The first priority is Fraternity.
Let me start with the numbers that I have received through our beloved National Vice-Minister Elaine Hedtke from you through the Collated Annual Report ending on December 31, 2011 from the Regions. I thank Elaine for this labor, and I thank all the Regional Ministers for your annual reporting to us. Our information is only as good as what you provide us.
By the numbers, NAFRA, the Secular Franciscan Fraternity of the United States, has around 13,328 active, permanently professed members nationwide, with 1165 inactive. Thus, by the numbers, our active membership continues to drop. I reported around 13,420 members in my 2011 Annual Report, and around 14,000 in my 2010 Annual Report (14,399 in one tally and 14,079 in another). In 2009 we reported 14,722 active, permanently professed members, which itself was a decline of 1,089 from the 2008 number of 15,811. Thus, I make a guesstimate of around 2,500 (2,483) fewer active, permanently professed members in the last four years.
To fill those missing seats at the Secular Franciscan table, we currently have 1156 Candidates, down from 1206 Candidates last year and 1224 Candidates in 2010; and 688 Inquirers, down from 865 Inquirers last year and 927 Inquirers in 2010. Let us all pray for their successful formation and discernment, as well as pray for more Inquirers and Candidates into our great Order.
We report 613 canonically established fraternities, a drop of 40 from our 2011 number of 653 fraternities, which was a decrease of 35 from our 2010 number of 688 fraternities, and a total drop of 105 canonically established fraternities from the 2008 reported number of 718.
The Collated Annual Report from the Regions records 41 "Emerging Communities," down 1 from last year; and 36 "Newly Forming Groups," an increase of 3 from last year.
What do these numbers mean? Well, again, if we are "called to build a more fraternal and evangelical world," then I will repeat and keep repeating what I wrote in my 2011 Annual Report and spoke about in my 2012 Vision of our Order: "Perhaps no aspect of the Secular Franciscan life should be of more concern to those called to leadership than the vitality of the fraternity, be it local, regional, national or international" (
http://www.nafra-sfo.org/meetings_and_resources.html).
After all, Article 92.1 of the General Constitutions of the Secular Franciscan Order states: "The purpose of both the pastoral and fraternal visits is to revive the evangelical Franciscan spirit, to assure fidelity to the charism and to the Rule, to offer help to fraternity life, to reinforce the bond of the unity of the Order, and to promote its most effective insertion into the Franciscan family and the Church."
These are the Constitutionally mandated "life signs," the specific "signs of vitality" that International Visitors must check when they visit National, what National Visitors must check when they visit Regional, what Regional Visitors must check when they visit Local, what Local Visitors must check when they visit a new or emerging group. These are the measures of how we all should be caring for our fraternities.
These are the measures that I, as National Minister, have stressed this past year in my writings; in my presence at our National Executive Council meetings; at the first-ever JPIC Rally at Our Lady of the Snows in Belleville, Illinois 04/12-15/12; in my visitations (Blessed Kateri Tekawitha Region, 04/26-29/12; Five Franciscan Martyrs Region, 05/25-27/12; and Brothers and Sisters of St. Francis Region 08/03-05/12); and perhaps most importantly at our 2012 Quinquennial (the Q) in Chicago 07/03-08/12.
Permit me to focus on our 2012 Quinquennial, my greatest joy and learning experience of 2012. Through the able leadership and hard work of the Q Planning Committee chaired by Patrick Mendes and Clare Reidy, of the National Executive Council and of the Host St. Mother Cabrini Region, the Q evidenced to me a true revival of the evangelical Franciscan spirit through our wonderful speakers and stimulating Q Congress Fraternities, our daily Masses and prayers.
Again, through these same means, perhaps especially through our four major speakers, Sister Ilia Delio OSF, Brother Bill Short OFM, Pat Brandwein-Ball OSF and our dearly departed Ed Shirley OSF, but also through the active and total participation of our beloved Conference of National Spiritual Assistants, we assured fidelity to the charism and to the Rule, offered help to fraternity life, reinforced the bond of the unity of the Order, and promoted its most effective insertion into the Franciscan family and the Church. It was my distinct honor, for example, to serve beside Bishop George J. Rassas, Auxiliary Bishop of the Archdiocese of Chicago, as he opened our 2012 Quinquennial with the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass.
