THE ORDER OF FRIARS MINOR

You have been called to freedom

ONGOING FORMATION
IN THE ORDER OF FRIARS MINOR

General Secretariat for Formation and Studies

Rome 2008
ACONYMS AND ABBREVIATIONS
Sacred Scripture
1Cor First Letter of St. Paul to the Corinthians
1P First Letter of St. Peter
2Cor Second Letter of St. Paul to the Corinthians
Acts The Acts of the Apostles
Eph Letter of St. Paul to the Ephesians
Lk The Gospel according to Luke
Mk The Gospel according to Mark
Phil Letter of St. Paul to the Philippians
Rm Letter of St. Paul to the Romans

The writings of St. Francis

2LtF Second Letter to the Faithful

Adm The Admonitions of St. Francis
LtL Letter to Br. Leo
LtMin Letter to a Minister
LtOrd Letter to the entire Order
Rb Approved Rule of 1223
RnB Unapproved Rule of 1221
SalV Salutation of the Virtues
Test The Testament of St. Francis.

Biographies of St. Francis

1Cel First life of Francis by Thomas of Celano

2Cel Second Life of Francis by Thomas of Celano
MirPer The Mirror of Perfection
SCom Sacrum Commercium cum Domina Paupertate

Documents of the Church

CIC The Code of Canon Law

ET Evangelica Testificatio, Apostolic Letter of Paul VI, 1971
FLC Fraternal Life in Community, Instruction of the Congregation for Institutes of
Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life, 1994.
GS Gaudium et Spes, Pastoral Constitution on the Church in the Modern World, II
Vatican Council, 1965
LG Lumen Gentium, Dogmatic Constitution on the Church, II Vatican Council, 1964
NF Directive Norms for Formation in Religious Institutes, Congregation for Institutes
of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life; 1990
PC Perfectae Caritatis, Decree on the Adaptation and Renewal of the Religious Life,
II Vatican Council, 1965
SAFC Starting Afresh from Christ, A renewed commitment of the Consecrated Life in
the third millennium, Instruction of the Congregation for Institutes of Consecrated
Life and Societies of Apostolic Life, 2002.
SAO The Service of Authority and Obedience, An Instruction of the Congregation for
Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life, 2008.
VC Vita Consecrata, Apostolic Exhortation of John Paul II, 1996.

OFM Documents

FEGC Fill the Earth with the Gospel of Christ, Letter of the Minister General OFM on
Evangelisation, Rome 1996.
FOFM Formation in the Order of Friars Minor, Document of the Extraordinary General
Chapter, Medellin, 1971.
GGCC The General Constitutions OFM, 2004.
GGSS The General Statutes OFM, 2004.
LgP May the Lord give you Peace, Document of the General Chapter, Rome, 2003.
LSR The Lord Speaks with us on the Road, Document of the Extraordinary General
Chapter, Rome, 2006.
PCO 81 Document on Formation, Plenary Council, Rome, 1981.
PCO 01 Fraternity-in mission, Plenary Council, Guadalajara, 2001.
RFF Ratio Formationis Franciscanae, General Secretariat for Formation and Studies
OFM, Rome, 2002.
RS Ratio Studiorum OFM – “In veritatis proficere” (LegMj 11,1), General
Secretariat for Formation and Studies OFM, Rome, 2001.
SPD The Spirit of Prayer and Devotion. Themes for study and reflection, General
Secretariat for Formation and Studies OFM, Rome, 1997.
VOT The Vocation of the Order Today, Document of the General Chapter, Madrid,
1973.

Presentation by the Minister General

“You have been called to freedom” (Gal 5,13): The title of the new document on Ongoing
Formation in the Order of Friars Minor expresses very well the centre of every formative
process oriented towards a real personal and communal transformation. It is only in freedom, in
fact, that we can entrust ourselves in faith and in love to the Father of Jesus Christ, animated and
accompanied by the unceasing activity of the Spirit of the Lord.
Does not the heart of Ongoing Formation, perhaps, lie precisely in the dynamism of this
free openness to the holy Mystery of God which was revealed in the life and words of Jesus of
Nazareth? Does not this appeal, perhaps, reach us in the heart of our humanity, enriched by
every gift of grace and, in this way, limited and fragile? Could our everyday response to the
charism of the Friars Minor, to be lived at this time in the multiple contexts in which we are
immersed, be faithful and creative without a process which touches our will, makes us more
capable of loving and, therefore, of knowing and giving meaning to the hope that is in us (cf.
1Pt 3,15)?
The Document, which I have the pleasure to present, is full of these questions. Thanks to
the processes carried out in the Order during the last 40 years, we have become more aware of
the importance of Ongoing Formation as the humus of all formation (cf. RFF 108). While the
essential bases of a continuous formation suitable to our times are clarified, we have understood
that there can be no real and proper re-foundation of the franciscan life without an Ongoing
Formation that is new in its content, method and passion.
We can say, without fear, that renewal of the consecrated life today lies precisely in a
profoundly new and unitary process of formation from the initial formation stage to the end of
the life of each Friar Minor (cf. VC 69). Without this basic unity, every formative process will
be emptied of efficacy. It is along these lines that we are called on to progress in the coming
years.
I sincerely hope that the present document will constitute a valid help in this sense,
especially as we are about to celebrate 800 years since the approval of St. Francis’ new way of
gospel life by the Church. We notice, at times with profound unease, that the ways and the
language in which the charism has taken shape are not only to be renewed, but have to be
expressed in a really new way in an era of profound and rapid transformation. We bear many
signs of this change, which require a spirit of faith and gospel audacity of us.
We can truthfully say that we do not know what our life will be in the future. Grateful
for the gift received and convinced of its permanent validity, we can, however, express the
ongoing charge of gospel newness in totally changed conditions, as we are asked to do by the
Spirit. These are not only a danger, but are, indeed, a new and providential opportunity, a kairòs
which questions our free passion for God and our brothers. Faith liberates us from fear and
profoundly animates us in the hope which is the Crucified and Risen Christ.
It is with these feelings that I present this document, Brothers, and invoke the protection
of the Immaculate Mary, Virgin made Church, and the blessing of our Father St. Francis on you
“so that, being always submissive and subject at the feet of the same Holy Church and steadfast
in the Catholic faith, we may observe poverty, humility and the Holy Gospel of Our Lord Jesus
Christ as we have firmly promised” (Rb 12,4).
Br. José Rodríguez Carballo, ofm,
Minister General.

Introduction

The demand for a continuous process of formation as a necessary condition for its vitality has
always been alive in the religious life. The reflection of the Church and of the Order has
matured in us, in recent years, the awareness of the importance of Ongoing Formation. Many
itineraries and various initiatives, which have made this fundamental dimension of our life more
familiar to us, have thus sprung up in our fraternities.

Much has been done in recent years to make the fraternities aware, above all, of Ongoing
Formation while always taking into account person of the Friar Minor, the main protagonist in
his own growth. We recognise today that in this process there has been, perhaps, little
integration between the personal dimension and that of the community because of a poor
historical and social awareness among us. It is as if we consider the individual on the one hand
and the fraternity and the world on the other. The recovery, on many levels, of a vision of the
person in relationship offers us the possibility to grow in this direction, at least on the level of
intuition.

It is precisely the change of epoch, in which we are immersed, that makes it very urgent to face
up to a formation which will accompany the process of the transformation of the person in all
stages of life and in the living context of multiple relationships in which the person gambles his
destiny. In particular, we are now more aware of not living our vocation on the margins of the
progress of humanity or of the community of the disciples of Jesus, but of being truly “pilgrims
and strangers in this world”1 alongside the men and women of every language, race and culture.

1
Rb 6,2.
We, as Friars Minor, wish to journey with greater decision in the world by listening to the cry of
the people: “Direct contact with the pain and meaninglessness, the crisis and the chaos of our
times, has led many of our contemporaries to ask themselves about the meaning of history,
existence, life, and also to question the truth of hope, indeed to question everything anew. We
Friars Minor do not feel distant from this search, rather do we recognise ourselves, joined with
the other people of our times, as mendicants of meaning”2. It is obvious that we are not alone in
this search for meaning, but recognise around us many fellow travellers, among the many who
seek to interpret the history and cultures in which we live: thinkers, artists, people in society
committed to promoting and sharing the conditions of the poor and marginalised and the many
who promote new ways of religious seeking. In fact, “the Church herself knows how richly she
has profited by the history and development of humanity”3.

Thanks to this process, therefore, it has become much clearer today that the dynamic process of
our formation cannot be carried out while closed in on self and then opened up to the external
world. We should know how to live in the world as the only place given to us to respond,
together with all our brothers and sisters in the faith, to our fundamental vocation in life. We
should recognise that the core of formation is to live one’s existence to the depths with all its
gifts, crises and conflicts, through which God Himself comes to meet us and place us in a
situation of personal transformation and growth, overcoming the static model of growth.

While we accept this vision of formation we look, with the realism of faith, at the change of
cultural paradigms which is in progress. This touches, though with notable differences, the
various continents and cultures in which the charism of St. Francis, to which we belong, takes
on a face. Our fraternities are not fortresses in which to defend ourselves, but should become an
evermore open tent among people. Yet we find the presence of a certain tendency to remain
closed in on ourselves and on our affairs among us. From this there arises an urgency to assume,
in faith, a way of looking at humanity and the world which would become a sharing and
common passion for the good of all that is human so that, no matter what and unconditionally, a
service can be given to it.
It is within this passing of history that we should assume, with renewed passion, the urgency of
an integral formation capable of accompanying us in personal and communal discernment of the
times we are going through in the light of the word of God listened to in the community of the
Church and in conjunction with reading the signs of the times. It is necessary, for this end, to
refine our teaching capacity in order to accompany the individual and the fraternity in the
process of maturation and transformation in a pedagogy which does not consist so much of
introducing something from outside into the interior of the life of people, but rather of helping
them to give birth to their most radical intimacy, indwelt by God.

