Franciscan order elects 121st successor of St. Francis of Assisi

Hannah Brockhaus By Hannah Brockhaus for CNA

July 13, 2021 Catholic News Agency News Briefs 0 Print

Fr. Massimo Fusarelli, the new minister general of the Order of Friars Minor. / Courtesy of the Order of Friars Minor.

Rome Newsroom, Jul 13, 2021 / 13:00 pm (CNA).

The Order of Friars Minor announced Tuesday the election of Rome-native Fr. Massimo Fusarelli to be their newest minister general.

Fusarelli, 58, was elected by the order for a term of six years. The election was confirmed by Cardinal João Braz de Aviz, prefect of the Vatican’s Congregation for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life.

“Minister general” is the term used for the leader of the Order of Friars Minor. The title comes from chapter 8 of the Rule of St. Francis.

Fusarelli will be the order’s 121st successor of St. Francis of Assisi, who founded the Franciscans in the 13th century on the hillsides of Umbria, central Italy. He succeeds Fr. Michael Perry, a native of Indianapolis, who led the order since 2013.

“May the Holy Spirit guard and guide Br. Massimo in the service of the brothers of the Order and of the whole Church,” a press release on the Franciscan order’s website said.

In a telegram to Fusarelli released July 13, Pope Francis said: “Having learned of your election, I congratulate you and assure you of my prayers and blessings, that the Lord may assist and protect you in the performance of your service.”

“May the Seraphic Father St. Francis be an encouragement to you in the guidance of your friars.”

Fusarelli has been provincial minister of the Province of St. Bonaventure, which covers the Italian regions of Lazio and Abruzzo, since July 2020.

Born in Rome, Fusarelli received the Franciscan habit in 1982 at the age of 19. He professed solemn vows in 1989 and was ordained a priest later the same year.

He studied theology at the Pontifical University of St. Anthony, also called the Antonianum, in Rome. He received a licentiate in patristic studies from Rome’s Augustinian Patristic Institute.

Fusarelli was a general visitor for the Province of Naples and for the unification process of the provinces of northern Italy.

From 2003 to 2009, the Franciscan priest was the general secretary of formation and studies.

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Putin warns West of nuclear war risk over Ukraine troop deployment

February 29, 2024 Catholic News Agency 2
In this pool photograph distributed by Russian state agency Sputnik, Russia’s President Vladimir Putin delivers his annual state of the nation address at the Gostiny Dvor conference center in central Moscow on Feb. 29, 2024. / Credit: GAVRIIL GRIGOROV/POOL/AFP via Getty Images

CNA Staff, Feb 29, 2024 / 16:05 pm (CNA).

Russian President Vladimir Putin in a speech on Thursday cautioned that any Western military intervention in support of Ukraine could potentially lead to nuclear conflict.

“[The West] must understand that we also have weapons that can hit targets on their territory,” Putin, who is widely expected to hold onto power in an upcoming election, said in a Feb. 29 speech to Russia’s Federal Assembly. 

Warning of “tragic consequences” if NATO forces were ever deployed to Ukraine, Putin continued, as reported by the Washington Post: “All this really threatens a conflict with the use of nuclear weapons and the destruction of civilization. Don’t they get that? … [Russia’s] strategic nuclear forces are in a state of full readiness.”

Putin’s speech came two days after French President Emmanuel Macron suggested that the deployment of foreign forces to Ukraine remained an option.

“We will do everything needed so Russia cannot win the war,” Macron said at a news conference. He said there is no consensus to “send in” troops on the ground, but said “nothing can be ruled out.”

In response to Macron’s remarks, the Vatican’s secretary of state, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, said the idea that Europe could send ground troops to Ukraine opens a “frightening scenario” that could “bring about the escalation that we have always tried to avoid from the beginning.”

“It’s a scenario that I wouldn’t call apocalyptic because perhaps that’s an exaggerated word at this moment, but certainly it’s fearsome,” Parolin said Feb. 27, as reported by Vatican News.

The cardinal, who has called for peace in Ukraine but also previously warned of the dangers of escalation, lamented that “no prospect of a solution on the horizon, be it military or negotiated.”

“It would be ideal to really find a way to get the two sides to start talking and dialoguing,” Parolin added to Vatican News. “I believe that if we talk, a solution will be found.” 

Pope Francis has spoken before of the danger of the possibility of a nuclear war “that will extinguish us.” The pope’s words came shortly after the start of the war in Ukraine, at the start of which Putin ordered Russian nuclear forces to be put on high alert, raising fears of the possibility of a nuclear war.

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