FRANCISCAN YOUTH AND SPIRITUAL ASSISTANCE
Br. Ivan Matić, OFM
Introduction
In this discourse
we wish to reflect together on the Franciscan Youth (YouFra), studying, in a
particular way its identity and mission, and in a second moment, the theme of
spiritual and pastoral assistance, and the role of accompanying the young
people who feel attracted by the example of Francis of Assisi, which has been
entrusted to us by the Church.
Right from the time
of its birth in
All this was
present in the new YouFra, which, in its youthful way of living and giving
witness to Franciscan spirituality, became a new light and hope for society and
for the Church. After almost 60 years, the Franciscan Youth continues to be
attractive to many young people in many countries and, at the same time,
continues to be a wonderful experience of the Franciscan spiritual journey for
the young people of today.
Some excerpts that I selected from
the document “YouFra: The journey of a Franciscan Vocation”, approved by the CIOFS
Presidency in 2004, will help us to enter into the subject of “YouFra”. This
document is a collection of all the experiences of the various Fraternities of YouFra throughout the
world which presents, in a clear and synthetic way, the definition, identity,
nature and mission of the YouFra.
Specific characteristics of YouFra
In the field of pastoral care of youth, it is found that young persons
are attracted to St. Francis and that they wish to deepen their Christian and
Franciscan vocation. To these young persons, Franciscan Youth and the SFO
provide options, while respecting the demands of the youth in modern times,
their crises, problems and questions.
Some of the essential elements in their
vocational journey are:
-
To feel the call of the Holy
Spirit to undergo, in fraternity, the experience of Christian life;
-
Progressive discovery of St.
Francis, his project of life and his values;
-
Ecclesial and social presence, as
a condition for having concrete apostolic experiences.
The Franciscan Youth, as described in the
SFO General constitutions, differs from other Franciscan youth groups by:
-
The acceptance of the Rule of the
SFO as an inspirational document;
-
The personal and formal
commitment made before God and the fraternity to live that inspiration;
Belonging to the Franciscan Family and deepening their own vocation within the context of the SFO
-
;
-
The accompaniment and animation
provided by Secular Franciscans;
-
Spiritual and pastoral
assistance;
-
Its organisational structure and
specific methods of formation for a vocational process which normally, but not
necessarily, leads to the SFO;
-
Proper National Statutes approved
by the National Council of the SFO or, in its absence, by the Presidency of the
CIOFS, which sets down the conditions to belong to the Franciscan Youth.
Vocational journey
Members of the YouFra deepen
their own vocation in the light of the message of St. Francis through an
itinerary of progressive formation. Vocational discernment will be the main
focus during this journey.
Normally, this vocational
journey is made up of the following stages:
a.
Initiation
b.
Formation for the promise in the YouFra
c.
Deepening the personal call
SPIRITUAL AND PASTORAL ASSISTANCE
TO THE FRANCISCAN YOUTH
As a component part of the
Franciscan Family, linked in a special way to the SFO, each YouFra fraternity
should, in accordance with the General Constitutions of the SFO,
request:
a)
Fraternal animation from the authorities of the
Secular Franciscans;
b)
spiritual assistance from the competent religious
Superiors[1].
With regard to fraternal
animation, the SFO Fraternities, from among their responsibilities related to YouFra,
must:
§
promote the Franciscan Youth vocation, through appropriate
initiatives and dynamics;
§
take care of the vitality and expansion of the YouFra
Fraternities;
§
accompany the young in their process of human and
spiritual growth, through proposals of activities and of thematic contents[2].
Another important duty that
the SFO Fraternities should take care of is that of giving the YouFra a fraternal
Animator, who, together with the spiritual Assistant and the Council
of YouFra, should guarantee a suitable secular Franciscan formation[3].
Spiritual and pastoral assistance
The Secular Franciscans, during their
eight-century long history, always had close relations with the Friars of the
First Order and TOR[4] and, together with the
Poor Clares of the Second Order, are an integral part of what we call the
Franciscan Family. The Franciscan Youth, in so far as they are young lay people
called to live the charism of St. Francis, also form part of the same Family.
