On the afternoon of Tuesday, August 27, the General Minister continued the presentation of his report. He highlighted the structural developments that have characterized the dynamics of the Order in recent years, especially those involving the unification of provinces, the suppression of some circumscriptions and the establishment of new ones. These steps have particularly affected our European circumscriptions.
To cite some examples: from the unification of the provinces of Abruzzo, Rome and Umbria came the Province of Central Italy; from the union of the provinces of Salerno and Naples came the Province of Campania-Basilicata; and from the unification of the Provinces of Messina, Palermo and Syracuse came the Province of Sicily. In addition, some circumscriptions were suppressed, and new ones were established, for example: the Netherlands and Belgium became a Delegation of the Province of Germany; Great Britain became a delegation of the Province of Ireland; or more recently, the Custody of Japan became the delegation of the Province of New York. Such transformation has also touched our presence in Austria and South Tyrol.
A similar kind of re-organizing occurred among conferences: CONCAM and CCA were dissolved and reformed as the CCH; the European Conferences CECOC, CIC, CIMPCAP, CENOC and ASMEN were regrouped into CEMCap and CENEC; the Custody of Arabia and the Custody of Pakistan became part of the Asia Pacific Conference (PACC). Other circumscriptions (custodies) moved from the direct responsibility of the General Minister to the care of provinces. Turning to the subject of economics, the General Minister offered a simple overview, speaking of the existing challenges and then left it to the General Bursar to present the economic report. Recalling in his report the value of providence, the General Minister recalled the exhortation of St. Francis: “we want to and must live by the work of our hands and, only if we should come to lack the means, have recourse to alms.”
In conclusion, the General Minister looked to the future, writing: “We want to be inspired by Him, confident that our witness becomes fruitful if we help ourselves to better live this fraternal expression of our charism. The brothers, the times, the situations we live in, the joys and labors we experience, the fidelity that we embrace and the ‘looseness’ that characterizes us, all this is what is given to us and what fits us to follow Jesus Christ and his Gospel today, nothing else.” Finally, the General Minister expressed his gratitude extensively to the Lord and to the brothers, recognizing that as the head of a great Order like ours, he could do very little if he did not have the help of so many brothers, starting with the rich and varied fraternity of the General Curia. He also directed his gratitude to the gift who are our Capuchin saints and blessed.
