ASIA/INDIA - The Franciscan leadership? Creative and aimed at the poor

Friday, 12 September 2014

Cochin (Agenzia Fides) - To be a leader and a Franciscan is not a contradiction: the important thing is that leadership is lived in the spirit of service, is Christ-centered, creative, oriented towards the good of the marginalized and the poorest in society. This is what the participants said during the formation course of the National Association of Franciscan Families of India (AFFI) which unites 154 Franciscan provinces and embraces 53 different religious congregations inspired by St. Francis of Assisi.
As Fides learns, the course which took place in the first week of September in Aluva, in Kerala, 90 delegates took part, mainly Superiors and leaders of different communities, from all over the country.
Participants were presented with the various types of leadership and the skills of a leader in the socio-economic context of today, especially in India. Among the speakers, Fr. Charles Arulanandam OFM highlighted the various dimensions of the "servant", following the example of Christ. Fr. J. Mathew OFM Cap, President of the AFFI, focused on the challenges that religious leaders face, experiencing the tension between fidelity to charism and institutional structures. What emerged was the need for closer collaboration among all the realities of Franciscans in India in the pastoral and social commitments.
In group work, the delegates recalled that the Franciscan communities in India are not exempt from the dangers of materialism, individualism.
It is necessary to reconsider the vision and mission of St. Francis and St. Clare especially with regards to fraternal care, the detachment from money and power and on the care for the poor and the marginalized. The delegates committed themselves to rediscover their choice of radical vocation to revive the original charism of Francis of Assisi. (PA) (Agenzia Fides 12/09/2014)


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