2007 ANNUAL FRANCISCAN
FEDERATION CONFERENCE

by Sister Arlene McGowan, SFP

This year’s annual conference was held in Minneapolis, Minnesota from July 9-12, 2007. The theme was “Care for Earth, Care for Each Other” and thirteen SFPs were present.

We are Brothers and Sisters to All
Sr. Marya Grathwohl, OSF, an Oldenburg Franciscan was a keynote speaker. Her topic was “Planetary Spirituality and Berry Picking in Northern Cheyenne Country.” Relying heavily on the works of Thomas Berry and Brian Swimme,  Marya gave us a glimpse of mother earth and showed how the whole Universe is one body. With many stories of the Northern Cheyenne people among whom she lives, Marya gave us an appreciation for all of creation and how we are indeed brothers and sisters to all. 

Care for Creation by Ending the Death Penalty
The second keynote speaker was Sr. Helen Prejean, CSJ, who is an Associate of the Oldenburg Franciscans.  Sr. Helen spoke of her eye witness accounts as Spiritual Advisor for men on death row.  In her presentations she focused on stories from her books, Dead Man Walking, and The Death of Innocents. Her sense of humor, compassion, social conscience, and commitment to her mission came through clear and strong as she shared a variety of stories about her experience in trying to abolish the death penalty in the United States. As she recounted these men’s cases and walked us through their terrible last moments, she left no doubts in our minds that we need to work with concerted efforts to abolish the death penalty in our land.

25th Anniversary of our Third Order Rule
Without a doubt, the highlights of the Conference were the two talks given by Sr. Margaret Carney, OSF celebrating the 25th anniversary of our Third Order Rule.  Sr. Margaret recalled for us the history of the work done in developing our present Rule and the two documents that preceded the current Rule.  Sr. Margaret and Jean Francois Godet-Calogeras were the two United States representatives on the Rule International Work Group. Feeling a deep sense of responsibility to draft a new rule, they, with Fr. Thaddeus Horgan, SA worked with the International Work Group to develop the revised Rule that would bring clarity and focus to our Third Order expression and charism of Franciscan spirituality to a post-Vatican II world.

Honoring our Franciscan Family
We are called to a renewed fidelity to the spirit of our father, St. Francis. During her talk at the banquet, Sr. Margaret mentioned two people that she considers memorable in Franciscan history: Sr. Bernadette Sullivan, SFP and Br. Thomas Grady, OSF for their work in establishing our Franciscan NGO at the United Nations. Congratulations and thank you, Sr. Bernadette, we are proud of you for your continuing commitment to our NGO!  The talks by Sr. Margaret Carney are available in the Area office on CD and DVD.

During the Peacemakers banquet we honored our own Sr. Frances Delaney for her care of the earth and her awareness of the importance of the relationship between human life and our earth. Sr. Frances was overwhelmed with all the well deserved attention. Congratulations, Frances – we are proud of you! The banquet was a celebration of the 25th anniversary of our Rule and highlighted the 45 peacemakers who in a special way care for the earth and all of creation. At the banquet each attendee received a small special 25th anniversary publication of the Rule with the updated references from the three volumes on St. Francis.

© Franciscan Sisters of the Poor
E-mail: sfp@franciscansisters.org   
Website: www.franciscansisters.org

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