LATEST NEWS – CUSTODY
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A renewed sense of fraternity
Friar Sixtus Peter OFM was one of 14 friars from seven countries in the 2025 run of the Asian Franciscan Formators Training (AFFT) programme. He shares a reflection on his experience. "Six, see if you're interested in joining next year's AFFT. If you're open, Crispus...
Receiving and sending forth
Greccio Friary was filled with expectation on 10 January 2026 as the friars gathered for a double moment of grace: the reception of two new postulants, Timothy Colond and Matthew S Lim, and the sending forth of three young brothers, Samuel Tan, Daniel Xavier, and...
St Francis lives on!
"Welcome, Sister Death!" These words will ring in our ears repeatedly this year as we mark 800 years since the death of St Francis on 3 October 1226. On the night of his passing (Transitus), Francis had the brothers sing the canticle he composed the year before - the...
Embracing change for spiritual renewal
Dear friends, “Change is the only constant in life,” said Heraclitus, and indeed the new year marked a change for many friars in our Custody. For example, there is a new parish team at St Mary of the Angels, and Friar Joseph Lee, the first in our Custody to reach 70...
Go and Repair My Church
The request Christ made from the crucifix to St Francis 800 years ago came up repeatedly at the 6th Asia-Oceania OFS-YouFra Congress in Kota Kinabalu, Sabah. The simple phrase – Go and repair my Church – resonated with the Secular Franciscans (OFS) brothers and...
Greccio Friary – A Formation Community
From left to rightBack row: Friar Francisco Basnayake, Friar Gerard Victor, Friar Kenny AnthonysamyFront row: Friar Jorgerson Japar, Friar Marvin Voo, Friar Vernon Chua Named after Greccio in Italy's Rieti Valley, Greccio Friary is a formation community that lives the...
Grounded in God, Growing in Mission
Dear friends, I write this while on a pilgrimage of Franciscan Italy. We are a group of 39, but we have a common desire of our hearts – to grow in intimacy with the Lord and be courageous in seeking God's will for us. Although I have visited many of these shrines and...
Franciscans, Continue the Journey
If the Custody Assembly in July was the breath before the plunge, then our Custody Chapter, held from 1 to 5 September 2025 in Singapore, was the deep dive – a moment when prayer turned into purpose, reflection into resolution, and fraternity into forward movement....
Finding strength in fraternity
JOHOR BAHRU: If anyone thinks priests only gather for formal meetings and quiet retreats, the Young Priests’ Gathering (YPG) 2025 would have changed that idea. From October 6–10, fifty-one young clergy (all ordained under five years) from nine dioceses in Malaysia and...