Hey, brother, would you like to be a bishop?

This just in from the Union of Superiors General (USG)...

"Two persons posing as Cardinals (Ruini / Bertone) from the Vatican approached our members in three different countries. The phone and email contacts were made 'sub secreto pontificio', each time denying the person permission to speak with the Superior General. Vague references were often made to urgent meetings with Pope Benedict, just hours earlier.

"Ostensibly, the 'cardinal's' request was made for one member to consider an appointment as a bishop in his own country. He in turn was referred to another senior member in another country, who had been asked by the 'cardinal' to urge him to accept the nomination. Overtures to build a formation fund as compensation to the province were offered by the 'Vatican Official'

"In a later phone conversation, requests were made for bank account information. Eventually the nominee for bishop was asked to come to Singapore to meet with the 'cardinal' in person, and incidentally bring along a large sum of money.

"The phony 'Cardinals' had enough ecclesiastical information and jargon to sound initially credible to the persons called. When, however, bank accounts and money were mentioned, suspicions arose.

"Thankfully no transfer of money took place. However, in retrospect these extortionists are rather bold and well-informed. They may currently be trying something similar with other groups.

"I advise Superiors General to post alerts to members of their staff and provincials to be on watch for similar fraud and extortion schemes to may be going on."

Forewarned is forearmed! Apologies to all those who bought non-refundable tickets to Singapore for not bringing this to your attention sooner!

Meeting with the CIC

After an adventurous day of travel—our first flight was delayed, causing us to miss our connection in Frankfurt—the General Definitory arrived in Spain on 4 June to begin its meeting with the Iberian Capuchin Conference. The meeting took place in Alcalá, birthplace and burial place of the Franciscan Saint Diego (who, by the way, was an early example of a lay brother who served as guardian of his friary).

The Iberian Capuchin Conference (CIC) includes the five provinces of Spain and the Province of Portugal. The major topic of discussion was the planned merger of four of the five provinces of Spain into a new Spanish province. The provinces have worked very hard at organizing the merger, and their efforts exceeded our expectations. Rather than approaching the process with resignation, they showed great enthusiasm for the project, and see it as a way to revitalize our presence in Spain.

The Province of Catalonia, which is not currently participating in the merger process, is hoping to find new energy by welcoming a few friars from the Province of Sardinia. Eventually, both Catalonia and Portugal may join the new Spanish Province.

Meeting with CIMPCap

The other members of the General Definitory and I have just completed our meeting with the Italian Conference of Capuchin Provincial Ministers (CIMPCap). The meeting was held in Venice at the Friary of Our Most Holy Redeemer, which is attached to the shrine (pictured here) of the same name. The shrine, I seem to remember, was built as a thanksgiving offering by the people of Venice for having been spared from the worst of the Black Death that ravaged much of Italy.

The Capuchin Conference in Italy is the largest in the Order, with between 2,220 and 2,400 friars, depending on how you count them. While Capuchins are still quite numerous in Italy, their number has fallen significantly in recent years. Part of the reason for the decline can be found in the secularization that has taken root in Italian society, a factor that it has in common with the other western European conferences and with the NAPCC. Because of this numerical decline, provinces in Italy are facing many of the same struggles that face provinces in the NAPCC: the need to close friaries and withdraw from ministries that are no longer sustainable, the difficulty of finding an adequate number of friars to be guardians, formation directors, pastors, etc. and the difficulty of finding sufficient income with a dwindling workforce, among others.

In other ways, the experience of the Italian provinces is different from that of the provinces in the NAPCC. For one thing, the friaries that the Capuchins are closing in Italy are often almost 500 years old, and are sometimes one of the town's major landmarks. Understandably, such a closure is traumatic both for the friars and for the people they served. Another important difference is that, while vocations are increasing in many parts of the NAPCC, they have not picked up in Italy. The Italian Conference had roughly the same number of novices this year as the NAPCC (around 15), even though there are four times as many friars in CIMPCap than in the NAPCC.

Despite the obvious challenges facing our brothers in Italy, they are looking to the future with hope. The painful process of downsizing is being looked at as a chance to return to the essentials of our life. Rather than merely continuing to do what they have always done, the provinces in Italy are looking for new ways of serving the poor with a spirit of minority. Rather than giving up in the face of their difficulties, they are working to recapture the spirit that once led them to be called, "Brothers of the people."

