Franciscan Social Theatre Empowering human fraternity through the Arts A Social Theatre Ministry of the Franciscan Family
Justice, Peace, Integrity of Creation, Ecumenical & Interreligious dialogue are the areas in which we work
About Us
This Inter-Franciscan Ministry is under the umbrella of the group called the Roman VI, which based in Rome is composed of delegates representing the various parts of the Franciscan Family, in the area of Justice, Peace & the Integrity of Creation.
Our Team is composed mainly of Franciscans who work in a systemic way with the mission of promoting the achievement of Human Fraternity in accordance with the Franciscan charism.
Methodology
Social Theatre consists of a series of practices and methodologies of social action, based on the previous practices of “theatrical animation”, community-based theatre, intercultural theatre, New Theatre and theatre therapies. Social Theatre as a discipline is closely linked to the Social Sciences and Cultural Anthropology.
Social Theatre consists of laboratories, workshops, performances and integrated field-actions, with the aim of enhancing the quality of social interactions, through individual empowerment, group building, social and cultural mediation, and integrated process promoting participation and social dialogue.
Social Theatre is a relevant subject in performance studies, social studies, psychosocial response, team building, democratization processes, conflict management and in sub-cultural studies.
Social Theatre is also used in several international programs of non-formal education, social inclusion, psychosocial animation, cultural mediation-integration, trauma response, democratization and social participation. Various International Organizations, including IOM, UNICEF, UNHCR, UNDP, IFRC and UNESCO and numerous non-governmental organizations use Social Theatre within their projects.
In addition to the professionalism fostered in the field of Social Theatre through academic studies and on the grassroots experiences, the added value of our Franciscan Social Theatre work is the integral approach that considers the spiritual dimension of vulnerable people for the purpose of truly effective care taking.
Our Mission
To Build a better world through a preferential option for the poor and vulnerable of our society.
To Promote a spirit of Human Fraternity.
To Train new local facilitators to use our Franciscan Social Theatre methodology autonomously in their respective places.
Founder and director of the Franciscan Social Theatre department - Empower human fraternity through Arts.
In 2007 he graduated from the "Accademia dei filodrammatici di Milano". He deepens his professional training by studying with international professionals from the Moscow G.I.T.I.S. schools and from the Guildhall School of London. He obtains certifications in both Theatre of the Oppressed (2016) and Theatre in Emergency Contexts (2017). He became a Capuchin Friar Minor of the Lombardy Province in 2009 and a presbyter in 2017. He has a Doctorate in Missiology (PUG) and a Canonical License in Arabic and Quranic Theology (PISAI). Since 2005 he has worked in missionary settings in Europe, Eastern Europe, the Middle East, North Africa, and Sub-Saharan Africa. From 2014 to 2018, he was the OFMCap Lombardy's Ecumenical and Interreligious Dialogue coordinator, then (from 2019 to 2021) he became its National Director. From 2021 to 2023 he was the Secretary of the OFMCap-Italy Fraternity and Mission Secretariat. From 2018 to 2023, he was part of the Islam Study Group for Relations with Muslims at the UNEDI office of the Italian Episcopal Conference.
Today he is a professor in the subjects of Missiology, Islamistics, and Social Theatre. He is the director of the Franciscan Social Theatre department and he is a researcher for the Plateforme Universitaire de Recherche sur l’Islam en Europe et au Liban (PLURIEL). In September 2023 he was appointed head of Interfaith Dialogue for the Apostolic Vicariate of Southern Arabia working at the Abrahamic Family House in Abu Dhabi.
Michael Lasky OFMConv
Co-director of the department, spiritual assistance
Friar Michael Lasky is a Franciscan Friar Conventual currently living in Rome, Italy. As the General Delegate for Justice, Peace, and the Integrity of Creation for his Franciscan Order, he spends most of his time in the grassroots working with friars on social justice initiatives and offering formation programs on the social teachings of the Church, especially in relation to Franciscan spirituality and intellectual tradition.
Friar Michael has taught high school and served as a campus minister at Western Connecticut State University, Duke University, and the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill. In addition, he has been ministered in parishes in North Carolina and central Pennsylvania. He has also worked for Franciscans International at the United Nations as director of the New York office and Americas program and serves Franciscan Action Network as a board member. In 2019 Friar Michael founded Little Portion Farm in Ellicott City, Maryland. He is also the director of the Conventual Franciscan website: FranciscanVoice.org.
