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 this ministry. We have asked Andrew Reitz, together with members of the ministerial directorate, to visit the site and come back to us with a recommendation. If that recommendation is positive, we would then ask for friars interested in this ministry to contact me.
We find this invitation attractive for many of the same reasons that we responded to the Clemson invitation. It is a ministry in the South, where the Church is growing. It involves young people and thus the possibility for vocations. It involves education and that has always been an important part of the charism and tradition of our Province. It is in an area where the Hispanic population is growing rapidly. It is located very close to two other major ministries that we currently staff.
Bishop Gossman has always been a good friend of our friars, and he assures me that he will be in constant communication with me.