IRISH FRANCISCAN MISSION MAGAZINE No.2 FEB/MAR 2011 €1.00

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St Anthony Brief

We cannot achieve our inherent dignityour divine sonship and our divine daughterhood. All we can do is awaken to it and start drawing upon it, appreciating it, revelling in it. We live with an inherent dignity by reason of our creation, a dignity that no one has given to us and no one can take from us.And it has nothing to do with our race or religion. Hindus have it and Buddhists have it and pagans in Africa have it. They are just as much children of God as we are. Objectively. Theologically. Eternally. Where else do you think they came from? Did some other god create them, except THE GOD? Their divine DNA is the same as ours. We deny our supposed monotheism if we believe anything else.

– Richard Roher, OFM

Who are the Children of God?

Spirit and Life

4 From the Editor.

5 God’s Faithful Love All Along the Way. In a talk given to theAssembly of the Secular Franciscans last August Fr LománMacAodha, OFM, reflected on God in the life of the young Francis.

8 Anatomy of a Vigil. On 20th November Friar Joshua van Cleef,OFM, joined thousands of human rights activists for the annualSchool of the Americas Watch at Fort Benning, Georgia, USA.

10 Breaking the Cycle of Violence. Marko Phiri believes thatcalls for restorative justice in Zimbabwe must be heeded now.

12 Church Brief.

13 National Franciscan Pilgrimage to the Holy Land.

14 Angela of Foligno. Pope Benedict spoke recently of themystic, Blessed Angela of Foligno, one of the great women inthe Franciscan story.

16 LENT to us. Sr Mary Burke, FMDM, reflects on the message ofthe life and martyrdom of the monks of Tibhirine, now made intothe awarding-winning film Of Gods and Men.

19 Last Testament. This profound document was written by DomChristian de Chergé. It was opened shortly after Dom Christianand others of his Cistercian community were murdered inAlgeria in 1996.

20 A Hoodoo Ship for Franciscans? Fr Patrick Conlan, OFM,recalls how two Irish friars in Australia had, at different times,close calls with the liner Tahiti.

22 News from Around the Franciscan World.

23 “They Never Left Us.” Margaret Rossiter, a member of theSecular Franciscans, writes of the presence of the friars inClonmel over the centuries.

24 The Uphill Journey of Jesus. Continuing his series of articlesin preparation for the Dublin Eucharistic Congress in 2012, FrTom Russell, OFM, reflects on the Eucharist as the celebrationof our liberation by Christ.

27 Seeds of Hope. Fr Gearóid Ó Conaire, OFM, continues hisreflections on Church and society in El Salvador today.

30 Mission Digest.

31 Letters to the Editor.

Volume 71 No.2

Missionary Magazine of the Irish Franciscans. Published bi-monthly by the Franciscan Missionary Union, 8 Merchants Quay, Dublin 8.

Editor: Fr Bernard Jones, OFM.

Production: Fr Francis Cotter, OFM.

Subscription & Distribution Secretary:Helen Doran. Tel: (01) 6777651.

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Subscription including Postage:Ireland – €12.00 per annum Britain – Stg£12.00 per annumOverseas – €15.00 per annum

Feb/Mar 20113

SStt AA nthonynthony BriefBrief

Moving Toward the Light People are returning to normal and the bright lights of Christmas are put away for another year.We have moved into a new year and some people are even saying that they can notice a stretchin the day. Soon it will be time again to get out into the garden and start preparing the groundfor planting. The order of the year is moving soon into the long days and hopefully betterweather, an end to the hardship that the snow of Christmas brought us.The order of creation is a sign for each of us that God is in charge; each time has its season. Attimes we may feel differently but our faith tells us He is our hope and all good things come fromHim. We belong to Him for He created us and His love for each of us is unconditional. In Scripture we read:Think of the love that the Father has lavished on us,By letting us be called God’s children;And that is what we are.My dear people, we are already the children of GodBut what we are to be in the future has not been revealed;We shall be like himBecause we shall see him as he really is. (1 John: 3:10,12)As we move further away from the season of Christmas may we always carry the light withineach of us. The light that changed the world will also change each of us if we allow it touch ourlives.I thank you for your support and wish you every blessing and good health for 2011.

– Bernard Jones, OFM (bernardofm@eircom.net)

From the Editor…

St Anthony Brief4

Fr Bernard Jones

Francis could have said what StAugustine had said in hisConfessions: “Late have I loved

you, O Beauty, at once so ancient andso new. Late have I come to love you!You were with me but I was not withyou; I was in the world outside myself.”Francis did not know for a long time howpersonally God had been in his life fromthe very beginning. Elements of thebiblical awareness of God’s presencewould have dawned on him only late inthe day. Yet see how enraptured he waseventually as he described the delight ofGod’s Trinitarian love in our human livesas he wrote his Letter to the Faithful(incorporated as the Prologue to theSFO Rule of 1978). This biblicalbackground would have includedawareness of Psalm 139: “Truly youhave created my inmost being; you knitme in my mother’s womb; I give youthanks that I am fearfully, wonderfullymade” (Psalm 139:13,4).

The book of Deuteronomy hadreminded the Jewish people, as theyneared the Promised Land, after 40years of faithfulness and unfaithfulnessin the desert: “You saw the Lord yourGod carry you as a parent carries theirchild all along your journey until youarrived at this place” (1:31). The faithfulGod is always constant in loving mercyno matter how unfaithful, we, His people,are. Often, it is only afterwards we seeit. Jesus in His time wanted to show how“over the top” this love of God is whenHe spoke of the good shepherd who iswilling to leave ninety nine sheep to golooking for the one who is lost. God islike that beyond all our human expec-tation. Again, Jesus said that all thehairs of our head are counted by Godbecause of God’s great concern for us. If

Feb/Mar 20115

In a talk given to theAssembly of the

Secular Franciscanslast August Fr Lomán

MacAodha, OFM,reflected on God in the

life of the youngFrancis.

God cares for sparrows, how much morefor wayward children!

When we reflect on how God workedin the early life of Francis until heeventually saw the world “from below,”either in the dungeons of Perugia ordismounted from his “high horse,” as heembraced the leper, we see Francisenveloped in God’s care as the Bibledescribes it. God still finds us as hefound Francis, inattentive, untrusting,taken up with other egoistic concerns,and yet draws us to Himself. AsDeuteronomy says: “Despite all my care,you would not trust the Lord your Godwho journeys before you to find you aresting place” (1:32). God with us andeven ahead of us. That would remind usof what Jesus said to His disciples at the

supper, to those who were about to denyHim and abandon Him: “I go before youto prepare a place for you.” Like Father,like Son, one could say! God lovedFrancis from his mother’s womb as Godloves each one of us.

Good ParentsAs God brought Francis into humanexistence in his mother’s womb, Godloved him and gave him into the care ofgood parents who did their imperfectbest for him (as is the case for all of us).His parents had Francis baptised,enabling him to receive the greatest giftof grace God can give, that is becominga child of God’s love and a sharer in theHoly Trinity of love. Like for all of us, thiswas the foundational grace for Francis

God’s FaithfulLove All Along

the Way

Contemplation: sculpture of St Francis at San Damiano

St Anthony Brief6

himself; “over the top,” either in revelryor in conversion, whenever that came.

Later on, Francis was conscious ofhaving gone astray during thosetempestuous years, say from 1197 to1203 when he joined in the battleagainst Perugia. He remembered thoseyears later on when he said in hisTestament: “While I was in sin.” He wassummarising the years of his carefree,even careless independence before hewas given the grace of getting down offhis (high) horse to embrace the leper. Itwas only then, after his humiliating andmiserable experience in the dungeons ofPerugia, that Francis saw human life“from below.” The leper saw life alwaysfrom below and Francis embraced thatperspective in kissing the leper, thequintessential outsider of that time.

BreakthroughGod was with Francis in his year’simprisonment and also in his rescue byway of his father paying ransom moneyfor his release. God was with him in thebreakdown of his health because ofmalaria and tuberculosis and thedepression that unnerved him during theyear after his return to Assisi. God waswith him as he wandered aimlessly inthe countryside, finding no relish inanything that he had previously enjoyed.God was with him as he wandered into

and it took him a long time and manyups and downs before he was consciousof how precious that grace continued tobe in his life. He had to engage with thepersonal darkness that flooded his innerbeing during his miserable experience inthe dungeons of Perugia and in theemotional breakdown he suffered there,allied with malaria and possibly tubercu-losis from which he suffered for the restof his life. After the darkness came theenlightenment which he wished to sharewith everyone: “How happy and blessedare those [who love God] because theSpirit of the Lord will rest on them…How glorious it is to have a great andholy Father in heaven!” This was thegrace of baptism coming to fullness inFrancis’ life. He was slow to catch up ina personal way with the grace of hisbaptism, as is the case for all of us.

Not only was Francis given suchgrace from the beginning, he was alsoreared by two good people, each ofthem influencing his life in ways thatwould come to fullness in a uniquelypersonal way later. The devotion andprayerfulness of his mother and thehardworking industriousness of hisfather, each had a long lasting effect forgood in his life. Francis’ feminine sideblossomed when he was “given brothersby the Lord” and he would care for themas “a mother cares for her own child.”He was blessed by having a father whocould travel to northern Italy, southernFrance and as far as Flanders in pursuitof business opportunities. His fatherlikely brought Francis with him on someof these trips when Francis was finishedwith the few years of schooling at theChurch of St George in Assisi. Thistravelling opened up Francis’ awarenessto other cultures and languages andcustoms so that he came to know theworld from within (and not from someseminary shelter!). God was travellingwith Francis and his father, opening hiseyes to the human in all its guises, goodand not so good. God was carrying himlike a parent would care for a child. Itcould be said that Francis’ father hadgreat hopes for his son as a future clothmerchant and inheritor of his earthlyestate.

