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New Services

19 February 2001

The evening before the election of the Minister General, we had a Holy Hour preceded by a conference by Fr. Rainerio Cantalamessa, OFM Cap., who is the Preacher for the Pope and who is also very much involved in the charismatic movement. He spoke about allowing the Spirit to enter our lives in a way that could surprise us.  The next morning we proceeded with the election, and contrary to the expectations of most, a new Minister General was elected in the person of Fr. Joachim. 

If you have studied the list of Assistants General, you probably also found some “surprises” there.  For the first time in recent history a religious brother has become Assistant General (Br. John Joseph Dolan).  The election of the first African (Fr. Bonaventure Mpasa)and the first Asian (Fr. Eugenio Kawashimo) Definitors is also one of the “new” events for the Order.  As special experiences of the Chapter, we can list without hesitation the pilgrimage to Assisi and the Papal audience (which was preceded by Mass at Bernini’s altar in St. Peter’s).  Other NEW events include the approval of a ew Province in Korea and most likely the approval of a General Custody in Russia.

Not every moment is quite so exciting. We are working on a number of motions some of which could involve changes in the Constitutions and General Statutes.  The Central Commission has among its duties to try to reconcile, if possible, the contributions of the various regional groups to form wherever possible a coordinated text.  There is still quite a bit of work to do and only a few days in which to do it.

Other votes determined the way the Order will address then issues of formation and mission animation. The Chapter of 1998 expressed itself in favour of mission secretariate headed by a General Secretary.  This approach was confirmed at the present Chapter.  A similar approach will also by taken with regard to formation.  Instead of an Assistant General for Formation, a Secretary will be elected by the Minister General with his Definitory.  The actual election is scheduled to take place once a quorum of Definitors is present, which may not be until late March or early April when the newly elected Definitors, who are not present at Chapter, are expected to arrive in Rome

The Order in the areas of the former Soviet Union is showing positive signs of growth and developments.  The erection of a General Custody in Russia is an identifiable sign of such growth.  We have yet to vote on the suppression of the Provinces of Belgium, Switzerland and England, though England has an alternative proposal including the possibility of its becoming a Custody of the I.C. Province in the USA.  Great interest has been shown in other new mission presences still in the planning stages: Cuba, Burkina Faso and Uganda in Africa, and Vietnam in Asia.

For the most part the Chapter has been a prayer-filled and fraternal experience.  We have had Mass celebrated in a diversity of languages, thus emphasising the truly international composition of the Order—something that will be on the increase as time goes on.  Italian is still the language most spoken in the Order. English or Spanish would come next.


15 February 2001: ELECTIONS OF ASSISTANTS GENERAL
Click here for photos

  • AN HISTORICAL MOMENT
    Following the trend of surprises of the past week, Fr John-Joseph Dolan was elected to be an Assistant General. In the introduction of his nomination, Fr Joachim did mention that his election would be an important moment for and message to the Brothers of the Order.

  • PROCURATOR-SECRETARY GENERAL
    Fr Carlo Vecchiato, the current Secretary General was nominated to continue in his current
    position as well as to assume the title of Procurator General. In making his recommendation, fr Joachim stated that competent jurist-friars in the area, including Jobe Abbass, our nominee would called upon to help.

  • ASSISTANTS GENERAL and LEGAL CONSULTANT
    Fr Gianfranco Girotti was nominated to be a member of the Definitory. He is Subsecretary of the Congregation for the Defense of the Faith.

  • VICAR GENERAL
    Fr Fermino Giacometti was presented by the Inter-Mediterrean Coetus (Italy, Spain, Malta and Romania) as their Assistant and Fr Joachim nominated him to be his Vicar. Fermino is currently Provincial of the Marches.

  • GENERAL TREASURER
    Fr Giorgio Silvestri was reconfirmed as General Treasurer.

