Dear brothers and sisters,
peace and good!
Among the specific tasks of our Order, art. 25 of the GGCC highlights that the OFS has a specific educational duty towards children and adolescents, as well as young people, to “bear witness to the Christian faith, the evangelical spirit and secular Franciscan spirituality, both as individuals and as a fraternity” (67 FIOFS Statute ad experimentum). It is a responsibility we have as baptized persons but especially as a ‘spiritual secular family’: it is no coincidence that Article 25 of the GGCC is placed under the heading ‘family’.
Some National Fraternities had long been asking for guidance, tools and documents to be able to organize and take care of the groups of children and adolescents they were forming. The Presidency, therefore, approved two documents that we present with great joy and place in your hands, together with this letter, which is the result of the collaboration between the CIOFS Presidency Councilor appointed for this service and the YouFra International Responsible for Franciscan Children and Adolescents: