CINCINNATI, Ohio — General Minister Jose Rodriguez Carballo visited St. John the Baptist Province here last week and left the friars, staff, visiting sisters and affiliates with a feeling of “connectedness,” according to a news brief published Oct. 17 by Toni Cashnelli, the province’s director of communications. Fr. Jose is general minister of the Order of Friars Minor.
“Jose stresses that all friars and provinces need to remember that they are members of a worldwide order and to be very concerned with the life of the Order,” Fr. Fred Link, OFM, St. John the Baptist’s Provincial Minister, said.
“Jose had the sense that many Friars Minor, unlike other Franciscans, see the order as a federation of provinces, that provinces are a federation of friaries, and that friaries are a federation of individuals,” he said. “But Jose stresses that we are all members of the Franciscan Order. Provinces need to know they must be concerned with the life of the Order.”
During his Oct. 16 visit, Fr. Jose toured St. Francis Seraph Elementary School, blessed a statue, and met with Fr. Pat McCloskey, editor of St. Anthony Messenger magazine. Topics included in Fr. Jose’s talks can be found in the link (below) to “A Visit from Br. Jose.”
Before coming to the United States, Fr. Jose participated in the opening of the international congress on ongoing formation in Assisi.