The II International Congress of the Moderators of Ongoing Formation, celebrated in Assisi

from the 13th to the 28th of October 2007, looked at the change of epoch from a position of faith
in order to set in motion a forward movement in the formative and pedagogical proposal. All
this is in the wake of the journey of the Order in this area, especially after the I Congress of
1993. The Document of 1995 helped a lot to deepen the reasons for and the practices of
Ongoing Formation during recent years. In the preparation of and during the course of our
meeting we were able to check how much our awareness of and our efforts to give ourselves
more incisive itineraries had grown. We also noted what is missing, the delays and the slowness.

2
LSR 6.
3
GS 44.
We listened to the many voices coming from nearly all the Provinces and Custodies of the Order
and almost felt the heart-beat of the International Fraternity at this time in history.

It was from this basis that the Document we present to you was born. It is a question of an
official text of the Order, approved by the Minister General and his Definitory, which tries to
offer orientations and guidelines for Ongoing Formation in the coming years, in continuity with
the Ratio Formationis Franciscanae, the “basic text” which draws up the supporting guidelines
of formation in the Order for all the Friars. Its aim is that of inspiring reflection on and the
practice of Ongoing Formation in the Provinces and Custodies of the Order, though not claiming
to a legal text or even an aid. It would be good to have it at hand on occasions of work in the
Secretariats for Formation and Study in order to update the vision of this ambience, and in the
Chapters of the Entities in order to project and plan Ongoing Formation, as well as for re-editing
or reviewing the Ratio Formationis of the Entities.

It is from this coming together, looking at and taking note of everything, that the proposal to
start out again on the path of Ongoing Formation was initiated; to start afresh from Him who is
the living Gospel of the Father, our Lord Jesus Christ, so that in the “holy activity of the Spirit”
we may be able to live our vocation today so that many may have life and have it in abundance4.

The General Secretariat for Formation and Studies.

PART I
He appointed twelve; they were to be his companions and to be sent out to preach
(Mk 3,14)

The core of Ongoing Formation

1. St. Francis, in his Testament, reflected on his life as a progressive journey moved by the
gratuitous initiative of the Lord and marked by His mercy. It was a journey which led to the
encounter with the Lord Jesus and His Gospel through a process of discernment and
transformation, which also went through crises, painful passages, moments of difficulty and of
uncertainty. In all this, St. Francis grew in his desire for a radical and impassioned discipleship
of the poor and crucified Christ.

Looking at St. Francis, the “forma minorum”, the vocation of the Friar Minor is presented as a
process of constant and never fulfilled becoming until the encounter with “sister death”. During
this growth, the Friar is guided by the Spirit of the Lord, by the Gospel and by the Rule, of
which the General Constitutions offer a re-reading for the present-day world by re-proposing the
essential elements of the franciscan charism “to lead a radically evangelical life, namely: to live in
a spirit of prayer and devotion and in fraternal fellowship; they are to offer a witness of penance
and minority; and, in charity towards all mankind, they are to announce the Gospel throughout the
whole world and to preach reconciliation, peace and justice by their deeds; and to show respect for
creation”5.

4
Cf. Jn 10,10.
5
GGCC 1,2.
 Chapter I

Consider, man, your dignity

(Cf. Adm 5,1)

A person in relationship

Created free in the image of God

2. Humanity, created through the Son6 in the image and likeness of the Triune God, is called to
participate in the Trinitarian life. This is a communion of love in mutual self-giving from which
the whole of creation gets its origin through a pure and gratuitous act of love7. “authentic
freedom is an exceptional sign of the divine image within humanity”8. The Father entrusted the
universe to the responsible freedom of humanity, chosen before time and created in view of
Christ, the Word Incarnate. The whole of creation became capax Dei in humanity and
progresses towards its fulfilment9. God Himself educated His creature to freedom10, though he
later fell through his own fault. Often and in different ways, the Lord offered humanity His
covenant and, through the prophets, taught them to have hope in salvation11. He accompanied
His people in the darkness of exile and during the long Messianic wait, during which the word
became the heart of the faith of Israel.

This paschal journey was summarised in Christ, the Beloved Son, who became our brother, who
was “humanised”, died “in passion” and rose “glorified” for us12, all things were created through
Him and in view of Him13 and in Him we were made children open to a new relationship with
the Father and among ourselves, thanks to the Spirit which was poured into our heart14. Christ
is, in fact, the centre of reality15, that book written both within and without for the salvation of
the world16. He is our freedom and the fulfilment of every human aspiration through His birth of
“the glorious, ever-virgin, most blessed, holy Mary… to redeem us captives through His cross
and blood and death”17 from sin, from the formal observance of the Law, from fear and from all
that impedes us from daring, so that we may reach, through Him, full communion with God.

The Spirit of Christ, which penetrates the whole of creation, is the seal of this process of
transformation and is the main agent in it. It permits us to discover the signs of the presence of
the Kingdom in reality in order to contribute, in the spirit of the Beatitudes, to the completion of
creation through commitment to justice, peace and liberation. Hedepends on us, in a particular
way, to “bring the good news to the poor, to proclaim liberty to captives and to the blind new

6
Cf. Rnb 23,3a
7
Cf. St. Bonaventure, Itinerarium mentis in Deum VI
8
GS 17.
9
Cf. St. Bonaventure, Itinerarium mentis in Deum II 11, 12, 13.
10
Cf. RnB 23, 2.
11
Cf. IV Eucharistic Prayer in the Roman Missal.
12
The adjectives refer to the Christ found in the sermons of St. Bernardine of Siena.
13
Cf. Eph 1,4.
14
Cf. Rm 5, 5.
15
St. Bonaventure, Hexaemeron 1,1.
16
St. Bonaventure, Breviloquium II, 11,2.
17
RnB 23, 3.
sight, to set the downtrodden free, to proclaim the Lord’s year of favour”18. The world is truly
the place of salvation in which the creative Trinity acts untiringly.

3. Every baptised person, with the whole community of believers, lives inserted into this history
of salvation which the unceasing action of the Spirit of Christ makes present and original for
each one. The Friar Minor, on his part, should recognise that the vocation to sanctity is fulfilled
for him in the call to live the Gospel according to the inspiration of St. Francis. Ongoing
Formation, then, is the organic, gradual and coherent process19 of transformation, on the
personal and fraternal levels, in order to grow in a faithful and creative response to the gift of
vocation, “which has its profound roots in baptismal consecration”20.

Formation, respecting and giving favour to the work which God does in the life of the person
and of the fraternity, is presented as a mystery: primarily the patient work of the Father, who,
through the “holy operation” of the Spirit of the Lord, shapes the face of Christ in us by freeing
us from what could hold us back in our fervour of charity21. The ministry proper to formation,
developed through agents and diversified means, is understood on the basis of this perspective.

The primacy of the person

4. The person, in relationship with himself, with others, with creation and with God22, grows
through the responsible exercise of his freedom in the concrete social and cultural context in
which he lives. The Friar Minor, as an original and unrepeatable person, is aware of accepting
the gift of the freedom of Christ, which is developed thanks to the discrete and powerful
operation of the Spirit of the Lord in a constant process of growth during the ages of life, even in
their limitations and conditioning23. In such a process, “the profession of the evangelical
counsels… [not only] does not detract from a genuine development of the human person”24, but
sets in motion a process of transformation which allows for the discovery of God as Father, the
other as a brother and creation as being redeemed, thus opening up a new way of living in
relationships.

In the everyday process of conversion and maturation, the Friar Minor is purified from the
conditioning which wounded him through a patient education to freedom. While his heart is
being loosened from its hardness, he becomes a liberator called to respond, not only for himself,
but also for others in charity. He thus contributes to the spread of the Kingdom of Christ into
souls and into every part of the earth25, so that the Christian communities, cultures, societies and
their structures may be finally transformed from within for the good of the human person. In
fact, the Friar Minor, through his belonging to the Lord, does not become a stranger or useless to
the earthly city26.

Formation tends towards educating freedom in a responsible way through a dynamic process
which includes all the dimensions of the person and of everyday life by accompanying the Friar
Minor to become “responsible for accepting and making his own all the values of Franciscan life, capable
18
Lk 4, 18-19.
19
Cf. RFF 52.
20
PC 5.
21
Cf. LG 44.
22
Cf. PCO 01, 2.
23
Cf. VC 70.
24
LG 46.
25
Cf. LG 44.
26
Cf. LG 46.
of making his own decisions and exercising personal initiative”27. It is typical of franciscan pedagogy,
indeed, to favour “the progressive integration between the gospel requirement of radicalism and the
respect for personal freedom and originality”28 so that, “spiritually rejoicing [they may] make
progress on the road of charity”29.

Life as a discernment

5. The subject, with his desires and needs, finds himself at the centre of evermore diffused
expectations and aspirations in the different cultures of the planet. The franciscan vision of
humanity allows for dialogue with these30, first of all because of the importance which it gives
to the individual31, seen as an original and unrepeatable person capable of knowing and, above
all, of loving32. In this perspective, each one discovers he is called to life, understood as a
process open to relationships with others, and to a progressive discovery of a truth which grows
and of which we are not the jealous possessors33. This vision allows for guarding and promoting
the richness of multiplicity and of differences in the face of any attempt at homogenisation. The
fraternity is the place in which to learn how to articulate the personal and communal dimension.
It remains, in fact, “the privileged place to recognise and accept the will of God”34.

