Report of the General Minister fr. Mauro Jöhri Summary 1. INTRODUCTION .................................................................... 6 2. THE MANDATE RECEIVED FROM THE 2012 GENERAL CHAPTER ............................................................... 12 2.1. The renewal of the Constitutions .......................................... 12 2.2. The safeguarding of minors and vulnerable adults ........... 19 2.3. Guidelines for Fraternal Collaboration between Circumscriptions ............................................................................ 23 2.4. Our identity as Brothers ......................................................... 29 3.THE LIFE OF THE ORDER IN THE LIGHT OF THE EIGHTH PLENARY COUNCIL OF THE ORDER: THOUGHTS AND PROSPECTS ............................................ 31 3.1. Called to participate in the work of creation ....................... 31 3.2. The first work ........................................................................... 32 3.3. Brothers who work together .................................................. 35 3.4. Lesser brothers at the service of all ....................................... 41 3.5. Let us earn our living from our work ................................... 44 3.6. Ready to exercise any type of apostolate ............................. 45 3.7. Learning to work ..................................................................... 51 3.8. The mystique of brotherhood ................................................ 53 4. CHANGES AND DEVELOPMENTS IN THE ORDER.. 55 4.1. Structural changes ................................................................... 55 4.2. Interpreting the statistics ........................................................ 58 4.3. The Fraternities for Europe project ....................................... 61 5. AN OVERVIEW OF THECONFERENCES OF THE ORDER ......................................................................................... 65 5.1. PACC(698) ................................................................................ 65 5.2. CCMSI(1792) ............................................................................ 66 5.3. CONCAM(260) ........................................................................ 68 5.4. CCA(328)................................................................................... 70 5.5. CCB(1023) ................................................................................. 70 5.6. NAPCC(639) ............................................................................. 71 5.7. EACC and CONCAO(977 + 510) ........................................... 72 5.8. ASMEN(151) ............................................................................. 75 5.9. CIC(354) .................................................................................... 75 5.10. CECOC(820) ........................................................................... 76 5.11. CIMPCAP (1855) .................................................................... 77 5.12. CENOC(720) ........................................................................... 78 6. OUR CAPUCHIN BISHOPS ............................................... 80 6.1. Appointments during the sexennium .................................. 80 6.2. Transfer of See .......................................................................... 82 6.3. Retirements ............................................................................... 83 6.4. May they rest in peace ............................................................ 85 7. CANONISED & BEATIFIED BROTHERS ....................... 88 8. GOVERNANCE AND ANIMATION OFTHE ORDER . 89 8.1. The General Minister and his Council: changes and collaboration .................................................................................... 89 8.2. Meetings of the General Council with the Conferences of the Order ..................................................................................... 92 8.3. Meetings with the Presidents of the Conferences of the Order ................................................................................................ 93 8.4. Visits to the Circumscriptions and presiding at Chapters ........................................................................................... 95 9. THE GENERAL CURIA ........................................................ 97 9.1. The Fraternity ........................................................................... 97 9.2. The General Secretariat ........................................................... 100 9.3. The personal secretary of the General Minister .................. 101 9.4. The office of the General Procurator ..................................... 102 9.5. The office of the General Postulator ..................................... 104 9.6. The General Secretariat for missionary animation ............. 105 9.7. The General Secretariat for formation .................................. 109 9.8. The Communications Office .................................................. 113 9.9. The General Bursary ............................................................... 115 9.10. The Economic Solidarity Office ........................................... 118 9.11. The Office for Justice, Peace and Integrity of Creation .... 121 9.12. Information technology ........................................................ 124 9.13. Statistics .................................................................................. 124 9.14. The current Archive .............................................................. 125 9.15. The General Assistant for Capuchin Nuns and Institutes affiliated to the Order ................................................... 126 9.16. The General Assistant for the Secular Franciscan Order . 128 10.CULTURAL INSTITUTIONS .......................................... 130 10.1. The International College of Saint Laurence of Brindisi .. 130 10.2. The Franciscan Institute of Spirituality .............................. 133 10.3. The Historical Institute ......................................................... 134 10.4. The Central Library and the Historical Archive ............... 136 10.5. The Capuchin Lexicon .......................................................... 137 11. HOUSES DEPENDENT ON THE GENERAL MINISTER ................................................................................. 140 11.1. Jerusalem, “Light of the World” Fraternity ....................... 140 11.2. The Frascati Fraternity .......................................................... 143 11.3. The “Saint Fidelis of Sigmaringen” Fraternity at Via Cairoli 43, Rome .............................................................................. 144 11.4. The fraternity of ”La Garbatella”, Rome ............................ 145 11.5. The “Santa Maria della Consolazione” Fraternity, Rome ................................................................................................. 146 11.6. The Fraternity of the “Holy House” of Loreto .................. 146 11.7. Kofole ...................................................................................... 148 11.8. Readiness for service and the sense of belonging to the Order ................................................................................................ 150 12. THE JOURNEY OF THE FRANCISCAN FAMILY ..... 152 12.1. A single Franciscan University in Rome ............................ 152 12.2. Steps towards a possible unification of the three Franciscan Families ........................................................................ 154 12.3. Instances of Collaboration now under way ....................... 156 13. CONCLUSION ................................................................... 158 13.1. The geography of the Order has changed .......................... 158 13.2. In search of our charismatic identity .................................. 162 13.3. The logo of the General Chapter ......................................... 164 Summary 85th General Chapter of the Order of Capuchin Friars Minor Report of the General Minister Br. Mauro Jöhri 1. INTRODUCTION 1. “On his return from the East in the spring of 1220, Francis, on account of the physical limitations due to his many illnesses, was obliged to reduce his spoken communications to those far away from the circle of his closest companions and collaborators. But his need to communicate the fragrant words of our Lord Jesus Christ was still there. And so, writing became the instrument by which he overcame the distances he was no longer able to tackle physically. We are talking about the final years of Brother Francis, when, in his unmistakable epistolary style, he addressed long messages of exhortation to various categories of people, first of all to his brothers, whom he could no longer address by word of mouth. Nor was he able to attend capitular gatherings in person, but he did want his word to be present. The addition found in the most authoritative and reliable codices containing the Epistola toti Ordinimissa is very clear: De littera et 6 Summary admonitione beatissimi patris nostri Francisci quam misit fratribus ad capitulum quando erat infirmus.”1 2. These words are meant for us too, as we gather for the 85th General Chapter. Let me read you the opening passages: In the name of the most high Trinity and holy Unity: the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. To all my reverend and dearly beloved brothers: to Brother …the General Minister of the Order of Friars Minor, its lord, and the other general ministers who will come after him, and