I had hoped to have an ideal representation at the Q of one member from each local fraternity. As you can see above, we currently report 613 fraternities. Well, I hope you can sense my joy in sharing Christ in action, word and sacrament, meeting and praying and learning with 617, at last count, Franciscans from all over the United States, including, I believe, 25 of our 30 Regional Ministers, and all of our National Executive Council with the exception of Elaine who was recovering from pneumonia and under strict doctor’s orders not to travel. We also enjoyed international representation from both our Minister and Vice Minister General of our entire Order, Encarnita del Pozo from Spain and Doug Clorey from Canada.
I think the entire National Family can take great joy in the success of the 2012 Quinquennial, perhaps especially in furthering that fraternal and evangelical call we all have to our own sisters and brothers in our Order and throughout the world. Of the many things I learned, saw and felt, permit me to share one insight from Sister Ilia Delio, OSF. She noted that the prayer of St. Francis before the Crucifix at San Damiano begins, "Most High, glorious God, enlighten the darkness of my heart."
To Sister Ilia, the heart is the key to St. Francis, not the mind; and love is the highest good. Love is the deepest form of knowledge; love is the knowledge and power of God. To St. Francis, she said, God is outward-moving love, deeply in love with Creation. Love is relational, seen in the love of the Father for the Son, the Son for the Father, a Love Who is the Holy Spirit. The whole of Creation is a movement of love, a movement of the Trinity into all of Creation.
I hope and pray that our 2012 Quinquennial can enflame each of us evermore in that evangelical love of Christ and the Gospels at every level of fraternity, and may our fraternal and evangelical love attract others out in the world to our Faith, as Pope Benedict urges in the opening paragraph above.
Even with this great success of the 2012 Q, however, I must continue to stress that every Secular Franciscan fraternity deserves "capable and well-prepared persons" (General Constitutions Article 88.1) as Spiritual Assistants because the essential element of "vital Secular Franciscan fraternities" is the spiritual. Again, almost copying the words of Pope Benedict above in the first paragraph, I have said and will continue to say that we are wasting our time in fraternity if we are not concerned at every meeting with ongoing, even daily conversion, as we strive to turn away from sin and come closer in our thoughts, words and deeds to our Risen Savior Jesus Christ (Secular Franciscan Rule 7).
Again, according to the Collated Annual Report from the Regions, we reported 466 Spiritual Assistants (down from 495 the year before, and 506 in 2010) for 613 local fraternities and 30 Regional fraternities. We all know local fraternities that lack a formal, appointed, appropriate Spiritual Assistant, and I have been to Regions that have only one, often over-worked and venerable, Spiritual Assistant to serve the whole Region.
Supplying "capable and well-prepared" Spiritual Assistants to every fraternity at the local and regional level is a continuing problem, which needs our continued prayer and attention. Again, with prayer, I know of no "easy fix," but I encourage everyone involved in leadership at any level of fraternity to avail herself or himself of the Franciscan Family Connection’s (Spiritual Assistant’s) Course and to be prepared, as with first aid, to give and to seek "capable and well-prepared" Franciscan Spiritual Assistance wherever and whenever needed.
At the National level, we continue to be blessed by the prayers, advice, example and service of our Conference of National Spiritual Assistants, all of whom shone so brightly at the Q: in alphabetical order, Friar Lester Bach OFM Cap and current President in turn; Friar Bob Brady OFM; Friar Steve Gross OFM Conv; and Friar Kevin Queally TOR. Would that every Regional and local fraternity could have such Spirit-filled assistance!
Further, concerning vital fraternity life, if we are called to build a more fraternal and evangelical world, our Spirituality and evangelical love of the Lord and the Gospels must be witnessed out in the world, again, as our Holy Father emphasized above in the first paragraph.
