Interview with our Minister General Br. Roberto Genuin

Brother Roberto Genuin, a religious from Veneto, born in 1961, was confirmed a few weeks ago at the head of the Order of Friars Minor Capuchin, “about ten thousand religious scattered in 110 countries around the world,” for another six-year term (2024-2030). He has been superior general of this men's institute since 2018, is the 73rd General Minister of the Franciscan Order, the third at the beginning of this millennium (after Canadian John Corriveau and Swiss Mauro Jöhri), and is as Venetian as Br. Flavio Roberto Carraro (1932-2022), who was General from 1982 to 1994 and then was called by John Paul II to lead the dioceses of Arezzo-Cortona-San Sepulcro and then Verona.

This religious dressed in the traditional brown habit sees his second term as General Minister “as a moment of grace to invest especially in young people, not to leave them alone but to believe in their potential, including their potential as vocations. The recent World Youth Day in Lisbon and the legacy of John Paul II's magisterium dedicated to youth have confirmed to us how important it is for the Church to listen to and relate to their expectations and unanswered questions about life and the meaning of the sacred.” He notes, “As a winning model for an authentic youth ministry and evangelization especially in Europe, I was inspired by the figure of the future saint, Charles Acutis (whose remains rest at the Shrine of the Stripping of St. Francis entrusted to us in Assisi) who through his witness is attracting many young people to discover the essence of the Gospel message.”

What secret, then, attracts young people? “Aiming with serious intent at a personal encounter with the Lord and letting the fruit of these calls sprout when God wills without being in a hurry....” Brother Roberto received us at the headquarters of the Capuchin General Curia on Via Piemonte in Rome, where the friars open their doors to us with their traditional greeting of welcome, “Pace e bene,” which has often resounded on TV from the voices and mouths of two illustrious friars of the twentieth century: Br. Mariano da Torino and the former preacher of the Papal Household and now Cardinal Raniero Cantalamessa. “I hope in the sexennium that awaits me,” said Fr. Roberto, “to keep alive the charism of fraternity but also to bring an atmosphere of joy and cheerfulness to all the friaries of the planet, among them soon to be Eritrea and, if I am permitted, Belarus. I hope in these contexts to offer my confreres the kind of simplicity and proclamation of the Good News so dear to our founder and father Francis of Assisi.”

In the face of Europe's demographical winter and vocation crisis, Brother Roberto also sees signs of rebirth. And of hope. “For the first time,” he explains, “the Italian Capuchin Conference is not the largest in the Order, but is preceded by that of India; however, it remains an important presence with more than 1,500 friars but with a very high average age. But in France, often seen as a land of high secularization, and after 30 years of a vocational desert, two international fraternities have been established in which friars from all over the world coexist, and we have the surprising result of a fine group of young people coming into our life. The secret of this unexpected revival of religious life? I believe it lies in our common and simple way of life and prayer, the value of fraternity and showing welcome to all, and the traditional nature of our apostolate, such as the administration of the sacraments, especially the Eucharist and the Sacrament of Reconciliation, in our friaries.” Among the examples of revival of Capuchin life in Europe, Genuin further notes, is “the upcoming and unexpected reopening in the now de-Christianized Netherlands of a very old monastery.” And he adds: “I think that in Europe, as my predecessor Mauro Jöhri foresaw, we will eventually find ourselves with a reduced number of provinces compared to the glorious past, but with an increasingly international network of fraternities, where many Africans and Asians will live together with native Europeans, just as it is today, after all, in our very globalized world.”

 Brother Roberto is comforted by a good and steady growth of Capuchins in Asia, particularly India, Thailand, Indonesia, Vietnam, Philippines, South Korea and Bangladesh. He recalls during his first sexennium as General Minister the inroads made in the Americas, with all the provinces of both continents, “where walking together and the approach to fraternity and dialog helped us to overcome many situations of structural frailty, and to create a real network of mutual communication and support among us friars. In this way we were able to overcome and solve many problems.” Like his predecessors, Br. Roberto hopes to visit “over these 12 years as General Minister” all the Capuchin presences in the world. He identifies among the many charismatic figures of the Order, the unquestionable relevance of St. Pio of Pietrelcina (1887-1968), but also the simple and convincing manner of the venerable Bergamasque Br. Cecilio Cortinovis (1885-1984) who spent his life for the needy of Milan, or the great saint and doctor of the Church, St. Lawrence of Brindisi (1559-1619). 

“One of the traits that most distinguishes us,” Br. Genuin's reflects,” is the joy of being friars. The General Minister should not presume to direct them but should animate the journey of the friars in such a way as to better understand together where the Lord is leading us. I think what I have been able to take away from my first six years as a general superior comes down to this: finding within the walls of our friaries not superficial happiness, but true happiness by noting how much the Lord is working in our lives as simple men of God.”

Published on January 2, 2024 in the newspaper “Avvenire”