Tempestuous YearsAs Francis grew into his later teens, heshowed a different kind of personality

and made it less likely that he wouldfulfil his father’s dreams. Like allhealthy young men he fashioned hisown identity, however disappointing thatmight be to parents. The Legend of theThree Companions puts is succinctly:“Francis was vastly different from hisfather – more good-natured andgenerous but given over to revelry andsong with his friends, roaming day andnight throughout the city of Assisi.” Itseems that his parents tolerated thiswild carry-on, very normal amongyoung men in medieval cities of thetime: “They were wealthy and lovedFrancis very much, they tolerated allthese things to avoid upsetting him.”Not too unlike many contemporaryparents!

Yet, his mother had great hopes forhim as she is reported to have said tothose who commented adversely onFrancis’ wild lifestyle: “He will still be agodly man, through grace.” She lived inhope, like Monica, Augustine’s mother,that God’s grace would prevail. Surely,that is part of how God is active inyoung people’s lives, by way of theirparents’ hope and compassion. Allparenting is a mixed bag, never perfect.Francis’ parents loved him, yet theyspoiled him; Francis himself wasgenerous with others and yet a spend-thrift. Francis was always going to be

Life from below: embracing the leper

Feb/Mar 2011

poor and abandoned churches, lookingfor something for his darkness of spirit.Maybe it was then that he learned to saythat lovely prayer, this time from the veryheart of his life: “Most high, gloriousGod, enlighten the darkness of my heartand give me, Lord, a correct faith, acertain hope, a perfect charity, senseand knowledge so that I may carry outyour holy and true command.” God waswith Francis in the breakdown intodarkness and in the breakthrough intothe light that embraced the leper.Everything became new again.

God answered Francis’ prayer forenlightenment as Francis got off his highhorse and identified with the “little ones”of the world. The Gospel, proclaimed onhis feast-day recalls the words of Jesus’prayer: “I thank you Father, Lord ofheaven and earth for revealing themysteries of the Kingdom to the littleones” (Matthew 11:25). God had beenleading Francis through the darkness ofthe breakdown of his own world in whichFrancis was in charge, as he thought.He had given in to “the seductions of theworld” as Pope Gregory IX, once calledCardinal Ugolino, said in the documentof Francis’ canonisation. Friar Thomas ofCelano, the first to write the story ofFrancis’ life, two years after his death,said that he was “reared indulgently andcarelessly….he was taught shamefuland detestable things, full of excess” bythe company he kept. And yet, God wasfaithful in His love for His wayward son.

Francis learned the hard way thatwild life ends in pain and suffering as hestruggled with the breakdown in his life.It was only by sharing compassion withthe lepers that God opened his eyes tothe truth of his own humanity. God waswith him “all along the way” and it wasonly gradually that Francis becameaware of God’s loving care. His eyeswere opened only when he viewed theworld “from below” and became like theIsraelites on the edge of the PromisedLand: “You saw the Lord, your God,carry you as a parent carries their child,all along your journey until you arrived atthis place.” The Father in heaven wastruly Francis’ father, beyond what PeterBernadone was capable of.

Rebuilding ChurchThe place of revelation was the prisondungeons, the meeting with the leper,

We are called again, all these yearslater, to taking our Rule seriously at apersonal and fraternal level. That is “theplace” from which we start to continueour journey into the promised land ofgenuine Catholic Christianity. Only if weare willing to take seriously our Baptismand its renewal will we be ready to makeour own distinctive contribution to therebuilding of our Church, as truefollowers of St Francis.

The renewal of SFO Professionstates: “Your local fraternity is a visiblesign of the Church, a community of faithand love. Together with all the members,you now pledge yourselves to spendyour efforts to make your fraternity agenuine ecclesial assembly and a livingFranciscan community.” Are we ready,genuinely ready, to respond to thefaithful love God has had for us all alongthe way? ��

his prayer before the Crucifix in thechurch of San Damiano. It was only thenthat he was ready to hear the voice ofthe Beloved God calling out to him:“Francis, repair my church, you see thatit is falling into ruin.”

We who follow Francis, are called tothe same place in the Church in Irelandtoday. The Church, as we have known it,is falling into ruin and needs ourcommitment to its re-building. Ourimmediate response is not to tell otherswhat to do but to re-commit ourselves tolive our Franciscan calling. The makingof our Profession was the beginning ofour contribution to the rebuilding of theChurch but we didn’t realise the depth ofits challenge at the time. The corechallenge was and is to live ourbaptismal grace in a new way, notprimarily about calling ourselves “ThirdOrder” or “Secular Franciscan Order!”

Called to rebuild: interior of San Damiano

7

8

Around 8.00pm on Friday the busarrived in downtown Chicago. Themajority of people who piled into

the bus were undergraduate studentsfrom DePaul and Loyola Universitiesalong with their campus ministers. Theremaining people were from CatholicCharities, intentional communities, and afew working professionals. Along with mewere two of my friar brothers (Galen Osbyand Kevin Clausius) and my youngerbrother, Jeremy. As the bus ride began tolose its initial excitement, it became agood segue, a long letting go of all thebusiness of our lives in Chicago and apreparing for the weekend in Georgia.Thirteen hours later, the bus came to ahalt at the gates of Fort Benning inGeorgia. And we were welcomed by signsthat said: “Go home, socialist protesters.”I was quickly shaken out of my 13-hourdaze by the buzzing of the crowds around

St Anthony Brief

On 20th NovemberFriar Joshua vanCleef, OFM, joinedthousands of humanrights activists for theannual School of theAmericas Watch at FortBenning, Georgia, USA.Here are his impressions.

Anatomy of a Vigilthe buses. It was about noon and peoplewere pouring into the vigil area. It was aroad that was blocked off and filled withpresenters, artists, and vendors. There

were people there from all types ofgroups that ranged from the femalereligious congregations to peace groups,a group called “Food Not Bombs,” and alltypes of social justice and social actionorganisations. There were musicians andtheatrical performances.

As I walked down this main road, Iwas struck by a few things. The first wasthat I was in a sea of about 10,000 peoplewho were there to protest the School ofthe Americas [now called the WesternHemisphere Institute for SecurityCooperation] and our military involvementin South America. The second was that Iwas humbled and honoured by thenumber of people who came up to meand the other friars and thanked us forcoming. Seeing a diverse range ofCatholics represented, I noticed that therewere many minorities there. As I spoke topeople many felt they were on the fringesof the Church because of their politics,orientation, or ideologies. Many peopletold us how much it meant to them thatFranciscans were here. I really felt like Iwas with many of the people who sit atTaking a stand: Joshua and his brother Jeremy

Feb/Mar 20119

Gumbleton preached very powerfullyabout the call of the Church to look forJesus among the least. The liturgy wascertainly a high point for me as I was ableto share the table with many people whooften do not feel welcome. And just as itwas a very welcoming and inclusivecelebration, it offered an equallydisturbing call to conversion for all of theChurch, for all of us.

That night Fr Louis Vitale crossed intoFort Benning and was arrested. The nextday at the vigil, the Veterans for Peacemarched up to the gate of Fort Benning,and I marched with them. After thatmarch, people began to gather aroundthe stage in preparation for the vigil.Galen Osby and I decided to take part inthe vigil procession as pallbearers and totake part in the ritual massacre repre-senting the many religious martyrs. It wasa powerful experience; the half-mile roadwas turned into a large processionleading up to the gate of Fort Benning.People carried white crosses and listenedfor over an hour and a half as names ofthose murdered in connection with Schoolof the Americas graduates were chantedby a cantor and Presente was chantedback by the crowd as they lifted theirwhite crosses with the names of themurdered written on them. All the while,we pallbearers led the procession to thefence with the coffins.

No More WarThis was an extremely powerfulexperience for me as I heard the namesand ages of the people murdered. To hear

the name of a 3-month-old who wasmurdered or a child in the womb who waskilled with his mother is chilling, to say theleast. As I carried one of the coffins,although it was only a prop for the ritual, Icouldn’t help feeling like one of the familymembers of the victims. I began to under-stand that it isn’t just the one buried whodies in war; it is the entire family that dieswith him or her.

So it became clear to me that if wereally saw each other as brothers or sisters,there could be no more war. How couldthere be? We would know that we werekilling ourselves. At that point, this vigilbecame more than just about the School ofthe Americas; it was about war. As I heardthe victims’ names being chanted and theirages, I was convinced that war is neveracceptable. As I reflect on the wholeexperience, I am glad that I was disturbedby what I heard and saw, by the imagesthat were presented to me and the onesthat I imagined. I know that there are noeasy answers to all these questions, but atthe very least I have this disturbance tooffer to God. I find myself in a very difficultand painful reality, sitting between my lovefor my many classmates who are soldiersand good men and the conviction that Ihave to call for an end to war. It is in thisplace that I feel I can be in solidarity withthe marginalised. And as I stood in this painof the Kingdom not yet here, surrounded bypeople who feel marginalised by their ownChurch, I felt I was among the least withJesus.

From: SJB NewsPhotos: Joshua van Cleef ��

Anatomy of a Vigilthe margins of our Church. I met anumber of different friars from other USProvinces that day. It was great to meetLouis Vitale and Jerry Zawada, two friars Iadmire for their courage and activism.Many people commented on the impact ofhaving such a friar presence, especiallybecause there were very few malereligious present.

Among the LeastOne thing that made clear theseriousness of this protest was the factthat the vigil area was surrounded bypolice officers and military soldiers. Therewere mobile towers that were brought into keep watch on what was happening onthe half-mile of road where all of us weretaking part in activities. Saturdayafternoon there was a non-violent sit-inwhere over 20 people were arrested andsent to jail for blocking an intersection inprotest. Bishop Thomas Gumbletonpresided over Mass that evening in aconvention centre not far from the vigilsite. It was moving to see so muchdiversity celebrating Eucharist. Bishop

Remembered: the names of the murdered

Issues around forgiveness andhealing are likely to elude us as long asthere is no political commitment on thepart of the leaders who presided over thekilling and torture of the innocent. Andwe are guaranteed that angry emotionswill be part of our individual andcollective psyche for a long time tocome. I listened recently to a man whoall along had been enjoying his beer untilsomeone muttered something about thefutility of a truth and reconciliationcommission and something about howthe dead must be left to bury the dead.The man literally wept, saying he neverknew his father as he was killed duringGukurahundi and – while he had beenenjoying the beer among them – he saidhow much he hated the Shona.

