Astana like Assisi

Apart from the Vatican delegation there was one from the Conventual Friars Minor at the Astana inter-religious Congress. It was led by an American of Polish origin, Joachim Gieremek, Minister General of the Order. In his speech, the last to be given before the closing speech of the President, Father Gieremek spoke of the figure of Saint Francis and his prayer to the Lord to grant peace as gratuitous gift: «As Francis reminds us, nothing belongs to us by absolute right except our frailty and our faults: we can consider only those as personal property». The presence of the Franciscan delegation, which also included Father Lanfranco Serrini, Minister General of the Conventuals from 1984 to 1996, was requested by the organizers to underline the continuity between the Astan Congress and the gatherings of religious leaders held in Assisi in 1986 and 2002.
G. V.