According to the Code of Canon Law (CIC)[5],
the SFO and YouFra are considered to be associations of faithful with a
specific mission in the Church and in society and must, therefore, be subjected
to vigilance and have an Assistant[6].
For this reason, and because of the historical and particular bonds between the
secular and religious Franciscans, the Church has entrusted this pastoral and
spiritual care to the Friars of the First Order and TOR. We find the following
expressions in the General Constitutions of the SFO:
The spiritual and pastoral care of the SFO, entrusted by the Church
to the Franciscan First Order and the TOR, is the duty above all of their
General and Provincial Ministers. The altius moderamen, of which canon 303
speaks, belongs to them. The purpose of the altius moderamen is to guarantee the fidelity of the
SFO to the Franciscan charism, communion with the Church and union with the
Franciscan family, values which represent a vital commitment for the Secular
Franciscans[7].
What this spiritual and
pastoral care consists of and what the responsibility of the Major Superiors is
are also expressed here. They must guarantee three fundamental aspects of the
life and mission of the Secular Franciscans:
§
fidelity to the franciscan charism;
§
communion with the Church;
§
unity with the Franciscan Family.
It is shown in the Statutes
for the spiritual and pastoral assistance to the SFO how to carry out this
service. We read in art. 2 §1:
The
spiritual and pastoral care is provided as a two-fold service:
- the fraternal office of the altius moderamen on the part of the Major
Superiors[8];
- spiritual assistance to the fraternities and
their Councils.
There is, therefore, a two-fold service: that
of pastoral care (altius moderamen) and that of Spiritual Assistance to
the Fraternities and their Councils.
This service can be
exercised by the Major Superior personally or through his delegate[10],
always assuring, however, assistance to all the Fraternities.
By virtue of the vital reciprocity between the religious and the
secular members of the Franciscan Family and in regard to the responsibilities
of Major Superiors, spiritual assistance to the fraternities of the SFO at all
levels must be assured as a fundamental element of communion[11].
In the Statutes
for Assistance (art. 2,3) we also find an explanation of what should be the
aim of spiritual assistance:
The purpose of spiritual assistance is to foster communion with the
Church and with the Franciscan Family through witness and sharing of Franciscan
spirituality, to cooperate in initial and on-going formation of secular
Franciscans and to express the fraternal affection of the religious towards the
SFO[12].
According to the General
Constitutions of the SFO the pastoral and spiritual care of the Secular
Franciscans, on the international level, should be exercised collegially
by the Ministers General of the First Order and TOR[13].
On the National and Regional levels, the Major Superiors, who exercise their
jurisdiction in the same territory as the SFO-YouFra, should agree on their
duty collegially[14].
In this regard, we find the
following expressions about collegial assistance by the spiritual Assistants on
various levels in the General Constitutions (art. 90,3):
§
On the international level: The general assistants give their service to the Presidency of the
International Council of the SFO, form a conference, and collegially see to the
spiritual assistance to the SFO as a whole[15].
§
On the national level: The
national assistants give their service to the national council, see to the
spiritual assistance to the SFO in the whole territory of the national
fraternity and, at the national level, to the co-ordination of the regional
assistants. If they are more than one,
they form a conference and give their service collegially[16].
§
On the regional level: The
regional assistants give their service to the regional council and see to the
spiritual assistance to the regional fraternity. If they are more than one, they form a
conference and give their service collegially[17].
The Spiritual Assistant
In art. 89 §§2 and 3 of the General
Constitutions of the SFO, we find a broad and complete definition of the
spiritual Assistant:
2. The
spiritual assistant is the person designated by the competent Major Superior to
carry out this service for a specific fraternity of the SFO.
3. To be a
witness of Franciscan spirituality and of the fraternal affection of the
religious towards the secular Franciscans, and to be a bond of communion
between his Order and the SFO, the spiritual assistant should be a Franciscan
religious, member of the First Order or the TOR.
It is interesting to note how the
expression “the person designated” is understood, first, a Franciscan
religious, who is designated (appointed) by his Major Superior to carry out the
service of assistance, but, as it says in art. 89 §4, it can refer to other
people, who may be appointed to this service.
