       | 1. In his opening message, Nestor Inacio Schwerz thanked Luis Cabrera for
presiding the holy eucharist and for his very inspiring gospel reflection. He
also thanked Emilio Escayola for introduction and symbols representing the very
rich culture and spirituality of various franciscan conferences. He also welcomed the presence of the official delegates from different Conferences namely Bernardo Brandao (Brasile), Alrio Urbina Rodriguez (Colombia), Fernando Lapierre (Argentina), Arturo Rios Lara (Messico e Am. Centrale), Dionisio Fernandez (Spagna e Postogallo), Stefano Ottenbreit (Germania), Vittorio Belle (Albania), Raphael Segieth (Africana), Johnson Varkey Manipadath (SAAOC), Cielo Almazan (Asia Orientalis), Russell Becker (Anglofona), Andrew Litigio (Asia-Aust-Oceania), Giapaolo Menhini (COMPI) He articulated his appreciation to the Philippine Province for accepting the task to be the host of this assembly. The availability of the local office for evangelization headed by Cielo Almazan and the willingness of some young friars to assist in terms of technicalities are very encouraging. These factors together with the country’s favorable climate and easy visa applications were very much considered in the final decision to hold this meeting in this country. The presence of the General Definitor for Asia, Ambrosio Van Si was acknowledged. His deep experience and knowledge of similar endeavor will help us as he accompanies us in this important endeavor. Evangelizing Fraternity is the theme of this gathering. An occassion made to renew important concepts we already know. The evangelizing community is characterized by our concrete witnessing to the world through the spirit of prayer and devotion, justice and peace and missionary works. It is also a collective effort to constantly read the sign of the times, to discern the exegencies the Lord, in tune with pastoral need of the community, opening to the active participation of the laity. Our motivation is fundamental in our missionary task. So that we can fully dedicate ourselves to the work of evangelization, we must always find new expressions and creative ways for evagelization. We should get rid of our attitude that nothing can be changed and be satisfied of what we traditionally doing and therefore hinder growth. One of the important objectives of this council meeting is to provide a information about the actual status of and significant experiences of each conference as part of our continous reflection of Franciscan ways of evegelization. In this way, we can hopefully push for renewal and intensify the collaborations of the friars in various conferences. 2. Luis Cabrera read the message of Jose Rodriguez Carballo. 3. Election of the three additional members of Steering Committee representing the three major languages. Italian Speaking: Stefano Ottenbreit Spanish
Speaking: Alirio Rodriguez English Speaking: Russell Becker 4. Report of International Conference for Evangelization. Synthesis of the Reports of the Delegates by Nestor Inacio Schwerz Some Clarifications on the report: - The terminology “chaplaincy” is used inconsistently - No mention of military chaplaincy - How are we going to define educational centres? This must be included in the document so that people can understand - Home for the elderly as part of social works - There is seemingly an statistical error. We have more presence and ministries than what it appears on the data. - We have to systematize our ministries in terms of information and terminologies - Problems communications and internet limit information about current ministries in Africa. 5.
Lunch break at 12:00 noon but it was announced that the Steering Committee will
meet at 12:45PM
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