TThere is lingering talk aboutforgiveness, healing, truth andreconciliation, all centred around

the violent nature of politics that hasdefined Zimbabwe’s elections especiallyin the past decade. This politically-motivated violence has been widelydocumented. The people whose homeswere burnt and their families killed duringorgies of violence rightly complaining thatthe perpetrators are still walking thelength and breadth of the scorched landas free men.

Hurt and HateAs the country approaches anotherelection, the violence that has come tocharacterise political campaigns isalready being reported, this time inspired

St Anthony Brief10

by the Constitution OutreachProgramme, and this without any effortshaving made to “make peace” withaggrieved victims of past politicalviolence. It seems that this country hasplaced itself on the path of cyclicalviolence with perpetrators rightly knowingthat nothing will happen to them. After allit is quite straightforward: if you gounpunished for a perceived crime, whatwill stop you from repeating it? Talkabout literally getting away with murder!Zimbabwe presents scholars withinnumerable case examples. We haveseen it since the 1980s with theGukurahundi massacres, as the knownarchitects and foot soldiers of thetroubles have never been taken to taskabout their role.

Marko Phiri believes that calls forrestorative justice in Zimbabwe

must be heeded now.

Breaking the Cycle of Violence

Feb/Mar 201111

Everyone went silent for how wouldanyone pacify a man who has so muchanger in him? This is a guy who walksand talks each day as if everything isnormal but deep, hidden from the rest ofus, he harbours and carries such hateand hurt.

Evil SpawnedThere is a strong case for the opendiscussion of what evil has beenspawned by political violence and for theneed for a truth and reconciliationcommission so people can move on withtheir lives. Yet some people in theirwisdom think the past can take care ofitself by the natural processes of time.These have arrogantly dismissed callsfor a naming and shaming of peoplebehind the raping and killing sinceindependence. The question for many iswhat really can be expected from thepeople who are accused of heinouspolitical crime and still control stateapparatus? They would, in essence, beagreeing to letting the law take itscourse. So does the nation wait for thatepoch when they are no longer ingovernment and then they can betracked and shot down like rabid dogs?

Marko Phiri believes that calls forrestorative justice in Zimbabwe

must be heeded now.

But then some will argue that this goesagainst the principles of restorative justicebut conforms to the dictates of vengeanceinstead. Thus justice must be delivered inthe here and now so that victims, like theman cited above, may know peace in theirhearts. African politicians have tended toexhibit traits that seek to place themabove the moral barometer of normalhuman beings as they use both illiteratesand literati to commit the basest crimes,but then turn and say the charges are allconspiracies by political opponents.Charles Taylor, Mobutu, Idi Dada Amin,Baby Doc Duvalier – all their stories readthe same and the tragedy is that even aswe journey into the 21st century, we findourselves having to make the sameexcuses made by these evil blackbrothers. It is invariably always someoneelse who is not in power who is blamed forthe atrocities! But with the nature ofZimbabwe’s politics, whose popularitycontests have largely been defined byclubs and cudgels as weapons ofpersuasion, we are no doubt in for anotherround of calls for national healing afterlives have already been lost. All this canbe averted by heeding now the calls forrestorative justice. ��

Breaking the Cycle of ViolenceDignity:

queuing to vote in 2008

Egyptian BombingAn Egyptian Catholic leader said he hadreceived many messages of support fromMuslims after 1st January Orthodoxchurch bombing that killed about twodozen people. Other Mideast Catholicleaders also sent messages of support totheir fellow Christians. "We have to pray.We have to pray for peace," said CopticCatholic Bishop Youhannes Zakaria. Hesaid he has received many visits fromMuslims – ordinary individuals andofficials expressing their sympathy andsolidarity after the attack on the CopticOrthodox church in Alexandria. "They(Muslims) don't acceptthis violence. They arevery upset about this," hesaid. Others also saw theattacks as part of a plotagainst MideastChristians. MelkiteCatholic PatriarchGregoire III of Damascus,Syria, said in a statement:"It is a phenomenon thatcalls for anxiety andvigilance that Christiansmight be a target forterrorist acts which movefrom one area to another."The patriarch called forArab and internationalaction against terrorism."The targeting of Christiansis a clear plan to empty the Orient of itsbasic components," he said.

Haitians Feel AbandonedFrustration and aggravation aresimmering across Haiti a year after aterrifying earthquake ripped apart thecountry's most densely populated regionand as a persistent cholera epidemicendangers the health of virtuallyeveryone in the impoverished nation. Lifein a tattered tent in a crowded makeshiftcamp with no alternative on the horizon,threats to personal safety and the need toscramble for food and clean water arefueling the growing anger, saidArchbishop Louis Kebreau of Cap-Haitien, president of the Haitian Bishops'Conference. "The people of Haiti are tiredof misery. They are tired of living in their

Department of Health and MentalHygiene in its annual summary of vitalstatistics. According to the figures, the87,000 abortions performed in New YorkCity in 2009 continues a pattern ofdecline from previous years, but theoverall rate of abortions is much higherthan the national average of 23 percent.Speakers at the news conference calledthe percentage of abortions tragic andurged renewed efforts to promote chastityand support mothers and their children,born and unborn. "Not only are we notaddressing this human tragedy, we are

not even talkingabout it," onespeaker noted.

Back toAssisiPope Benedict saidhe would go toAssisi in October tomark the 25thanniversary of PopeJohn Paul II'shistoric interreli-gious gathering topray for peace. Buthe did not actuallysay anything aboutpraying withmembers of otherreligions.

Announcing the October gathering, hesaid he would go to Assisi on pilgrimageand would like representatives of otherChristian confessions and other worldreligions to join him there to commem-orate Pope John Paul's "historic gesture"and to "solemnly renew the commitmentof believers of every religion to live theirown religious faith as a service in thecause of peace." Pope Benedictcontinues to insist that dialogue must behonest about the differences existingbetween religions and that joint activitiesshould acknowledge those differences.As then cardinal and Prefect of theCongregation for the Doctrine of theFaith, he was one of the very few topVatican officials to miss Pope John Paul's1986 meeting in Assisi. He later said theway the event was organised left toomuch open to misinterpretation. ����

Pledge to Pregnant WomenIn response to recent statistics revealingthat 41 percent of pregnancies in NewYork City in 2009 ended in abortion,New York Archbishop Timothy M. Dolanreiterated the pledge of his prede-cessors to help any pregnant woman inneed. "Through Catholic Charities,adoption services, lobbying on behalf ofpregnant women, mothers and infants,support of life-giving alternatives,healthcare and education of youth forhealthy, responsible, virtuous sexualbehaviour, we've done our best to keepthat promise and these hauntingstatistics only prod us to keep at it," hesaid. The statistics were released in lateDecember by the New York City

St Anthony Brief12

Alexandria: a man prays inbombed church

Church Brieftents. The people are saying they are nothappy. They're frustrated and angry. Thatprovokes violence." More than one millionpeople continue to live in hundreds ofsettlements that sprouted after the 35-second magnitude 7 earthquake. At least230,000 people were killed. Heexpressed concern that the surge ofhopefulness felt by Haitians at the world'scompassionate response immediatelyafter the 12th January quake has givenway to a feeling of abandonment. Peopledon't think their pleas are being heardany longer, he said.

Feb/Mar 201113

TThe first part of Angela’s life is

certainly not that of a fervent

disciple of the Lord. Born around

1248 in a well-off family, her father died

when she was young and she was

educated by her mother in a rather

superficial way. She was soon intro-

duced to the worldly environments of the

city of Foligno, where she met a man,

whom she married at 20 and with whom

she had children. Her life was carefree,

so much so that she looked down on the

so-called “penitents” – very widespread

at that time – those, namely, who to

follow Christ would sell their goods and

live a life of prayer, fasting, the service

of the Church and charity.

Some events, such as the violent

earthquake of 1279, a hurricane, the

age-old war against Perugia, and their

harsh consequences affected Angela’s

life. She became progressively aware of

her sins, until she took a decisive step:

She invoked St Francis, who appeared

to her in a vision, to ask him for advice

as preparation for a good general

Confession. In 1285, Angela went to

Confession to a friar in San Feliciano.

Three years later, her path of conversion

took another turn: the dissolution of her

familial ties. Within a few months, the

death of her mother was followed by the

deaths of her husband and all her

children. She then sold all her goods,

and in 1291 joined the Third Order of St

Francis. She died at Foligno on 4th

January 1309.

Mystical Experiences

The Book of Blessed Angela of Foligno,

which gathers the documentation on our

Blessed, recounts this conversion; it

indicates the necessary means:

penance, humility and tribulations; and

narrates in passages the succession of

experiences of Angela begun in 1285.

Recalling them, after having lived them,

she sought to recount them through her

friar confessor, who transcribed them

faithfully, trying afterward to systematise

them in stages, which he called “steps

or changes,” but without succeeding in

ordering them fully.

Angela of Foligno presents her

mystical “experiences” without elabo-

rating them with her mind, because they

are divine illuminations that are commu-

nicated to her soul in an improvised and

unexpected way. The friar confessor

himself had difficulty in reporting such

events, “also because of her great and

admirable reserve regarding the divine

gifts.” To Angela’s difficulty in expressing

her mystical experience is added also

the difficulty for her listeners to under-

stand her. This situation indicates clearly

how the only and true Teacher, Jesus,

lives in the heart of every believer and

desires to take total possession of it.

