(This Article originally appeared in the Spring Issue of TAU-USA #105)

General Chapter Elections

Tibor Kauser, OFS, of Hungary has been re-elected minister general of the Secular Franciscan Order. This is his second six-year term.

Mary T. Stronach, OFS, of the United States of America is the new vice minister general.

Tibor and Mary lead the “little fraternity” of the Presidency of the International Council of the OFS (CIOFS). They were elected during the Order’s General Chapter in Rome, Italy, held Nov. 13-20, 2021.

Mary is the first American to hold an elected position on the Presidency. She is a former USA international councilor who has been serving with the Order’s Presidency as an interpreter and as a member of the International Formation Commission. A member of St. Joseph Fraternity, Utica, NY (St. Kateri Tekawitha Region), Mary also has been serving on the National Formation Commission.

Also elected were seven Presidency councilors serving different areas of the world, plus a Presidency councilor representing Franciscan youth (YouFra).

They are:

• Francis Park, OFS (South Korea): Asia-Oceania
• Adolph Assagba, OFS (Togo): Francophone Africa and islands.
• Eremenciana Chinyama, OFS (Zimbabwe): English and Portuguese Speaking Africa.
• Dina Shabalina, OFS (Ukraine): North Europe.
• Noemi Riccardi, OFS (Italy): Southern Europe and the Mediterranean.
• Ana María Raffo, OFS (Peru): Central and North America (reelected).
• Silvia Noemí Diana, OFS (Argentina): South America (reelected).
• Luis Félix Chocojay, OFS (Guatemala), YouFra.

The new CIOFS Presidency was confirmed by the president of the elective session, Fr. Massimo Fussarelli, OFM minister general, during a mass of thanksgiving at the Basilica of Saint Sebastian in Rome.

https://www.secularfranciscansusa.org/2022/06/06/new-vice-minister-general-is-from-usa-highlights-of-general-chapter/

Bonus Resource:
The Fruits of the Spirit Exemplified in our Rule, (Formation Friday by Diane Menditto, OFS, national formation director).

Prot. n. 3476 Roma, 3rd of May, 2022

Tibor Kauser (OFS General Minister)

Dear Brothers and Sisters, Celebrating the feast of Pentecost,

I invite all of you to pray and ask God to grant us the gifts of the Holy Spirit, so that we may live our vocation and our fraternal spirit and serve the fraternities and those who need our service, in an always better way.

Let us ask for the seven gifts of the Holy Spirit focusing now on fraternal life, on our vocation, and on our identity.

Let us ask for the gift of wisdom, so that we may test the things we face to see whether they are from God and thus for the good of our brothers and sisters, or not.

Let us ask for the gift of insight (understanding), recalling what Pope St. John Paul II told us: Duc in altum! Let us go, and be not afraid of the depth, let us do not remain on the surface, in the shallow! Let us discover the beautiful depth of our vocation!

Let us ask for the gift of counsel because in this world it so often is really hard to discern, to speak properly, to stand for the right and just. Let us ask for the grace of this gift, which helps us to do the best for our brothers and sisters.

Let us ask for the gift of strength (fortitude), amidst the many things that want to weaken us, that want to take away our conviction, that want us to give up our firm position, even to give up our Secular Franciscan identity. Let us ask for this gift, especially for those who are living in extremely great difficulty, in war or in any kind of crisis.

Let us ask for the gift of knowledge, so that we may know what is good and what is evil, what should we do to strengthen our fraternities and what should we avoid.

Let us ask for the gift of piety, in order to put always God into the focus of our thoughts and of our acts, into the focus of the life of our fraternities. Let prayer and contemplation be the soul of all what we are and what we do. (cf. OFS Rule Art. 8.)

Finally, let us ask for the gift of the fear of God because our fraternities need brothers and sisters who put the will of God above their personal interests and plans. With these simple thoughts, I wish you a blessed feast of Pentecost! 

Tibor Kauser 

CIOFS general minister 

https://www.secularfranciscansusa.org/2022/06/04/minister-general-tibor-kauser-calls-on-franciscans-to-honor-the-gifts-of-the-holy-spirit-at-pentecost-and-always/