Expert: George A. Card,sfo, M.I - 3/22/2006

Question
Many thanks!

Pls could you explain the "sfo, M.I" after your name?

Best wishes,

Simon


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Followup To
Question -
Greetings,

In my dictionary, “pro-nuncio” is defined as “a papal ambassador to a country that does not accord the Pope's ambassador automatic precedence over other ambassadors”. Presumably an ambassador to non-Catholic countries.
My question: what do you call a papal ambassador to a country that DOES accord the Pope's ambassador automatic precedence over other ambassadors?

Thank you,

Simon
Answer -
Peace

Dear Simon

A Pro-Nuncio is a diplomatic representative who is not of full ambassadorial rank, his status representing the nature of the diplomatic relationship between the Holy See and the state to which he has been assigned. For nations with whom the Vatican has no official ties, an Apostolic Delegate (a lower rank) is sent to serve as a liaison to the Catholic Church in that nation. Until recent times, an Apostolic Delegate served as the papal representative to the United States and the United Kingdom, but both major Anglo-Saxon states with a predominantly protestant tradition established formal relations with the Holy See in the late twentieth century, allowing for the appointment of a Papal Nuncio (see the list of British Ambassadors to the Holy See); Pío Cardinal Laghi, for example, was Papal Nuncio in the United States during George H.W. Bush's presidency.

The Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations provides (article 14(2)) "Except as concerns precedence and etiquette, there shall be no differentiation between heads of mission by reason of their class." Some traditionally Catholic states give special precedence to representatives of the Holy See — that is, they automatically accord the Nuncio the position of Dean of the diplomatic corps, a purely ceremonial position of precedence usually otherwise reserved for the longest-serving ambassador to a country — which they are permitted to do by the Convention (article 16(3)) "This article is without prejudice to any practice accepted by the receiving State regarding the precedence of the representative of the Holy See.

         your servant but His first
         george

Answer
         Peace

dear Simon

The letters S.F.O. stand for Secular Franciscan Order. Below is from a flyer I wrote to help promote vocations at the local level.



What is the Secular Franciscan Order?

The Secular Franciscan Order is an order for people, who's vocation is to live and to proclaim the one Gospel of Christ, in the holy charisma of our founders: St Francis of Assisi and the married couple Blesseds Buonadonna and Luchesio in the year 1221.

Are Secular Franciscans truly an order?

Yes, is the simple answer. The Secular Franciscan Order meets the criteria for a secular Order, established in Canon Law (#303). It states there are five elements that constitute a secular (third) Order.

What are those five elements?

Its members:
Live in the world
Share in the charisma of an order
Strive for Christian perfection
Enter into the apostolic live of the Church
Are under the direction of the religious institute

What are some elements of an order in the Church? How does the SFO fulfill them?

1.   A Way of Life (our Rule and Constitutions)
2.   Community (monthly meeting/gathering and other activities)
3.   A profession of the evangelical counsels: of poverty, chastity, and obedience
4.   Prayer Life: 7 options in our current Ritual book including:
Morning and Evening Prayer from the Liturgy of Hours
daily Mass
Office of the Passion
other forms of prayer related to the Liturgical season
daily reading Sacred Scripture for 15 minutes

5.External sign(s): the Tau (cross) and /or the Crossed Arms
6. Formation: at least six months for inquirers, six months of populate study
at least twelve months for candidates, a lifetime for professed members

Again we say we are not a ministry or an apostolate but a a secular vocation with the Franciscan Family in the Catholic Household of Faith. We are not mini-monks or little nuns but people of Christ and His Church called as all are but in a unique way to a transformation for the glory of the Father.


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The Secular Franciscan Vocation in Brief–
Secular Franciscans–
1. Follow the example of St. Francis of Assisi, who made Christ the inspiration and the center of his life with God and people.

2. Seek to encounter the living and active person of Christ in our brothers and sisters in the living Word of God (both Sacred Scripture and Apostolic tradition), in Liturgical activity, and in the Church as His Body and Household of Faith, governed by His Vicar and the Bishops in union with Him.

3.Go forth as witnesses and instruments of the whole mission of the Church among all people, by proclaiming and living the awesome reality and mystery of faith: Christ has died; Christ has risen; and He shall return!!

4. Called as are all People of God, but in a focused way to the Apostolates of:
A. Family
B. Work
C. Ecology
D. Peace and Justice
E. Youth
F. Formation

By the testimony and the acts of our lives as prompted by the Holy Spirit, guided by the Church, and directed by the need of the Human family to build a more fraternal and evangelical world, as a foreshadowing of the coming of the Kingdom.

5. Join in Liturgical prayer (e.g. daily Mass, the Liturgy of Hours) in one of the forms posed by the Church, telling of and reliving the Paschal Mystery.

6. Express our true and ardent love of the Immaculata, the ever-Virgin Mother of God and the Church. Primarily imitating her self-giving to God and praying with trusting faith in God's will to be done.

7. Faithfully fulfill the duties of one life, proper to one's circumstance in life, despite any difficulties one encounters in a spirit of Joy.

8. Seek a proper spirit of detachment from temporal “things” by simplifying our lifestyle “needs and wants”, and to purify our hearts of any desire for power and procession, that is to recall we are stewards of all we have been given.

9. Acquire a purity of heart because the vocation we embrace set us free to love God and all people (as your brothers and sisters) in the Lord, by “radical interior change” which the Gospel calls daily conversion as a means of growing in the Light of the divine Mercy of the Father.


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I can send more on the order or contact information for a community near you.++++++++

M.I.

I cant find a flyer I wrote for a friend's site. So here a link to the US National Headquarters:

http://www.consecration.com/