On January 10, 2026, the 8th Centenary of the Transitus of St. Francis of Assisi (1226–2026), was officially opened. The ceremony took place In Assisi, at the Basilica of St. Mary of the Angels, which houses the Porziuncola. Afterwards, the Ministers General of the Franciscan Family released a joint letter entitled “A Seed of Eternal Life.” The letter is addressed to the entire Franciscan Family and the People of God. It invites everyone to rediscover what St. Francis has handed down to us and to recognize it as our living and shared responsibility to live out today.
The letter is signed by the Ministers General of the Order of Friars Minor; Friars Minor Conventual; Friars Minor Capuchin; the Third Order Regular; the Secular Franciscan Order; and by the President of the International Franciscan Conference of the Third Order Regular. It offers a detailed and concrete reflection on the Franciscan charism eight hundred years after Francis’ death. Using his Testament as its guiding text, the letter identifies three great legacies that the saint leaves to the Church and to the world: mercy arising from the encounter with the poor and with the crucified Christ; faithful love for the Church, recognized as a “poor but fruitful land,” and for the Eucharist as the heart of the Christian mystery; and, finally, fraternal life lived as a Gospel form of life capable of generating peace.
Particular emphasis is placed on fraternity as an alternative to every power-based approach. The Franciscan Order is not meant to be a pyramidal [hierarchical] structure, but a “circular” fraternity in which everyone is a lesser one, called to serve and care for one another. From this way of living arises the call to peace, expressed in Francis’ greeting, “May the Lord give you peace,” which he embraced as a guide for life and evangelization, then and now.
The Centenary is thus presented not as a simple commemoration, but as a time of renewal and personal and communal responsibility. The seed planted by Francis continues to sprout and cries out to be protected through acts of mercy, faithfulness to the Church, and fostering reconciled relationships.
This letter, issued for the launch of the centenary year, is intended to revive the power of the Gospel lived by Francis, pilgrim and brother to all. Moreover, it invites us to recognize it as a tool of discernment and of shared journey for the entire Franciscan Family.
Reading the full text of the letter, A Seed of Eternal Life, will allow us to deepen our understanding of the path opened by the 8th Centenary and to receive its guidance for the life of the Franciscan Family today. The text can be downloaded, in PDF format, in the following languages:
Croatian
French
English
Italian
Polish
Portuguese
Spanish
German
and Hungarian