  • OTHER ASSISTANTS GENERAL ELECTED
    Fr. Leo Beck was reconfirmed as Assistant General of CEC (Central Europe). Fr. Jerzy Maculewicz is the newly elected Assistant General of CEO (Eastern Europe) and Fr. Geraldo Montiero, ex-Minister Provincial of St. Francis Province in Brazil, is Assistant General of CAL (Latin America). Fr. Masaru Eugene Kawashimo, ex-Minister Provincial of Japan,  is Assistant General of FAAMC (Asia, Australia) and Fr. Bonaventure Mpasa of the newly created Province of Zambia, Assistant General of FACOF (Africa)

  • Please Pray for Fr John-Joseph Dolan and for all of us who will miss his presence.

Ariccia, 10 February 2001

COMMUNICATION ON THE ELECTION OF THE MINISTER GENERAL

The General Chapter of the Order of Friars Minor Conventual,
gathered in the "Casa Divin Maestro" in Ariccia,
today, 10 February 2001,
has elected Minister General

Friar Joachim (Anthony) Giermek,

of the Province St. Anthony of Padua (U.S.A.)

 

Curriculum

Friar Joachim Giermek, 57, was born in Buffalo, N Y (USA) April 2, 1943. He entered the Novitiate in Ellicott City, MD and was admitted to temporary profession of religious vows in the Order of Friars Minor Conventual August 15, 1961 and to perpetual (solemn) vows on August 15, 1964. He completed his studies in Ellicott City and Granby, MA, where he received his Bachelor of Arts degree and he studied philosophy and theology at the Pontifical Theological Faculty "St. Bonaventure" (Seraphicum) in Rome from 1965 until 1970 where he received a Licentiate in Theology. He was ordained to the Priesthood December 23, 1969 at the Basilica of SS. Apostoli in Rome.

After returning to the United States, Friar Joachim was assigned to the formation and teaching ministries. He attended the Franciscan Institute at St. Bonaventure University in St. Bonaventure, NY where he earned a Master of Arts degree in 1977 and title Master of Franciscan Spirituality. He collaborated on the critical edition of the works of William of Ockam. He was a doctoral candidate at Georgetown University in Washington, DC. During the 1982 Provincial Chapter he was elected to the Provincial Definitory and served as the Provincial Secretary and Regent of Studies.

During the 1983 General Chapter, he was elected Assistant General for North America and England and reelected for a second term to that office on May 16, 1989.

He was elected Assistant General and Vicar of the Order on June 7, 1995 at the General Chapter in Assisi.

On February 10, 2001, he was elected Minister General of the Order of Friars Minor Conventual.

Friar Luigi Costantini
Chapter Secretary
5 - 10 February 2001:
  • The tone and dynamic of the Chapter changed significantly at the beginning of this week. Our Coetus extended an invitation to the CEO (Eastern European) Coetus (largely Polish) for a fraternal exchange. The experience was so positive that the news went around quickly and it was recommended at the Praeses Council Monday evening that such fraternal exchanges become part of the Chapter process. Frankly, this kind of fraternal exchange has drastically altered the content and atmosphere of the Chapter experience.
  • The daily routine is a matter of listening to an explanation of five proposals at a time and then moving into the Coetus setting to discuss responses and alterations. These reports are then read to the entire group (John-Joseph does our reporting) and the Central Commission tries to work out compromise texts which will be voted on during the next weeks.
  • We spent all day Tuesday, Feb. 6, at the Seraphicum listening to three rather heavy talks about the place of Conventual Franciscanism in the modern world. Actually, the highlight of the day was special ceremony honoring seven retired professors. Some of these Friars have been teaching since Bede Hess assigned them there - that’s a long time ago. We did spend the afternoon in small groups discussing the papers but it was hard to make any connection between this material and the contents and process of the Chapter.
  • Up until this morning’s election, the main concern among the Chapter members was the apparent movement to centralize power and influence in the office of Minister General. From comments made by Joachim during our discussions, I doubt whether this trend will characterize his administration.
  • Beyond the labors of each day, we do enjoy the fraternity of our Coetus gatherings.
  • Korea has strong backing for becoming a new Province. They have 45 solemnly professed friars. Only 9% of the population is Catholic. They have opened a house in California to serve the large Korean population there.
  • The ancient Mid Eastern Province of the Holy Land is represented here by a non voting friar. Currently it is a General Delegation with three friaries; Istanbul, Smyrna and Beirut. One of our friars has translated the only Christian literature available in Turkish.
  • Everyone has noted the number of young faces at this Chapter. Brasilia sent the youngest Custos (31), Poland elected the youngest Provincial (35). The new Provincial of Zambia is about the same age.
  • The Provincial of Japan has certainly the most unique model of Conventual life style. Apparently the friars there are very spread out - but they have built one large friary in Tokyo where they come to have fraternity together four days a month. He editorialized that most found this enough fraternal interaction.
  • The most depressed group is CEC - involves the smallest jurisdictions, Belgium, Austria, Switzerland and Holland. Our discussions were not as lively as with the other groups. It seems that they are simply resigned to some change in their jurisdictional identity. The suggestion in the motions involves the creation of a General Delegation. Since this would deprive the friars in these areas of any active voice in the General Chapter or in the choice of their Delegate, not too many are in favor.


