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CAPUCHIN GENERAL MINISTER PACIFICUS CARLETTI OF SEGGIANO 525 On 29 November 1909, in coincidence with the "seventh centenary of the es– tablishment ofour Order", the general Minister addressed the superiors ofthe Order through a circular. He also referred to Pius X's apostolic letter Septimo jam pleno saeculo to mark the Franciscan centennial. According to Fr Paciflcus, the College "will remain as an immortal monument of this happy occasion". The general Min– ister waxed eloquent when speaking of the missionary vocation and the privilege of having such a college at the heart of Catholicism, "in the place of our residence" 58 • It is the papal city ofRome that is best suited to host the international college. Here when living together with friars from diverse lands one easily discovers the noble sen– timents oflove and universal brotherhood, which gently binds the friars together as brothers in the most intimate unity ofmind and heart, thought and affection. Hence he told the superiors that "we have decided to expand our House, as it is insufficient for the new destination". However, like in the case of every project, the Order need– ed money to enlarge the General Curia in order to accommodate the college. He, therefore, appealed to the superiors to exhort the members of the Franciscan Third Order, the benefactors, the preachers and parish priests to contribute generously to– wards the realisation of this important cause of the Order and the Church 59 • More 58 AGC, FG1, Fr Pacificus ofSeggiano to the Provincials, Guardians and Superiors ofPlac– es and Missions, 29 November 1909: "Mentre e qui, come si esprime un Vescovo americano, nel centro de! Cattolicismo, che s'intende meglio ii concetto grandioso dell'universalita della Chiesa Cattolica e ci si sente tutti Figli di uno stesso Padre; qui piu che altrove si comincia ad avere quel nobile sentimento di carita e di fratellanza universale, che dolcemente ci stringe come fratelli nella unita piu intima di mente e di cuore, di pensiero e di affetto; qui si acquista piu che altrove la romanita dottrinale e spiriruale tanto necessaria per possedere in tutta la sua grandezza quella fede onde Cristo e Romano, conformandoci al Serafino di Assisi, che tutto cattolico ed apostolico meritamente fu detto ilpiu italianoJra i Santi, e ifpiu Santofra gl'italiani''. The origin of the ex– pression "ilpiu italianofra i Santi, e ilpiu Santofra gl'italiani" is traceable to Vincenzo Gioberti (1843). See F. Accrocca, Francesco, ilpiu italiano dei santi!, in Sacro Convento di Assisi - Ordine Frati Minori Conventuali, Francesco, ifpiu italiano dei santi! La nazione tra identita epluralismo interreligioso eculturale, Assisi 2013, 11-43. 59 AGC, FG1, Fr Pacificus ofSeggiano to the Provincials, Guardians and Superiors of"Plac– es" and Missions, 29 November 1909. One is struck by the general Minister's trustingly open and straightforward appeals to the goodwill and generosity of the benefactors especially of the members ofthe Franciscan Third Order for help in carrying through projects he felt called upon to accomplish for the Order and the Church. A case in point is the Seraphic Mass Association ( Opus Seraphicum SS. Missarum ), a grassroots movement started by the Swiss Franciscan tertiary Frieda Folger in 1899 in Luzern. It would be formally associated with the whole Capuchin Or– der and would generously support its missionary undertakings. See M. Haller-Dirr, Tei! I. Das Unternehmen Mission sucht lnvestoren, in Helvetia Franciscana 28 (1999) 133-194; Tei! 2. Der Se– raphische Messbund zur Unterstutzung der ausldndischen Kapuzinermissionen und der eigene Weg