One might say Nov. 16 was a day of peace, justice and business for the General Chapter.
In addition to approving a three-year budget for the international Order, capitulars and observers heard presentations on OFS examples of answering, as Pope Francis put it, the “cry of the poor” and the “cry of the earth.”
There were presentations on the Immaculate School (Colegio de La Inmaculada) in Argentina, a palliative care program in Croatia, a homeless shelter in Portugal, and houses of hope and community for the elderly in Brazil.
The OFS Regional Fraternity of Italy’s Lazio region had established the “Table for Peace, Disarmament and Nuclear Conversion” a number of years ago. The impact of the effort resulted in the hosting of international conferences in Brussels, Assisi and Rome. Two members of the “Table” – Giuseppe Rotunno, OFS, and Pietro Ferri, OFS, — gave their perspectives on the idea of disarmament and on converting nuclear weapons in practical ways to peaceful powering of electric grids.
One more presentation on “Working for Peace” came from a Secular Franciscan living in the uncertainty of war in the Ukraine. Presidency Councillor Dina Shabalina, OFS, spoke via Zoom video conferencing.