Italy
The testimony of friar Paolo Maria Braghini, Capuchin Friar Minor, at "Go! Franciscan Youth Meet 2026", an event promoted by the Friars Minor, Conventual Friars Minor, and Capuchin Friars Minor held in Assisi from August 3 to 6.
We at spazio + spadoni present it to you in several installments, to accompany you step by step through reading and listening to a story that shows us, once again, God's imagination and mercy.
The meeting with young people in Assisi and the vocation
When, a few evenings ago, I went up on stage in front of the Basilica of Santa Maria degli Angeli, I was deeply moved.
Seeing that crowd of young people — there were over 2,000 young people from various European countries and America as well — really struck me.
The organizing friars — for this event organized by the entire Franciscan family — had asked me to testify about my calling to leave.
Then, there was also the testimony of a priest working with young people in prison in Milan, and that of PizzaBanda. It was a prayer vigil.
I tried to speak to the hearts of the young people and said:
“Look, God calls and calls in different ways… He has an enormous imagination in his way of calling”.
The accident, suffering, and the birth of a desire for mission
When I was young, I went to church casually; sometimes, during Sunday Mass, I would stand at the back of the church with friends, sometimes a bit distracted: that was my way of being Christian.
And when I heard the Gospel of the Lord speaking of calling, like “Go, come and follow me”, it annoyed me a little, I can’t quite explain why.
The Lord, then, found other ways to call me, and one of them was the motorcycle accident. That famous motorcycle accident after a volleyball match, late at night… I was a bit late for school, an accident through no fault of my own, paralyzed for three months.
The experience of pain during those three months and reading the book The City of Joy (which I advised the young people to read) put a desire for mission inside me.
Even when that period passed, that calling to go among the poorest in the poorest countries was always present. My girlfriend at the time helped me a lot, an extraordinary girl who rightly challenged me and said:
“But why go? Can’t you be a missionary here too?”
Rightly provoked, I started volunteering with the children of inmates, serving among the elderly.
Photo of friar Paolo Maria Braghini
END OF PART ONE