Nothing is said in the article about the
priestly state of the Assistant, since his specific task is not that of
sacramental but rather of spiritual assistance. This article, therefore,
permits the Major Superiors of the First Order and TOR to appoint a religious
who is not a priest to assist a certain Fraternity spiritually.
Through his appointment, which should be
made in writing by the Major Superior, the Assistant becomes a member by right,
with vote, of the Council of that Fraternity to which he gives assistance and
with which he collaborates in all its activities. The Assistant does not enjoy,
however, the right to vote in economic matters or in elections on the various
levels[18].
Through his appointment, the Assistant becomes a witness to Franciscan
spirituality and to the fraternal affection of the religious towards the
secular Franciscans, and to be a bond of communion between his Order and the
SFO[19].
There is another very important thing,
which, in practice, constitutes something new in the General Constitutions
of the SFO. Given that in different countries, because of the lack of Franciscan
religious, many SFO-YouFra Fraternities are without a spiritual assistant, art.
89 §4, as has already been pointed out, offers new possibilities to the Major
Superiors in the appointment of Assistants. Whenever, indeed, there are no
Friars available, the Major Superiors may appoint other people for the service
of spiritual assistance.
When it is not possible to give such a
spiritual assistant to the fraternity, the competent Major Superior can entrust
the service of spiritual assistance to:
a)
religious brothers or
sisters of other Franciscan institutes;
b)
diocesan clerics or other
persons, specially prepared for such service, who are members of the SFO;
c)
other diocesan clerics or
non-Franciscan religious.
As we can see, the General
Constitutions of the SFO indicate some preferences which are in function of
the vital reciprocal communion between the SFO and the First Order and
TOR. We can say that an Assistant who is a Franciscan religious belonging to
the First Order or TOR would be preferred because only such an Assistant
can be fully witness to Franciscan spirituality and to the
fraternal affection of the religious towards the secular Franciscans, and to be
a bond of communion between his Order and the SFO[20].
When this is not possible, and
in order not to leave the Fraternities without spiritual assistance, the Major
Superior may appoint other people: a religious belonging to another Franciscan
Institute, because the religious way of living the franciscan charism
integrates better the secular way of living the Gospel after the manner of St.
Francis; people belonging to the SFO, who could be diocesan priests or other
Secular Franciscans specifically prepared for this service; or diocesan priests
or non-Franciscan religious.
In the appointment of
spiritual Assistants, when they are requested, the Major Superiors are asked to
listen to the requests of the SFO-YouFra Councils, guaranteeing dialogue and an
exchange of opinions about the appointment[21].
The Spiritual Assistant to the
YouFra
The YouFra is a process which
offers young people the possibility to live their own vocation in the light of
the Franciscan ideal in the ambience of the SFO and within the Franciscan
Family.
In the document YouFra:
The Journey of a Franciscan Vocation, a basic document for the YouFra,
approved by the CIOFS Presidency in 2004, we find the following in point 6:
YouFra, as a
component of the Franciscan Family, needs spiritual assistance in order to
guarantee its fidelity to the Franciscan charism, communion with the Church and
its unity with the Franciscan Family[22].
The main role of the Assistant
is always the spiritual role of nourishing the Christian and Franciscan life of
the Fraternity and of helping the Council to discern what the Holy Spirit is
saying to the Fraternity. This does not only mean “giving”, but implies being
able to receive, to allow oneself to become involved in the reciprocity of
communion and of fraternal love for the YouFra.
As the delegate of his Major
Superior, the Assistant to the YouFra must give witness to the franciscan
religious spirituality and to the fraternal love of the religious for the YouFra,
to the communion between the franciscan religious and the Franciscan Youth; he
must be a guarantor of the fidelity of the YouFra to the franciscan charism, of
their communion with the Church and of the unity of the YouFra with the
Franciscan Family.
Since it is a question of
spiritual assistance to the young in their vocational journey and of deepening
their vocation, the Assistant has the very particular task of helping the young
people in their vocational discernment, which should be based on an integral
human, Christian and Franciscan formation.