International Chapter of Mats

From Wednesday to Saturday of Easter week 2009, around 1800 Franciscans of various types converged on Assisi for the International Chapter of Mats. It was, we were told, the first of its kind. The Chapter was convoked by the four General Ministers of the Franciscan First Orders and the Third Order Regular in order to celebrate the 8th Centenary of the approval of the first Rule of Francis. While the bulk of the participants were Friars Minor, Conventuals, Capuchins and TOR’s, there were representatives of the Secular Franciscan Order and of other religious congregations of Franciscan inspiration (including, for example, the Friars of the Renewal). Our sisters of the Second Order were united with us in prayer; their sole visible representative was Sister Angela Emanuela Scandella, Abbess of the Poor Clare monastery in Foligno, who spoke to us during Friday’s morning prayer. Most of the planning for the Chapter was entrusted to the respective Italian conferences of the orders involved.

It is difficult to categorize the event; it was part retreat, part workshop, part pep rally. After the opening welcomes and introductions on Wednesday afternoon, Br. Raniero Cantalamessa gave the keynote address. Personally, I thought his talk was the highlight of the week. He challenged the whole of the Franciscan family to return to the three P’s of our origins: preaching, poverty and prayer. One line in particular piqued my imagination, which I will paraphrase as follows: “We are better at being pastors than fishermen. We work well with the flock of the saved, but have abandoned the task of bringing the lost sheep back to the flock.” He challenged all Franciscans to take up the mission of ministering to unbelievers and the unchurched. Hopefully, the text of his talk will eventually be made available in English.

Thursday was dedicated to the theme of Witness. After morning prayer in the assembly tent, there were talks by the former General Ministers of the First Orders: Bishop John Corriveau, OFMCap, Archbishop Agostino Gardin, OFM Conv, and Brother Giacomo Bini, OFM. The afternoon’s program consisted of a series of five short video presentations on various aspects of the Franciscan presence around the world. Each video featured a different member of the Franciscan family, and was followed by a discussion. The first video featured a young Italian Capuchin working as a missionary in the Amazon region of Brazil. That was followed by a video about the communications ministry of the Conventuals who produce the magazine Messaggero di Sant’Antonio. Thirdly, there was video featuring the work of the Third Order Regular friars at Steubenville University and Saint Francis University in Loretto, Pennsylvania. The presence of the Secular Franciscan Order throughout the world was the subject of the fourth video. The last video was about the work of interfaith dialogue by the Friars Minor in the Holy Land. A prominent Italian television journalist posed a series of questions to a representative of each of the five Orders after each video. I thought the journalist did a good job of picking up on important elements of each video for further discussion.

The theme of Friday’s events was Penance and Fasting. The day began with morning prayer in the Basilica of St. Clare. The Basilica, of course, does not have the capacity to seat 1800 people so more than half of the participants had to stand for the whole period of prayer. After the reading, Sister Angela Emanuela Scandella gave us a thirty-minute homily. It was a good start for a day dedicated to penance, especially for those who could not understand Italian or who could not hear her clearly. After morning prayer, we were invited to find a quiet place in one of the Franciscan sites around Assisi where we could pray and meditate. You do the math: 1800 friars divided by 10 sites does not exactly equal peace and quiet. I chose to walk up to the Carceri on the theory that few others would want to walk 2.5 miles to pray. I was right! The rest went by car. On the way up, I was passed by carloads and vanloads of brown, black and gray habits. By the time I arrived, red-faced and out of breath, the place was crawling with tourists and friars. After catching my breath, I caught a ride back down to Assisi and walked over to the church of Saint Mary Major, and found it was nearly empty. Saint Mary Major, by the way, is next to the Bishop’s residence, where Francis gave his clothing back to his father and entrusted himself totally to the Father. More to the point here, it is about a hundred yards away—downhill—from where we prayed morning prayer. So much for my theories!

