Franciscans of the Immaculate
The Franciscans of the Immaculate ( Latin Congregatio Fratrum Franciscanorum Immaculatae , Italian Frati Francescani dell'Immacolata , order abbreviation FFI or FI ) are an institute of consecrated life under papal law in the Roman Catholic Church . It is currently headed by an apostolic (papal) commissioner.
Foundation and Spirituality
The institute was founded by two Minorites , Stefano Maria Manelli and Gabriel Maria Pellettieri, on August 2nd, 1970. The Franciscans of the Immaculate live according to the bullied rule of St. Francis of Assisi . Pope John Paul II confirmed the institute previously under episcopal law on January 1st, 1998. The institute has a Marian orientation and is therefore under the patronage of the Immaculate Mother of God .
The Franciscan Sisters of the Immaculate (with an active and a contemplative branch), the Poor Clares , the Franciscan Tertiary of the Immaculate and the Franciscan Sisters of the Third Order of the Immaculate also belong to the religious family of the Franciscans of the Immaculate.
The Franciscans of the Immaculate have about 400 professed members , the sisters about 350. 120 men are in the postulate . The Immaculate Franciscans have monasteries on every continent, in England , France , India , Italy , Portugal , Kazakhstan , Nigeria , Benin , Brazil , Cameroon , Chad , the Philippines , Argentina , Australia and the United States . In the German-speaking area, the Franciscans of the Immaculate are based in Kitzbühel in Austria . The motherhouse is in Frigento , Italy , and the Generalate in Rome .
The brothers are active in mission following the example of the Franciscan and martyr Maximilian Kolbe . They wear a blue-gray habit with an attached image of the “Miraculous Medal” . Among other things, they publish a periodical missionary magazine. The sacristy service at the papal basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore is performed by some friars.
The Franciscans of the Immaculate used the Roman rite in its ordinary form from its foundation . In the wake of the Motu proprios Summorum Pontificum Pope Benedict XVI. In 2008 the General Chapter decided that in future all priests of the Order should learn to celebrate Holy Mass in the extraordinary form of the Roman rite. By resolution of November 20, 2011, the rite according to the Missal of 1962 was given broader priority with regard to mass and the prayer of the hours and made it mandatory for convent masses in the monasteries . Since then, the “extraordinary form” of the Roman rite has been in effect within the order, while the order has become bi-ritual in its pastoral work towards the faithful. H. celebrated Holy Mass both in the normal and in the special form.
Pope Benedict XVI was considered a supporter of the Order, who claimed in the Catholic Church since the General Chapter of 2008, a special position: he was orden intern altrituell , ritually bi-in counseling, but not under the Pontifical Commission Ecclesia Dei , which is responsible for altrituellen communities but furthermore the religious congregation .
The public discussion about the Franciscans of the Immaculate and their founders, which has been going on since 2013, deals with ritual issues, Catholic traditionalism and criticism of the person and administration of Pope Francis .
Religious community under the direction of apostolic commissioners
After receiving a complaint from five members of the order about leadership style, asset management and divine service instructions from Superior General Manelli, the responsible Vatican Congregation for religious ordered an apostolic (= papal) visitation of the community by an official of the Rota Romana , Vito Angelo, by decree of July 5, 2012 Todisco, on. A few months after the election of Pope Francis, the leadership of the order - including the founder and Superior General Manelli - was removed from their offices by the congregation of the order with the consent of Pope Francis and the Franciscans of the Immaculate were subordinated to an apostolic commissioner by decree of July 3, 2013.
The Capuchin and physician Fidenzio Volpi , General Secretary of the Association of Superior Superiors of Italy (CISM), was appointed as the first commissioner and given all the necessary powers. These decisions were published on July 11, 2013 and at the same time communicated that Pope Francis had ordered that every Franciscan of the Immaculate, contrary to the resolution of the General Chapter of 2008, is obliged to celebrate worship according to the normal form of the Roman rite, and that for use of the liturgy of 1962, the approval of the responsible superiors, specifically the commissioner, had to be obtained by individual monasteries or religious.
For the patronage feast of the Order on December 8, 2013, the Apostolic Commissioner Volpi sent an official letter to the members of the institute under his control, in which he describes his tasks and their implementation to date, comments on the situation of the Order and explains and justifies his disciplinary measures. In it he deplores opposition to his work as provisional head of the order, which has been decreed by the Vatican Congregation, which has come to light in many ways and is supported and fanned by traditionalist groups and individuals inside and outside the Church, including the head of the traditionalist Pius Brotherhood , Bishop Bernard Fellay would. Volpi sees the reason for this in the fact that "the order has become a battlefield for a fight between different currents at the Curia and, above all, the opposition to the new pontificate of Pope Francis ". As supporters of this line, Volpi sees “by no means just 'simple employees, ordinary housewives and completely normal construction workers', [...] but also industrialists” and “influential journalists” from the circle of former Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi .
Within the institute, due to the previous style of management, “a great spiritual impoverishment and psychological dependency have been revealed, which are incompatible with the 'freedom of the children of God', which is the prerequisite for total devotion to the Lord through religious consecration in religious life " be. In particular, “the person of the founder was surrounded by a kind of aura of infallibility”. Above all in the formation of the friars there were grievances; also the leadership of the order had partially not fulfilled its duty of care, so that very young and inexperienced brothers in remote mission areas, such as in the Philippines , were left on their own without accommodation.