Thus it was for Angela, who wrote to

one of her spiritual sons: “My son, if you

saw my heart, you would be absolutely

constrained to do everything that God

wills, because my heart is that of God,

and God’s heart is mine.” The words of

St Paul resound here: “It is no longer I

who live, but Christ who lives in me”

(Galatians 2:20).

Open to the Love of God

We will now consider some “steps” of

the rich spiritual path of our Blessed.

The first, in reality, is an introduction: “It

was the knowledge of sin,” as she

specifies, “following which the soul has

great fear of being damned; in this step

she wept bitterly.” This “fear” of hell

responds to the type of faith that Angela

had at the time of her “conversion”; a

faith still poor in charity, namely, of love

of God. Repentance, fear of hell, and

penance opened up to Angela the

prospect of the sorrowful “way of the

Cross” that, from the eighth to the 15th

step, would then lead her on the “way of

love.” The friar confessor recounts: “The

faithful one now said to me: ‘I had this

divine revelation: After the things that

you have written, now write that whoever

wants to preserve grace must not take

the eyes of his soul off the Cross,

whether in joy or in sadness, which I

grant him and permit.’” However, in this

phase Angela still “does not feel love”;

she affirms: “The soul feels shame and

bitterness and does not yet experience

love, but sorrow,” and is dissatisfied.

She sought to open herself only and

totally to the love of God, which has its

highest expression in Christ: “O my

God,” she prays, “make me worthy of

knowing the most high mystery of your

most holy incarnation for us… O incom-

prehensible love! Above this love, that

made my God become man to make me

God, there is no greater love”.

Understand that, in her mystical journey,

Angela understood profoundly the

central reality: What would save her

from her “unworthiness” would not be

her “union with God” and her possessing

the “truth,” but Jesus crucified, “His

crucifixion for me,” His love. On the

Cross is the man-God, in a supreme act

of suffering, which is a supreme act of

love.

St Anthony Brief14

Angela of FolignoPope Benedict spoke recently of the mystic,Blessed Angela of Foligno, one of the greatwomen in the Franciscan story.

In the third Instruction the Blessed

insists on this contemplation and affirms:

“The more perfectly and purely we see,

the more perfectly and purely we love.

That is why the more we see the God

and man Jesus Christ, the more we are

transformed in Him through love. What I

have said of love I say also of sorrow:

The more the soul contemplates the

ineffable sorrow of the God and man

Jesus Christ, the more it sorrows and is

transformed in sorrow.” To be immersed,

to be transformed in love and in the

sufferings of Christ crucified, to be

identified with Him. Angela’s conversion,

begun with that confession of 1285,

came to maturity only when God’s

forgiveness appeared to her soul as the

free gift of love of the Father, source of

love: “There is no one who can give

excuses,” she affirms, “because each

one can love God, and He does not ask

the soul other than that He wills it good,

because He loves it and is its love.” In

Angela’s spiritual itinerary the passage

from conversion to mystical experience,

from what can be expressed to the

inexpressible, happens through the

crucifix.

Penance and Prayer

This identification also means to live

what Jesus lived: poverty, contempt,

sorrow, because as she affirmed:

“Through temporal poverty the soul will

find eternal riches; through contempt

and shame it will obtain supreme honour

and very great glory; through a little

penance, made with pain and sorrow, it

will possess with infinite sweetness and

consolation of the Supreme God, God

eternal.”

From conversion to mystical union

with Christ crucified, to the

inexpressible. A very lofty way, whose

secret is constant prayer. “The more you

pray,” she affirms, “the more you will be

illumined; the more you are illumined,

the more profoundly and intensely you

will see the Supreme Good, the

supremely good Being; the more

profoundly and intensely you see Him,

the more you will love Him; the more

you love Him, the more He will delight

you; and the more He delights you, the

more you will understand Him and

become capable of understanding Him.

Feb/Mar 201115

You will arrive successively to the

fullness of light, because you will under-

stand that you cannot understand.”

Dear brothers and sisters, the life of

Blessed Angela began with a worldly

existence, quite far from God. But then

the encounter with the figure of St

Francis and, finally, the encounter with

Christ Crucified awakened the soul by

the presence of God, by the fact that

only with God does life become true life,

because it becomes, in the sorrow for

sin, love and joy. And thus Blessed

Angela speaks to us. Today we are all in

danger of living as if God did not exist: He

seems too far away from today’s life. But

God has a thousand ways, for each one,

of making Himself present in the soul, of

showing that He exists and that He knows

and loves me. And Blessed Angela wants

to make us attentive to these signs with

which the Lord touches our soul, attentive

to the presence of God, to thus learn the

way with God and to God, in communion

with Christ crucified. Let us pray to the

Lord that He make us attentive to the

signs of His presence, that He teach us to

really live. ����

Foligno: the saint’s home town

Veneration: Pope John Paul before her tomb

Sr Mary Burke, FMDM,reflects on the message

of the life and martyrdom of the

monks of Tibhirine, now made into the

awarding-winning film Of Gods and Men.

In March 1996 seven Cistercian monkswere abducted from their Tibhirinemonastery in the Atlas mountains ofAlgeria by a group of 20 armed men. InMay of that same year their decapitatedheads were found. Such a tragic andbrutal loss of life left many Muslims andChristians both shocked and saddened.Where could there be any meaning in thedeaths of such holy men who haddedicated their lives so totally to theservice of those they were called to liveamong and to love?

A recent film Of Gods and Men – awinner at the Cannes Film Festival in 2010– seeks to find answers to such a

St Anthony Brief16

SR MARY BURKE, FMDMA FRESH LOOK

LENT to Us

question. The answer lies I think in thewords quoted above from the Testament ofDom Christian de Chergé, Prior of thatmonastery, a testament written sometimebefore he met his untimely death. This wasa man who seemed to understand that hislife was truly LENT to him, it was given fora time, and in time, he would be called togive it back. Such an attitude might helpus to reflect on how we live the forty days,which are LENT to us each year betweenAsh Wednesday and Easter Sunday.

Continuing to LoveIt seems this Dom Christian and hisfellow monks approached their lives and

deaths in much the same way as Christdid. In the face of death they continuedto love the Muslims they were called tolive among despite the ongoing conflictand constant danger in which they foundthemselves. The fact that death was adaily possibility made living eachmoment all the more important to them.The Lord they followed was no strangerto conflict, to differences of opinion inregard to religious belief and they soughtto bring His peace to their small cornerof the world. With the knowledge thatdeath, and cruel death at that, was avery real possibility also came thecompassion for others whose liveswould be snuffed out without mercy, inviolence and without anyone noticing.Dom Christian found meaning in his owndeath by linking it to life and death ofChrist and to the many unspoken of andunseen deaths that take place everyday

“I ask them to be able to link this death with the many other deaths which

were just as violent, but forgotten through indifference and anonymity.

My life has no more value than any other.

Nor any less value.

In any case it has not the innocence of childhood.” (Christian de Chergé).

Such a handing over of a life LENTto us is only possible when we believethat we share in the passion of Christ,that we walk our own road to Jerusalemin love, not the same one walked byChrist or Dom Christian but the onewhich God has marked out for us alone.

There are other examples in our livesof those who proclaim great love andmirror Christ’s great Calvary Love to us;perhaps in the days LENT to us thisyear we might be aware of those peoplewho sacrifice so that life might be better,more love-filled or more peaceful for us.We might even strive on occasion to beone of those life-givers ourselves, toLEND our lives and our gifts to others.Christ could give up His life for all of us,worthy or unworthy, because He seesthe image of His Father when He gazeson us. We are, in His eyes, holy andworthy of His life.

in our world.“I ask to be able to link this death with the

many other deaths whichwere just as violent, but forgotten through

indifference and anonymity.My life has no more value than any other.Nor any less value.In any case it has not the innocence of

childhood.”In a modern age where it may be hardto understand the meaning of Christ’ssacrifice on the Cross, these men, bytheir deaths, give expression to anunbelievable love, an ability to “lay downone’s life” for another, and at the sametime to seek to forgive those who areresponsible for their passing. The Priorspeaks of the one who will take his lifeas “the friend of my last hour.” Christ toomust have been the friend of this greatman’s last hour or else how could hehave forgiven in such love. In his own

words he says: “I should like, when thetime comes, to have the moment oflucidity which would allow me to begforgiveness of God and of my fellowhuman beings, and at the same time toforgive with all my heart the one whowould strike me down.”

Forgiving LoveIn life and especially in death this monkand his brethren remind us of Christ’sforgiving love on the Cross, of Hisbringing those who led Him to His deathinto the Kingdom of Heaven, withoutrequiring anything from them except thedesire to be with Him.

Such a love is only made possible,as it was for Christ in taking the road toJerusalem, in being totally immersed inthe gaze of the Father. This brave monkasked to see “the face of God” in thosewho took the breath of life from his body.

Feb/Mar 201117

Community: the missionary

monks of Tibhirine

St Anthony Brief18

CourageChrist’s death was not pleasant towitness. It was painful and left Hisdisciples in a state of shock andconfusion. In many ways it seemed tothem like the “death of goodness” aswell as the death of God. In our worldtoday, it can be all too easy to see themany disasters, the loss of life in warand conflict, the famines, theunredeemable costs of climate changeas “the death of goodness.” Christ wasone man in a small, unknown outpost ofthe Roman Empire whose act of lovehas shaped the desire to live a “Godly”life for millions over the last twothousand years. Christian de Chergéand his brothers were a small group ofmen unknown except in the surrounds oftheir monastery before their deaths.They believed in the goodness and theGodliness of others, often contrary to thefacts presented to them. In so doingthey provide us with a model of how tolive Lent. Their courage asks of us alittle courage of our own in facing the“deaths” in our own lives with the trinityof grace, love and forgiveness as ourroute to Calvary.

