ACTIVITIES

FRANCISCAN Centenaries (2023-2026)

Introduction

THE FRANCISCAN CENTENARY

The Franciscan centenary is a journey that we have decided to begin in order for the entire Franciscan family throughout the world to celebrate together the 800th anniversary of Saint Francis’ Easter and the culminating events of the last years of his life. Said Centenary has been divided into 4 Centenaries, respectively spread over 4 years where it will be possible to reflect and contemplate the Rule and Christmas in Greccio (1223-2023), the gift of the Stigmata (1224-2024), the Canticle of the Creatures (1225- 2025), the Easter of Francis of Assisi (1226-2026).

The website centenarifrancescani.org, commissioned by the Franciscan Family through a Commission of the Communication Offices, is the official site for disseminating reflections, themes, official documents and news that will give us the guidelines for experiencing this great Franciscan event together.

Timeline

The Timeline

Holy Father’s Audience

Pope Francis receives members of the Ecclesial Coordination for the 800th Franciscan Anniversary on October 29, 2022

The Holy Father and the Franciscan Family

Fraciscan Members

The IFC-TOR was represented by Sr. Frances Marie Duncan (President) who attended to the audience in-person

Representative on the Centenary Committee

Sister Dolores Caneo

Representative on the Peace and Justice Subcommittee of the Centenary Committee

Sister Nancy Celaschi

Representative on the board of Franciscans International

Sister Charity Lydia Katongo Nkandu

Representative on the Evangelization and Mission Committee of the Centenary Sub-Committee

Brother Paolo Nicosia, SA

(MOFRA) Representative for the Communications Subcommittee of the Centenary Committee

Sister Stefania Baneschi

(MOFRA) Representative on the Formation Subcommittee of the Centenary Committee

Sister Maria Rosani Becker

Pope Francis Speech

Address of the Holy Father Francis to the Members of the Ecclesial Coordination for the VIII Franciscan Centenary

HOLY SEE PRESS OFFICE BULLETIN

Press Release

Pope Francis receives members of the Ecclesial Coordination for the 800th Anniversary of the death of St Francis of Assisi

Bulletin Radio

Radio News Bulletin

Listen the news bulletin about the Centenary Franciscan audience with pope Francis on the Vatican News

Social Media

Post on social media Vatican News

MMXXIII

2023

Celebrating Christmas at Greccio / The Rule

A Preface to the Celebration

1223-2023 / Christmas at Greccio

As the Franciscan Family celebrating the centenary of the Christmas at Greccio, we are invited to pause before the mystery of the Incarnation in order to contemplate the depth of God’s love for humanity. The Son of God becomes the Son of man; he becomes one of us, our brother (cf. Second Version of the Letter to the Faithful 56, FF 201). Our faith in the Incarnation prompts us to discover the seeds of the Word present in all cultures and in contemporary society, so that we might bring to bloom the seeds of humanity we find there. Moreover, it urges us not only to defend life but also to become instruments of life and humanity in our families and fraternities, reaching out to those who are seen as social rejects, who are no longer considered human.

The concrete way that Francis of Assisi celebrated the mystery of the Incarnation at Greccio, invites us to more fully realize “that we have been entrusted with a treasure which makes us more human and helps us to lead a new life.

There is nothing more precious which we can give to others” (Evangelii gaudium 264).A common celebration of the six General Ministers of the Franciscan Family of other representatives of the entire Franciscan family will be held on January 7, 2023 in Greccio.

We invite you to follow that celebration, which will be streamed live and will also remain available on video.

The OFMCap Communications Office (@ofmcaptv) transmits the live streaming.

Watch Centenary Ritual

A Preface to the Celebration

1223-2023 / Confirmation Regola Bollata

All members of the Franciscan Family profess a Rule that becomes a pattern of life and consists in observing the Gospel. As we celebrate the Later Rule, we are reminded that for Francis of Assisi, the nucleus of his Rule was the Gospel, as he stated in his Testament: “The Most High Himself revealed to me that I should live according to the pattern of the Holy Gospel. And I had this written down simply and in a few words and the Lord Pope confirmed it for me” (Testament 14-15, FF 116).

Having listened prayerfully to the words of Jesus Christ, Francis and his first brothers exclaimed: “‘This is what we want; this is what we were seeking.’ And blessed Francis said: ‘This will be our rule’” (The Anonymous of Perugia 11, FF 1497).

La celebrazione si terrà a Roma, nella Basilica di San Giovanni in Laterano, il 29 novembre 2023 alle ore 15.00.

The OFMCap Communications Office (@ofmcaptv) transmits the live streaming.

Watch Centenary Ritual

Reading the TOR Rule

MMXXIV

2024

Celebrating the Gift of the Stigmata

A Preface to the Celebration

1224-2024 / The Gift of the Stigmata

In celebrating the Centenary of the Gift of the Stigmata as a Franciscan Family, we are invited to restore the dimension of prayerful and contemplative silence in our daily lives, the silence that places us before the essential, that lets us recognize our desire for the infinite that resides in our hearts, that allows us to listen to ourselves, to others and to God. In fact, even today, the Poverello is presented as a person who made listening a way of life: “Saint Francis heard the voice of God, he heard the voice of the poor, he heard the voice of the infirm and he heard the voice of nature.

He made of them a way of life. My desire is that the seed that Saint Francis planted may grow in the hearts of many” (Fratelli tutti 48).

La celebrazione si terrà alla Verna, il 5 gennaio 2024 alle ore 11.00.

The OFMCap Communications Office (@ofmcaptv) transmits the live streaming.

Watch Centenary Ritual

MMXXV

2025

Celebrating the Canticle of the Creatures

A Preface to the Celebration

1225-2025 / The Canticle of the Creatures

Celebrating the Centenary of the Canticle of the Creatures as a Franciscan Family leads us to a radical change in our relationship with creation: we shift from possessing creation to caring for our common home. In fact, each one of us must respond sincerely to these questions: How do I want to live out my relationship with other creatures? As a ruler who claims the right to do what he wants with them? As a consumer of resources who sees them as an opportunity to be taken advantage of?

Or as a brother who pauses before creation, who admires its beauty and safeguards its existence? We are faced with an anthropological and ecological challenge that will determine our future, because it is linked to the future of our Mother and Sister Earth. We are called to face contemporary society and reintroduce “the language of fraternity and beauty in our relationship with the world” (Laudato si’ 11).

MMXXVI

2026

Celebrating the Easter of Francis of Assisi

A Preface to the Celebration

1226-2026 / The Easter of Francis of Assisi

The celebration of the 800 th anniversary of the Easter of Francis of Assisi invites us to contemplate our life, both personally and as a Franciscan Family, with the eyes of faith, and by doing so, perceive the divine presence and action in everything, even in the difficult and dramatic situations we have experienced or are experiencing now.

It is an opportunity to thank God for all the gifts he has bestowed on us, particularly for the gift of Francis of Assisi and his evangelical life, which has become our charism, articulated in different nuances of discipleship and apostolate, and which today still has the strength to call out to women and men of all cultures, both inside and outside the Catholic Church.