6. The Friar Minor, in the various situations of life, rather than conforming to extrinsic moral
values or codices, is called, like any baptised person, to allow himself to be moved by the Spirit
of Christ and to remain open to His activity35, to learn to “discover the will of God and know
what is good, what it is that God wants, what is the perfect thing to do”36. The person becomes
the protagonist of his own personal growth, capable of deciding as an adult what he wants to do
with his own life. Open to dialogue and discernment with others, and especially with the Lord of
history, the conscience, which is the “sanctuary of a man”37, remains the final instance of his
decisions. It is that place to which St. Francis refers Br. Leo with maternal sensitivity, after
saying to him: “in whatever way it seems better to you to please the Lord God and to follow His
footprints and poverty, do it with the blessing of the Lord God and my obedience”38.

In a continuous and responsible exercise of the freedom of choice, the Friar Minor sees life not
as a simple succession of “points” unconnected one with the other, but rather as a process which
is never fully fulfilled here below and which requires conscious choices and a serious
discernment in listening to the word and in the light of the signs of the times. The result of this
search is inspired by the response of Francis after listening to the Gospel in the Porziuncola,
“This is what I want, this is what I seek, this is what I desire with all my heart”39, in order to
adhere to the project which the Lord has for each one and for the world.

27
RFF 40.
28
RFF 55.
29
LG 43.
30
Cf. RS 74.
31
Cf. RS 51.52.
32
Alexander of Hales: “It is not in awareness but in love that complete peace is found” Summa Theologica, Tomus
IV, Ad Claras Aquas, 1948, p. 504.
33
Bl. John Duns Scotus: “The knowledge of truth increases continually in the process of the development of the
person”, Ordinatio IV, d. 1, q. 3, n. 8 (ed. Parisien., vol. XVI, p. 136a.
34
Cf. SAO 20e.
35
Cf. Rm 8,14.
36
Rm 12, 2.
37
GS 16.
38
LtL 3.
39
1Cel 22.
Life is a place of continuous growth

7. The Friar Minor grows “in the freedom to learn throughout life, in every age and season, in
every human ambient and context, from every person and every culture, is open to be taught by
any fragment of truth and beauty found around them”40. Everyday life, the ambience and
historical context in which it is lived, is the precise and original space of Ongoing Formation for
living the vocation and mission by favouring the process of transformation of the person. This
implies a specific attention to each age and condition of life41, in which the Friar Minor is called
on to express his fidelity to God and humanity, and requires an attentive harmonisation between
Ongoing and Initial Formation. “Formation is no longer only a teaching period in preparation
for vows but also represents a theological way of thinking of consecrated life which is in itself a
never ending formation”42.

Chapter II

The Friars are to show that they are members of the same family
(Rb 6,7)

The fraternity as Good News

Called to be with the Lord

8. “At the centre of Franciscan life, as the writings of Francis and other texts testify, is found the
experience of faith in God in the personal encounter with Jesus Christ. From whatever side we
approach it (prayer, fraternity, poverty, presence among men) the evangelical way of life
constantly refers us back to faith”43.

The call “to be with the Lord Jesus is the living ambience in which it is possible to announce the
Gospel through life and in word. The Friar Minor feeds the gift of faith above all through the
prayerful reading of the word of God, the encounter with the Risen Lord who acts in the
sacramental signs celebrated in communion with the Church, the people with whom he comes in
contact in different ways, the beauty of creation and the experience of life44.

This same faith is manifested in a special attention to “accepting the mystery of one’s self in
relationship with the “other” so that one’s personal and social history are transformed into a living place in
which the spirit of prayer and devotion take flesh and where the art of discernment is learned”45.
Cultivating an incarnated spirituality, The Friar lives the experience of faith in the context of the
fraternity and in the operative and generous service of the lepers of our time by learning to read
his own life and the history in which he is immersed on the basis of a vision of faith46.

9. The Friar Minor thus experiences that “in community life, then, it should in some way be
evident that, more than an instrument for carrying out a specific mission, fraternal communion is

40
SAFC 15.
41
Cf. VC 71.
42
SAFC 15.
43
Mad 5.
44
Cf. RFF 66.
45
RFF 67.
46
Cf. RFF 68.
a God-enlightened space in which to experience the hidden presence of the Risen Lord”47. All
this also passes through the richness and the fragility of fraternal relationships, in which to
recognise the beauty of the vocation received and to continually verify the response to the gift of
conversion.

To grow in faith and to develop healthy and mature relationships, it is necessary to learn the art
of assuming and serenely working out the solitude in the different stages of life. The Friar Minor
keeps times and places for authentic retreat, desiring “above all else to have the Spirit of the
Lord and Its holy activity”48 in order to grow in the experience of the living and liberating
encounter with the Lord49. In this “inhabited solitude” the Friar works out his personal and
communal life anew, is led to live for Him who died and rose for us and no longer to live for
himself 50.

The gift of brothers

10. Life, and all that is good which occurs in it, are recognised as gifts of God, who is the
supremely diffusive Good51. In light of this, the gift of each Friar is constitutive of each one’s
vocation: “And after the Lord gave me brothers, no one showed me what I had to do, but the
Most High Himself revealed to me that I should live according to the pattern of the Holy
Gospel”52.

The gift of brothers is to be accepted gratuitously in mutual hospitality. In a culture marked by a

consumerism which is insinuated even in personal relationships, the Friar Minor is called to be a
witness to non-appropriation. We restore all to the Most High in the service of our brother53.

Like all the “dreams” of God, fraternity is a gift and a task which questions our responsibility.
Building fraternity in a constant way is not principally a question of time-tables and structures.
It presupposes sincere listening to the call of the Lord which removes us from our securities and
places us in a process of daring, with “clarity and audacity”, to live the utopia of the universal
fraternity in the here and now of our concrete reality, together with the Friars with whom we are
given to live at the present time.

11. The fraternity was defined from the origins of the Order as being formed by “minors”. It is,
therefore, the attitude of minority which allows us to accept the epiphany of the Other in the
other54. One way of living the ongoing actuality of our charism is revealed in giving freedom to
things to exist without giving way to the instinct of manipulation or of appropriation.

This attitude is true, in a particular way, for formation in relationships and affections which is
necessary for serenely living the free response to the gift of consecrated chastity, to which only
the love of God can call in a decisive way55. It is necessary to find suitable means to renew and
deepen the response to this gift in every stage of the life of a Friar Minor.

47
VC 42.
48
Rb 10,8.
49
Cf. RFF 67.
50
Cf. 2Cor 5,15.
51
Cf. Test 1.4.6.14.39. Cf. also St. Bonaventure, Itin c. VI n. 2; I Sent d.45 a.2 q. 1 concl.
52
Test 14.
53
Cf. LtOrd 29.
54
Cf. LSR 28-30.
55
Cf. ET 13.
Living in mercy

12. Called to rejoice in the gift of fraternity and to build it as a sign of the Kingdom, the Friar
Minor is aware of his limitations and sins. Accepted, loved and forgiven by the Father of
mercies, he learns to recognise and accept his personal frailties and to forgive himself and
others. The Lord, knowing what humanity is and can become, calls for the construction of the
fraternity through these Friars, just as they are and through what they may become! Realism and
theological hope accompany the growth of the gift of vocation.

Often marked by inter-personal conflicts, the fraternity appears precisely as the privileged place
for “being merciful” so that even the negative is transformed into an occasion of growth. The
situation of imperfection of the fraternity should not discourage us56. The example and the word
of St. Francis question us. In the Letter to a Minister, the difficult fraternal situation is judged to
be a grace57, not so much for what is painful (un-gracious) in it as for offering the Minister the
possibility to be merciful, thus expressing the very reality of being created in the image of God.

Mercy educates us not to impose the times and methods of conversion on all (“love them in this
and do not wish they be better Christians”58), but to respect the different rhythms of the progress
of each Friar and of the fraternity.

13. In a world torn apart by rancour, discrimination and exclusion, the offering of mercy to
whoever asks for it, or who can’t do so yet59, can change fraternities into places of welcome for
the many who experience judgement, condemnation and marginalisation because of their
situation in or choice of life. Ongoing Formation, therefore, is called on to pay special attention
to a specific “formation to mercy” in order to be capable, as St. Francis asks, of attracting the
Friars to the Lord60.

A shared charism

14. “Being merciful” is the attitude with which St. Francis met the “other”, as Christ met
humanity. The fraternity offers itself, then, as a house and school of communion in which to
integrate unity and diversity. In the present reality of the world and Church, it seems vital to
grow in the spirit of communion and of collaboration with different subjects, both ecclesiastical
and of other kinds, in order to promote our encounter with the other. Ongoing Formation is
called on to promote, through an evermore mature sensitivity, processes which would favour
growth in the mentality of communion and of collaboration with others, by finding the reality
and people of both the Franciscan Family and of ecclesiastical communities and movements, as
well as the men and women of good will, with whom to give an impulse to all that supports and
accompanies the rights of the human person61.

Chapter III

56
Cf. FLC 26.
57
Cf. LtMin 2
58
LtMin 7.
59
Cf. LtMin 8-9.
60
Cf. LtMin 10.
61
Cf. VC 52-54.
 As pilgrims and strangers
(Rb 6,2)

The Fraternity as an announcement of the Beatitudes

At the heart of the Gospel

15. The fraternity, the good news and seed of the Kingdom, is also revealed as the
announcement and prophecy of communion in a world both lacerated and wounded, and open to
new ways towards peace, justice and respect for creatures. Living in search of the face of the
Lord as minors, in fraternal communion and in service, particularly of the little and poor people,
is a process illuminated by the spirit of the Beatitudes.