Those Around UsSo for these days LENT to us, might wetry to offer these three gifts to thosearound us, to seek to see the face ofGod in each one and to let that be oursacrifice during Lent. For, if we truly tryto do this, it will demand that we ignorewhat might irritate us, love those whomight annoy us and make peace withthose who cause us pain or distress.This may be a different route toJerusalem from giving up sweets,

alcohol or cigarettes, though that mightnot be a bad idea too, but it is a routethat will certainly, if we can follow, bringus closer to Christ and to our brothersand sisters.

Then, we too like the good DomChristian will be able to rejoice in theEaster message of Christ’s Resurrectionand our future knowing that we will “findeach other, happy ‘good thieves’, inParadise, if it pleases God, the Father ofus all.” ����

The Martyrs of Tibhirine: Dom Christian de Chergé, Prior of the community, 59 years.Br Luc Dochier, 82 years. Br Bruno Lemarchand, 66 years. Fr Célestin Ringeard, 62 years.Br Paul Favre-Miville, 57 years. Br Michel Fleury, 52 years. Fr Christophe Lebreton, 45 years.

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Feb/Mar 201119

If it should happen one day – and it could be today – that I become a victim of the terrorism which now seems

ready to encompass all the foreigners in Algeria, I would like my community, my Church, my family, to

remember that my life was given to God and to this country. To accept that the One Master of all life was not

a stranger to this brutal departure. I would like them to pray for me: how worthy would I be found of such an

offering?

I would like them to be able to associate this death with so many other equally violent ones allowed to fall

into the indifference of anonymity. My life has no more value than any other. Nor any less value. In any

case, it has not the innocence of childhood. I have lived long enough to know that I share in the evil which

seems, alas, to prevail in the world, and even in that which would strike me blindly. I should like, when the

time comes, to have a space of lucidity which would enable me to beg forgiveness of God and of my fellow

human beings, and at the same time, to forgive with all my heart the one who would strike me down.

I could not desire such a death. It seems to me important to state this. I don’t see, in fact, how I could rejoice if

the people I love were indiscriminately accused of my murder. It would be too high a price to pay for what will

be called, perhaps, the “grace of martyrdom,” to owe this to an Algerian, whoever he may be, especially if he

says he is acting in fidelity to what he believes to be Islam.

I know the contempt in which Algerians taken as a whole can be engulfed. I know, too, the caricatures of

Islam which encourage a certain idealism. It is too easy to give oneself a good conscience in identifying this

religious way with the fundamentalist ideology of its extremists. For me, Algeria and Islam is something

different. It is a body and a soul. I have proclaimed it often enough, I think, in view of and in the knowledge

of what I have received from it, finding there so often that true strand of the Gospel learned at my mother’s

knee, my very first Church, precisely in Algeria, and already respecting believing Muslims.

My death, obviously, will appear to confirm those who hastily judged me naive or idealistic: “Let him tell us

now what he thinks of it!” But these must know that my insistent curiosity will then be set free. This is what

I shall be able to do, if God wills: Immerse my gaze in that of the Father, to contemplate with Him His

children of Islam as He sees them, all shining with the glory of Christ, fruit of His Passion, filled with the

Gift of the Spirit whose secret joy will always be to establish communion and to refashion the likeness,

playing with the differences.

This life lost, totally mine and totally theirs, I thank God who seems to have wished it entirely for the sake of

that JOY in and in spite of everything. In this THANK YOU which is said for everything in my life, from

now on, I certainly include you, friends of yesterday and today, and you, O my friends of this place,

besides my mother and father, my sisters and brothers and their families, a hundredfold as was promised!

And you too, my last minute friend, who will not know what you are doing, Yes, for you too I say this

THANK YOU AND THIS “A-DIEU”– to commend you to this God in whose face I see yours. And may we find

each other, happy “good thieves” in Paradise, if it pleases God, the Father of us both. . . AMEN!

LLaasstt TTeessttaammeennttThis profound document was written by Dom Christian deChergé. It was opened shortly after Dom Christian and othersof his Cistercian community were murdered in Algeria in 1996.

11927 would be a key year for thegrowth of the Franciscan charismin Australia and New Zealand. The

Irish friars had been in Sydney for fortyyears but the initial seed had failed tosprout and grow. Part of the reason wasa shortage of priests in the houses backin Ireland. Fr Hubert Quinn was electedIrish Minister Provincial in 1924. Adynamic man of vision, he decided thatsomething must be done aboutAustralia. There were now sufficientpriests in the Irish friaries. He picked FrFidelis Griffin as the man for the job andappointed him Commissary Provincial inAustralia in 1927. The clear target wasan independent Province. This impliedthat there would be at least eight friariesas well as a system of formation foryoung friars.

Like Fr Hubert, Fidelis came fromClare. Both had been students togetherin St Isidore’s College in Rome. Fideliswas ordained in 1910. He first came toprominence when, as a young priest inGalway, he resolved a number of labourdisputes involving up to a thousandmen. He was appointed Guardian of thenovitiate house in Killarney in 1921 and

arrived in Sydney in 1886 and spent hispastoral career in the three Franciscanparishes there. He was keen on thefriars moving outside of the diocese ofSydney and also promoted vocations.He died in Waverly in 1929 just as FrFidelis was achieving the first elementsof his plans for expansion.

Fr Bernardine had gathered a groupof boys in Sydney in November 1927just as the southern spring was givingway to summer. He planned to takethem across Sydney Harbour on theferry Greycliff from Circular Quay toWatson’s Bay. He probably intendedgiving them a treat at the friary inWaverly which was down the road fromWatson’s Bay. Just as he was collectingthe gang together he realised that onewas missing. Located after a quicksearch the youth and the friar were ontheir way back to the quay when theysaw the ferry cast off. As they watched,the liner Tahiti emerged into the bay onits way to San Francisco. Suddenly itsliced into the side of the Greycliff.Fifteen minutes after it had departedfrom Circular Quay the ferry was split intwo and both parts sank rapidly. Around

of Dublin, the largest friary in Ireland, in1924. There he began a majorexpansion of the church. A proper apsewould be built and the sanctuary re-organised. The nave would be extendedand two large aisles put in place. Finallyhe hoped that a proper façade andentrance would be inserted at the westend of the building. Fidelis got thingsmoving but the church would not befinished until 1939. In the meantime adynamic friar was needed for Australiaand Fidelis was on the way. Within sixyears there would be a seraphic college,a novitiate and a student house inAustralia as well as five friaries.Australia and New Zealand wouldbecome the Province of the Holy Spiritin 1939. Fr Fidelis remained in Australiauntil 1954 when he returned to Irelandand retired to England. He died outsideManchester in 1961. His remains werebrought back to Dublin for burial.

Sydney HarbourIn Sydney Fr Bernardine Lawlor wastrying to organise some teenagers whowere interested in joining theFranciscans. Born in Dublin, he had

St Anthony Brief20

A Hoodoo Ship forFranciscans?

Fr Patrick Conlan, OFM, recalls how two Irish friars in Australia had,at different times, close calls with the liner Tahiti.

Feb/Mar 201121

of New Zealand and a thousand milesfrom land. The crew worked tirelessly tostem the flow. After a while theengineers managed to slow the rush ofwater. Being the only priest on board,Fr Fidelis felt a great responsibility. Heoffered Mass for the safety of the ship

and those aboard her. It wasthe feast of the Assumptionof Our Lady and he placedeverything under herprotection especially sinceshe was the “Star of theSea”. From that momentthose on board had entireconfidence that they wouldbe delivered through herintercession.

In the meantime a callfor help had been sent outby radio. Seven hundredmiles to the north theAmerican Ventura underthe control of CaptainMyer was en route fromSydney to San Francisco.They heard the radiomessage and in the truetradition of the seasturned south towards thestricken vessel. Even attheir best speed, it wouldtake two days to getthere. The life-boatswere launched aroundmidnight on Fridayevening. The Ventura(named in a way afterthe Franciscan St

Bonaventure) came in sight on Sundaymorning. All were taken on board fromthe life-boats. Fr Fidelis climbed up arope ladder and was helped on to thedeck by a man with a strong Corkaccent. He was the Purser, Mr P.Carroll from west Cork.

The crew and passengers from theTahiti watched as she slowly sankbeneath the waves. The end camesuddenly. The prow reared up, therewas an explosion and down she went.The crew of the Ventura treated thesurvivors with genuine American hospi-tality. They stopped at Samoa and thenat San Francisco. Fr Fidelis went bytrain across the U.S.A. before takinganother liner to Ireland. Perhaps it wasunfair to call the Tahiti a hoodoo ship.She might have sunk but on at leasttwo occasions the hand of God hadsaved Franciscans involved with her. ��

fifty people were drowned. The hand ofGod had saved the friar and his young-sters.

A Hoodoo Ship?The Irish Provincial Chapter was due tomeet in 1933. There was a debate asto whether the Commissary Provincialshould be invited toattend and report onprogress in Australia.After an exchange ofletters between Romeand Dublin, Fr Fideliswas ordered to attend.The Chapter would meettowards the end ofSeptember and word gotto him in late July. Hebooked the first lineravailable, whichhappened to be theTahiti. A friend of hisheard this and advisedhim not to travel on itsince it was a hoodooship. Even her recent tripto Sydney had beendelayed by bad weather.Fr Fidelis laughed at theremarks and went on hisway.

They sailed out ofSydney harbour on 7thAugust 1930 just as the lastpanel of the great arch ofthe new Sydney HarbourBridge was being placed inposition. The next port ofcall was Wellington. FrFidelis took the opportunity to meetwith Archbishop Redwood, then 92years of age. He had been consecratedArchbishop of Wellington in 1874 andwould die in 1935. He must have beenthe oldest bishop to attend theEucharistic Congress in Dublin in 1932!Dr Redwood had sailed on the Tahitimany times and told his Franciscanfriend not to worry.