The next scheduled event, at three o’clock in the afternoon, was the procession from the Basilica of Santa Maria degli Angeli to the Basilica of Saint Francis. Along the way, we prayed psalms, sang, and got acquainted with some of the other participants. Upon reaching the Basilica, we processed down to the tomb of Saint Francis and received a copy of the Rule from the hands of the three First Order General Ministers. Exiting from the other end of the tomb chapel, we came out into the piazza beside the lower basilica, where a Mass was celebrated to conclude the day’s events.

Saturday morning, we all headed by car, van or bus to Castel Gandolfo for an audience with the Pope Benedict XVI. Originally, the plan was to hold the audience at the Vatican, but the Holy Father decided to spend Easter week at Castel Gandolfo to rest up from the previous week’s exertions. Unfortunately, the courtyard at Castel Gandolfo was not large enough to hold all the participants so some had to remain in the piazza outside the building. After Pope Benedict addressed the assembly, the three General Ministers of the First Order renewed their vows to the Holy Father in the name of all the friars of their Orders. It was a moving moment. Then the Pope tossed commemorative t-shirts into the crowd. Okay, I’m just kidding about that last part. Thus ended the first International Chapter of Mats.

If one were to judge the event solely on the basis of the number of participants, it was quite successful. The organizers originally planned for about 2000 participants. Early registrations were running behind expectations, but last-minute registrations brought the number close to the target. Will there ever be another International (and inter-obediential) Chapter of Mats? In informal conversations with several of the participants, it seems that the experience was well-received, and many wanted to see it repeated. Whether others shared this sentiment will become clear when and if we ever receive the results of the evaluation that everyone was asked to complete at the end of the event. Considering the number of participants and the fact that it was the first event of its kind, it came off fairly well.

If there is a second Chapter of Mats, I think a few changes would be in order. First, the number of participants should be reduced to around 1200. None of the venues was large enough for 1800 people. I cannot imagine how Francis managed to hold a Chapter of Mats with 5000 friars without the benefit of microphones and Jumbotrons! Secondly, more attention needs to be given to translation. This year, arrangements had been made to have simultaneous translation of the talks into English, Spanish and Polish. Noticeably absent was a translator for Italian. It was assumed by the organizers that all the talks would be given in Italian—to the surprise of some of the speakers who were not Italian. There was only one translator for each of the three languages, which meant that they sometimes worked three hours straight without a break. No wonder, therefore, that the quality of the translations was not always top notch. No arrangements were made for translation during the liturgies. If you didn’t understand Italian, all you heard during the homilies was “blah blah blah” for 20 minutes or so (if it is any consolation, those of us who do understand Italian sometimes heard the same thing). There were several other things that I would have done differently, but all things considered, the organizers did a superb job. They deserve thanks and congratulations for pulling off a very large, complex event.

In the end, maybe the symbolism of the event is what mattered most: that the sons and daughters of Saint Francis could come together to celebrate together our common beginning. Given our histories, that’s not such a small thing, after all.

Mexico

The former Vice Provinces of Mexico and Texas, both entrusted to the Province of Navarre (Spain), were combined into a single vice province on 3 March 2009. Since the Vice Province of Texas was a part of the NAPCC, I was invited to the ceremony in Mexico City establishing the new Vice Province of Mexico-Texas (can I call it the "Tex-Mex Vice Province", please, please, please, pretty please?! Can I, can I, can I?!). You can read about the ceremony and the visit of the General Minister to the Vice Province on Br Carlos Novoa's blog. If you can't read Spanish, you can look at the pretty pictures!

Taking advantage of some otherwise free time before and after the ceremony, I visited the mission of the Western America Province in the northern part of Mexico. I was accompanied most of the time by Br Matt Elshoff, Provincial Minister of the Western America Province. We met at the Dallas airport on Ash Wednesday and boarded a flight to Chihuahua, where we were met by Br Michael Ronayne. Our first stop was the monastery of the Capuchin Poor Clares in Chihuahua. I am not sure of the exact number of Capuchin Poor Clares in Mexico, but it is in the thousands. The sisters there were kind enough to give us something to eat and drink (even though we were not hungry or thirsty), and to show us around the monastery.

