In the Franciscan Action Network (FAN) Weekly Newsletter Published April 1, 2019: “Doing Something New”, the FAN Board of Directors announced Our Lady of the Angels Province friar – Fr. Michael Lasky, OFM Conv. as their newly elected president.
Born in Baltimore, MD, Friar Michael professed his Solemn Vows in our Order in 1998, and was Ordained to the Priesthood in 2000. He began his ministry in the province as a teacher in 1997, at St. Francis High School (Athol Springs, NY), took a break from ministry to earn his M.Div. and get ordained, and returned to the high school to teach from 2000-2005. He spent the next five years as Campus Minister, at Western Connecticut State University, in Danbury, CT. In 2010, he began a two year assignment in NY as Regional Director for the Americas, of Franciscans International, working at the United Nations to address human rights injustices that impact on the poor and most vulnerable. After spending time in Spanish Studies, in Bogota, Columbia, he served as the Parish Administrator and Campus Minister of Newman Student Center Parish, of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (NC). Upon moving to our friary in Washington DC, he joined the FAN Board of Directors in 2014 and had served them as vice president for the last four years.
Friar Michael currently resides in our St. Joseph Cupertino Friary, adjacent to our Shrine of St. Anthony (Ellicott City, MD), where he also provides sacramental assistance when he is able. He serves as chairman of the Justice, Peace and Integrity of Creation Commission (JPIC) of our Province, using his gift for preaching, flair for presentation and generosity of spirit to reach out to everyone he meets. From an office in the Shrine, he also works as the Director of Little Portion Farm, on the property of the Shrine. His love for justice for all has no limitation; no matter what faith or cultural background ideals are held by those around him.