    LOOKING FORWARD:
    This week (12-17 Feb 2001) at Chapter we will be focusing on the selection of the General Definitory. At this
    point CAA Coetus is promoting Jobe Abbass as Procurator General. We believe he has all the requisite talents and education. We have not yet sorted out our nominee for Assistant General for our Conference. We do know that it is possible to nominate a Brother. The group is considering Jude Surowiec. Other names have surfaced but they have not responded.

29 Jan.- 3 Feb. 2001: The first week of the General Chapter 2001 experience was a lot of sitting and listening to reports. Here are some facts that you may find of interest.

  • The Province of the Marches has begun a new mission in Cuba. Active steps are underway to reopen our mission in China and to establish new missions in Uganda and Burkina-Faso (you have to find it before you volunteer).

  • Giorgio Silvestri is the new, young and very dynamic Treasurer from Padua.

  • Vasco Croccoli, from Brazil, is the new man for Justice, Peace and Safeguarding of Creation. He is also young, and of high wattage. Get out your placards and join in demonstrating. He reported that not one Friar has been stoned of late. 

  • In case anyone asks, there are 551 Poor Clares under the care of our Order; 400 are located in 32 Italian monasteries.

  • Maxmillian Mizzi who does yeoman work as our man in ecumenism has been twice nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize. Now that’s impressive!

  • The liturgies have been very well done. The Feast of the Presentation involved a candle light procession and some great singing. Lanfranco Serrini gave an excellent homily.

  • Working within our Coetus has been a positive and moving experience. Simply having Basil Heiser in our midst is a rare pleasure and privilege.

  • We pray the office three times a day together and console each other when the frustration of listening builds up.  John-Joseph did the final text and made the presentation of our first report to the Chapter. The most exciting venture was our invitation to have a Coetus to Coetus meeting with the Polish friars. They are the second largest group with three young and well spoken Provincials. It was basically aimed at a fraternal meeting to identify common themes. Happily, we have much in common. They feel isolated in many of the new missions which they have undertakenin eastern Europe and beyond. They are also interested in the theme of the internationalization of the Order; they would like to host the next Chapter in Warsaw. The exchange was especially interesting when we shared views on the qualities we would like to see in the Minister General. We intend to extend this type of contact to other groups; next is FALC.

  • I believe it is safe to say that a considerable majority of the friars really do want to put their efforts into discussing a vision for our future. Many feel that the current "Instrument Laboris" is far to focused on institutional concerns. Whether new material can be entered into active discussion has yet to be decided. In listening to reports from around the world, I believe our efforts at renewal within the Province are similar to many other jurisdictions. Many of us are praying fervently, that this coming week will be characterized by more fraternal conversations about our shared values. The report format has been exhausted. It is good to see so many young faces in our midst; the new Provincial of Zambia is 35.