Franciscans International: A voice at the United Nations

(This article originally appeared in the Summer/Fall 2019 Issue of TAU-USA)

Dear Sisters and Brothers,                                                         

For most of us ‘human rights’ is a vague and abstract term.  It seldom moves us until we’re confronted with what it means to lack human rights. Here’s an example:

Try to imagine living without an official identity such as a birth or marriage record. As Americans our main concern is ‘privacy’ and how to protect our health and identity records.  But have you ever imagined what it’s like to have no legal recognition of your existence?  No Social Security number or legal ID?

With a legal identity, an individual has improved access to essential services, such as healthcare, education and social welfare.  Far too many in this world lack an official identity, and as mundane as this sounds, human rights advocates work on matters such as this.

This simple issue caught my attention several years ago and caused me to follow the work of Franciscans International (FI) more closely ever since.  I subscribe to their newsletter and follow their activities online.  Human rights and Gospel values are truly linked, and our Franciscan family has a voice that’s heard at the United Nations through Franciscans International.

I encourage YOU to learn more about the mission of FI.  Try utilizing their inspirational resources with your local fraternity.  Please join in with prayer and financial support.

Jim Thomas, OFS,  Bl. Solanus Casey Regional Vice Minister

““It truly is notable that Franciscans International is one of the few non-governmental organizations that have general consultative status.  What this means is that Franciscans are really listened to because they are on the ground all around the world and know firsthand the suffering that is caused by injustice.”

Jan Parker, OFS,  National Minister – OFS-USA

“The first thirty years of FI have been dedicated to a program promoting values of the Gospel, a Franciscan ethics capable of dialogue and collaboration with people, structures and mechanisms of the UN…” 

Br. Michael Perry, OFM,  Minister General!

Conference of the Franciscan Family Celebrates 30 Years at the UN Memory and Prophecy: Franciscan Voices at the United Nations

Thirty years ago, the Franciscan Family established a voice at the United Nations.  As part of the celebration to mark this thirty-year presence, the Conference of the Franciscan Family (CFF) organized a gathering on 16 July in the Auditorium Antonianum in Rome.

Themed ‘Memory and Prophecy’, the event brought together over 90 sisters and brothers to reflect on the accomplishments of the past three decades as well as the challenges and opportunities ahead.  The keynote address was delivered by Br. Michael Perry, Minister General of the Order of Friars Minor. Tracing the history of Franciscans International (FI), he acknowledged the particular contributions of the late Sr. Elizabeth Cameron, OSF, and Br. Dionysius Minthoff, OFM – who, at age 88, continues to work with vulnerable migrants in Malta.

Their conviction that Franciscan spirituality and ethics shared many common values with the founding charter of the United Nations ultimately lead to the establishment of FI as the first ever common ministry on the international and intra-familial scale in the history of the Franciscan movement.

For the full article see FI’s  home page at www.franciscansinternational.org

The Conference of the Franciscan Family is the collaborative body which unites Franciscans worldwide. The Secular Franciscan Order is a member of this conference.

We are a Franciscan voice at the United Nations protecting the vulnerable, the forgotten, and our wounded earth through advocacy.

 Financial support is needed

Franciscans International is entirely dependent on donations from Franciscan Orders and Congregations (including the OFS-USA), funding agencies and institutions, parishes, and people sensitive to Franciscan values of solidarity, peace, social justice, and respect for the environment.

Make a difference with your donation and help us protect human rights.

To donate – make a check payable to:

National Fraternity of the Secular Franciscan Order – USA (NAFRA)

Please note in the memo: “Franciscans International” and send to:

Claudia Kauzlarich OFS / 2007 Maverick Trail / Harrisonville, MO / 64701-1545

30 Years of Human Rights Advocacy at the UN

Franciscans attending the 2019 Chapter meeting in Corpus Christi fill drawstring backpacks with toiletry items for immigrants in Texas.

By Sharon Winzeler

Up to 18 boxes at a time were delivered for days to the home of Patsy Cueva Philipps, OFS, in Corpus Christi.

