The Extended Council Meeting of 2023 was held from 30th November till 7th December. There were meetings of the General Council with the individual Councils of the 5 Provinces, 2 Regions and one Delegation. The different advisory commissions of the Congregation had their meeting and presentation of their reports during these days. From 5th – 7th December were the days of climax as we had the session on the theme, ‘Repair my House in a Synodal way’ animated by Fr Paul Melwyn D Souza OFM Cap and also shared insights on the forth coming 800th celebration of Franciscan jubilees.
The yearly gathering of the Officials of the Ursuline Franciscan Congregation, began with the get-together of the Sisters involved in Social-Medical-Health apostolate on 25th – 26th November 2023 at H D Kote, Mysore. The theme of this meeting was: “Strangers on the Road and Our Response” It was a time of sharing, evaluation, input session by Fr Martin SJ and planning for the coming year. Fr Martin dealt in length on the issues of migration. That helped us to make our focal thrust towards the migration issue and the matters of trans-gender which will be further discussed in the Provincial and Regional chapters that will take place in 2024-2025. On this occasion the Sisters who served in Social, health, legal and such other forums for a longer period were honoured for their meritorious service to the humanity and also the book ‘Adolescent Empowerment Programme, Sensitization Module’ was released.
The Extended Council Meeting of 2023 was held from 30th November till 7th December. There were meetings of the General Council with the individual Councils of the 5 Provinces, 2 Regions and one Delegation. The different advisory commissions of the Congregation had their meeting and presentation of their reports during these days. From 5th – 7th December were the days of climax as we had the session on the theme, ‘Repair my House in a Synodal way’ animated by Fr Paul Melwyn D Souza OFM Cap and also shared insights on the forth coming 800th celebration of Franciscan jubilees. He said, first and foremost our coming together, sharing and discussion itself is a synodal way of journeying together with one another. It begins with us first and actualizes in the mission that is entrusted to us. There was also discussion on two books, ‘Human Resource Policy and Finance Policy’ which will be released during this year. They will be handy sources to deal with the human resource and finance matters. The two committees who worked on it were thanked and applauded by the whole gathering.
The entire Franciscan family celebrates, the 8th centenary jubilees from 2023-2026 they are: year 2023 of Regula Bullata and first Christmas Crib at Greccio, 2024 the Stigmata of St Francis, 2025 is the Canticle of Brother Sun and 2026 is the Passover of St Francis. These events connect us globally with all the Franciscan families as each live and propagate the values and ideals of St Francis in one way or the other.
Further there was two days’ get-together of all the formators on Congregational level on 10th – 11th December, 2023. They had sharing and evaluation followed by that the motivating session by Fr Ivan D Almeida SFX, gave them lot of inspiration and insights. The theme dealt was: Vocation Promotion, formation and the present challenges. These sessions created lot of awareness in the formators regarding the present mode of formation and vocation promotion.
For all these meetings/events Superior General Rev Sr Milly Fernandes gave a pertinent and applicable message that set the tone for all the meetings/gatherings. We could see the joy that was vibrating in every member as these occasions provide space and time for sharing and renewing our Franciscan charism and mission. The coming two years are the Province/Regional chapters. So, we wished good to each other as we departed from Somarapann Generalate.