Spiritual Assistance in the USA

Introduction and Background The issue of identifying suitable Secular Spiritual Assistants and training them to be well-prepared has been an ongoing concern for many years: In 2010 both the CNSA and NAFRA addressed this issue at their meetings; In 2012 the Task Force on Spiritual Assistance Development was created with a line item added to the budget.

T he The role of the Task Force, as defined by the National Executive Council (NEC) and the Conference of National Spiritual Assistants (CNSA), is: “to articulate the role of spiritual assistants and to educate the various constituencies (friars, spiritual assistants, OFS members) about it; to develop a standardized program for the implementation of the Franciscan Family Connections program in the United States.” “to articulate the role of spiritual assistants and to educate the various constituencies (friars, spiritual assistants, OFS members) about it…

The April 2013 Task Force teleconference meeting Determined that more information was needed regarding Spiritual Assistants and their training in our regions; A survey was designed and sent to regional ministers to understand the variety of programs offered for Spiritual Assistants and their common needs. Twenty-two of our thirty regions (73%) responded to the survey – several by regional spiritual assistants.

The Survey on Spiritual Assistance The survey was divided into 3 distinct sections: Demographic Section Spiritual Assistants’ Training Programs Section and a Comments Section

Demographics: Fraternities: Established Fraternities 637 Newly Forming Groups 27 Emerging Fraternities 35 Fraternities WITHOUT a Spiritual Assistant: Established Fraternities In 2013 survey responses indicated that established fraternities were without spiritual assistants. 128 Newly Forming Groups 4 regions reported they had NFGs without a spiritual assistant Emerging Fraternities 4 regions reported they had Emerging Fraternities without a spiritual assistant

Demographics: Spiritual Assistants Regional: As of July 1, 2014 39 (2 regions w/o a RSA) Local Spiritual Assistants: 2012 & Survey Results: 460 2013 & 2014 Annual Reports 440 Number of Friars 27 Number of Sisters 3 Number of Secular Franciscans 8 Number of Friars 257 Number of Sisters 84 Number of Secular Franciscans 66 Number of Diocesan Priests/ Other 53 Number of Friars 238 Number of Sisters 78 Number of Secular Franciscans 74 Number of Diocesan Priests/ Other 50

Comparison since end of 2012 and July 2014

Comparisons of Local Spiritual Assistant

Spiritual Assistance Training Programs: In 2013, sixteen of the 22 regions (73%) that responded to the survey had some type of training program for spiritual assistants: Seven regions (44%) – Primarily correspondence course; Five regions (31%) – Combination of meetings and correspondence; Four regions (25%) – Meetings only.

Regions with Spiritual Assistant Training Programs

Conclusions and Recommendations: It is obvious that there is a decline in the number of friars and religious serving our Order as spiritual assistants at both the regional and local levels. Most of our regions, while attempting to address the situation by offering some type of training program for secular spiritual assistants, still have a long struggle ahead of them in order to train as many “suitable and well prepared spiritual assistants” necessary to meet the growing demand.