Rome, November 19, 2021 | Press Announcement
In order to carry on the work of the Order and the projects of the International Council of the OFS, the Chapter approved an annual budget that will increase in the next three years from 231,000 to 244,00 euros.
This is the amount established and approved by the Chapter after extensive discussions and fraternal exchange on the part of the Chapter members. The whole process was not in vain because the economic aspect is as necessary as it is complex in an Order like the OFS in which, different realities coexist, and the income comes almost entirely from fraternity contributions and donations from brothers and sisters.
The work, the exchange of opinions and the communication among the capitulars made it possible to provide the Presidency with a fundamental instrument to maintain the day-to-day life of the OFS and to support formation projects, promotion, development and even social justice. The capitulars also decided that the Presidency will send a yearly financial statement to the national fraternities that will allow them to know first-hand the status of the Order.
The Chapter also learned the details of three territorial projects that are carried out in areas with little or scarce Christian presence, but in which the Secular Franciscan spirituality tries to shine.
This is the case with the Africa Project, overseen directly by CIOFS. During the last triennium the Presidency was able to hold the First Pan-African OFS/YouFra Congress (photo above). It continues to provide formation tools to fraternities and brothers and sisters who otherwise would have little access to them. In the same way, the Asia-Oceania area seeks cohesion among its fraternities, despite experiencing very different realities that, however, help to enrich it.
Finally, there is the Arab Project, in which the main challenge is to live the Christian vocation in isolated communities and in environments that are sometimes very hostile. The project includes the development of fraternities in the Holy Land (Nazareth and Bethlehem), which have difficulty maintaining contact with each other due to the political situation in their area.