FROM OUR CORRESPONDENT IN THE HOLY LAND

The celebration of the Custodial Chapter of the Holy Land Franciscans kicked off on Sunday 4 July at the sanctuary of “Dominus Flevit”, on the Mount of Olives. The Franciscans met for an opening ceremony consisting of a Liturgy of the Word focusing on the theme of the Chapter: “You will be my witnesses to the ends of the earth” (Acts 1:8).

The open-air celebration had as its backdrop the panoramic view of the old city of Jerusalem, in order to remind all the participants to the Chapter that the mission of the Franciscans in the Holy Land is to announce the Gospel to all men from the very place where it all came to be, namely, Jerusalem, and the sacred meaning it conveys to the Christian presence in the Holy Land.

Jerusalem is also sacred to Jews and Muslims, and thus the presence of the Franciscans of the Holy Land Custody is an important sign of mutual acceptance and inter-religious dialogue between Christians and other men of good will, no matter to what belief they belong to.

The Custodial Chapter is a meeting held once every three years, in which a number of Franciscans, who are elected as delegates, meet to discuss issues of Franciscan life and presence in the Holy Land Custody, and also to elect new superiors.

The Chapter is presided by the President and Visitator General Br. Francesco Bravi ofm, currently Minister Provincial of Milan, who represents the Minister General of the Order. The Minister himself, Br. José Rodríguez Carballo ofm is expected to arrive at the end of the Chapter in order to preside over the concluding celebrations on 15 July in the Basilica of the Holy Sepulchre.

The plenary sessions of the Chapter start on Monday 5 July, after the celebration of the votive Mass of the Holy Spirit in the church of Saint Saviour in Jerusalem. The delegates will meet and work in the Custodial Curia at St. Saviour Monastery.

During these coming days they will first listen to the reports of the President and Visitator General, and the outgoing (and reconfirmed for a three-year mandate) Custos, Br. Pierbattista Pizzaballa ofm, who will provide an overall view of the work of the Custodial government during the period 2004-2010.

The other reports which are presented and discussed include those on Formation and Studies, Evangelisation, Commission of the Holy Places and “Status Quo”, and the Custodial Administration.

As a second stage in the proceedings of the Chapter the delegates will elect the team of friars who will form the new government of the Custody during the next three years. These would include the Custodial Vicar, and six Counsellors, or Discreti, as they are known, representing the various language groups of the Holy Land Custody.

These include the English-speaking friars from North America, UK, Ireland, Africa, the Far East, and Oceania; the friars from Italy and Malta; the Spanish, Portuguese, and Latin American friars; the Franco-German group; the Arabic-speaking friars; and the Polish and other friars from Slavic countries. In this way the international character of the Holy Land Custody is expressed also in the organs of government.

The last part of the Chapter will include the discussion and approval of the new Statutes for the creation of the “Region of St. Paul”, a sub-region dependent upon the Custody’s government, and which includes the friars living in other Middle Eastern countries, namely Jordan, Syria, and Lebanon.

A Custodial Delegate will also be designated to be the official representative of these friars in front of the General Curia of the Franciscan Order and the Holy Land Custody, of which these friars continue to form an integral part. The friar delegates will also discuss new proposals for the incoming Custodial government, in order to give it the mandate to implement them during the next three years.

After the end of the Chapter, during the second part of July, the President of the Chapter, together with the Custos and the new Custodial Administration, will meet for the “Congressus Capitularis”, in order to renew and assign the various offices to the friars of the Custody, and make the necessary transfers of personnel according to the three-year plan of action decided upon during the Chapter.