NEW YORK — The Provincial Council, at its April 22 meeting, made the following assignments, some of which could not be announced previously until all parties concerned had been notified:
• Lawrence Anderson, OFM, will continue on the pastoral staff of St. Mary Church, Pompton Lakes, N.J., as parochial vicar following his ordination on May 22.
• Russell Becker, OFM, is pastor of the Franciscan Chapel Center, Tokyo, Japan, effective immediately. Fr. Callistus Sweeney, OFM, an alumnus of Holy Name Province, will continue to serve as superior of the English-speaking friar community at the Center and liaison to the Japanese Province for business and Japanese-language matters.
• James Czerwinski, OFM, will serve as parochial vicar of St. Anthony Parish, Butler, N.J., with residence at the parish friary, effective July 1.
• Alexander Di Lella, OFM, is retiring from the faculty of The Catholic University of America, with residence at St. Anthony Friary, St. Petersburg, Fla. Alexander will move to St. Petersburg after a period of recuperation at Holy Name College, Silver Spring, Md., from his recent back surgery.
• Michael Jones, OFM, will serve as pastor of St. Anthony Parish, Butler, with residence at the parish friary, effective July 1.
• James O’Connell, OFM, has been approved for a sabbatical, effective Aug. 1, through January 2011. Jim plans to attend the sabbatical program of the American College at the Catholic University of Leuven during the fall semester.
• David Phan, OFM, will spend several weeks after his ordination on May 22 visiting his family in Vietnam, whom he has not seen in a number of years. He will then become parochial vicar at St. Francis Parish, Long Beach Island, N.J., effective July 1.
• Dac Tran, OFM, has been approved for a sabbatical, effective July 1. After visiting his mother in Vietnam, Dac plans to study at the Mexican American Cultural Institute, San Antonio, Texas, during the fall semester, and then at the Maryknoll Language Institute, Cochabamba, Bolivia, for three months in the spring. Khoa Nguyen, OFM, will return from Vietnam to replace Dac at St. Anthony Friary in Greenville, S.C., during his sabbatical.
Editor’s note: A report on a recent farewell party held for Alexander Di Lella will be included in the next issue of HNP Today.