June 8, 2021: The Very Reverend Fr. Jobe Abbass, OFM Conv. (Provincial Delegate & Delegate to the M.I.) and the other thirteen solemnly professed friars working in our Canadian Delegation of St. Francis of Assisi were joined by Fr. Jude Winkler, OFM Conv. (Our Lady of the Angels Province friar and Assistant General – CFF), the Very Reverend Fr. James McCurry, OFM Conv. (Minister Provincial) and Fr. Michael Heine, OFM Conv. (Vicar Provincial) for a Delegation Assembly via Zoom. After the Opening Prayer, Friar Jude read an inspiring letter from our Order’s Minister General, The Most Reverend Fr. Carlos Trovarelli, OFM Conv. in which he encouraged the assembled friars to grow, and reverse the decline of vocations in the West. The keynote speaker, Rev. Dr. Andrew P.W. Bennett, a Ukrainian Catholic Deacon, gave a well-received conference entitled, “Public Faith and Religious Freedom in Canada: Challenges and Opportunities for the Church,” addressing the need for a call for the faithful to engage in public life by fostering the Church’s role in advancing a culture of Incarnation. The meeting covered a variety of Delegation business items, including a Friars’ Forum allowing all the friars a chance to express their hopes and expectations for the new Delegation, as well as the election of the Councilors to the Delegate: Fr. David Collins, OFM Conv. and Fr. Maurice Richard, OFM Conv. The next Assembly is projected to meet February 2022 in order to work on a strategic plan to be presented, along with any other proposals, to the 1st Session of the Ordinary Provincial Chapter of Our Lady of the Angels Province in May 2022.

Fr. David Collins, OFM Conv. currently serves as pastor of the Parish Community of St. John the Apostle, in Kingston, ON and Chaplain of Kingston General Hospital

Fr. Maurice Richard, OFM Conv. is a native of Canada, returning to pastoral ministry in the Delegation after many years serving as Assistant Novice Director