Volpi also complained about dubious asset shifts, real estate transactions and monetary payments with which the founder of the order, Fr. Stefano Manelli, persons close to him (“familiare”) had been illegally favored. In this context, he also criticized the activities of the lay associations affiliated to the order, whose activity he suspended. The internal letter of December 8, 2013 was brought to the public on the internet platform of the Franciscans of the Immaculate. The Manelli family lawyer filed a criminal complaint against the apostolic commissioner. On February 12, 2014, Volpi agreed in a mediation process of the Roman Bar Association to pay the relatives a compensation for pain and suffering of € 20,000 and to the public declaration that family members (“parenti”) of Stefano Maria Manelli “absolutely nothing” with changes of ownership or disposal of real estate of the Order. When the deal became public he withdrew it. The irregularity proceedings ended in June 2013 with an acquittal. A judges' senate from Avellino found that neither the founder of the order, Manelli, nor the lay organizations of the order had enriched themselves or were guilty of any other offenses. At the same time, the restitution of the property to the lay organizations was ordered, which had been confiscated by the public prosecutor in 2013 on the basis of a petition by the commissioner. In December 2015, the return of the property was upheld by the Supreme Court.
Commissioner Volpi also ordered the order's study regulations to be revised, all juniors and students studying at foreign locations to be brought together in the motherhouse and all ordinations planned for members of the order to be postponed by one year. He asked all members of the order to recognize the legality of the regular form of the Roman rite of the Catholic Church and the validity of the documents of the Second Vatican Council , and ordered that all members must sign a declaration confirming that they are entitled to be in the religious community under these conditions remain. A new administrator was appointed to manage the goods of the order. In addition, Fr. Volpi temporarily abolished the lay associations Mission Immaculate Mediatrix (MIM) and Third Order of the Franciscans of the Immaculate (TOFI) and forbade members of the men's order subordinate to him to work on the publications of the sister communities associated with the order that were not under his provisional leadership were subject.
The founder and previous Superior General, Stefano Maria Manelli, was and is being investigated by the church and the public prosecutor. From October 2013 he was in inpatient treatment due to serious illness in a private clinic, where he was not allowed to receive any visits or to communicate with any correspondence. This was supplemented by a letter from the provisional head of the order dated November 18, 2013 with a canonical ban that limits his contact with the outside world to medical necessities. Manelli then lived in the convent of the Franciscan Sisters of the Immaculate in San Giovanni Rotondo (Foggia province), returned at short notice (November 21 - December 29, 2015) to the mother house in Frigento and currently lives in San Giovanni Rotondo for treatment in the “Casa Sollievo della Sofferenza ”.
The apostolic commissioner Fidenzio Volpi OFMCap died unexpectedly on June 7th, 2015 as a result of a stroke. Father Sabino Ardito SDB was immediately appointed as his successor. He is supported by Fathers Gianfranco Ghirlanda SJ and Carlo Calloni OFMCap.
By decree of the Vatican Congregation for Religious of October 12, 2015, after a previous apostolic visitation, the Franciscan Sisters of the Immaculate (Suore Francescane dell'Immacolata) were placed under temporary administration and, for the time being, the Sisters Noris A. Calzavara, Paola, with the direction of the Order of Women Teresita Filippi and Viviana Ballarin OP commissioned.
By decree of October 19, 2015, the members of the institutes of the Franciscans and the Franciscan Sisters of the Immaculate as well as all other affected persons were released from the private vows required of them to the person of the Order's founder and former Superior General Manelli.
On March 2, 2016, the Order's founder Manelli filed a criminal complaint for defamation and formation of a criminal organization to the detriment of the Order. This step had "become necessary to protect the numerous friars and sisters against an ongoing campaign of defamation", most recently in connection with the "special vows" of members of the order. The complaint is directed against three active and former nuns, six priests and two lay people. Among the priests is Father Alfonso Bruno, who was appointed General Secretary of the Order by Apostolic Commissioner Volpi. He is seen by critics of the Vatican measures as the "head" behind the action against the order's founder Manelli.
Individual evidence
- ↑ Ades Tynyshev: The Papal Basilica - Santa Maria Maggiore. Retrieved October 12, 2018 .
- ↑ Documentation: https://franciscantruth.files.wordpress.com/2013/08/visita-apostolica-questionario-fi.pdf ; Result of the survey of the members of the order: http://www.ecclesiadei.nl/docs/20130919_presentazione_dati_visita_apostolica+italian.html
- ↑ The decree with which the Franciscans of the Immaculate were placed under temporary administration , Katholisches.info, July 29, 2013.
- ^ The decree by which the Franciscans of the Immaculate were placed under temporary administration - Catholic. Retrieved on October 12, 2018 (German).
- ↑ Cf. Pope Benedict XVI .: Motu Proprio: Summorum Pontificum, Art. 3: “If communities of institutes of consecrated life and societies of apostolic life - be they papal or diocesan law - wish to be able to participate in the conventual or ' They are allowed to hold the celebration of Holy Mass in their own oratory according to the edition of the Roman Missal, which was promulgated in 1962. If a single community or a whole institute or a whole society wants to celebrate such celebrations often, permanently or permanently, it is up to the major superiors to decide according to the norm of law and according to the laws and particular statutes. "
- ^ Fidenzio Volpi: Letter from the Apostolic Commissioner Fr Volpi to the superiors and members of the Institute. Casa Maria "Santa Maria di Nazareth", December 8, 2018, accessed October 12, 2018 (Italian).
- ^ Precisazione del Commissario Apostolico (aggiornamenti) ( Italian ) January 31, 2014. Archived from the original on June 22, 2014. Retrieved June 22, 2014.
- ^ Supreme Court upholds judgment in the matter of the Franciscans of the Immaculate - Catholic. Retrieved on October 12, 2018 (German).
- ^ Letter from the Apostolic Commissioner Fr Volpi dated November 18, 2013 to the attending physician Giovanni De Luca (ital.)
- ↑ a b Manelli files criminal complaint for defamation , Katholisches.info, March 15, 2016