Rome Newsroom, Jul 13, 2021 / 13:00 pm
The Order of Friars Minor announced Tuesday the election of Rome-native Fr. Massimo Fusarelli to be their newest minister general.
Fusarelli, 58, was elected by the order for a term of six years. The election was confirmed by Cardinal João Braz de Aviz, prefect of the Vatican’s Congregation for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life.
“Minister general” is the term used for the leader of the Order of Friars Minor. The title comes from chapter 8 of the Rule of St. Francis.
Fusarelli will be the order’s 121st successor of St. Francis of Assisi, who founded the Franciscans in the 13th century on the hillsides of Umbria, central Italy. He succeeds Fr. Michael Perry, a native of Indianapolis, who led the order since 2013.