Some notable April events that took place around Holy Name Province are listed below.
One Year Ago
April 25, 2012 — Members of the JPIC Directorate and HNP ministries participated in prayer vigils around the Supreme Court hearing on the Arizona immigration laws. (Today HNP members traveled to Washington to participate in a Mass and rally to support immigrant families.)
Five Years Ago
April 1, 2008 — St. Bonaventure University in Western New York held a convocation as it began a 15-month celebration of the school’s 150th anniversary. An honorary degree was presented to several people, including General Minister Fr. José Rodríguez Carballo, OFM.
April 19, 2008 — Fifteen friars concelebrated Mass with Pope Benedict XVI during his pastoral visit to St. Patrick’s Cathedral in New York City.
10 Years Ago
April 19, 2003 — Upon his retirement at age 90, Francis Muller, OFM, former general councilor for the Order, was feted by the New York Metropolitan Tribunal and was presented with a medallion from Cardinal Edward Egan. (Francis died on July 24, 2003. His obituary is available on the HNP website.)
20 Years Ago
April 24, 1993 — Ignatius Kelly, OFM, and Vincent Licursi, OFM, give presentations at a special refounding meeting for the region of Paterson, N.J., held at St. Bonaventure Friary.
30 Years Ago
April 17, 1983 — Finian Riley, OFM, departed Rome for Nairobi, Kenya, as part of a group of friars assigned to the Africa Project. (Last month, Paul O’Keeffe, OFM, traveled to South Africa to test a mission organized by the Franciscan Mission Service’s Short-Term Mission and Global Awareness Trips, of which he is director.)
50 Years Ago
April 17, 1963 — Due to the Rye Beach, N.H., friary’s close proximity to the naval shipyard at Portsmouth, N.H., the friars were asked to sing at the Requiem services held for the crew of the USS Thresher, the lead boat of her class of nuclear-powered attack submarines. The Thresher, lost during a deep-diving test in 1963, was considered an important event in the development of the submarine safety program SUBSAFE, still applied today.
April 26, 1963 — Under the supervision of Norbert Lehr, OFM, Siena radio station WVCR-FM went on the air for the first time. (Today 88.3 The Saint is still owned by Siena College and continues to entertain listeners at Siena and in the surrounding area.)
— Compiled by Maria Hayes