The ship sailed again on 11thAugust, passing the spot whereKingsford Smith had landed on hisround-the-world flight in the SouthernCross. The Tahiti then set course forthe Cook Islands. They crossed theInternational Date Line on Wednesday13th August. Thus the following daywas also Wednesday 13th! Fr Fidelisrecorded that this was the last straw inthe minds of the superstitious people

on board who prophesied direhappenings. Some people begancomplaining of strange vibrations thatcould be felt in the ship. Early on themorning of Friday 15th August the shipgave a sudden lurch. Fr Fidelis wasthrown violently from his berth. He was

1928: the Tahiti pulls intoWellington harbour

not injured but said a prayer thatnothing serious had happened. He gotback into bed again and began to dozeoff. Suddenly the steward roused himand ordered him to dress. He shouldput on his life-belt and join thepassengers on deck. The life-boatswere prepared for lowering. Thepassengers gathered in the saloon.

HelplessIt transpired that the propeller shaft hadbroken. It and the propeller had falleninto the sea leaving a hole where waterwas rushing into the lower levels of theship. All power was lost and the shipbegan drifting helplessly. They were ina desolate part of the ocean north-east

Meeting the PopePope Benedict recently received the

Minister General of the Order of Friars

Minor, José Rodríguez Carballo, OFM,

for a private audience. During that

time, the General briefed His Holiness

about the current situation of the Order

and discussed with him other topics of

particular interest. Throughout the

conversation, the Pope seemed very

interested in the journey being made by

the Order at this time, especially with

regards to its new missionary projects

and the efforts to revive its charism

during the upcoming six-year period.

After listening to the General, the Holy

Father asked that the friars work mainly

on three dimensions, namely, the

primacy of God in our lives, the impor-

tance of fraternal life, and mission. At

the end of the private audience, the

Holy Father received the whole

General Definitory as well as the

personal secretary to the Minister. As a

gift on behalf of the Order, the Minister

gave the Pope all the volumes of the

News from around the . . .

Franciscan World

St Anthony Brief22

Critical Edition of the Works of the

Blessed John Duns Scotus; a nativity

scene made of wood from Ecuador;

and a donation for the charitable works

of the Holy Father. The whole of the

meeting then concluded with an

Apostolic Blessing imparted by the

Pope to the whole Order. ��

CChheecckk oouurr nneeww llooookk wweebbssiittee aatt wwwwww..ffrraanncciissccaannss.. iiee

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“It is in the ordinariness of life and living that insight and understandingcomes. Awareness is about finding my own way and re-discovering my true self leading to spiritual awakening. Participants will be invited to

engage in a group process and share from their own experience.”

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Congratulations: Ann Walsh, aSecular Franciscan from Clonmel,was recently conferred at TallaghtDominican Priory with an Honours

Degree in Theology from theUniversity of Wales. Ann, a veryactive member of the local SFOfraternity, managed to make timein her busy life for intensive study

of theology.

Dialogue: updating on the Franciscan Order

Feb/Mar 201123

Clonmel Martyrs, now declared Blessed,and commemorated in a stone outsidethe church of Sts Peter and Paul.

Tradition in Clonmel says that duringthese difficult periods the friars foundrefuge in the valleys of the Comeraghs,and they came in disguise into the townto give comfort to the dying and tocelebrate Mass for the people.

The tradition and the endurance of thefolk-memory that “they never left us” isreinforced by the historical record of thenamed Guardians of the Order in theClonmel area. This list is a continuoussequence from the suppression tomodern times. The names of theseGuardians were displayed on the altar,along with Franciscan symbols, at therecent ceremony in Sts Peter and Paul’s.

During the friars’ banishment fromtheir church the Dissenters occupied, fora time, a section of the building, but theperipheral structures became ruinous.The people of Clonmel buried their deadamong the ruins, and there is a tradition

IIn the street in which I grew up inClonmel, older people would say ofthe Franciscans: “They never left us.”

And they never did.The Order, founded by St Francis, has

been in the town for almost 800 years.The contribution of the friars to Clonmelover all those centuries was marked at arecent Mass and celebrations held in StsPeter and Paul’s church commemoratingthe foundation of the church.

The Franciscans came to the smallAnglo-Norman town in 1269 at theinvitation of Sir Otho de Grandison, Lordof the Manor of Clonmel. They built theirchurch close to the river at the southeastern corner of the town, on the sitewhich it still occupies. The followingcentury the abbey lands and buildingswere bordered on the eastern andsouthern sides by the medieval walls. Thearea of the monastic site approximates tothat now enclosed by Dowd’s Lane, theriver Suir, Sarsfield Street and MitchelStreet. Today’s church incorporates someof the medieval features, the tower, a fewnorth-facing lancet windows, andfragments of monuments and stonesinside and outside the building.

The Franciscans were mendicant,and relied for their food on the charity ofthe people. They had a fish pond atCroan and a piece of pasture atInchnabraher on the Anner, where theyprobably kept a cow or two for milk.

The abbey was suppressed in 1540and after that, for nearly 300 years, thefriars became fugitives – illegals. Theyfirst found shelter in the countrysidearound Kilcash, in the shadow ofSlievenamon. At this stage, it would seemthat they were able occasionally to returnto the church, depending on the fragilepolitical climate. There was a moresustained period of tolerance during theConfederation of Kilkenny. But theCromwellian period brought active perse-cution and death to some of the friars.One, John Kearney, is amongst the four

that they gathered in small scatterednumbers there on Sundays to pray.

With some easement of the PenalLaws at the end of the 18th century someof the friars returned to live more openlyin Irishtown in a house which is still there.They served in St Mary’s church,described in earlier documents as a“thatched Mass house,” and dressed asdiocesan clergy, perhaps to avoid toomuch official attention. They moved backto the virtual ruins of their old church in1828 and celebrated Mass there on thefeast of St Francis, 4th October. Whilerebuilding, they lived over a shop inMitchel Street (then Dublin Street), andfinally went back to their old home in1884.

But memories of their staying powerand fortitude were still alive in Clonmelwell into the 20th century among the oldercitizens. There was the association of thetimes of their “illegality” to a site inGlenary known as “the priest’s field”where it is said the friars may have foundrefuge. There is also the story of the friarwho walked from Clonmel to Ardfinnan onSundays to celebrate Mass. And myfather told me of two ladies (described inthe language of the time as “good plaincooks”) who always invited a friar to ameal once a week to make up for whatthey called “the hungry times.” Andperhaps it is a badge of the identity ofolder Clonmel citizens that they know ofthe tradition that whenever the friars werewithout food they would ring the churchbell. (I understand that it was rung oncefor such an emergency – in the late1890s!).

All of these – history, tradition,memories, symbols, and photographs –formed part of the recent celebration ofthe Franciscans in Clonmel. It is goodnow and then to recall and remember, toreminisce, to reflect, and even to benostalgic. And to give thanks.

Reprinted from The Nationalist newspaper. ����

Margaret Rossiter, a member of theSecular Franciscans, writes of the presenceof the friars in Clonmel over the centuries.

“They NeverLeft Us”

Clonmel Friary

The Friary: tomb of the Butlers

e Uphill Journey of Jesus

Acorn and OakDoes the majestic oak tree really comefrom an acorn? Bible scholars remind usthat the New Testament lies hidden in theOld Testament, and that the OldTestament shines out in the NewTestament. Let’s look at some examplesas to how the “New” contains the “Old”yet surpasses it.���� Most human beings can walk but back

in 1969 a human being walked on thesurface of the moon. Neil Armstronghad not just taken some steps. Withhim we had all taken “a giant leapforward”. This was radically new.

���� A bow and arrow is a weapon of warjust as is a Cruise missile. Both areindeed weapons but the lethal powerof the missile places it on anotherplane altogether.

���� When some few Irish patriots revoltedin 1916 they seemed to many to betilting at windmills. It all seemed sofutile even tragic at times. But the

SStat crux dum volvitur orbis – “TheCross stands.....” We noted in theprevious issue that the Cross of

Jesus stands not alone on Calvary buttowers above the swirls of time. It wasonce off, unique, irrepeatable, a true MountEverest. Jesus “offered one sacrifice forsins and took His seat forever at the righthand of God... for by one offering He hasmade perfect forever those who are beingconsecrated” (Hebrews 10:12-14).

However, this once-for-all sacrifice ofJesus on Calvary is one reality with thescene at the Last Supper the previousevening. During the ritual meal Jesus hadmoved through bread and wine to “bodybroken” and “life blood poured out.” StPaul describes the scene, quoting theLord: “‘This cup is the new covenant inmy blood. Do this, as often as you drink it,in remembrance of me.’ For as often asyou eat this bread and drink the cup, youproclaim the death of the Lord until Hecomes” (1Corinthians 11:25,26).

The vital connection between theonce-for-all sacrifice of Jesus and the “asoften as” celebrations – which St Paulalready names “The Lord’s Supper,” amere 20 years beyond Calvary – will beour theme as we prepare for ourEucharistic Congress. This mystery ofremembrance of the One who said “I amwith you always” is our holy Mass today.The ancient “prayer over the gifts” for theSecond Sunday of the Church’s yearexpresses our faith: “Father, may wecelebrate the Eucharist with reverenceand love, for as often as we proclaim thedeath of the Lord so often do youcontinue the work of His redemption.”

The mystics, such as Padre Pio orMarthe Robin, show a deep personalexperience of Pascal’s truth that “Jesus isin agony till the end of the time.” He livesto intercede for us. “Jesus Christ is thesame yesterday, today and forever”(Hebrews 13:8). He is contemporary toeach generation.

St Anthony Brief24

FR TOM RUSSELL, OFM

Continuing his series of articles in preparation for the Dublin EucharisticCongress in 2012, Fr Tom Russell, OFM, reflects on the Eucharist as thecelebration of our liberation by Christ.

