Friday, December 30, 2022, the Feast of The Holy Family of Jesus, Mary and Joseph: Our Lady of the Angels Province Vicar Provincial, Fr. Gary Johnson, OFM Conv. (photo cred) traveled to Liverpool, England to concelebrate the Mass and share in the celebration of the Solemn Profession of Vows of Friar John Paul Banks, OFM Conv., Friar Peter George Flynn, OFM Conv. and Friar Terence Bateman, OFM Conv., at the hands of their Provincial Custos ~ Friar Maximilian Martin, OFM Conv., who also served as the celebrant for the Mass. In the St. Anthony of Padua Church (Mossley Hill, Liverpool) the friars were joined by parishioners, family, and members of other religious communities who serve and learn with or educated our friars at the Oxford House of Studies – Blackfriars Hall.

Friar John Paul, Friar Peter George and Friar Terence (above) professed their Simple Vows in 2019. An ordained priest, formerly from England’s Westminster Diocese, Friar Terence was first admitted into the postulancy in September 2018 and invested in our habit in October 2018.  Friar John Paul and Friar Peter George were welcomed into the postulancy program in October 2017 and invested in our habit November 2018.

Fr. Terence serves as the Guardian of the friary of St. Anthony of Padua Church (at left) and as Parish Priest (pastor) there. Friar John Paul and Friar Peter George will continue their studies for the priesthood at Oxford, residing in our Blessed Agnellus of Pisa Friary – Formation House. Also included among the friars in attendance were Custodial Vicar ~ Friar Colin Edwards, OFM Conv. [below far left], Fr. Kevin Hanley, OFM Conv. [below center], Friar Giles Zakowicz, OFM Conv. [below 3rd from right] and Friar Gerard Toman, OFM Conv. [bottom 2nd from right]. Fr. Kevin is the former pastor of St. Anthony of Padua Church, who currently serves as the Custody Secretary and as a Definitor, while in pastoral ministry at our Church of the Visitation of the Blessed Virgin Mary, in Dublin, Ireland. Fr. Giles is a friar of our province who has always served in formation, including assignments in the USA, Ghana, Kenya, and most recently as the Blessed Agnellus of Pisa Custody Formator at Oxford. He will remain serving in our Custody, but now in pastoral ministry at St. Anthony of Padua Church, under Fr. Terence. [Fr. Giles was Fr. Terence’s formator]. The new Guardian and Director of the Formation House in Oxford, Friar Gerard M. Toman, OFM Conv. is returning from his continued studies in Rome.

If you live in Great Britain or Ireland and want more information on vocations with our Blessed Agnellus of Pisa Custody, email vocation@thegreyfriars.org.

More photos and such in the Greyfriars’ News Post!

Even more photos on Curia website post, by Friar Kevin Hanley – Custodial Secretary

Immaculate Conception – Christmas 2022

On the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception, it is a tradition that the Holy Father visits the Piazza di Spagna and prays at the base of the tall column with the statue of the Virgin.^[1] Pope Francis had just offered to mediate the Ukraine-Russia conflict but the official spokespersons for the Russian Federation^[2] formally rebuffed his offer in no uncertain terms. He has much information on the cruelty taking place and has condemned events and persons by name. In the context of being rejected, we can imagine his prayer in tears.

Let us join his tears and hope that “the Gospel is not merely a communication of things that can be known—it is one that makes things happen and is life-changing. The dark door of time, of the future, has been thrown open. The one who has hope lives differently; the one who hopes has been granted the gift of a new life.” ^[3]

“Immaculate Virgin, I would have liked to bring you today
The gratitude of the Ukrainian people
For the peace we have been asking the Lord for such a long time.
Instead of that, I still have to bring you the supplication
Of the children, of the elderly, of the fathers and mothers, of the young people
Of that tormented land that suffers so much.”

Pope Francis’ love for Our Lady remembers her joy at the Incarnation and her tears at the foot of the cross.

The mystery of the Incarnation heightens our sense of responsibility for the Church in the World. This Christmas, may we join the joy of the Virgin Mother with prayers and tears as those of Pope Francis. May we judge where and how each of us has an irreplaceable part in the Church in the World.