Ongoing Formation accompanies the growth of a franciscan life which should be a radical
following of the poor and crucified Christ and a memorial of the constant desire which the entire
Church has of abandoning itself to the spirit of the Beatitudes: “Without this concrete sign there
would be a danger that the charity which animates the entire Church would grow cold, that the
saving paradox of the Gospel would be blunted, and that the "salt" of faith would lose its
savour”62. The special task of giving “splendid and striking testimony that the world cannot be
transfigured and offered to God without the spirit of the Beatitudes”63 is, therefore, entrusted to
the consecrated men and women.

Workers for peace

16. The Friars, through the charity that comes from the Spirit, are first of all called, as minors, to
serve and to obey each other64 in good spirits, in mutual accompaniment and learning, and in
fraternity in order to face up to, manage and resolve conflicts without breaking the bomd of
communion. The fraternity itself should become, therefore, the primary place of formation in
which the Friar, in the spirit of the Beatitudes, is helped to live reconciliation by breaking down
all forms of inequality and injustice between the Friars. This is thus placed as a sign of an ever
possible dialogue and of a communion capable of harmonising the diversities. The international
and inter-cultural fraternities are a sign of this reality65.

In this same logic, the Friars, “subject to all human creatures for love of God”66 when they go
through the world, should always seek to be “meek, peaceful, modest, gentle and humble”67,
thus living their call to be little and servants68 and bearing in their hearts the desire to share the
lot of all who are considered such by society. Ongoing Formation is a valid help in this
continuous conversion to become a minor and to be a true brother of the least by finding
concrete and suitable forms, for our times, through which to express this solidarity, to promote
justice, peace and the integrity of creation, and to denounce, in a non-violent manner, the
structures of sin which oppress the poor and the weak.

62
ET 3.
63
VC 33.
64
Cf. Rnb 5,13.
65
f. VC 51.
66
1Pt 2, 13; cf. Rnb 16,6.
67
Rb 3,11.
68
Cf. Test 41.
17. Minority lies at the base of the relationship of the Friars with the environment in which they
live. Following the example of St. Francis, who held that he not only had to obey the Father and
the Friars, but the whole plan which God had preordained in creation69, the Friars reserve a
particular attention to the care of creation. At a time when the exploitation of the environment
by humanity has taken on catastrophic proportions, the Friar Minor learns to look on nature as a
precious gift from God, which he wishes to protect and which he asks all to respect70.

The instruments in everyday life which can be used to favour an ever greater awareness of the
need for an active commitment to the promotion of justice, peace and the integrity of creation
are diverse: the projects of personal, fraternal and provincial life; the plans of Ongoing
Formation and courses of updating; local and provincial Chapters. The Friars also know that
they should not be alone in this commitment, but should share it with the whole Franciscan
Family, in which the form of life revealed to Francis by the Most High71 lives, with the different
ecclesiastical institutions and with all those people who, under different names, support
initiatives in favour of these values. Ongoing Formation, therefore, in addition to taking care
that the Friars, growing in minority and open up to the activities of JPIC, should promote and
support collaboration with all those who participate in this spirit, within and without the great
Franciscan Family.

A ferment of communion

18. The processes of Ongoing Formation help and animate the Friars and the fraternities to
become witnesses to the Gospel, with particular attention to solidarity, to the management of
goods and to the growth of an economy of communion among and around us. Work, for St.
Francis, was a “grace” to recognise, accept and make fruitful. In a spirit of restitution to the
Most High of the goods received, the necessary submission to the “common law of work”72,
manual and intellectual, is accepted and carried out “with fidelity and devotion”73 for ordinary
sustenance and as a sharing in the daily efforts of many. In this way, the attitude of spending
one’s own life and time generously is also educated by overcoming the tendency to cultivate
one’s psycho-physical well-being in an exclusive way74. The Friar Minor, on choosing his work,
takes into account the condition of the least in the society in which he lives, gives the fraternity
all he has earned and lives with trust in the Lord, who takes care of him. Ongoing Formation
accompanies the continuous re-assumption of the grace of work and of the sharing of goods in
fraternity and with the poor75. The means of formation tend to make the sense and the practice
of an economy in communion, which sets out from a positive view of the goods of creation and
seen as a gift to be restored in solidarity, increase.

Chapter IV

Announce to all that He alone is Almighty

(LtOrd 9)

69
Cf. SalV
70
Cf. GGCC 71.
71
Cf. Test 14; GGCC 71.
72
Cf. ET 20.
73
Rb 5,1.
74
Cf. SAO 3.
75
Cf. RFF 24.
 The Fraternity: a seed of the Kingdom

Evangelisation, the horizon of Ongoing Formation

19. Jesus, sent by the Father for the redemption of the world, called those whom He wished so
that they “could be with Him”76 and be sent out “two by two”77 to announce the Gospel. The
disciples, in following Jesus the Master and in sharing His mission, were formed to become
announcers of the Kingdom.

His personal encounter with the leper, with the Crucifix of San Damiano and with the Gospel
passage about the mission of the Apostles at the Porziuncola, revealed to Francis the vocation to
live according to the pattern of the holy Gospel. With the Friars received as a gift from the Lord,
Francis listened to the call to walk in the Church as brothers and as minors in the discipleship of
the poor and crucified Christ, sent to all to announce the Good News of the Kingdom.

The heart of the franciscan announcement is, therefore, the living person and name of Jesus,
which “illuminates with splendour the announcement and the listening to His word (…). This
name, therefore, must be announced, not kept hidden. And again, it must not be proclaimed in
preaching with a vile heart or with a profaned mouth, but must be guarded and spread as a
precious vase”78.

20. The Friar Minor recognises the entire world as his cloister79, the place of annunciation. He is
asked to look on the earthly reality with a “sympathetic”, but not ingenious, eye and to seek,
together with all the men and women of good will, all that is positive in the reality in which he
lives80. This world, in which the Spirit of God acts, is the privileged ambience of Ongoing
Formation. We wish to live in it with a style of simple presence and, when it should seem good
according to God, to announce “vices and virtues, punishment and glory”81.

In this broad perspective, evangelisation is presented as the horizon of the whole process of
conversion of the Friar Minor and, therefore, of Ongoing Formation. The mission is not just an
“external” dimension of our life. “By the action of the Holy Spirit who is at the origin of every
vocation and charism, consecrated life itself is a mission, as was the whole of Jesus' life”82.

The fraternity: house and school of evangelisation

21. The franciscan fraternity, a gift of the Spirit, was born of listening to the Gospel as a school
of evangelisation, in which the Friars are called to become disciples of the Word. In fact, “this
fraternal fellowship, based on prayer and penance, is the first and foremost witness to the
Gospel”83. Their most efficient evangelisation consists of living as Friars Minor, allowing
themselves to be continually shaped by the “fragrant words” of the Lord and being disposed to

76
Mk 3,14.
77
Lk 10,1.
78
St. Bernardine of Siena, On the glorious name of Jesus Christ, Discourses, n. 49, chap. 2.
79
Cf. Scom 63.
80
Cf. VC 73.
81
Rb 9,4.
82
VC 72.
83
GGCC 87 §2.
the action of His Spirit, rich in His joy84. The Friars Minor recognise “when it should please the
Lord”, the times and the ways for an explicit announcement of the Gospel, “knowing that no one
can evangelise who has not first accepted evangelisation”85. The mission is lived to the full in the
measure in which the Friars acquire a spirituality of communion86, learn above all the art of
thinking, planning and working together in the service of evangelisation87 and in living
communion with the ecclesiastical community in its different expressions.

Sent to all as minors

22. God our Father created us free; Jesus Christ our brother redeemed us and sent us into the
world to announce the Kingdom of God, as a leaven for all who are oppressed. The franciscan
fraternity proclaims the coming of this Kingdom through its silent presence88 and when, moved
by the Spirit, it announces the Good News, recognising the face of Christ especially in the poor,
who are our teachers89. Living among and like them, the taste of the Gospel is re-discovered.
Christ, He who “emptied Himself to assume the condition of a slave”90, is the paradigm of
minority91. Animated by this same spirit of faith92, the Friars learn to share “the joys and the
hopes, the grief and the anxieties of the men of this age”93, especially by choosing to live, for the
love of Christ who donated Himself totally, among those who crowd the “places of fracture”94.

In dialogue

23. The Friars Minor recognise the importance of dialogue in their life and mission95 living as
disciples in the following of Christ, who, in the Incarnation “did not cling to His equality with
God”96, but overcame the frontiers of every division and separation through His life, crossing
the very limitation of death through His resurrection. While they cultivate the attitude towards
dialogue as a true and proper profession of faith, the Friars Minor look to St. Francis, the brother
of every creature, who dared to go beyond himself in the embrace of the leper and in his
encounter with the Sultan.

The capacity for dialogue, which arises especially from the communication of faith with God,
characterises and manifests their being brothers and minors, builders of peace and
reconciliation, in all that touches on relationships with creation, people, society, cultures, other
Christian confessions and other religions97.

24. As an essential part of the franciscan charism98, dialogue has its privileged place, first of all,
in the life of the fraternity, which constitutes a real everyday school for it99. Fraternal

84
Cf. VC 45; SAO 19.
85
GGCC 86.
86
Cf. VC 46.
87
Cf. RFF 89.
88
Cf. GGCC 89 §1.
89
Cf. GGCC 93 §1
90
Phil 2,7.
91
Cf. LSR 29.
92
Cf. 2Cor 4,13.
93
Cf. GS 1.
94
Cf. VC 90; LgP 44; LSR 33.
95
Cf. GGCC 95; FEGC 165-175; RS 14i.70-74; LgP 28-32.
96
Phil 2,6.
97
Cf. VC 100-103; RFF 33. 74; LgP 28.
98
Cf. LgP 32.
99
Cf. RFF 26.
conversation helps to discover and appreciate the unrepeatable gift which each Friars bears
within him in order to place it at the service of the life and mission of the whole fraternity100. In
the reality of the different Entities of the Order, the diversities of cultural, national, as well as
the religious origins of the Friars are being evermore taken into consideration101.

The faithful exercise of dialogue leads to a constant purification of the heart and mind, of one’s
faith and vocation. An adequate formation and search for means are, therefore, necessary to
become capable of listening, of serene acceptance and, at the same time, of a good knowledge of
the other102 according to the franciscan perspectives which see faith as the ladder which helps
the intellect to go up towards God, in the sense that faith precedes and serves the intellect103. It
is a matter of a formative process capable of shaping the being-in-dialogue of the Friar Minor on
the existential level (dialogue of life, dialogue of action), on the spiritual and intellectual level
(dialogue of theoretical exchange, dialogue of hope)104 and on the level of the evangelising
mission in its different forms.

PART II
Followers of the way
(Acts 9,2)

Living and projecting Ongoing Formation

Chapter I

Living according to the pattern of the holy Gospel

(Cf. Rb 1.1)

Everyday life

Through the narration of life

25. The context of Ongoing Formation is that of ordinary life in the local fraternity, inserted into
the cultural, social and political world, which remains the first and most important ambience105
in which the person learns to become formed by the multiple situations106.

The local fraternity itself lives, in turn, within a network of wider relationships represented by
the Province or Custody, by the Conferences and by the Order itself. It is in this that the
invitation to share the faith according to the spirit of the methodology of Emmaus is situated107:
“meeting; speaking about what has happened; sharing the Gospel, re-reading the Rule; praying
to and praising God “for all his gifts”; celebrating fraternal communion; returning to our

100
Cf. LSR 36.38.
101
Cf. RFF 26.
102
Cf. LgP 31.
103
This reflection is found in the Secular Franciscan Raymond Lullo (1233-1316) in the context of the
announcement to the non-Christians of his time, to be done with full confidence in the human intelligence.
104
Cf. RS 70-74.
105
Cf. RFF 109.
106
Cf. SAFC 15.
107
Cf. LSR 39-47.
brothers of the fraternity and to our brothers and sisters of the entire world with the Good News
which has transformed our lives”108. It is not enough to prepare calendars and carry out
initiatives of formation if there is no capacity to share life. All mediations of a personal and
institutional nature109 are useful in the measure that they support a process of fraternal
realisation and participation.

26. Two ambiences seem to support the exercise of the narration of life best: the celebration of
the liturgical year and the meetings of the fraternity.

The recounting of life finds it most profound meaning in the great paschal narration of the
liturgical year, which thus becomes a pedagogical process which is suitable to all. The coming
together each day to listen to the word, for the celebration of the Liturgy of the Hours and the
Eucharist guides us, in fact, in a progressive personal and fraternal maturation110.

The meetings of the fraternity are important moments in which to learn the art of the narration of
life on the basis of sharing what is experienced daily, the common mission, the joys and the
struggles of each Friar and of the fraternity. The local Chapter can become, in this way, a place
of meeting, narration, communal discernment and practical choices; a place in which the Friars
are animated by the prayerful reading of the word and purified by the evaluation and revision of
the daily options of life and mission in the light of the priorities of the Order.

In a process of discernment

27. “Formation to the gospel life of the Friar Minor… is an ‘organic, gradual and consistent’ process that is
developed on the personal and community levels during the whole of life”111 in its different ages and
stages112 and, thanks to the means which Ongoing Formation, taking the plurality of the possible
process into account, is called on to offer.

In the context of the daily life of the fraternity, the so-called “life project” is recognised as a tool
of particular efficacy which is proposed for the accompaniment of vocational growth on the
personal, local and provincial levels and for offering indications in view of practical choices. In
this way we recognise that we are called to the discipleship of Christ “within an “evangelical
project”, or a charismatic one, inspired by the Spirit and authenticated by the Church”113, of
which the life projects can be useful means.

This is assumed as the framework within which to develop the various means proper to Ongoing
Formation. The following are essential orientations on the basis of which it is possible to work
out the project on the various levels: personal, fraternal and provincial, taking account of the
evangelisation and mission dimension, which should run through everything.

A. THE PERSONAL PROJECT

The objective: the personalised accompaniment of the vocational process in order to help the
development of the following dimensions:

108
LSR 45.
109
Cf. LSR 51.
110
Cf. SAFC 15.
111
Cf. RFF 62.
112
Cf. RFF 117-118.
113
SAO 9.
 - The anthropological-existential dimension: taking life into one’s own hands and being
responsible for one’s own destiny.
- The psychological dimension: knowing, recognising and accepting oneself in order to be
healed.
- The social dimension: knowledge and experience of the social, economic and political
reality in which one lives.
- The vocational dimension: living the discipleship of Jesus.
- The franciscan dimension: following the Gospel in fraternity and minority.
- The missionary dimension: discerning the will of God in order to establish the Kingdom
of God and its justice.

B. THE FRATERNAL PROJECT

The objective: accompaniment of the integral growth of the fraternity in order to help the
development of the following dimensions:
- The anthropological-existential dimension: living and sharing existence with others as
beings who are historical and corresponsible for the construction of the world.
- The psychological dimension: growing in the capacity to communicate and to relate.
- The social dimension: growing in the capacity to analyse together and to understand the
reality where one is present on the basis of the Gospel and of the poor114.
- The vocational dimension: living together as the main structure of vocational support.
We are a fraternity of disciples of Jesus115.
- The franciscan dimension: the fraternity and minority as essential structural elements of
our form of life; we are called to be sons, brothers and servants of the poor, of
peacemakers, and to be in solidarity with all.
- The missionary dimension: we are a fraternity-in-mission sent by the fraternity to
transform, heal and establish the Kingdom of God.

C. THE PROVINCIAL PROJECT

The objective: the accompaniment of our provincial itinerary in order to develop the following
dimensions:
- The anthropological-existential dimension: the charism finds continuity in the institution
(the dialectic of the charism-institution).
- The psychological-social dimension: it is the entire provincial fraternity that progresses,
respecting the different rhythms. This process is lived by providing for the future in
order to avoid improvisations.
- The vocational dimension: the provincial fraternity is the reference point of our
institutional belonging, within which we are asked to announce the Kingdom, and also
through the denunciation of the structures which obstruct it and to be instruments of
liberation in history.
- The franciscan dimension: the Province is a fraternity of fraternities in the Order and is
in living communion with Church116, in which we are sent to construct the universal
fraternity by announcing peace, establishing justice and the integrity of creation.
- The missionary dimension: the Province does not live for itself, but is in function of the
Kingdom. Our cloister is the world, in which we should live in an attitude of itinerancy.
The poor are our primary addressees and it is they who evangelise us117.

114
Cf. GGCC 97,2.
115
Cf. Mk 3, 13-16.
116
Cf. Rnb, Prologue.
117
Cf. GGCC 66,1; 93,1; 97.
 Chapter II

Let us begin brothers

(1Cel 103)

The objectives of Ongoing Formation

The general objective

28. The general objective of ongoing formation is that of accompanying the continuous process
of creative fidelity to life according to the Gospel of Our Lord Jesus Christ in the Church and
throughout the world, making the continuous following of Christ possible, “under the activity of
the Holy Spirit, for all the Friars in accordance with the form and life of St. Francis and the Rule
in the concrete situation of their own times”118.

The RFF makes this objective explicit, stating that: “The fundamental aim of franciscan ongoing
formation is to animate, nourish and sustain the fidelity of the individual and of the fraternity to
their particular vocation in all the dimensions of human, Christian and franciscan life, in the
spirit of the Order and in its mission in order to build the Kingdom of God in times and
conditions of continuous change”119.

The specific objectives

The spirit of prayer and devotion

29. Ongoing Formation supports the process of fidelity to the discipleship of Christ, freely
accepted, through a constant help in maturing, with practical means, a contemplative attitude in
order to recognise the presence of God in the history and life of the Friars. This involves:

a. on the personal level:

- accompanying the Friar Minor towards an experience of profound and personalised faith,
which would favour a personal encounter with Jesus Christ in the Scriptures, in different
events, in one’s brother, in the poor, in the Eucharist and in all creation, through a
continuous discernment, animated by a profound sense of Church in order to recognise
the action of the Spirit 120;
- making the most of the celebration of the liturgical year and, therefore, of the
sacraments, the Eucharist and Reconciliation in particular;
- by forming to the prayerful reading of the word of God, to the school of the Virgin
Mary, our sister in faith and the first disciple of Christ, and a real teacher of life
according to the Spirit121;
- training the Friars in the different ages of life to “accepting personal times of solitude and
contemplation as a gift and a demand to grow in the experience of the living encounter with the
Lord”122, together with sabbatical periods (e.g., after 25 years of solemn profession, etc.).

b. on the fraternal level:

118
Cf. GGCC 126.
119
RFF 110.
120
Cf. RFF 12,66.67; LSR 53.
121
Cf. RFF 16.
122
RFF 67 and 69.
 - maintaining a fraternal climate which would help to live in “the spirit of holy prayer and
devotion”123 by seeking the means to express our call to be saints together in the Church
and in the world today as fraternity 124;
- putting prayer at the centre of the fraternity, especially through the Eucharist and the
Liturgy of the Hours, the celebration of the mystery of salvation fulfilled in Christ125,
together with the communal celebration of the sacrament of Reconciliation;
- training the Friars to the prayerful reading of the word of God in fraternity, according to
regular rhythms (weekly, monthly, etc.).
- making the most of prayer with the People of God and assuming healthy forms of
popular piety in order to nourish our own Christian life and that of the faithful126.

c. on the social level:

- nourishing a contemplative look on the world and its fractures, by allowing the
celebration of the mystery of Christ living in the Spirit be indwelt by the hope and
anxiety of the men and women of our time in order to discover the presence of God in
history and in nature, and to seek the face of Christ in the poor.

