Italy
The third episode of the testimony of Brother Paolo Maria Braghini, Capuchin Friar Minor, at the “Go! Franciscan Youth Meet 2026”, an event promoted by the Friars Minor, the Friars Minor Conventual and the Capuchin Friars Minor, held in Assisi from August 3 to 6. A story that shows us the imagination and mercy of God.
The call to Franciscanism and the mission in Amazonia
«I truly felt that the Lord was calling me to be a friar. I saw a radical man, in fraternity, in poverty, and in living the Gospel to the fullest, and I said yes to the Lord. I had no fear. I began the journey to become a friar and, after a few years, another young friar and I were sent to Amazonia. There I spent twenty years of my life.»
The challenges of nature and the discovery of the 72 villages
«What young people usually ask about are the adventures: the life-threatening dangers were countless. There, there is only water, no roads, no motorbikes, no cars; a truly difficult reality, marked by the pitfalls of nature. I even suffered a shipwreck, but the Lord saved me by the skin of my teeth! And then crocodiles, snakes passing over your feet, tarantulas…
There would be so many things to tell, but the most beautiful is this: after three years, together with two other young confreres, we discovered that from our little parish — an indigenous village with neither electricity nor telephone, in extreme precariousness (I had already lost 10 kilos, contracted malaria, etc.) — we could reach 72 other villages. Places accessible only by canoe, some more than a day’s navigation away.
We looked at each other and said: «If we keep going at this pace, we will die, they will find us in the cemetery! What would Jesus have done? What did He actually do?» Jesus first called the twelve apostles, then, seeing that the mission was immense, He sent out 72 others, who were not priests, but families, youth, men and women.»
The involvement of the Ticuna people and the birth of a living Church
«We did the same with the indigenous people, the Ticuna Indians, an extraordinarily generous people. After three years, when we began to understand and speak their language, we also invited them to become missionaries.
The response of this humble people was incredible: today there are catechists capable of gathering hundreds and thousands of children in all the villages, and many young people who, with availability, generosity, and immense trust in the Holy Spirit, have become great missionaries.
It should be remembered that in that context many young people become parents as early as 15 years old and by 25 they often have 6, 7, or 8 children.
Yet today we have a living indigenous Church, founded precisely on the generosity of these young people who know how to say their “yes” to the Lord.»
End of part three
Photo: Friar Paolo Maria Braghini
