I am in Rome for the General Chapter of the Capuchin Franciscan Order. The General Chapter is the highest authority of the Order and it elects the Minister General (the major superior of the worldwide Order) and the leadership team. General Chapters are every six years and I was elected to attend as a delegate, an honor and a responsibility. The Chapter began on August 25 and will end on September 15. I will return to Philadelphia on September 16.
Before I went to Rome I stopped for two days to pray at the Shrine of Saint Anthony in Padua. I prayed for Saint John and Holy Redeemer Churches, my ministry and my love.
Saint Anthony is a busy Shrine with hundreds of visitors every day. Saint Anthony is a popular Franciscan saint, who lived in the 13th century in the time of Saint Francis.
As I spent a day at the Shrine, watching people come and go, watching them bring their prayers to Saint Anthony, I felt happy to be a Catholic. And then I took the train to Rome and am now with 172 friars from all over the world. At one meal, I chat with friars from India; and then the next meal I sit with friars from Germany and Ireland. Capuchins are in more than 100 countries and it is exciting to hear the situation of the Church and Order in many places. In Europe, the Order is rapidly declining in number; in Africa and Asia, increasing; and in North America we are declining, but not dramatically as in Europe. Capuchins prefer to be among ordinary people, with the poor and the sick. I admire those friars who live cheerfully and heroically in war zones, like Ukraine, Lebanon, Haiti and Congo.
Catholic means universal. At Pentecost, the apostles received the Holy Spirit and their speech was understood in multiple languages. Pentecost was a prelude to what the Church would become, what it is now, a communion of faith that spans the world and includes people of every race, language and way of life. The Capuchin Chapter is a remarkable immersion into the universality of the Church.
On Saturday, August 31, Pope Francis met with us Chapter friars at the Vatican. Saint Peter’s Basilica at the Vatican is a symbol of the wide universal reach of the Catholic Church. In front of the basilica, there are Bernini’s columns, formed to be a symbolic embrace of the entire world, as the Catholic Church embraces the world.
The Pope is the successor of Saint Peter and he is the symbol of unity in the Church. Pope Francis, now 87 years old, is frail, but still full of life. Despite his busy schedule and old age, he still projects kind interest to each one he meets. I felt it when I shook his hand and spoke briefly to him.
If you’d like to read about Pope Francis’ message to the friars, here is a link:
I was proud to hear Pope Francis say, “As Capuchins, you are known for being ready to go where no one else wants to go”. I hope to be a good Capuchin, worthy of the laudatory words of the Pope.
I was happy to be elected to attend the Chapter, but I miss my life and work in Philadelphia at Saint John’s and Holy Redeemer. I am keeping up with emails and phone calls from here, but I look forward to returning home at the end of the Chapter. I pray every day for the people of Saint John’s and Holy Redeemer and I pray that our Philadelphia church communities will be holy and welcoming manifestations of the universal Catholic Church.