25

of fire by night. God sent them flocks ofquail and bread – manna – daily.The motley bunch of slaves foundthemselves tired, tested and tormented bythe desert, its snakes, scorpions andpitiless sun. Yet for all that somethingwonderful begins to happen to the slaves.The crucible of suffering forges them intoa people, a nation with its own identity,name and, one day in the future, its ownland. The ordeal made a people of theslaves. God had carried them aloft oneagle’s wings.

One day Moses assembled thispeople at Mount Sinai about 1350 B.C.The people were called into a marriagecovenant with their God, consecrated asGod’s holy people. The Eternal said: “Iwill be your God, you will be my people.”The people replied: “All that the Lord hassaid we will do.” This vow was sealed in ablood sacrifice.

One finds two essential dimensions inthe entire foundational experience andevent: (i) the experience of liberation dueto the angel’s Passover, then the resultingexodus journey leading to (ii) theexperience of union, the covenant onMount Sinai. One further step remained –God commanded that a yearly memorialfestival be celebrated. As time went bythis became the Jewish feast days –Passover (Liberation) and Pentecost(Covenant union). We will look at thismemorial aspect in our next issue.

Jesus Christ would eventually be borninto this people “who knew how to pray”as the Scripture scholar JoachimJeremias put it. He would be born into

poet W.B. Yeats saw deeper: “All changed, changed utterly,A terrible beauty is born.”

���� We are used to the idea that electronswhizzing around a nucleus may beaccelerated to the point of jumping tonew energy levels and possibilities.Such quantum leaps to higher levelsare necessary to pierce the nucleus.

The basic rhythm seems to be promiseand preparation leading to realisation andfulfilment. There is indeed continuity inthe process yet fulfilment can surpass allexpectations and produce radicalnewness. St Paul tells us that Jesuscame among us “when the time was ripe.”His coming had long been flagged but Hispresence far exceeded expectations. Theshadow had truly given way to reality. Thedawn ceded like a candle to the noondaysun.

Journey into FreedomNow we will look back the road andsketch in how it all came to pass. Godhad promised the first human beings that“the seed of the woman” would crush thehead of the serpent, the devil who haddeceived them. This plan moved intorecorded history with God’s calling toAbram and Sarah then living in modernsouthern Iraq. They obeyed the call whichpromised that through them “all thenations on earth” will be blessed. St Paulwill later write that we who believe aretheir descendants. Their obedience toGod’s call led them and their kinsfolk on ajourney to modern Palestine or Israel.Here they prospered but when famine

Feb/Mar 2011

later stalked the land they had to travel onto Egypt to survive. They again prosperedbut many generations later had beenreduced to slave status.

Our own Newgrange in Co. Louthdates from 6,000 years ago. The Jewishpeople cried out to God a more recent3,300 years ago. The God of Abraham,Isaac and Jacob had prepared Moses tolead the people out of slavery and liberatethem. This plan moved into action whenGod – “I Am” – summons Moses at theburning bush in the Sinai desert. TheEternal tasks him to go to Pharaoh and toset free His people in order “to worshipGod on this very mountain” (Exodus3:12).

A ritual involving the sacrifice of thefirst new-born lambs was usual before thefull moon in the first month of spring. Thatfateful night the Jews were ordered byMoses to sprinkle the blood of the lambon their door lintels while the angel ofdeath passed over their homes but struckthe first born in each Egyptian home.They were then allowed to move outunder Moses. It was called the night ofPassover and it led to the exodus ordeparture from Egypt. It became etchedin their memories.

In the DesertThe harsh realities of an entire people onpilgrimage in the desert soon began tobite. They experienced hunger, thirst,fatigue and danger. Many complained andmurmured and wanted to turn back toEgypt. For all that the presence of Godwas felt in the cloud by day and the pillar

this holy people with its tradition ofremembrance, its powerful praise andpetitions, and its hope in the living God.He would be formed by the daily prayer,the weekly synagogue worship, and theannual cycle of feasts especiallyPassover or Pasch and Pentecost.

“For God so loved the world...”The prophet Isaiah uses the cycle ofnature to describe God’s purpose: “Forjust as from the heavens the rain andsnow come down and do not return theretill they have watered theearth, making it fertileand fruitful, giving seedto him who sows andbread to him who eats,so shall my word be thatgoes forth from mymouth; it shall not returnto me void but shall do mywill, achieving the end forwhich I sent it” (55:10,11).

This image used byIsaiah clearly catches thereality of Jesus who, Wordmade flesh, came on amission which He carriedthrough and then returnedtriumphant to heaven.Jesus came like a goldenburning laser beam offorgiving and compas-sionate love from heaven.Its light scattered thedarkness of evil andoppression on our planet. Hewas a warm, healingpresence, most merciful tosinners.

John’s Gospel notes thatthe devil tried to quench thelight. It was touch and go buta “stronger man” had comeon the scene. Jesus’ journeyfilled with teaching, healingsand exorcisms of evil spiritsled Him inevitably toJerusalem, the capital city.Here were to be found the great Templeof God, the seat of religious authorities,and the Roman headquarters. IndeedLuke says Jesus set His face like a stonetowards Jerusalem. There would be thefinal confrontation with the devil on theCross. There would be the place ofResurrection and Ascension to the gloryof heaven, mission accomplished, andthere the coming of the Holy Spirit uponthe human race. Pope John Paulreminded us that “the gift of the Holy

St Anthony Brief26

Spirit is rooted in the wood of the Cross.”So it came about that Jesus and His

disciples gathered to celebrate Passoverone decisive year. They ate the ritualmeal the evening before His death. Jesustransforms the deepest truth of the JewishPassover celebration as He prepares towalk personally the journey that wouldliberate our human family and bring usback to God. He, the Lamb of God, willpour out His lifeblood. This atoning lifeblood will establish a new covenant forthe remission of sins.

John’s Gospel shows Jesus simplypraying: “Father, save me through thishour” (12:27). Hebrews says: “In the dayswhen He was in the flesh He offeredprayers and supplications with loud criesand tears to the One who was able tosave Him out of death and He was heardfor His reverence” (5:7). He was of course

vindicated in His Resurrection andAscension to heaven and the subsequentsending of “the gift of my Father,” theHoly Spirit, which founded the Churchcommunity at Pentecost.

Dying and RisingThe Passover of Jesus is then Hisjourney forward, into and through enemydeath to life, indestructible and glorious. “Ilive and you shall live.” Jesus used theimage of a seed buried in death bursting

through death into gloriousharvest. “For our paschallamb Christ has been sacri-ficed” (1Corinthians 5:7).

This journey from heavento earth and via the Cross toheaven is named thePaschal Mystery. Thedocument on worship of theSecond Vatican Council –whose Golden Jubilee wealso celebrate in 2012 –states that the HolyEucharist is a specialmemorial of the PaschalMystery. The document onbishops asked them to“see to it that the faithfulknow and live the PaschalMystery more deeplythrough the Eucharist,forming one closely-knitbody, united by thecharity of Christ.” Futurepriests should “so live HisPaschal Mysterythemselves that they willknow how to initiate intoit the people entrusted totheir care.”

This issue we havelooked at the great liber-ation journey of theJewish people leadingto a covenantcommunion with God.We have seen that

Jesus fulfilled this great two-sided eventon behalf of the human race. In the nextissue we will look at: “Do this in memoryof me.” We will see how we are broughtto participate in the death andResurrection of Christ through the ritualsof our worship and also in the dying andrising experiences in our own life.

“To Him who loves us and has freedus from our sins by His blood, who hasmade us into a kingdom of priests for HisGod and Father – to Him be glory andpower forever, amen” (Revelations 1:6). ����

New Covenant: Body broken and Blood poured out

IIn the last two editions of the StAnthony Brief I have written aboutthe despair and the hope in present

day El Salvador. The people continue tosuffer the consequences of injustice andviolence. However, on closer scrutiny,for those who are open to see, there areindeed many wonderful Church initia-tives taking place promoted by ordinarymen and women committed to a Gospelof hope and liberation. In this article Iwill take up where I left off two monthsago.

Seeds of HopeFAITH IN ACTION

FR GEARÓID Ó CONAIRE, OFM

Feb/Mar 201127

Ecology and ReligionA Justice, Peace & Integrity of Creationoffice was set up by the FranciscanFamily in the late 1980s. One of thepositive signs I encountered on myreturn to Salvador was that the work ofthis office continues. Franciscans haveestablished a positive reputation fordefence of life from cradle to grave. Iwitnessed their excellent work and therespect they command. The Franciscancharism has a lot to do with establishingcommunity and healing fractured

relationships. They coordinate theirefforts with other Catholic, evangelicaland civil society groups. I had theprivilege of participating in one of thesessions of an ecological diplomacourse organised by the office inconjunction with several environmentalNGOs. 60 people signed up andcommitted to come along everySaturday morning for five months.Participants are evenly divided betweenChurch, educational and municipalbackgrounds. It is a coming together of

Fr Gearóid Ó Conaire, OFM, continues his reflections on Church andsociety in El Salvador today.

March forenvironment:

annual Franciscanmarch with otherchurches and NGOs

minister to the sick. It is not just a jobfor Lupe but a vocation. She continuesto live her discipleship with Jesusthrough her loving service to the poor.

The Sumpul MassacreWhile I was visiting Lupe I had the goodfortune to meet Julio Hernadez Rivera,one of the few living survivors of aninfamous massacre of 800 civilians onthe banks of the river Sumpul, on theborder between Honduras and ElSalvador, on 14th May 1980. In thesame year in a different part of Salvador,close to Gotera in Morazan, where theIrish Franciscans and Sisters of St Clareministered, another massacre ofhundreds of civilians took place inMozote. A so-called counter-insurgencystrategy was developed to deprive theguerrilla forces of its civilian supportstructures. The logic was that a fishwithout water cannot survive. Theextreme consequence of this policyresulted in the mass murder of non-combatant innocent civilians.