The document, YouFra:
The Journey of a Franciscan Vocation then pauses on the appointment
and profile of the Assistants:
The appointment of
Spiritual Assistants pertains to the competent Franciscan Major Superiors in an
analogy with what is established in the Statutes for the Spiritual and Pastoral
Assistance to the SFO[23]. In so far as is
possible, the service of assistance to the YouFra and SFO should be carried out by the same
person.
I would like, in this regard,
to underline an aspect of relations between the SFO and the YouFra. It is
advised, in the document, that as far as is possible, the spiritual Assistant
of a Fraternity of YouFra should be the same as that of the SFO Fraternity in
order to favour stronger communion, knowledge and sharing between the two
Fraternities, thanks to the Spiritual Assistant.
The Assistant must help the
Fraternity to live unity in diversity and to respect autonomies, different ways
of living fraternal life, different formative methods, the way of holding
meetings or doing the various apostolic activities, keeping in mind, however,
that it is certainly very nice and important to share some moments of prayer,
encounter, formation and apostolic activities together in order to give witness
to the common mission.
The Assistant in the formation
of the YouFra
The Assistant has a particular
role in the area of formation, that of cooperating with the fraternal animator
and the Council of YouFra in the formation of the young[24].
However, the responsibility of all the Fraternity of the YouFra for the
accompaniment of its members is not diminished by the fact of having a
Spiritual Assistant and Fraternal Animator. The two figures are complementary
but do not substitute for the work of the YouFra as a Council, as a Fraternity
and as people.
It is necessary for the
Franciscan Youth to receive a solid human, Christian and Franciscan formation
in order to be able to live their Christian life in Fraternity. They must be
helped to know Franciscan spirituality and the Franciscan Family better. It is
a question, therefore, of a more practical rather than a theoretical formation,
which is based on lived experiences in the Fraternity and, as far as possible,
with other Franciscans, religious and secular.
The Spiritual Assistant, in his
cooperation with the accompaniment of the young Franciscans, must:
-
accompany the young in living their life according to
the Gospel;
-
help and accompany the young in the continuous
conversion requested by the Gospel;
-
know how to listen, wait, have patience and, above
all, to love;
-
enter into personal dialogue with the young, help them
in their progress and, in a particular way, in their vocational discernment;
-
collaborate in forming the young to the fulfilment of
their mission in the Church and in society.
Conclusion
I wish to conclude this
discourse with the words of the four Ministers General on the occasion of the
presentation of the Rule of the SFO, words which express all the affection and
fraternal love of the Franciscan religious for the Secular Franciscans and
Franciscan Youth:
We, the Franciscan Ministers, with all our Friars are ever ready and
open to offer you all our assistance so that we may walk together in the way of
the Lord.
[1] Cf. Const. 96,6.
[2] Cf. Const. 97,1.
[3] Cf. Const. 97,2.
[4] From Franciscan history and from the Constitutions
of the Franciscan First Order and of the TOR, it is patently clear that
these Orders recognise that they are involved by virtue of their common origin
and charism and by the desire of the Church for the spiritual and pastoral
assistance to the SFO. Cf. Constitutions OFM, 60; Id. OFMConv,
116; Id. OFMCap 95; Id. TOR, 157; The Rule of the Third Order
of Pope Leo XIII, 3,3; The Rule approved by Paul VI, 26.
[5] CIC, 301,3; 312; 313.
[6] CIC, 305,1.
[7] Cf. Const. 85,2.
[8] see CIC 303
[10] Cf. Const. 86,1.
[11] Const. 89,1.
[12] Cf. Const. 89,3; 90,1.
[13] Cf. Const. 87,1.
[14] Cf. Const. 87,5.
[15] Const. 90, 3 a.
[16] Const. 90, 3 b.
[17] Const. 90, 3 c.
[18] Cf. Const. 90, 2; Statutes for Assistance, 12, 3.
[19] Cf. Const. 89, 3.
[20] Ibidem.
[21] Cf. Const 91,3.
[22] Cf. Const. 85,2.
[23] Cf. Statutes for Assistance, 5, 2;
11, 2.
[24] Cf. Const 97,2.