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CAPUCHIN GENERAL MINISTER PACIFICUS CARLETTI OF SEGGIANO 533 since its foundation, either more or less than the other Franciscan Families; its head is on a par with the other two Superiors of the Friars Minor, is called in all appropri– ateness and is general Minister and for its religious, legitimate successor of St Fran– cis; therefore it is undisputed that this branch of the Order of Friars never broke off from the trunk, which is the Seraphic Father, but has always remained intimately united with it" 82 • The inclusion of the Bull of Pope Honorius III, the Rule and Life ofthe Friars Minor and The Testament of St Francis of Assisi as prefatory to the revised constitu– tions of 1909 is very much in line with the above points emphasised by Pope Pius X, and the addition of these documents to their constitutions places the Capuchins in a more complete historical context. It is noteworthy that the constitutions of 1643 did not carry these additions. The constitutions drafted by Bernard of Andermatt (1896) too were devoid of them 83 • The first and the only time the Rule and the Testament of Francis ofAssisi were given along with the constitutions was the text revised in 1575. This innovative addition resumed in the constitutions of 1909 has been retained thereafter 84 • 82 For the full text of the document, see Pius X, Vicarium Pastoris aeterni munus, in Con– stitutiones Ordinis Fratrum Minorum Capuccinorum, II, Constitutiones recentiores (1909-1925), 197-202. In fact, three ofPius X's apostolicletters, namely, Septimo iampleno ( 4 October 1909), Paucis ante diebus (l November 1909) and Seraphici Patriarchae (15 September 1910) were in– tended to do away with the discord among the three Franciscan First Orders, bring about a jurid– ical settlement of the question ofprecedence among them, assign the title ofgeneral Minister to the head of the three families, each being the legitimate successor of Francis ofAssisi. The indul– gences and privileges granted to one Order hold good also for the other two. All the three Orders are entitled to invoke the Blessed Virgin Mary as Regina ordinis minorum. For example, in Septimo iam pleno, 7, says: "Tres Ordinis Minoritici familiae, quasi totidem rami sunt nobilissimae arbo– res, cujus radix ac truncus Franciscus est. Propterea Fratres Minores tum Unionis Leonianae, tum Conventuales, tum Capuccini pari plenoque jure veri Franciscales, verique Fratres Minores et sunt et haberi debent". See Analecta OFMCap. 25 (1909) 310. 83 See Appendix. Constitutiones Ordinis Fratrum Minorum S. Francisci Capuccinorum (Exemplar soli S.C. EE. et RR. Commissum), Romae 1897, in Constitutiones Ordinis FratrumMi– norum Capuccinorum saeculorum decursu promulgatae II: Constitutiones recentiores (1909-1925), 461-699. The Prologus, 463-465, refers to the various revisions the Capuchin constitutions had undergone, the last being in 1643, and concludes: "... cumque praesertim a felicis recordationis Pio PP. IX permulta sint innovate, perutile imo et necessarium visum est Vocalibus Capituli Ge– neralis, anno 1896, Romae ad S. Fedelem habiti, Constitutiones ita auctas et correctas supremo iudicio, approbationi et confirmationi SSmi. Dom. Leonis PP. XIII praevie subiicere, antequam de novo praelo commendetur, et sunt sequentes''. 84 For the latest revised text, see Costituzioni dei.frati Minori Cappuccini e Ordinazioni dei capitoligenerali. Regola e Testamento di San Francesco. Testo ufficiale, Roma 2013.
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