Fr. Ed Ondrako, OFM Conv., University of Notre Dame, eondrako@alumni.nd.edu

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^[1] When John Henry Newman made his profession of faith as a Roman Catholic, he spent time there at the Propaganda Fidei. This is the center for dealing with doctrinal issues and related matters.
^[2] They Include the spokesperson of the Foreign Affairs Ministry, Ambassador to the Holy See, and leader of the Chechen Parliament.
^[3] Pope Benedict XVI, Saved in Hope, Encyclical Letter, 30 November 2022.

Fr. Edward J. Ondrako, OFM Conventual
Research Fellow Pontifical Faculty of St. Bonaventure, Rome
Visiting Scholar, McGrath Institute for Church Life
University of Notre Dame
Christmas Octave December 17-25 , 2022

On his 50th Birthday, several members of the family of Fr. Emmanuel Oposika Acquaye, OFM Conv., including his dear mother, three of his sisters, their husbands and children, traveled to the United States from Ghana, to celebrate with him.
With the help of Fr. Michael Heine, OFM Conv. [Minister Provincial], Fr. Gary Johnson, OFM Conv. [Vicar Provincial – photo cred] and the rest of our friars of Ellicott City, MD (Portiuncula Friary and St. Joseph Cupertino Friary), the family was able to surprise Friar Emmanuel, as they entered the Portiuncula Friary Chapel, where he was preparing to celebrate Morning Mass with his confreres. Friar Emmanuel was overwhelmed with joy as he began to celebrate Mass with so many of his loved ones, after a very long time apart. He was so moved with emotion that Friar Michael had to take over for him, in the middle of The Introductory Rites. The Acquaye family will enjoy the hospitality of these two friaries as they stay for an extended visit in the United States.

A bit about Friar Emmanuel: First professing his Simple Vows in 1999, Friar Emmanuel was ordained a friar-priest in 2006. Born in Ghana, during his formation years, he studied in Kenya, Zambia and Padua, Italy. A friar of the Provincial Custody of St. Anthony of Padua in Ghana (of the Italian Province of St. Anthony of Padua, in Northern Italy), he arrived in Our Lady of the Angels Province, USA, in 2014 to further his education (Spiritual and Pastoral Care & as a Clinical and Mental Health Counselor), as he lived and ministered with our friars of the St. Joseph Cupertino Friary. He moved “down the hill” to our Porciuncula Friary in 2019, transfiliation ad tempus to our province in 2020. Throughout his years living and serving with our province, Friar Emmanuel has provided Mass and Sacramental assistance at The Shrine of St. Anthony [Ellicott City, MD], celebrated Mass at the St. Joseph Nursing Home [Catonsville, MD], serves as Chaplain at MedStar Good Samaritan Hospital [Baltimore, MD], and works as a Mental Health Counselor.

Happy 50th Birthday, Friar Emmanuel!

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On Saturday, December 17, 2022, more family traveled from Ghana and from around the USA to celebrate Friar Emmanuel in grand fashion, in the dining room of The Shrine of St. Anthony, set up and decorated by his dear family. Over 50 family members, friends and local friars enjoyed an incredible evening, organized, prepared and served by his abundance of visiting family members who prepared and a Ghanian Feast.

Image taken from the Gallery on the Santuario Greccio webpage

Greccio [Living Nativity] is a favorite tradition in our Franciscan Community.
Several opportunities are available
to join our province ministries
to experience this event,
much like St. Francis of Assisi did in 1223, in Greccio, Italy.

Read more and see more photos from the 2022 Greccio at The Shrine of St. Anthony (Ellicott City, MD) on this link.

Read more and see more photos from the 2022 Greccio at Archbishop Curley High School (Baltimore, MD) on this link.

Check back for more photos from other ministry locations.

