ROME — Mathias Doyle was appointed this week by Fr. Jose Rodriguez Carballo, the Minister General of the Order of Friars Minor as delegate general for India, according to John O’Connor.
The position is one that is elected by the Minister General and his council to perform special duties in the name of and by the authority of the Minister General, according to Dominic Monti. He is a “special emissary” to represent the Minister General in a specific area to perform specific tasks. Mathias‘s appointment was made official at a Dec. 19 meeting here.
Dominic said that during World War II, because of the difficulty of communicating from Rome, Matt Doyle’s namesake, Fr. Mathias Faust of HNP, was named delegate general for the Americas, in effect, acting in place of the Minister General for North and South America.
Mathias has been named “to perform special duties in the name of the Minister General,” in this case, to oversee the process of dividing the present Indian Province into two provinces, according to John.
The role, which will last one to two years, Mathias said, will require him to serve as liaison of information in both directions – from India to Rome.
“I find it intriguing to be involved in a part of the world that is changing so rapidly,” Mathias said.
Matt believes that he was selected for this position because of his work as visitator to Ireland in 2005.