In May, the Custody of St Anthony (Malaysia-Singapore-Brunei) hosted a regional meeting of Lay Friars within the South Asia, Australia and Oceania Conference (SAAOC).
In the Franciscan Order, as in the Church, a baptised person falls under one of two states: Lay (non-ordained) or Clergy (ordained). Thus, if a friar, through his discernment, does not move toward ordination to the clerical state as a deacon or priest, he is a Lay Friar, commonly called a “Franciscan Brother”. A friar who undertakes the Sacrament of Holy Orders through ordination is known as an Ordained Friar or Friar-Priest.
In 2022, the OFM General Chapter resolved that each international conference of friars would hold regional/international conference meetings of Lay Friars to prepare for the international meeting of Franciscan Lay Friars to be held in 2025.
Accordingly, 15 Lay Friars from Australia, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Timor-Leste and West Papua gathered at La Salle House in Singapore for five days of discussion and fraternal bonding. The theme for the meeting was “Renewing Our Common Vision as Lay Friars in a Fractured World: Franciscan Contemplatives Formed for Pastoral Ministry and Evangelisation.”
Minister General Friar Massimo Fusarelli OFM set the tone for the gathering with a very encouraging letter to all gathered. In it, he exhorted the friars to deepen their identity as brothers and minors, and to also be very daring to welcome back the diversity and completeness of our (Franciscan) vocation.
“If the Lay Friars become very few or even die out, the provincial fraternities would lack an essential element of the (Franciscan) charism,” he wrote, before inviting the Lay Friars into critical reflection with recommendations for bolstering the vocational path of being a Lay Friar within the Franciscan Order.
There are only about 1,600 Solemnly Professed Lay Friars out of approximately 10,000 Solemnly Professed Friars around the world, at last count in 2022. The rest (an estimated 8,400) are Ordained Friars.
The meeting, held from 13 to 17 May 2024, was facilitated by Friar David Leary OFM, a Lay Friar-Psychologist, Professor and Counsellor engaged in social work services in Australia. The main topics for presentation, reflection and discussion were Contemplation, Formation, Pastoral Ministry and Evangelisation.
There was great richness in the sharing and discussion. The group noted that although the ministries of Lay Friars are significantly less visible to the public, and even to fellow members of the Franciscan fraternity, they are immensely important and impactful in the lives of the individuals to whom the Lay Friars minister. Lay Friars work in many areas including counselling, spiritual direction, nursing, teaching, social work, institutional management and the formation of friars and lay people, recognising that God’s call to minister to His people is not limited to the sacramental ministry of the ordained (Friar-Priests).
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