Communion of life in fraternity

30. Ongoing Formation supports the journey of fidelity to the discipleship of Christ, freely
accepted, through a constant help to live fraternal life as an essential element of our charism and
as the vital ambience of franciscan formation127. This involves:

a. on the personal level:

- accompanying the course of education of the freedom of each one so that he may grow
as a person-in-relationship capable of accepting himself and others in a spirit of sincere
familiarity128;
- forming the Friar to sharing his own journey of faith in communal dialogue, and also
through fraternal correction and review of life129;
- cultivating courtesy and attention to the other as a dimension of an integral human
maturity.

b. on the fraternal level:

- promoting the ordinary life of the fraternity as a fundamental means of Ongoing
Formation;
- progressively educating the fraternities and their animators in dialogue and
communication of life and faith130, together with the management of conflicts.

c. and on the social level:

- promoting the spirit of fraternity by announcing the Kingdom in a wounded and violent
world, afflicted by conflicts, by an endemic absence of peace and which suffers because
of the many wounds inflicted on creation;

123
Rb 5,2.
124
Cf. 1Cor 1,2; LSR 42-45.
125
Cf. RFF 14.
126
Cf. GGCC 27 §1.
127
Cf. RFF 70 §1.
128
Cf. RFF 17.
129
Cf. RFF 73.
130
Cf. LSR 51.
 - supporting the Friars in becoming brothers to men and women, and to every creature, in
a spirit of minority, simplicity, joy and solidarity131;
- forming fraternities to be open to the sharing of the charism and of the various forms of
collaboration with the other members of the Franciscan Family, with the laity and with
people of good will, in the spirit and practice of mutual acceptance and of evangelical
hospitality.

Minority, solidarity and poverty

31. Ongoing Formation supports the journey of fidelity to the discipleship of Christ, freely
accepted, through a constant help in rediscovering ‘being-minors’ as a definition of our
relationship with God, with the Friars and with all men and women, through a simple life in
solidarity and in announcing peace. This involves:

a. on the personal level:

- being educated to minority as an essential element of one’s vocation in order to live
peacefully in poverty, humility and meekness, among the lesser people, without power or
privilege132, capable of listening and of dialogue, and caring for creation;
- forming to a simple and really poor life in the use of goods through manual and
assiduous and serious intellectual work in order to support the fraternity and to share the
goods possessed with the poor and needy133.

b. on the fraternal level:

- living justice and peace in fraternity, first of all in interpersonal relationships by giving
witness in daily life to a non-violent, frugal, ecological style of life in solidarity;
- promoting, in the local fraternities and Entities, experiences of real sharing with the poor
of our times through a working, prayerful, manifest, humble and joyful presence among
them134.

c. and on the social level:

- forming through explicit options for the poor, being educated to listening to the least of
men and questioning oneself about the causes of the different forms of poverty and
marginalisation;
- forming so that the Friars may be peacemakers135 and instruments of reconciliation136 in
society;
- forming to living practical ways of sharing and solidarity so that those who have no
voice may learn to assume one by overcoming the various forms of injustice.

Evangelisation and mission

32. Ongoing Formation supports the journey of fidelity to the discipleship of Christ, freely
accepted, through a constant help in maturing the vocation proper to the Order of announcing
the Gospel through life and word in communion with the Church. This involves:

a. on the personal level:

131
Cf. RFF 21.
132
Cf. RFF 22.
133
Cf. RFF 24.
134
Cf. RFF 82.
135
Cf. GGCC 68.
136
Cf. GGCC 70.
 - promoting, in each Friar, a passion for God and for all people, especially for the most
poor and for those who suffer and are deprived of hope;
- encouraging the integration of the gifts of each Friar into the mission proper to the
Order, always charismatic, plural and diverse137;
- animating, in each one, the sense of faithful and active communion with the Church by
participating in its mission according to the franciscan charism138;
- educating to living one’s vocation in the concrete cultural ambience through an
awareness of and esteem for the values of the people among whom one lives139.

b. on the fraternal level:

- recognising the fraternity as the space in which the Gospel is lived by each Friar, called
to carry our his mission in the name of the fraternity and making other Friars participants
in it140;
- making sure that the fraternity lives its charism in the context of the local Church by
contributing to the growth of its testimony;
- feeding, with suitable means, the call to missionary evangelisation proper to our charism,
according to the international dimensions of the Order.

c. and on the social level:

- improving dialogue and communication with the men and women of our time in order to
favour the announcement of the Gospel in the changed social and cultural ambiences;
- learning to read the changes going on in the world and to assume, critically, the values of
peoples in order to open up to a global vision of history while acting in the local
ambience;
- maintaining an openness of heart and mind in order to see and appreciate the new
elements which are emerging in the progress of the Church and world in order to assume
them with evangelical audacity.

Formation
33. Ongoing Formation supports the journey of fidelity to the discipleship of Christ, freely
accepted, through taking care of the integral growth of the person in the different ages of life
and of the fraternity, local and provincial, according to their characteristics. This involves:

a. on the personal level:

- orienting, in the conscious exercise of freedom, towards adhesion to the evangelical
choice professed in the different stages of life, in a journey towards full human, Christian
and franciscan maturity;
- giving an impulse to personal itineraries of awareness of oneself, of personalised
accompaniment in the different situation of life, and of evaluation and recuperation of
one’s psychological health at particular times;

b. on the fraternal level:

- encouraging the Friars to become aware that formation regards and involved the whole
fraternity on its various levels and not only the individual;
- taking care of and accompanying the situations of physical, moral, psychological and
vocational unease of the Friars.

137
Cf. LSR 38.
138
Cf. RFF 31.
139
Cf. RFF 33.
140
Cf. RFF 19.
c. and on the social level:
- accompanying a vision and practice of formation which is more open to the social,
political, economic, cultural and religious reality of humanity in the midst of which we
are called to live as strangers and pilgrims.

Chapter III

He showed how perfect His love was

(Jn 13,1)

The means of Ongoing Formation

The person in a process of conversion

34. The privileged place for the growth of each one is ordinary life through activities in which
the person puts himself in relationships with others and with the surrounding environment. The
main means is to live to the full one’s own existence with all its gifts, crises and conflicts,
through which God Himself comes to meet us and to place us in a situation of transformation
and personal growth.

The means proper to Ongoing Formation are those vital actions which place us in “a continuous
process of growth and conversion involving the whole of a person's life”141 while keeping in mind the
present situation and the concrete context in which the Friar Minor lives with his fraternity and
in dialogue with the men and women of his time142.

35. The everyday life of the local fraternity is the primary means of an Ongoing Formation
which really wishes to reach and transform the person. Along with that, there are the strategic
means (various initiatives, itineraries, etc.), consciously sought by a project of Ongoing
Formation, to be worked out while taking account of the present situation, of the needs and of
the resources of each one and of the fraternity. It is necessary to put the fundamental means of
ordinary life in contact with those of the strategic means, keeping in mind that the main subject
is always the person of the Friar Minor in the diverse ages of life.

The means of formation involve the whole person

36. First of all, there are means directed at the heart from the moment that the human, religious
and vocational growth requires not only an up-dating of ideas, but, above all, the transformation
of the heart by learning “to listen to others, share one's own thoughts, review and evaluate past
experiences, and think and plan together”143.

The means directed at enlightening the head/mind include the intelligence and knowledge
necessary to remain open, in a critical manner, to the new cultural contexts, to ideas, to the
anthropological and theological foundations, to the changes going on in society, etc. The

141
RFF 2.
142
Cf. RFF 33.
143
FLC 31.
experience of the real world and those of the encounter with the poor are irreplaceable for this
kind of involvement.

The means directed at the hands and feet, with which the Friar Minor seeks to manage new
abilities and capacities, are necessary in order to learn how to handle a real image of self (self-
knowledge), to use abilities for fraternal life (communication, human relationships, resolution of
conflicts, mutual acceptance, methodologies of communal projects and mission, etc.) and to
prepare himself for the mission (professional resources).

Some means distributed to the five areas, already presented in the specific goals, are presented.
Some means which are seen as particularly urgent for an organic and renewed formation are
offered in a special way.

The spirit of prayer and devotion

37. For the spirit of prayer and devotion to really become the first priority, it is more important
than ever:

a. to orient the Friars to live a profound experience of prayer by renewing the life and practice of
personal prayer;

b. to offer a specific formation in theology and in the celebration of the liturgical year and of the
sacraments by cultivating a genuine liturgical sense144;

c. to promote the communal celebration of the sacrament of Reconciliation, according to the

indications of the Episcopal Conference;

d. to offer the fraternity aids for the prayerful reading of the word of God in fraternity;

e. to promote a suitable formation in theology by cultivating the capacity to study it deeply from
the point of view of Sacred Scripture, the great texts of Christian and franciscan Tradition, the
Magisterium of the Church and the voices that come from other religious and cultural traditions.

f. to organise sabbatical periods on the level of the Entity, Conference and Order (e.g., on the
anniversary of profession, by age groups and by types of service and ministry, etc,);

g. to give adequate time to meditation and retreats in harmony with the liturgical seasons while
taking into account the rhythm of fraternal life chosen through the life project.