Leaving the monastery, we started our five-hour drive to Tres Ojitos, a small village nestled in a broad valley of the Sierra Madre mountains. Just before reaching Tres Ojitos, we stopped to visit the Capuchin Poor Clares in Ciudad Madera. This is one of the newer monasteries in Mexico; in fact, it is still under construction. The sisters gave us a warm welcome and enjoined a bit of food and drink on us. Afterward, we continued down the highway for a few hundred meters before turning down a dirt road for the 10 km drive to Tres Ojitos.

The friary in Tres Ojitos was built as a vocational training center by the Augustinian friars who once ministered there. Since receiving it from the bishop, the Capuchins have added a chapel and a couple of other buildings. It now serves as the novitiate for the northern Mexico mission, and until a few years ago, the Vice Province of Mexico also sent its novices here. At present, there are four novices. It's isolation makes it a wonderful spot for a contemplative lifestyle, yet there are plenty of ministerial opportunities in nearby Madera and the surrounding villages.

Next on our itinerary was Yecora, about an eight-hour drive from Tres Ojitos. This was the first friary of California's mission in Mexico. Besides David Beaumont, two friars of the Goa, India, Vice Province—Vincent and John Thomas—conduct a wide-ranging ministry from here. Not only do they conduct pastoral ministry in Yecora itself and several missions within a two-hour radius, but they provide many social services to the local population. They have an especially important ministry to the Pima and Yaqui Indians, for which the friars have received national recognition. For the two days we spent in Yecora, Matt and I were taken in the luxurious "Beaumont-mobile" to visit several of the outlying missions.

From Yecora, Matt and I traveled another five hours to Hermosillo, where we caught a morning flight to Mexico City and the unification celebration. After the ceremony, Matt and I were able to visit the Saint Veronica Giuliani Formation House, a large structure dedicated to the education and formation of the Capuchin Poor Clares of Mexico. Currently, almost 100 sisters are living there—30 in the two-year theology program and the rest in ongoing formation courses.

The day after the ceremony, we flew to Monterrey to conclude our visit of the mission. Padre Pio Friary in Monterrey is the newest of the mission's houses (although one is now under construction in Durango). The friary houses the postnovitiate program and the philosophate/theologate program. As in each of the other houses, Matt and I conducted a house chapter at the end of our visit. Before saying my farewells to the friars in Monterrey and to Mexico, I took a personal day to visit the city of Monterrey (a worthwhile destination!) and to smell the flowers.

Chapter of the General Vice Province of Kenya

In early February, I presided at the Chapter of the General Vice Province of Kenya, which was held at the Rosa Mystica Spiritual Centre in Nairobi. Normally, this would not be one of my responsibilities; either the General Minister or the General Definitor for Africa would preside at these chapters. With the nomination of Brother Vicente Kiaziku as Bishop of Mbanza-Congo, however, other arrangements had to be made this time. Happily, the lot fell to me. The chance to see Kenya was something of a dream come true for me.

This was only my second time in Africa, the first being for the meeting in Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania, last November with the two African Capuchin Conferences. I expected tropical temperatures and humidity, but was pleasantly surprised to discover that due to Nairobi's altitude (almost 1,700 meters or 5,500 feet), its climate is much like my province's home city of Denver, Colorado. The days were warm and sunny, and the nights were pleasantly cool. Another stereotype bites the dust!

The Chapter itself was a great experience. The 37 friar-delegates enthusiastically participated in the business of the Chapter. There were lively debates about formation programs, ministries, the organization of fraternities and ways to improve the Vice Province's economic self-sufficiency. The atmosphere was in sharp contrast with most of the chapters I have attended, where the level of enthusiasm is, shall we say, more contained. This was also the first chapter I have attended in which all five members of the new Council were elected on the first ballot. I gave myself credit, but I'm sure the Spirit had something to do with it, as well.

I must also note the great spirit of fraternity during the Chapter. I was made to feel quite at home during my entire stay in the country. I was struck again by the power that lies in our Franciscan vocation: that people from geographical areas and cultural backgrounds as different as mine and the Kenyans could live together as brothers.

I would have liked to stay much longer in Kenya in order to see the Serengeti and the Rift Valley, but that was not possible. I did, however, talk one of the brothers into taking me to see Kibera, one of the largest slums in Africa. There I met briefly with a local Pan-African Conciliation Team (PACT) of the Damietta Peace Initiative. I also visited "Bomas of Kenya", a cultural center just outside Nairobi. I made a point of visiting a recreation of a Luo village to see how the ancestors of my current President once lived.