Thus, perhaps the second greatest joy, after the Q, for me this past year was the first ever Justice, Peace and Integrity of Creation (JPIC) Commission Rally April 12 to 15, 2012 at Our Lady of the Snows in Belleville, Illinois, under the able leadership of our JPIC Chair Kent Ferris. I loved the one on one sharing the Rally modeled, which could be used to build fraternity at every level, and I was impressed by the energy and ideas of the 37 people who attended from 21 Regions. Regional Ministers who had a JPIC person in attendance should be proud of each of your people. Although we will soon be losing Kent as our JPIC Chair as he focuses more energy on Diaconal Formation in his Diocese, the Rally strengthened the unity of, and gave renewed spirit to, the JPIC Commission.
From that invigorated JPIC Commission of 12 members, I feel the new National Executive Council will be able to find an excellent successor to Kent. Kent has also promised to continue to serve on that Commission, if asked. I would encourage the new National Executive Council to consider seriously a second JPIC Rally in the near future to continue to build energy for, and focus attention on, Justice, Peace and Integrity of Creation, "the DNA of our Franciscan life, of our Franciscan spirituality," said the Rally’s Keynote Speaker, Friar Pio Jackson, OFM, Spiritual Assistant to St. Clare Regional Fraternity.
The fourth priority is Youth.
One of the joys of many joys from both the Q and the JPIC Rally was to meet with the young people in attendance (from before college age with Kent Ferris’s children to college age with students from Siena College in New York State to professed or in candidacy Secular Franciscans in their twenties and thirties). These young people are truly attracted to our Secular Franciscan charism and life. At the Q, for example, I gathered one evening with all those interested in Youth. There I listened to and shared with, in alphabetical order, Rob Breen, Barbara Countryman, Rhett Engelking, Lonnie Ellis, Kent and Lori and Clare Ferris, Linda Monitello, Pamela Townsend, Gladys Veloz and about 30 others.
Rob Breen, a Secular Franciscan who teaches at Siena College, has been the Spiritual Advisor to a Franciscan Youth Group at the College for several years. Pamela Townsend, a rising Junior at the College, I believe, is the head of that group. I met Rob and Pamela and four of Pamela’s fellow students at a visitation to Blessed (soon to be Saint) Kateri Tekawitha Region in April 2012. At that time, Pamela agreed to come to the Q, which she did, bringing with her a fellow student Gladys Veloz, and to our National Chapter, which, it appears, she will. Barbara is a young Secular Franciscan mom, who attended Secular Franciscan gatherings as a child and young adult with her parents, and whose children went with Anne Mulqueen to World Youth Day in Madrid Spain last year. Rhett, Lonnie and Kent were all at the JPIC Rally as well as at the Q. They are thus attracted to us both by Youth and by JPIC. Lori is Kent’s wife and herself a Secular Franciscan, and Clare is their oldest (thirteen years old, I believe) daughter. Linda is a Secular Franciscan who has worked with Organizers and Groups of Youth in her local diocese.
I would encourage the new National Executive Council to talk to these people as we continue to seek, but have not yet found, a "youthful" Chair for our Youth and Young Adults. Youth needs to be represented by Youth.
As in previous years, this year’s Collated Annual Report from the Regions reports a wide variety of activities with Youth around the United States. I remember at the Q Youth Meeting, Siena College student Gladys Veloz being asked what attracted her to the Franciscan Youth Group on campus. She said that she was attracted by their faith; she said that they were all good people; and she said they offered her the opportunity to help out.
From that meeting and from talking to other young people at the Q, at the JPIC Rally and at the Blessed Kateri Tekawitha Regional Visitation, I have learned that our youth are attracted by faith-based, welcoming Franciscan communities that are involved in prayer and in improving the world around them. As before, let us pray that all of us will do what we can to celebrate and encourage Youth. Let us pray for youthful hearts for all of our members that we might attract other youthful hearts, no matter the age.
