News

April 11, 2017
Spring Conference meeting held in Ireland

The Provincial Ministers and Custodes of the English Speaking Conference held their annual Spring meeting at The Emmaus Centre, a Christian Brothers retreat center here, from April 3-7.  Swords is a suburb of Dublin located just north of the capital city near the Dublin International Airport. The Emmaus Centre is a retreat and conference center operated by the Christian Brothers. The site was built in the 1960s to serve as a novitiate for their community. 

Attending the week-long meeting were: Provincial Minister Richard Grech, OFM (St. Paul, Malta), Custos Patrick Lonsdale, OFM (Immaculate Conception Custody, Great Britain), Provincial Minister Marc Le Goanvec, OFM (Province of St. Joseph, Canada), Provincial Minister David Gaa, OFM (St. Barbara Province, USA), Provincial Minister Algirdas Malakauskas, OFM (Province of St. Casimir, Lithuania), Provincial Minister and Conference President Hugh McKenna, OFM (Province of Ireland), Provincial Minister and Conference Vice-President Kevin Mullen, OFM(Holy Name Province, USA), Vicar Provincial Patrick Boyle, OFM (Immaculate Conception Province, New York, USA), Provincial Minister James Gannon, OFM(Assumption BVM Province, USA), Provincial Minister Jack Clark Robinson, OFM(Our Lady of Guadalupe Province, USA), Provincial Minister Jeffrey Scheeler, OFM(St. John the Baptist Province, USA), Provincial Minister William Spencer, OFM(Sacred Heart Province).

NEW FACES. Conference members welcomed a new member to the group, Provincial Minister Phillip Miscamble, OFM, new Provincial Minister of the Province of the Holy Spirit in Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, and Malaysia.    

During the meeting, the Provincial Ministers of the United States and Canada each met separately in sub-conference to discuss matters relevant to their regions, in particular, the reconfiguration processes currently underway in North America. At the conclusion of the meeting, there were “thank-yous” all around. Provincial Minister Hugh McKenna, OFM, (Ireland), outgoing President of the Conference, expressed his deep thanks to all those who have been members of the Conference over the course of his six years as Minister, and in particular to those he has worked closely with during his time as vice-president and then president of the Conference. With the conclusion of the meeting, Provincial Minister Kevin Mullen, OFM (Holy Name) becomes the new Conference President.  A new vice-president will be elected when the Conference next meets in October in Albuquerque, New Mexico. All the members expressed particular gratitude to Hugh and the members of the Province of Ireland for hosting the meeting and making everyone feel welcome and at home.

Strengthening the fraternal bonds between the ministers and custodes is one of the great aspects of the bi-annual meetings of the Conference. Those gathered always take an opportunity mid-week to recreate together and get to know the host country and province better. This year’s recreation took the friars to the National Museum of Ireland located at the former Michael Collins Barracks in Dublin.  The Collins Barracks were originally called the Royal Barracks under British rule and were once known as the largest military establishment in all of Europe. The name was changed to Michael Collins Barracks when Ireland became a free state in 1922. The friars visited the Museum to explore two exhibits in particular. The first is called Franciscan Faith: Sacred Art in Ireland 1600-1750. The exhibit is in partnership with the Province of Ireland and boasts a great number of items used sacred worship by the friars in Ireland. The Province of Ireland is one of the oldest in the Order dating its founding to 1230.  Today, the Province of Ireland is made up of about 100 friars as well as friars in its two dependent custodies, the Custody of the Good Shepherd in Zimbabwe and the Custody of the Immaculate Conception in Great Britain.