Friar News Briefs

HNP Communications Friar News

The updates below describe activities of Holy Name friars, featuring celebrations, presentations, and ministry events. For more information, email the friars, contact the HNP Communications Office, or visit links to the parishes and organizations mentioned.

To provide news briefs for future articles, email information to communications director Jocelyn Thomas at communications@hnp.org.

From the Administration
A summary of discussions held by the Provincial Councilors at their December meeting was distributed to HNP Friars before Christmas weekend. It includes information about the HNP Fraternal Ecology Process; the document produced about the Order’s 2018 Plenary Council gathering; the agenda and dates of the 2019 Fraternal Gatherings; the location of the US-6 provinces’ Chapter of Mats, and updates about finances, Elder Care and the Racial Action Committee. The next Provincial Council meeting is scheduled for Jan. 23 and 24.
Several resources produced by the Provincial Office are being distributed to HNP friars – among them the updated HNP Directory 2019 and the 2019 Memorial Days of Deceased Friars.

► Last month, David Schlatter, OFM, gave seven of the Bells of Remembrance to the Delaware Symphony Orchestra. They had been part of the 20-bell collection that he stored and used after the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks. The bells had been featured at a variety of events commemorating Sept. 11 victims and fallen armed service members and first responders. They were also used in musical performances. The bells provided to the DSO range from the smallest, at roughly 150 pounds, to the largest, which is 1,200 pounds, according to an article published by Delaware Online. The article identifies the first victim of the World Trade Center attack as Mychal Judge, OFM, a chaplain for the New York Fire Department who was a mentor to David – who was based in Wilmington in 2001.

► The second in a four-part series of video reflections by Daniel Riley, OFM, about the Franciscan virtues of silence, solitude, simplicity and services was featured in the December 2018 issue of the Mt. Irenaeus newsletter, Making All Things New. It can be viewed by clicking here. The newsletter also includes information about Dan’s podcasts, the groups hosted by Mt. Irenaeus during the fall semester, results of the Mountain Auction and Giving Tuesday, and how to order the 2019 Mt. Irenaeus calendar. News about Mt. Irenaeus can also be found on its Facebook page and website.

► Last month, Jacek Orzechowski, OFM, of Silver Spring, Md., participated in two events focused on the integral ecology and climate justice. On Dec. 18, he attended an event at which the Washington D.C. Council unanimously approved the “Clean Energy D.C. Omnibus Act of 2018.” In a Facebook post, Jacek wrote: “It is the boldest, strongest renewable energy bill in the U.S. Within the next 15 years, all energy sold in the city – including the White House – will come from renewable sources. Kudos to D.C. Council members for acting with intelligence, prudence, and moral clarity. I want to acknowledge the hard, tenacious advocacy work of the Chesapeake Climate Action Network, and the collaboration of the Interfaith Power and Light in helping to engage the local faith communities.” Earlier in December, Jacek – a member the JPIC Animation Committee of the Franciscan Order – participated in the series of gatherings organized around the U.N. Climate Change Summit held in Katowice, Poland. In addition to giving a presentation on the integral ecology to a group of Polish friars, he took part in the ecumenical events organized by the Franciscan JPIC Office in Rome, Global Catholic Climate Movements and Polish Caritas. “I have been impacted by the prophetic voices of scientists warning about the gravity and urgency of the climate crisis and by the compelling stories of people such as Yeb Saño, former chief of the Philippine Climate Change negotiations team. Jacek provided a photo of himself with Saño. “We only have about a decade to make the radical transition from dirty fossil fuels to clean, sustainable energy sources, if we want to avoid a collapse of the life-support systems of our planet,” said Jacek. “It is a matter of survival of human civilization and much of God’s creation on earth. The faith communities cannot sit on the sidelines in this struggle for life. It is encouraging that more churches are divesting from coal, petroleum and gas. In Katowice, the members of the Pacific Islands and some African and Asian countries have challenged the Church and religious orders in the United States, and other developed countries, to choose life. Isn’t that what we as Franciscans are called to do: ‘to rebuild God’s house that is falling into ruin?’” To read more about Jacek’s involvement around COP24, visit this link.

► The HNP Franciscan Missionary Union has space available in two of its 2019 pilgrimages to Italy. Paul O’Keeffe, OFM, the Province’s secretary for missions in evangelization, invites all who are interested – friars and laypeople – to contact him by email pokeeffe@thefranciscans.org or phone, 240-393-0532, to discuss cost and other details. Paul said the first trip, from Sept. 3 to 12, is for devotees to St. Anthony, and takes participants to Padua and Venice, while the second pilgrimage is scheduled for Oct. 7 to 15, and takes participants to Assisi and Rome. In 2019, the FMU is also offering pilgrimages to Cuba and the Holy Land, both of which are already booked to capacity.

► Daniel Horan, OFM, of Chicago, began 2019 by speaking at the Diocese of Reno, Nevada, annual conference, held from Jan. 4 to 6. Next week, he will be leading a public retreat at San Pedro Retreat Center in Orlando, Fla. A list of Dan’s speaking engagements for the entire year can be found on his website DanHoran.com. The events include lectures and workshops around the United States, as well as in Australia and the United Kingdom.

► A farewell to Michael Carnevale, OFM, was published last month on the website of the Church of St. Francis of Assisi in New York City. Photos of Michael, who moved on Dec. 26 to St. Petersburg, Fla., where he is retiring, were posted on the parish website and published in the Dec. 30 parish bulletin.

► On Dec. 13, Michael Calabria, OFM, of St. Bonaventure University in Allegany, N.Y., gave a joint lecture with Dr. Muhammad Shafiq, director of the Hickey Center for Interfaith Studies at Nazareth College in Rochester, N.Y., titled “St. Francis and the Sultan: Foundations for Christian-Muslim Dialogue in the 21st Century.” The duo presented their lecture at the Society of the Atonement’s Centro Pro Unione in Rome, Italy, to kick off the yearlong observance of the 800th anniversary of Francis’ encounter with Sultan al-Malik al-Kamil in 1219. Michael, who has served as director of SBU’s Center for Arab and Islamic Studies at St. Bonaventure University since 2015 and also serves the OFM Special Commission for Dialogue with Islam, addressed the spirituality of St. Francis and the Sultan, while Shafiq spoke about the example of Francis and the Sultan serving as a foundation and inspiration for modern-day interreligious dialogue. As a contemporary expression of Franciscan-Muslim dialogue, the pair visited St. Peter’s Basilica, the Grand Mosque in Rome, and Assisi. “… This was a successful encounter because we have two individuals who experienced their God, not merely in the formalities of their respective faiths… but in deeply heartfelt ways that allowed them to see one another not as enemy or even as ‘other,’ but as believer and brother,” said Michael, who is currently writing a book on the Qur’anic inscriptions of the Taj Mahal complex. The most recent issue of Salaam (January 2019), the quarterly journal of the Islamic Studies Association in India, contains an interview with Michael. It is titled “Christianity and Islam: More in Common With One Another Than Previously Imagined.”

Topics that will be featured in future issues of this newsletter include:

  • Meeting of HNP friars professed less than five years
  • Catholic Schools Week
  • Profiles of 2019 jubilarians

— Compiled by Jocelyn Thomas

 Editor’s note: The format of Friar News Briefs lists, in alternating issues, shows names organized by friars’ last names, in ascending (A to Z) order, followed — in the next issue — by names listed in descending (Z to A) order.

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