Capuchins in 2050, part 2

In a previous post, I wrote about two articles* I read recently on world demographic trends and about the implications of those trends for the Capuchin Order. As I wrote in that post, the main focus of the articles was on the financial implications of demographic trends. Since Capuchins are affected by the economics of the society in which they live, these demographic trends will have implications for the Order’s finances, as well.

The basic premise of one of the articles is that demographics have a determining effect on economics. One of the most widely-used indicators of a country’s economic well-being is the Gross Domestic Product, or GDP, which measures the amount of wealth produced in a country each year. Citing studies by Jeffrey Williamson, former head of the Harvard economics department, the article “The Pig in the Python…” noted the strong influence demographics have on economic growth. In somewhat oversimplified terms, one can say that there is a positive correlation between a country’s economy and the number of its 40-year-olds. This is so because the years surrounding the age of forty are generally the most productive years of a person’s life, at least in terms of economic output. (It is an oversimplification, however, since it ignores issues such as the distribution of wealth, tax structures, bribery and corruption within the country).

Accepting this basic premise and applying it to the demographic situation presented in my previous post, points to declining wealth in areas such as Europe and, to a lesser extent, North America over the next forty years, whereas in parts of Asia and Africa wealth will gradually increase over the next forty years. This process has already begun. The economic growth of India and China, for instance, is obvious. In recent years, the GDP of each country has grown as a percentage of the world’s total GDP. This growth has come largely at the expense of Japan, which has seen its share of world GDP slip from 18% in 1995 to 8% in 2007. Japan, as I noted in my last post, is in a period of negative population growth. Europe’s share of world GDP fell from 40% to 27% in that same period. The United States, on the other hand, saw its share of world GDP increase from 24% to 26% from 1995 to 2007. Looking forward, however, both the United States and Europe will face greater social spending costs because of its aging population. This in turn will limit their economic growth and cause their share of world GDP to slip even lower.

Under the leadership of Br John Corriveau, the Order set up a Solidarity Fund to support its missionary efforts in poorer areas of the world. The Fund has been instrumental in allowing the Order to bring the Franciscan charism to new areas of the world and to support many of its traditional missions. As of last year, 30% of the money distributed for mission solidarity was supplied by the Fund’s investments. Most of the other 70% came from contributions by the Order’s jurisdictions, mainly in Europe and North America. If, as expected, those countries have fewer economic resources in the future, donations received by our jurisdictions there will also decrease. Fewer donations means fewer financial resources available to the Solidarity Fund. In addition, many of the jurisdictions in Europe and the United States who so far have been able to support their missions without recourse to the Solidarity Fund may have difficulty doing so in the future. This could lead to more requests for financial support in the future, placing increasing pressure on the Fund.

With good management and a disciplined approach, the investments of the Solidarity Fund will continue to grow, thus providing critical, long-term support to the Order’s missions. It seems clear, however, that the growth in its investments will not be able to offset the expected decline in contributions to the Solidarity Fund from the Order’s European and American jurisdictions. We have no reason to panic at this point, but neither can we afford to ignore these “signs of the times”.

This emerging situation is yet another reason for Capuchins throughout the world to review their lives in light of the principles enunciated by the Sixth Plenary Council of the Order. Transparency, participation, equity, subsidiarity, solidarity, austerity and co-responsibility within the Order were never more important than they are now. In particular, we need to re-discover the value of austerity, the “mother of solidarity”. By practicing austerity, brothers in wealthier societies will have more to share with their brothers in need, and brothers in poorer societies will allow more of the available resources to go where they are most needed. The future of the Order’s ability to bring the message of the Gospel to the world depends on the actions we take today.

* The two articles in question are:
Verne Sedlacek, “The Pig in the Python and Other Reports from the Front Lines of Demography,” in Mission Matters. Spring/Summer 2008, pp. 2-7.
Michael Strauss, “World Potrait, by the Numbers,” in Mission Matters. Spring/Summer 2008, pp. 8-13.