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Excerpt from the Santuario Greccio page of the Santuari della Valle Santa website:
The last years of Francis’ life are painful; illness and the situation of his Order forge him. These are also the years in which an intimate joy, a sense of fullness that pervades everything, seems to take hold of him. Witness to these sentiments is the singular Christmas in the mountains, which Francis wants to celebrate in Greccio – a place so dear to him – on December 25, 1223. To Giovanni Velita, lord of Greccio, Francis said: “Behold, I would like you to place a manger with hay in some cave on the mountain that you own and lead an ox and a donkey there as they were in Bethlehem. On Christmas Eve I will come up there and, all together, we will pray in the grotto.” Christmas Eve arrives: everything is ready in the cave. The crib and a small altar. It was as if Bethlehem, that year, had gone to the top of the mountain of Greccio. The priest begins the Christmas Mass. Francis sings the Gospel.

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Excerpt from St Bonaventure’s “The Life of St. Francis of Assisi:”
Chapter X – OF HIS ZEAL AND EFFICACY IN PRAYER, #7
Now three years before his death it befell that he was minded, at the town of Greccio, to celebrate the memory of the Birth of the Child Jesus, with all the added solemnity that he might, for the kindling of devotion. That this might not seem an innovation, he sought and obtained license from the Supreme Pontiff, and then made ready a manger, and bade hay, together with an ox and an ass, be brought unto the spot. The Brethren were called together, the folk assembled, the wood echoed with their voices, and that august night was made radiant and solemn with many bright lights, and with tuneful and sonorous praises...

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The Syracuse University Catholic Center’s St. Thomas More Chapel was the venue for Our Lady of the Angels Province Minister Provincial ~ Fr. Michael Heine, OFM Conv., Vicar Provincial ~ Fr. Gary Johnson, OFM Conv. & Province Secretary ~ Br. Nick Romeo, OFM Conv., along with the rest of the Province Definitory [Br. Tom Purcell, OFM Conv., Fr. Jude DeAngelo, OFM Conv., Fr. John Koziol, OFM Conv., Fr. Christopher Dudek, OFM Conv., and Fr. Emanuel Vasconcelos, OFM Conv.] to celebrate this year’s Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception, with Fr. Gerry Waterman, OFM Conv. (Catholic Chaplain for SU) and a large group of the students he serves. As the Solemnity fell on the Campus Ministry’s usual “Thursday Night Dinner” night, following the well-attended student Mass, the friars joined in the festive Italian dinner of Chicken and Eggplant Parmesan, pasta marinara, Caesar salad and blue-iced cupcakes. Many students commented later how good it was to have so many friars present and celebrating with them. It was a great way to kick off the fast-approaching festive season!

Two years after launching FranciscanVoice.org, the friars of the CFF & JPIC launch VozFranciscana.org, a Spanish website, geared towards youth but appealing to people of all ages, offers a journey through the life and mission of the Franciscan Friars Conventual. Here the viewer will discover more about who we are, what we do, and how to join our brotherhood.

It is with great joy that our friars gathered for the
Diaconate Ordination of our confrere,
Friar Emmanuel Wenke, OFM Conv.
on Saturday, December 10, 2022,
at the Franciscan Church of the Assumption (Syracuse, NY),
at the hands of Most Rev. Douglas J. Lucia, Bishop of Syracuse.

Family, friends and parishioners joined our friars in celebration of Friar Manny’s continued journey as a Franciscan Friar Conventual, of Our Lady of the Angels Province. Br. Manny Solemnly Professed his vows of poverty, chastity and obedience, in September of 2018. From 2017 – 2020, he served as a Theology Instructor at our Archbishop Curley High School (Baltimore, MD). Since then, Br. Manny has been living in and serving from our St. Bonaventure Friary (Toronto, ON), while in study for the priesthood. During our 2022 Province Chapter, Br. Manny was newly assigned as a Provincial Delegate to the Order of Franciscan Seculars (OFS). After his Deaconate Ordination, Friar Manny will serve as a Deacon, through the ministries of our friars of our St. Francis Friary, in Syracuse, NY.