During army operations people hadto flee their homes and hide in themountains. Anyone caught was rapedand/or killed, their houses and cropsburned and animals killed. It now seemsclear that there was a conspiracybetween the Honduran and Salvadorianarmies to commit this massacre inSumpul. Unfortunately, with the generalamnesty given after the war, whichincluded those responsible for theSumpul massacre, nobody has been

a wide diversity of sectors of society witha vision to work for the common good.60% are aged between 15-25 and 25%between 25-35 years old. Those whopersist, to date 80% attendance record,will receive a diploma from the LutheranUniversity of El Salvador. It is hopedthey will spread the message thathumanity is “part of” and not “apart from”creation, loved into existence by Godand still in progress; and that theprocess of the return of the whole ofcreation to the Blessed Trinity is beinghelped or hindered by the individual andcollective responses of human beings. Itis becoming increasingly clear that everyaspect of work for justice and peace isinter-related, starkly evident from thenegative impacts on ALL creatures,none more so that on the poor, resultingfrom a changing world climate.

Bring Good News of Healing While visiting Nueva Trinidad (NewTrinity), a small town in the province ofChalatenango, one of the NorthernProvinces of El Salvador, I experiencedother reasons to be hopeful. NuevaTrinidad was primarily under the control ofthe guerrilla forces (FMLN) during the war.The army had to come in with severalbattalions, but were never able to stay forlong. Actually, during the war, in the sameprovince in a place called El Carisal, twoIrish Franciscans, John Dalton andBrendan Forde, used to live and minister.

I wanted to visit Guadalupe, thelocal district doctor. She is married to a

teacher and they have two children.Her husband spent his teenage yearsin a refugee camp in Messa Grande,just across the border in Honduras.Lupe, as we affectionately call her,was a key person in the pastoral workof San Bartolo during the years Iministered there. When only 16 yearsold she assumed the coordination ofone of the Basic ChristianCommunities when her predecessorleft for the United States in the mid-80s. She gave 100% to the evangeli-sation process and, along with others,oversaw the development and imple-mentation of a parish pastoral plan.Her desire was to be a doctor butwithout economic support it was animpossible dream. Helped by somegenerous donors, including membersof my own family, Lupe was able tocomplete her medical studies. What Ifind inspirational is her choice to go toone of the poorest parts of El Salvadorto work when she could have estab-lished herself comfortably in the city.But as the Gospel tells us, a generousresponse to God’s call will not just berepaid in the next life but in this onetoo, in ways we cannot often predict.God has blessed Lupe with the love ofa husband and two beautifuldaughters. I heard that people comelooking for her from remote parts ofthe province at all times of the day andnight. She packs her medical kit andsets off by foot through the mountainsto places still inaccessible by road, to

St Anthony Brief28

Plea for environmentalprotection:

Fr Oscar Granadoswith PresidentMauricio Funes

even sister death has not prevented himfrom staying among them.

As I was about to begin the Mass, Icould feel tears welling up as I watchedthrongs of people continue their faithjourney, which Peter had helped toenflame. I remembered the enormousoak tree, surrounded by makeshiftbamboo seats, where a church nowstands, under which we used tocelebrate the Sunday Eucharist, invigo-rated by the joyful and creativeinvolvement of so many. Peter planted aseed and the Lord is bringing it tofruition. Despite his own inadequacies,the violence and continuing difficulties Ispoke about in the last edition of theBrief, the seeds of hope are germi-nating, even while we sleep, makingtheir presence felt in so many committedpeople. Most would not bet on the powerof love overcoming such evil as Idescribed before, but anyone practisinga prayerful and contemplative reading ofthe same reality will perceive theunshakable power of God’s crucifiedlove continuing its transformationalprocess below the radar screen in theselfless, anonymous and determinedfaith journey of the poor who recognisetheir utter dependency. As we approachthe first anniversary of Peter’s death, wepray for him and for the people he lovedand served. ����

gfoconaire@yahoo.co.uk

justice. He is very critical, not only of thearmy, but also of the leadership whomade a terrible decision to concentrateso many people at one location. Heeven goes so far as to speculate thatthey were used as pawns. He continueshis quest for justice, but with love in hisheart.

Fr. Peter O’NeillI was asked to celebrate the concludingMass of the parish mission in El Pepeto,where Fr Peter O Neill, OFM, spent thelast four years of his life and is buried inthe church there. When I went to ElSalvador I had the privilege of beingmentored by Peter during my deaconatein 1984. Peter’s request in his testamentto be buried there indicates the level ofaffection he had for the people in thissector of the former parish, Our LadyQueen of Peace. I have always believedthat people know when they are lovedand respond accordingly, even despiteone’s imperfections. Peter loved thepeople and they sensed it. They came intheir thousands to his funeral to expressit. He walked alongside them and stayedwith them during very difficult years. Hemodeled a vision of a participativeChurch, which included and activelyinvolved those who wished to givewitness to their baptismal commitment.He fiercely defended the vulnerable anddetested injustice. He lived simply and

brought to justice, a price supposedlyworth paying for peace.

Just before the killing took place,people were concentrating along theriver. Their leaders were confident thatsuch a crowd of civilians would berespected. Julio was a child at the timeand, with his father, hid on the Honduranside of the river. It rained very heavy theprevious day causing the river to swell,thus making it treacherous to cross over.On the morning of 14th of May, withhelicopter gunships in support, the armybegan its operation. Julio saw 13members of his own family die; manydrowned trying to cross the river.

Julio does not appear to be embit-tered, but on the contrary radiates peaceand harmony. I wondered how heappeared to be so peaceful after havinglived through such horrific violence. “Tobe listened to helps a lot,” he replied.He had recounted this same storyhundreds of times to all sorts of nationaland international delegations. He is alsoa man of faith and participates activelyin his parish. It’s interesting that manynon-believers use the reality of suchinhumanity to argue against a lovingGod and yet, a survivor, with every rightto deny such a concept, has embracedGod and dedicated his life to living outthe Gospel’s core value of forgiveness.However, he is a strong advocate thatthe perpetrators need to be brought to

Feb/Mar 201129

Mutual love: Peter (on left) with the people of El Pepeto

St Anthony Brief

MISSION DIGEST

30

Tanzania – SFO National Elective Chapter

December 16th, 2010

From December 7-11, the SFO fraternity celebrated the National Elective Chapter inMorogoro, Tanzania. The National Fraternity is made up of 21 regional fraternities with about 2100members. There is also a strong presence of Franciscan Youth with over 2000 members. The Capitularspresent at the Chapter were 33 all together with the National Assistant Br. Eleuter Mrema OFMCap, Br.William Muchunguzi, OFMCap, National Assistant to YouFra, and Br. Festus Mghanga, OFM, NationalAssistant to the SFO-YouFra. Doug Clorey, Vice-Minister General, and Br. Ivan Mati!, OFM, AssistantGeneral SFO-YouFra were present on behalf of the Presidency of the SFO International Council(CIOFS). The first day of the Chapter was dedicated to formation with Doug and Br. Ivan giving thepresentations on the nature, identity, and profession of SFO as well as evangelization – topics whichhave sparked great interest and a very nice dialogue with the speakers. The second day of the Chapterwas dedicated entirely to the reports of Regional Fraternities, National Fraternities of YouFra and,towards the end, of the outgoing National Council. The third day was wholly dedicated to elections afterwhich Felix Mosha was elected as National Minister and International Councilor. During the evening,the YouFra group of Morogoro offered all the Capitulars a beautiful presentation with songs and dance. The Chapter then concluded in the morning of Dec. 11 with the celebration of Holy Eucharist.[Show as slideshow][View with PicLens]

December National

strong presence 33 all together

OFMCap, Doug

present Chapter

identity, and

reports outgoing elected

Morogoro in

Recently Friar Ivan Matić, Assistant General to theSecular Franciscans and YouFra, came from Rometo visit the Secular Franciscans in Tanzania, andwas present at their Chapter. The NationalFraternity is made up of 21 regional fraternitieswith about 2100 members. The OFM friars havebeen in the country for the past twenty five years.

Franciscan Family inTanzania

Dear Father,I always enjoy reading your magazine.

In a world

that downplays the spiritual and scoffs at

religion I find it a support in the living of my

faith. I particularly enjoyed Fr Tom Russell’s

last article on the Catholic roots that are so

deep in Irish history and culture. I look

forward to reading the rest of his series of

articles in preparation for the Eucharistic

Congress in 2012. I only hope that this coming

event will bring a great blessing to our country –

it is terribly obvious that we sorely need the

grace of a new fervour. If we continue as we

are what will remain of our glorious spiritual

heritage!!Yours sincerely,Elizabeth Coffey,Co. Kerry.

Please write your letters,comments andsuggestions, to: The Editor,

St Anthony Brief,Franciscan

Missionary Union, Merchants’ Quay,

Dublin 8.

Letters to the EditorDear Father,Thank you very much for the StAnthony Brief. I read it from cover tocover and find it most interesting. Iespecially like the articles about themission work in Africa. I have alwayshad a concern about Africa and thehardships of the people living there.The Brief gives a very definite pictureof the situation there more than wereceive here in the States. I appreciate all that your Franciscansdo in the world and will keep you andthem in my prayers.Darlene Stewart,Texas, USA.

Dear Fr Ulic,

I wish you well in your new posting. I

have really enjoyed the Brief over many,

many years and find the articles so

informative and well written. I was first

introduced to it a very long time ago by

my late father’s best friend – Brother

Kieran Gunn, RIP. Kieran was a great

character and was a wonderful

influence in my life. My daughter

Kierna is called after him.

This month’s article on South Africa was

so enlightening. Thank you for all the

changes. Many thanks also to the staff

in the Merchants’ Quay office.

May God bless you in the year ahead.

Margaret Buckle,

Co. Down.

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