Brs. Ramon Farrugia, Darren Abela and Arslan Masih (a deacon from Pakistan currently residing in the Valletta fraternity) took part in the Franciscan March which is organised every year and which reaches its climax on 2 August, in the Basilica of St. Mary of the Angels in Assisi, on the occasion of the Feast of the Porziuncola. The Maltese Franciscan delegation participated with the friars and young people of Sicily. They made the Franciscan March from Randazzo, north of Mt. Etna, along the Gole di Alcantara and on to Giardini Naxos on the coast near Taormina. From there they travelled to Messina and on by coach to Assisi, where they joined the other Franciscan groups coming from all over Italy and also from other countries. The group then went to Rome to take part in the celebration of the Jubilee for Young People, in the presence of Pope Leo XIV. This initiative is part of the mutual collaboration between the Maltese and Sicilian Franciscan Provinces, and has the aim of preparing the friars to be able to attend next year’s Franciscan March together with a group of Maltese young people. The Franciscan March has been organised for many years with the aim of providing a unique opportunity for young people to come together and make a vocational journey in their Christian faith, on the footsteps of St. Francis of Assisi.