Friar Manny’s father, Deacon Matt Wenke (at center of photo above), was able to serve at his son’s Diaconate Mass, including professing the Gospel and vesting his son as a Deacon. The pastor of the Franciscan Church of the Assumption ~ Fr. Jude DeAngelo, OFM Conv. (to his left) and our Province Secretary ~ Br. Nicholas Romeo, OFM Conv. (at far right) served as MCs. Our Minister Provincial ~ Fr. Michael Heine, OFM Conv. offered the greeting and closing remarks. He was joined in the sanctuary space by our Vicar Provincial ~ Fr. Gary Johnson, OFM Conv. and our Province Prefect of Formation ~ Fr. John Koziol, OFM Conv. There were many friar priests on hand to concelebrate the Mass and serve in special capacities, including Br. Tim Blanchard, OFM Conv. (1st Reading) and several of our province student friars: friar Cristofer M. Fernández, OFM Conv. (2nd Reading). In addition to friar Cristofer, several more of the student friars of our Province, also served at the Mass, including friar Joseph Krondon, OFM Conv. and (Apostolic Year – St. Francis Friary, Syracuse, NY), friar Antonio Moualeu, OFM Conv. (Apostolic Year – St. Francis of Assisi Friary, Hamburg, NY), friar Raad Eshoo, OFM Conv., Friar Franck Sokpolie, OFM Conv., and friar Edgar Varela, OFM Conv.

Bishop Lucia’s Homily

Photo Cred: FrancisCorps

Keep him and all of our friars in the varied stages of formation, in your continued prayers.
[Read more about Friar Manny]

For more information on Vocations,
visit FranciscanVoice.org or
email our Province Vocation Directors –
Br. Nick Romeo, OFM Conv. and Fr. Manny Vasconcelos, OFM Conv.,
at vocations@olaprovince.org.

CAN I KNOW TRUTH?
(Ch 2, 1: Ukraine as a Martyred People; Pope Francis is Accused of Russophobia) 

  The Church in the World
“Do not be afraid, Mary” (Lk 1:30).
“Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word” (Lk 1:38)

Mary’s free decision to be the Mother of the Savior of the world turned fear to joy. She would hear her Son say many times to his disciples: Do not be afraid! She would witness the growing power of hostility and rejection built around her Son until the hour of the Cross when he was dying like a failure. “Woman, behold your Son!” (Jn 19:26). She would receive a new mission to become a mother in a new way: the mother of all who believe in her Son Jesus and wish to follow him. The joy of the Resurrection touched her heart and united her in a new way to the disciples. The Immaculate became the way to her Son’s Kingdom, the Star of the Sea.

Fear underlies the darkness of the Russia-Ukraine conflict. With the Mother of hope, we remember that during Vatican II the Church in the world finally became the real central problem! In a letter^[1] dated 7 October 2022, Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI gives an opportunity to redress Vatican II. His three encyclicals: God is Love (2005), Saved in Hope (2007) and Charity in Justice (2009) offer a summation of his hope for the Church in the world as the real central problem. The Immaculate’s new mission and realization of this change at Vatican II is visible in an interview of Pope Francis on 28 November. “When I speak of Ukraine, I speak of martyred people. …There is someone who martyrs them. …I have much information on the cruelty of the troops that come… Chechens, Buryats, etc. …It is well known who I’m condemning. It’s not necessary that I state the name and surname.”^[2]

The hostility and rejection around Jesus until the hour of the Cross is not over. Maria Zajarova, spokesperson of the Foreign Affairs Ministry of the Russian Federation, said that Pope Francis’ statement is beyond Russophobic. The Russian Ambassador to the Holy See, Alexander Avdeev, presented a formal complaint on behalf of his country that the Pope insinuates that Russian military men committed alleged atrocities in the course of the special military operations in Ukraine. The leader of the Chechen Parliament, Majomed Daudov, said: “I don’t know how the Pontiff justified his statements, but there is not a single fact that indicates that the representatives of our nations have committed a war crime.”^[3] Americans are attentive to the news media since the fabricated motive and unjust invasion. They think critically.

The Russian invasion of Ukraine and attempts to justify it shout out. What do Americans think about the trauma of communism today? On 24 February I thought Communist inspired injustices in Europe were over. My naivete evaporated in a flash. I remembered what I had been studying.^[4] Many Ukrainians said: “We were shocked, but not surprised.”^[5] A dehumanized past as the Holodomor in 1932-33^[6] has not healed deep wounds but has become weaponized.