The spending spree on Amazon was fueled by a response to a call to help refugees being released from detention centers in Laredo, McAllen and San Antonio, TX.

Philipps, regional minister of the Los Tres Companeros Region of Secular Franciscans, had spent more than a year dreaming of a way to help people who were crossing the border to seek asylum. She was inspired to organize a Secular Franciscan service project to aid 1,000 men and women with drawstring backpacks filled with hygiene items and other supplies. Those packs were put together by some 80 Secular Franciscan leaders attending their annual chapter, held Oct. 15-20 at Pax Christi Liturgical Retreat Center in Corpus Christi.

It all started last year when Philipps discovered that on her way to work she was passing a detention center in Corpus Christi that housed 120 teenagers. When Philipps called to find out if the Secular Franciscans could help the residents with anything, she was told the government takes care of food and daily living items. What they could use, she was told, was art supplies, books and games.

Los Tres Companeros Region Minister Patsy Cueva Philipps, OFS, (right), led the call to serve the immigrants released from detention centers in Laredo, McAllen and San Antonio, TX.

Working with a wish list that included crayons, coloring books, and prayer cards, the local Secular Franciscan fraternity worked in cooperation with the diocese. They also hosted a Christmas party.

Bishop Michael Mulvey celebrated a Mass at the detention center and directed his homily toward the teenagers.

“He talked about the hard journey they had taken,” Phillips said. “He told them they brought a special gift to us in the same way Jesus and his parents did when they had to leave their country. He told them that they had to deal with more in their short lives than others face in their lifetime.”

After a presentation by an immigration attorney in July that highlighted the severity and urgency of the need to help the immigrants, she felt the call to action.  In July, she consulted regional Justice, Peace and Integrity of Creation (JPIC)  coordinator Valerie Laubacher. Both Franciscans knew it was the right time to launch the project.

“I knew that the Holy Spirit planted this idea in Patsy’s heart,” Laubacher said. “The Holy Spirit was blessing this.”

Together they brainstormed with members of their region on items that would be helpful for the released immigrants who were legally crossing the border, awaiting a court hearing and traveling to their U.S. destination. Laubacher consulted with her niece on how to start an “Amazon Wish List.”  The women were texting each other at 11 p.m. with ideas.

They ordered such items as socks, water bottles, hair brushes, combs, lotion, tissues, toothbrushes, notebooks, pencils, notebooks and wipes.

Another vendor was required to purchase shoelaces because they were not available for bulk purchase from Amazon. Shoelaces are important to immigrants departing from detention centers because they are required to remove them as a safety precaution when they enter, and the items are never returned to them.

Enough health and beauty care items were entered on an Amazon Wish List to fill 1,000 drawstring bags. An appeal for donations was sent out to Secular Franciscans through regional ministers throughout the U.S. Within two days, most of the items on the initial list were purchased. Philipps added more items. Within a week, 50 fraternity and individual donors from the United States and Guam had purchased all $20,000 worth of items.

Another $5,000 was spent on food and household items, such as corn and flour tortilla mix, rice, beans, wipes, laundry soap and floor cleaner. These grocery items were sent to Catholic Charities to directly distribute to immigrants.

Secular Franciscan National Minister Jan Parker, OFS, described the effort this way:

“Pope Francis says, ‘Love isn’t words, but works and service; a humble service performed in silence without seeking acclaim.’ 

“Our outreach here is simple, hands-on, Franciscan love in action.  With God’s grace these bags of blessings will not only bless those in need, but help open hearts of others to hear the cry of the poor. Our Secular Franciscan Rule challenges us to be instruments of joy, hope and healing, but to also take courageous action in the field of public life. Our bishops explain it this way – we are to walk with both feet of love: the foot of charitable works, which we are doing here, but also the foot of social justice, addressing systemic, root causes of problems that affect many people.”

Secular Franciscans’ Service Project to Aid 1,000 Immigrants