Communion of life in fraternity

38. For fraternal life in community to really become the primary environment in which to live
the continuous process of formation, it is more important than ever:

a. to promote, with suitable means, the spirit and the practice of the “Methodology of Emmaus”
in the fraternities in order to favour dialogue and the sharing of life;

b. to accompany the Friars called to the service of Guardian with specific moments of formation
on the provincial and inter-provincial levels in view of their duty to animate Ongoing Formation
in the local fraternity145;

144
Cf. RFF 68
c. to form for the planning and evaluation of Ongoing Formation in the local fraternity,
providing the means necessary for its development146, especially through an annual project to be
re-written and evaluated in harmony with the three-year plan of Ongoing Formation of the
Province / Custody147, of which the Guardian is the first guarantor148, together with the local
Chapter and other moments of reflection, exchange and dialogue among the Friars;

d. to offer the expertise necessary for a regular and fruitful celebration of the local Chapter and
of other family meetings which would help the fraternity to discover itself, share, evaluate and
project its life;

e. ro form the Friars and the fraternities to specific moments of fraternal correction and review
of life149, and to the management and resolution of conflicts;

f. to appreciate the times of communal recreation and all the other experiences which could help
in reaching full human, Christian and religious maturity “in a real fraternity”150.

Minority, solidarity and poverty

39. The varied and complex situations of the present-day world require a capacity for critical
reading and interpretation of the signs of the times151 in view of an evangelical discernment
which would help in looking at the world with a contemplative gaze, capable, that is, of seeing
God everywhere and in every one152. It is, therefore, more important than ever:

a. to go deeply into the themes proper to JPIC, on the personal and communal levels, and
identifying the means to carry them out through contact and collaboration with the laity, men
and women of good will who are involved in different areas of culture, economics and society,
and coming from other Christian, religious and cultural traditions153;

b. to take into account, in the life project which the local Chapters work out, of the preferential
option for the poor, the suffering and the forgotten of this world154, of the work for justice,
peace, the integrity of creation and solidarity;

c. to provide, in the communal projects of Ongoing Formation (tree-year, annual, etc.), for
participation in the initiatives proper to JPIC and forms of collaboration with other provincial
and inter-provincial organisms, as well as with the ecclesiastical and civil institutions;

d. to promote participation, together with other members of the Franciscan Family and men and
women of good will, in the initiatives of JPIC155 (e.g., the integrity of creation, attention to the
ecological crisis, water and energy, recycling, the support of fundamental human rights, the
denunciation of trafficking in people, respect for women and children, the rejection of violence

145
Cf. PCO81, 51; RFF 120.
146
Cf. GGCC 137 §3; cf. also GGSS 2 §2; 10-11; RFF 67.
147
Cf. RFF 116.
148
Cf. RFF 65.
149
Cf. RFF 73.
150
Cf. GGCC 39.
151
Cf. RFF 32; 106,1c; 22; 240°.
152
Cf. RFF 111.
153
Cf. RFF 239.
154
Cf. RFF 237.
155
Cf. GGSS 41,2.
and war, the resolution of conflicts and the promotion of reconciliation) in order to favour the
transformation of the structures of sin which injustices produce;

e. to form the Friars, the Guardians and Bursars in particular, to transparency in the
administration and use of goods and money through specific meetings and aids, as well as
through practical choices of sharing and restitution156;

f. to offer suitable tools for growth in the art of dialogue in order to meet others, as minors, in
the common living of different cultures, religions and confessions;

g. to plan meetings and specific means for the Friars and the fraternities to adopt an ecological
style of life which respects and protects nature157.

Evangelisation and mission

40. The missionary dimension of our vocation is the ordinary fraternal life, which is pushed
beyond itself by the Spirit towards the world. Suitable means for integrating fraternity and
evangelisation and for a decisive re-launch of the ad gentes mission should be identified on the
different levels (personal, local, provincial, inter-provincial and international). All the Friars,
clerics and lay, are to be formed in the spirit of ecclesiology of communion in view of an ever
stronger collaboration in mission. It is, therefore, more important than ever:

a. to acquire the necessary ability, from both the doctrinal and the practical experience point of
view, “so that the Gospel may be alive in the concrete reality of our time”158 and the Friars may be able
to become aware of the changed cultural contexts and situate themselves, with wisdom and
prophecy, in the reality of the world and of the needs of the present-day Church;

b. to promote the participation of lay faithful in the places and services of primary
evangelisation and of ordinary and missionary pastoral activity;

c. to inform the Friars about the ad gentes missions of the Order, offering them the possibility to
have a missionary experience in the different ages of life159;

d. to take care of processes for cultivating spiritual, doctrinal and professional capabilities and
for the updating and maturation of the Friar Minor in such a way that he may be able to carry
out the service to which he is called with competence and in a suitable way, taking into account
the new challenges of the present time160.

Formation
41. In order for formation to accompany the Friar Minor in a significant way during the whole
of his life, it is more important than ever:

a. to have accompaniment in the different ages of life

156
Cf. RFF 81.
157
Cf. GGCC 71; LgP, Proposal 39.
158
RFF 119.
159
Cf. RFF 91.
160
Cf. RFF 112.
42. The different “seasons” of life and the different ministries exercised by the Friars require a
new response161. There is a need for accompaniment and for a diversified formation, because
each situation has its own needs, possibilities and challenges162. Ongoing Formation, therefore,
cannot be universal in either its content or proposals, or even limited to a period of life, but
must, rather, be distinct in its stages according to the age of life, without excluding the
substantial unity of a formative itinerary for the whole Entity on the level of both the themes and
the pedagogical choices.

43. It is, therefore, evermore necessary to experiment with differentiated itineraries163, on the
inter-provincial level also, through:

a. accompaniment during the early years of solemn profession and ordination. This stage
requires special attention, above all by identifying itineraries, practical ways and suitable and
available Friars for accompaniment;

b. accompaniment of the middle-aged. This is the age in which, in conjunction with vocational
maturity and full insertion into the various fraternal and pastoral services, a tendency towards
individualism and isolation can arise and cause various kinds of tiredness and dependence, or
even a certain lack of affection can be highlighted, all of which can lead to a re-thinking of the
vocational option, etc164;

c. accompaniment of the old and sick: special care for “the advanced in age” and sick Friars165,
with the problems specific to this time of life;

d. accompaniment at the time of crossroads and crisis (changes in ministry and of place, health
and existential situations, etc.) through an evangelical discernment, reading and recognition of
the “wounds” of the Friars and through support of each one in a re-reading and narration of their
history in the light of the word of God, and through different forms of personal accompaniment;
the encouragement of informal meetings; the sharing of the real state of soul, hopes, dreams and
expectations;

e. accompaniment through a project, by developing, in the different ages, a personal project of

Ongoing Formation in dialogue with the Guardian and the Minister Provincial within the global
programme of the provincial and local fraternity and taking into account the age, the service or
ministry, the context of life and the personal vocation of each Friar166.

b. to take care of intellectual formation

44. “Study, as an “expression of the unquenchable desire for an ever deeper knowledge of God,
the source of light and of all human truth”, is fundamental to the life and formation, whether on-
going or initial, of every Friar Minor”167. Study, in this sense, has a dimension of gratuitousness.
It is necessary to stimulate the Friars to cultivate an interest in research and reading, in the
enjoyment of music and art, in view of an integral personal growth in the via pulchritudinis,

161
Cf. RFF 117.
162
Cf. VC 70.
163
Cf. RFF 118.
164
Cf. NF 70; RFF 93.
165
Cf. VC 44; LSR 55.
166
Cf. GGCC 137 §1.
167
RS 3.
typical of our tradition. Study and theological-pastoral and technical-professional updating on
the different levels are irreplaceable for remaining in a process of continuous personal, fraternal
and social discernment168. The presence of Friars in many countries and cultures make this
updating evermore urgent. The requirement to know, esteem and promote cultures in the light of
the Gospel is fundamental to becoming capable of dialogue169.

a. The intellectual tradition of the Order, together with the acquisitions of our times, is a valid
point of reference for this trajectory in order to “assimilate the cultural and spiritual heritage of
the Franciscan Masters in order to focus attention on them and make their voices heard in the
world of today”170.

b. The Study Centres of the Order, and also in collaboration with the Franciscan Family and
other ecclesiastical realities, should sustain the commitment of the individual Friars and
fraternities in this continuous process of integral formation and also to favour the learning of
new languages through intellectual, technical, scientific and theological formation, above all in
the moments of change in life and ministries171.

c. It is important, besides, to promote the formation of formators, teachers and Friar experts in
different fields (e.g., in Sacred Scripture, theology, liturgy, the social doctrine of the Church,
philosophy, law, the writings of franciscan authors, franciscan spirituality, psychology,
sociology, etc.)172.

d. It is more important than ever to make the most of the tendency towards a conscious and
critical reading of newspapers, books, narratives, poetry, etc., in the itineraries of formation. The
updating of franciscan and professional theological libraries, on various levels, and a seriousness
necessary for learning new languages, are to be promoted for this purpose.

e. There should be active participation in the elaboration and realisation of Ongoing Formation
programmes of the local and provincial fraternities and in similar initiatives of the local Church
and of the organisms of communion of religious.

f. The project of Ongoing Formation should be organised in collaboration with the Secretariat
for Evangelisation and the Office of JPIC.

