Friars from razed Franciscan house profess vows (Photo courtesy of ofm.org)
The following descriptions summarize recent news from the Order of Friars Minor. Additional details can be found by visiting the links to the news items mentioned. Follow the Order of Friars Minor on Facebook and Twitter for information throughout the month.
► Fr. Aidan McGrath, OFM, was elected June 27 as provincial minister of the Province of Ireland. He had been serving for the past eight years as the Order’s General Secretary.
► Four Franciscan friars who were living in a formation house that was razed by fire earlier this year in Cebu City, Philippines, professed solemn vows on May 30. The fire occurred two days after their one-month retreat. No one was hurt during the blaze, but almost nothing could be saved from the destroyed building. “Indeed, this is literally what it means to live without anything of my own,” commented postulant Jaymar Escoltor, who was also living in the building at the time.
► The Foundation of St. Francis in Myanmar celebrated the diaconate ordination of its first local friar on June 17. Br. Jerome Vung Za Langh, OFM, was ordained by Cardinal Charles Bo of Yangon in the chapel of the formation house in Dagon, Yangon, Myanmar. Approximately 20 priests and “a good number of religious” came for the ordination, according to the Order’s website, along with Br. Jerome’s family and more than 100 laypeople.
► In recent months, General Minister Fr. Michael Perry has visited several Franciscan communities across the globe, including the Franciscan Province of the Immaculate Conception of Spain from June 6 to 7. He also met with Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, president of Portugal, on June 9 at the Belém Palace in Lisbon to commemorate the 800th anniversary of the arrival of the Franciscans in Portugal. From June 20 to 25, he and the General Council members paid a fraternal visit to the North Slavic Conference, traveling from the Czech Republic to Poland.
► Two Franciscans have been named Servants of God – Bishop Agostino Ernesto Castrillo, OFM, bishop of San Marco Argentano-Basignano, and Sr. Umiltà Patlán Sánchez (née Maria), of the Franciscan Sisters of the Immaculate Conception.
— Maria Hayes is communications coordinator for Holy Name Province.
Related Links
- “New Province Created in Italy, Other OFM News” – June 21, 2017, HNP Today