In the Headlines

Two weeks ago, the novices came back from a very special retreat in Aston, Pa. We had followed the Rule of St. Francis for Hermitages for 10 days. The first five days of the retreat, Paul O’Keeffe and Erick Lopez worked. We cooked, baked bread, and served the others like Martha, while Cidouane Joseph was on retreat. During the last five days, Cid worked while Paul and Erick …

Construction continues to go well on the new building at 31st Street. They are currently getting ready to pour the 26th floor. Now that they are focused on the high-rise part of the building, they are able to pour 10 floors a month and expect to have all 58 floors poured by the end of June. The building will have …

Father Francis de Paul Kealy, OFM, 83 years of age, a professed friar for 60 years and a priest for 55 years, died on March 11 at Holy Name Friary, Ringwood, N.J. Francis was born on Oct. 27, 1922, in Jersey City, N.J., to Michael and Catherine (née Silk) Kealy. He was baptized Robert on Nov. 19 at St. Mary’s Church. …

Most Reverend John J. Burke, OFM, bishop of Miracema do Tocantins, Brazil, an alumnus of Holy Name Province, died March 14 in Brazil, during surgery to stop massive internal bleeding. John would have been 71 years of age on March 16. He has been a professed Franciscan friar for 50 years, a priest for 45 years, and a bishop for 10 …

Francis Storms has been assigned to Holy Name Friary, Ringwood, N.J.

Here is John O’Connor’s schedule for the next few weeks: March 9 – Provincial Retreat at Butler March 10 – Board of Trustees meeting for Siena College March 11 – Mass for National Advocacy Meeting, Washington D.C. March 15-16 – Council meeting March 16-17 – Board of Trustees meeting, St. Bonaventure Universit. March 18-19 – Meeting with SPUFY friars at St. …

February 23-24, 2006 Visioning and Planning The Provincial Council reviewed a report from the January meeting of the Visioning and Planning Committee. After a discussion on the report, the Council made some suggestions that will be shared with the Committee. Days of Reflection and Renewal – “Grace of Our Origins” Dominic Monti gave an update on the Days of Reflection …

Bernardine Ward, 93 years of age, a professed Franciscan Friar for 68 years and a priest for 63 years, died on Feb. 25 at Holy Name Friary, Ringwood, N.J. Ignatius Harding sent in this memory of “Bernie” Ward: Fr. Bernardine, ¨Bernie¨ (Joe) Ward spent his entire friar and priestly life in Latin America. Immediately after his ordination in 1943, he volunteered …

The 2006 Provincial Directory is on its way to the printers and should soon be in the mail to all friars. An electronic version of the directory is also available as a PDF file in the “Friars Only” portion of the Web site. Any friar may download a copy of the directory using the link below. It is our intention …

Dear Friars, I am writing to inform you that we have received an invitation from Bishop Joseph Gossman of Raleigh, North Carolina, to consider staffing the university parish and hospital ministry at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. The Council at its recent meeting voted to proceed with our provincial process to examine the possibility of taking on …

Several months ago, on Nov. 29, the Vatican Congregation for Catholic Education issued an instruction on “the criteria for the discernment of vocations with regard to persons with homosexual tendencies.” This instruction – both prior and subsequent to its publication – received a wide amount of publicity in the press and has generated a good deal of commentary. The Provincial …

Fergus Healey is now in residence at Holy Name Friary in Ringwood, N.J.