Chapter IV

Let them obey each other

(Rnb 5,14)

The agents and places of Ongoing Formation

168
RS 32.
169
Cf. RS 16.
170
RS 17.
171
RS 34-35.
172
Cf. GGCC 142.
45. The process of Ongoing Formation pursues the goals set out and, in this way, animates and
supports the creative fidelity173 of each Friar and fraternity through the service of those mainly
responsible for formation, whom the General Constitutions174 determine: each Friar, as the
ultimate and decisive person responsible; the local and provincial fraternities as the privileged
places; the Ministers and the Guardians, as the animators of everyday life.

The individual Friar

46. “It is the duty of each friar, as the one ultimately and decisively responsible, to take care of his
on-going formation and to follow it through”175. “The Friar Minor, under the influence of the Holy
Spirit, is the chief protagonist of his own formation, responsible for accepting and making his own all the
values of Franciscan life, capable of making his own decisions and exercising personal initiative”176.

Each Friar should accept the tension between “freedom and creative fidelity” in Ongoing
Formation in order to respond to the gift of God in the process of “everyday conversion”. The
formative process, in this sense, is called to arouse a disposition towards renewal and continuous
growth, as the Friar matures in his personal conviction of its need and in the assumption of the
time, means and situations.

The responsibility of the Friar, as the primary agent of Ongoing Formation, is, in itself, open to
sharing and corresponsibility with his brothers.

The local fraternity

47. The franciscan fraternity is the place in which the Friar learns to live the obedience to the
Gospel promised in the mutual “washing of the feet” after the example of our Lord and
Master177. “Let no one be called “prior”, but let everyone in general be called a lesser brother.
Let one wash the feet of the other”178. “Since the primary centre of Ongoing Formation is the
local fraternity itself, the duty of making sure that the ordinary life of the fraternity promotes
formative action belongs to each Friar and, above all, to the Guardian”179.

“The Friars of each individual fraternity have the responsibility of creating an environment of trust in which
all can freely express their needs, thoughts and feelings. It is important that the Friars promote the skills of
communication, of conflict resolution and of community building”180. For this, the local Chapter is the
privileged place of meeting and dialogue, of discernment and decision, of sharing and of growth
in response to the common vocation and to the expectations and hopes of the ecclesiastical and
civil context in which the fraternity lives.

“Washing the feet”: the service of the Guardian

48. The Guardian, in virtue of the obedience received, has the task of animating Ongoing
Formation among the Friars in the local fraternity181. The service of authority, a demanding and,
at times, disputed task, requires, therefore, a presence capable of animating and proposing, of
173
Cf. VC 37.
174
Cf. GGCC 137-139.
175
GGCC 137 §1.
176
RFF 40.
177
Cf. Jn 13.
178
Rnb 6,3.
179
GGCC 137 §2.
180
RFF 115,
181
Cf. CAO 13g; PCO81 51; RFF 120.
reminding others of the reason for being of the franciscan life, and helping the Friars to renew
their fidelity to the call of the Spirit182. The primary characteristic is that of being a “spiritual”
authority, who places himself, that is, “at the service of what the Spirit wants to realize through
the gifts which He distributes to every member of the community, in the charismatic project of
the institute”183.

The evangelical service of the Guardian is to promote a spirituality of communion in order to

favour and assure the actual participation of all, without rendering “vain the obedience
professed”184, in respect for the dignity of each one and instilling courage and hope when there
are difficulties185.

Helped by the life project, the Guardian should encourage the participation of all in the everyday
process of fraternal life through the exercise of listening and dialogue, of proposals and
discernment, of mutual help in order to resolve conflicts, of helping the Friars in crisis. He
should make the most of what could develop the fraternal sense of free time on the occasion of
anniversaries, feast days, birthdays, special moments in the life of the fraternity, etc.186. The
fraternity should be constantly able to compare its life with the project of God187 through all
these moments in order “to do His holy and true command”.

The provincial fraternity

49. “In order to establish an adequate formation, the provincial fraternity is to be aware that it is a
formative community, insofar as the example of life of all the friars of the Province is of the utmost
importance in fostering Franciscan values among all”188.

The individual Entities are to redact, during their respective Chapters, an Ongoing Formation
Programme of its own, which should be evaluated and proposed again each year, taking care,
above all, of continuity between Ongoing and Initial Formation189 and of the corresponsible
involvement of the greatest possible number of Friars and fraternities.

The Minister Provincial

50. The Minister Provincial/Custos is the primary and indispensable animator of Ongoing
Formation in the Province/Custody190. As such, he animates and stimulates all those who work
in Ongoing Formation and he becomes the guarantor that the programmes agreed to are carried
out191. In this sense, “he is first of all called to be the first one to be obedient”192.

The Minister Provincial/Custos is the first to be called to live his formative itinerary by keeping
a constant and warm relationship with each Friar of the provincial/custodial fraternity193, above
all by visiting the fraternities periodically194.

182
Cf. SAFC 14.
183
SAO 13a.
184
VC 43.
185
Cf. SAO 13d.
186
Cf. RFF 120.
187
Cf. SAFC 14.
188
GGCC 139, §1.
189
Cf. GGSS 81 §1; 75, §1.
190
Cf. GGCC 138; GGSS 77 §1; PCO81 51.
191
Cf. PCO81 54.
192
SAO 14a.
193
Cf. GGCC 221, §1.
He should work in a spirit of corresponsibility with the aim of promoting and planning Ongoing
Formation in his Entity, availing himself of the collaboration of the Provincial/Custodial
Chapter, of the Definitory, of the Guardians and of the other organisms there are in the
Province/Custody195, and especially of the Moderator for Ongoing Formation. It is possible to
carry out the provincial/custodial project of formation together through this network of
communion and collaboration

“The Ministers are to ensure that programmes of Ongoing Formation are drawn up during the
[provincial or local] Chapters”196.

The Provincial Secretariat for Formation and Studies

51. “It is the duty of the General Secretariat for Formation and Studies, in dependence on the
Minister General, to moderate all formative activity in the Order”197. he should, therefore,
promote, in a suitable way, the continuity between Ongoing and Initial Formation, according to
his duties described in the RFF198. It pertains to him to organise periodical meetings of all those
who are dedicated to formation (initial and ongoing) “so that they may study their own
experiences, foster mutual cooperation and promote unity of orientation by means of common
criteria”199. It is also of great value and efficacious to promote an active collaboration with the
Secretariat for Evangelisation and with the other departments in order to favour a common
project and to participate actively in the life and mission of the entire fraternity.

The Provincial Moderator of Ongoing Formation

52. There is to be a Moderator for Ongoing Formation in each Entity200; he is a member of the
Provincial Secretariat for Formation and Studies201. His tasks are well defined in the RFF202. It
is important that he work in effective collaboration and corresponsibility with the other Friars,
with the Guardians and with the Provincial Secretary for Formation and Studies, and the
Minister Provincial.

The Conference of Ministers Provincial

53. “In order to promote and safeguard the greater common good, mutual relations between the
Conferences, especially those nearest to one another, are to be encouraged, as well as the
communication of news, common experiences and undertakings”203. The life, activities and
Ongoing Formation of the Friars are always to be promoted more intensely on the level of the
Conference through collaboration between those charged with formation and through common
initiatives of the Conference itself204.

The General Government of the Order

194
Cf. RFF 122.
195
Cf. GGCC 137 §3; RFF 69.
196
GGSS 81 §1; cf. 77 §1.
197
GGSS 78 §2.
198
Cf. RFF Appendices I, 1-3 and II, 1-2.
199
GGCC 143.
200
Cf. GGSS 81 §2.
201
Cf. GGSS 78 §1.
202
Cf. RFF 123 and Appendices III, 1-3.
203
GGSS 199.
204
Cf. GGCC 143; GGSS 192d, 200 §2.
The Minister General
54. The Minister General is the primary person responsible for formation in the Order and, as
such, he should animate and stimulate all the agents of formation so that they may put the
programmes provided into practice205.

He personally, during his fraternal visits to the Entities of the Order, or through the General
Definitors, is “to foster and strengthen their franciscan spirit”206, to stimulate and confirm the
programmes of Ongoing Formation.

He is to pay special attention, through the Visitator General, to the understanding, plans, means
and agents of Ongoing Formation in each Entity and to see to it that a programme of Ongoing
Formation is drawn up during the Provincial/Custodial Chapter207.

The General Secretariat for Formation and Studies

55. In conformity with art. 75 §1 of the General Statutes, the General Secretariat for Formation
and Studies is to encourage collaboration and dialogue between the Moderators of Ongoing
Formation through congresses, meetings and other appropriate means. The Secretary General for
Formation and Studies is, as far as possible, to participate in the meetings of the Moderators for
Ongoing Formation of the Conferences and to give his support to the initiatives of Ongoing
Formation which are being carried out on the level of the Conferences and of the Franciscan
Family, as well as to the Centres of Spirituality and Franciscanism. He is to encourage
sabbatical periods, according to the circumstances and needs.

He is, finally, to support a constant and practical collaboration with the Secretary General for
Evangelisation and the other Offices of the General Curia, above all, with those which are
specifically addressing the animation of the life and mission of the Friars throughout the world.

APPENDICES

For deep study and assimilation

205
Cf. GGCC 134.
206
GGCC 199.
207
Cf. GGSS 74 §1.