The International Board of Directors of Franciscans International (FI) held its semi-annual meeting at the Geneva office of FI from April 22-25, 2016.
Joe Rozansky, OFM, was elected as the new President of the Board. In September 2015, he finished up ten years in Rome as the director of the OFM Office of Justice, Peace and the Integrity of Creation (JPIC); while there he also worked closely with Romans VI, the JPIC group of the Franciscan Family. He has now returned to work in the Formation Program of his province, to which he has dedicated many years of his ministry. Joe succeeds Doug Clorey, the previous representative of the the Secular Franciscan Order (OFS) on the Board, who just completed his four year term as President of the Board.
Ruth Marcus, the newly appointed representative of the OFS, a lawyer from Malaysia, was welcomed to the Board, and Carla Casadei was voted to continue her service as Treasurer.
The Board bid farewell to two FI staff members: Francesca Restifo who was the Director of Advocacy (stationed in Geneva) and Amanda Lyons who was the Program Coordinator for the Americas Program (stationed in New York). It welcomed the new Director of Advocacy, Sandra Ratjen who recently began her responsibilities at FI.
The President’s report spoke of the evaluation process underway to establish a sense of the current status of the organization in view of planning for the future. The present financial stability of FI allows for the possibility of taking a long term view of its activities and the possibilities for the coming years. Two areas discussed were the possible redefinition of the presence of Franciscans International in New York and the establishment of an Advisory Group of Franciscans interested in the promotion of human rights issues at the United Nations.