While thinking about the Mother of the Savior at the foot of the Cross, think of the concept of the attack on Christendom in the mid nineteenth century. Christendom in the works of Kierkegaard, a Danish Lutheran, reflected the modern form of Christianity now infected with secularity. That meant forgetting Christ (and for us Catholics, his Mother) as constitutive of Christianity. Christ was being edited out and replaced by worldly wisdom. Christ was no longer a challenge to the comfortable nineteenth century situation. With Christ out of the picture, the culture was returning to being like the pagans of old. They sought wisdom wherever they might find it, possibly in the New Testament. Kierkegaard described the attack upon Christendom in the mode of a prophetic critique, one that was able to discern what is genuine and counterfeit.

Kierkegaard’s criticism of the Danish appropriation of European culture was to embarrass would-be pretenders in high culture. He despised the Danish epigones of Hegel ^[7] who did not believe in Christian afterlife. Marxism’s roots are here. Lenin, Stalin and others built their interpretation of Marxism into a totalitarian Soviet bloc, and no country could leave it. The reversal in 1989 never brought the perpetrators of atrocities to justice. The secret police established by Lenin were never disbanded. Stalin’s reestablishment of the Patriarchate of the Russian Orthodox Church in 1943 gave him control. As de facto dictator, Putin has made Russia a terror state again starting with the annexation of Crimea and the Ukraine conflict. He changed the name, but the underlying terror is renewed in plain sight. The invasion of Ukraine and attempts to validate it now target Pope Francis who has offered to mediate the conflict.

The attack against Pope Francis who constantly speaks to peace is wrong. Lies awaken trauma too difficult for older victims to express. After the end of the Soviet Union on Christmas Day 1991, the destruction of moral judgment remained. The rules of the game means to outwit the enemy by breaking any and all rules. Moral atrophy was spawned and has not left.

May the Mother of hope, the Star of the Sea shine upon us and guide us. Since Vatican II, a new situation has arisen for the Church, a process of the Church awakening in souls, not a preordained process. Crises in the Church and world as the Ukraine-Russian conflict, hide attempts to bleach out Christ, his Mother and her new mission from the Cross. Crises contribute to fear and doubt in a traumatized world. Quick interpretations often miss the mark. The victims of Communism shout warnings about totalitarianism! We listen to Christ: Do not be afraid!

Fr. Ed Ondrako, OFM Conv., Univ. of Notre Dame, eondrako@alumni.nd.edu

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^[1] Pope Benedict, XVI, Letter to the President of Franciscan University of Steubenville, 7 October 2022. The occasion was an International Symposium dealing with his ecclesiology.
^[2] Interview, America Magazine. 28 November 2022.
^[3] Zenit, 30 November 2022.
^[4] Between 1980 and 1994 I was privileged to do extensive study at Syracuse University. In 1989 and 1990, I visited and spoke with several people in what was then Czechoslovakia.
^[5] Clemens Sedmak, A. James McAdams, eds, The Trauma of Communism (Lviv: The Catholic University Press, 2022), 9. The Nanovic Institute at Notre Dame offers free copies. nanovic.nd.edu
^[6] Holodomor is the artificial starvation of Ukrainians by Stalin and massive loss of life.
^[7] Hegel is the early nineteenth century thinker who remains in the forefront today.

Our friars living and serving in Hamburg, NY hosted members of the Polish Arts Club of Buffalo, to remember Józef Sławiński, the Polish artist and sculptor whose works include the sgraffito decorating of the main entrance to the St. Francis of Assisi Friary (St. Francis Drive, Hamburg, NY) and the reredos in the Friary Chapel. Fr. Charles Jagodzinski, OFM Conv., who vividly remembers the artist working in the friary, presided at the Mass. Afterward, the art club attendees toured the chapel, shared stories with the friars, and even had the opportunity to see the signature of then-Archbishop Karol Józef Wojtyła of Kraków (Saint John Paul II), from his September 17, 1969, visit to the friary (below).