":"2025-07-19T10:14:06","slug":"incontro-dei-fratelli-laici","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ofmcap.org\/en\/incontro-dei-fratelli-laici\/","title":{"rendered":"Meeting of Lay Brothers"},"content":{"rendered":"

Update Letter<\/strong><\/p>\n

Dear Brothers,<\/p>\n

Following up on the Letter of Convocation<\/em> in January of this year, which announced the Capuchin Lay Brothers\u2019 Meeting and offered the necessary preliminary information, I would like now to share with you some updates and insights.<\/p>\n

First, I again express my desire that the November meeting involve the whole Order and the engagement of all the brothers. We\u2019ve been brought together as brothers by the Holy Spirit in the same vocation and we all desire \u2013 both ordained and lay brothers \u2013 in imitation of St. Francis and following the Capuchin tradition, to express the apostolic nature of our vocation by the witness of our lives in everything that we do in obedience and fraternal communion (Cf. Const. 13:3; 37:1). Each brother, therefore, with his life experience can enrich the other and contribute to the mission of the Church.<\/p>\n

With this in mind, a questionnaire on the lay dimension of our vocation was sent out to all the friars of the Order, for the purpose of exploring its richness and getting suggestions on how to strengthen it further. Thank you for taking the time to reflect already at this stage and for your responses, which we received in numbers exceeding one thousand.<\/p>\n

The commitment of the whole Order will also be palpable in that the November meeting will be attended not only by 80 lay brothers \u2013 delegates of the individual conferences \u2013 but also by the General Councilors and the members of the International Formation Council. I hope that their presence will provide a better understanding of the current state of the Order in the area of formation, as far as the lay dimension of our vocation is concerned and will help to formulate guidelines for the future in this regard. The General Secretariat for Formation is in contact with the individual councilors of the conferences and is clarifying their role so that, with their experience, they can contribute to the fruitfulness of the entire meeting.<\/p>\n

A particularly important element of the animation of the whole Order, in view of the Lay Brothers\u2019 Meeting, will be the meetings and reflections at the level of the individual conferences, involving all lay brothers, so that the chosen delegates can bring to Rome not only their own experiences, but also that of others. To this end, questions have been sent to all conference presidents that should serve as an aid for animation:<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. What should we be celebrating about the vocation of the lay brother?<\/li>\n
  2. What are some difficulties you have faced as a lay brother?<\/li>\n
  3. What is your hope for the future of the lay brother\u2019s vocation?<\/li>\n
  4. How can we make the Church understand the lay vocation and the concept of fraternity as understood by the Capuchins?<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    The results of this conference-level exercise will be shared directly in November by the brother delegates.<\/p>\n

    Another step that will involve the entire Order in reflecting on the lay dimension of our common Capuchin Franciscan vocation is the continuation of the November meeting at the level of individual conferences in 2026. Already now I ask the presidents of the conferences to begin planning it.<\/p>\n

    Participants in the November meeting in Rome (i.e. the lay brother delegates and the members of the International Formation Council) should be involved in its preparation and its coordination.<\/p>\n

    I also want to share the themes of the talks that are being prepared and that I hope will serve not only for in-depth reflection during the meeting in Rome, but also in next year\u2019s conference meetings and for other occasions in the individual circumscriptions of the Order:<\/p>\n

      \n
    • The vocation of the lay brother in the documents of the Church (Br. Regis Armstrong)<\/em><\/li>\n
    • The vocation of the lay brother in the documents of the Order (Dr. Patrizia Morelli<\/em>)<\/li>\n
    • Capuchin holiness in its lay expression (Br. <\/em>Carlo Calloni & Br. Antoine Haddad)<\/em><\/li>\n
    • The vocation of the lay brother from the recent past until today (Br. Giacomo Franchini)<\/em><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

      In conclusion, I repeat here what I wrote in my initial letter for the current sexennium:<\/p>\n

      \u201cIt will be a cause of true fruitfulness for the whole Order, if the meeting of the lay brothers spurs on everyone to witness that religious consecration – alone! \u2013 is completely suitable to give full meaning to our existence. If we become more aware of this, the occasion of the 500th anniversary of the Capuchin Reform will remain not only a remembrance and celebration of an important anniversary, but will become a catalyst for a conversion of our mindset and our specific way of doing things, so that access to and formation in our life will be fostered for all those whom God calls to be brothers and minors with us. Let us ask the Lord that it will result for us in a renewed attention to the lay dimension, which constitutes a decisive face for the quality, authenticity and completeness of our identity in the Capuchin Franciscan charism.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

      Given in Rome, 3 July 2025<\/p>\n

      Anniversary of the approval of our Order<\/em><\/p>\n

      \u00a0(1528 \u2013 \u201cBull Religionis Zelus\u201d of Pope Clement VII)<\/em><\/p>\n

      Br. Roberto Genuin<\/strong><\/p>\n

      General Minister OFMCap<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

      Update Letter Dear Brothers, Following up on the Letter of Convocation in January of this year, which announced the Capuchin Lay Brothers\u2019 Meeting and offered the necessary preliminary information, I…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":114172,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1167,917],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-114179","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-meeting-of-lay-brothers-2025","category-other-news"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nMeeting of Lay Brothers - Frati Minori Cappuccini<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Update Letter from the Minister General Roberto Genuin regarding the Lay Brothers' Meeting in November 2025 in Rome\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.ofmcap.org\/en\/incontro-dei-fratelli-laici\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Meeting of Lay Brothers - 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