Friar Emmanuel reverences the altar at the opening of the Mass. His father, Deacon Matthew Wenke (left),served as deacon for the Mass.
One day after being ordained to the priesthood by Archbishop Gregory Hartmayer, archbishop of Atlanta, Friar Emmanuel Wenke, OFM Conv., celebrated a Mass of Thanksgiving at St. Francis Church in Athol Springs, New York, on Aug. 16. Nearly 50 friars from Our Lady of the Angels Province also partook in the celebration. Friar Wenke’s father, Deacon Matt Wenke, served as deacon.
The Body of Christ.
The Blood of Christ.
Minister Provincial Michael Heine, OFM Conv., served as concelebrant and homilist. “This morning we come together to celebrate our newest friar priest. Today we offer great thanksgiving to God.”
Friar Michael was Friar Emmanuel’s postulant director in 2012. “He has been open to the spirit, and has developed into a wonderfully mature, exemplary friar,” he said, and continued with this guidance: “Take time to reflect on the scriptures each day and let your homilies be the fruit of your prayer. Be a man of peace. As St. Francis said, make sure you always heal wounds, bind what is broken, and bring home what is lost.
Minister Provincial Friar Michael Heine, OFM Conv., blesses Friar Emmanuel’s chalice which is inscribed with the names of his parents.
“Being a friar priest is one of self-sacrifice and service. Always imitate what Jesus did the day before Good Friday. He washed the apostle’s feet. Manny, always be a foot washer. No task or assignment is below you. Do what no one else wants to do.”
Friar Emmanuel’s father, Deacon Matthew Wenke, proclaimed the Gospel.
After the Closing Prayer, Friar Emmanuel said, “Words of thanks for all of your support, for being present here. Following a Mass of Thanksgiving at the Basilica of St. Mary of the Angels in Olean, New York, this Sunday (Aug. 20), Friar Emmanuel will join the faculty of Archbishop Curley High School in Baltimore.
Archbishop Gregory J. Hartmayer, archbishop of Atlanta, ordained Father Emmanuel Wenke, OFM Conv., to the priesthood on Tuesday, Aug. 15, the Solemnity of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary at Our Lady of Victory Basilica and National Shrine in Lackawanna.
Archbishop Hartmayer anoints Friar Emmanuel’s hands with the Sacred Chrism.
Archbishop Hartmayer, who served as the main celebrant for the Mass of Ordination to the Priesthood, opened his homily, “Pax et Bonum. Peace and all good. It is truly a great joy and privilege to be with you, my Franciscan Family, to ordain our brother, Emmanuel, together as a people of God to welcome into our Church Universal a new priest, a priest of Jesus Christ.
“‘Ordination changes your being into the likeness of Christ the priest, Christ the teacher, Christ the shepherd. Allow this interior change to expand your friendship with Christ. Through the daily celebration of the Mass, this bond of friendship will be strengthened.”
Born in Jamestown, N.Y., Father Wenke moved to Olean, N.Y., in 2001, where his family were members of St. John the Evangelist Parish. He was also extensively involved in youth ministry at the Basilica of St. Mary of the Angels Parish. He was homeschooled through high school and completed a year and a half of study at Jamestown Community College before joining Our Lady of the Angels Province Franciscan Friars Conventual in 2012.
Nearly 80 friars and diocesan priests processed into the historic basilica which was consecrated in 1926, in tribute to Our Lady of Victory. It’s copper dome measures 80 feet in diameter and soars to 120 feet, the painting of the Assumption and Coronation of the Blessed Mother is described as a true masterwork.
“Friar Manny brings an enthusiastic spirit to his ministry and is a wonderful preacher,” said Father Michael Heine, OFM Conv., minister provincial of Our Lady of the Angels Province and principal celebrant of the Mass. “He sees his ministry as a friar-priest as one of humble service.
Minister Provincial Friar Michael Heine, OFM Conv., welcomes the province’s newest friar priest.
Father Emmanuel is the son of Deacon Matt and Mary Wenke of Olean. Deacon Wenke served as assisting deacon for his son’s ordination. The new friar-priest’s five siblings are Sister Frances Marie (Nora) Wenke, CP, Jude, Abram, Air Force SSgt Samuel Wenke, and Mathew. His late grandparents, Robert and Kathleen Wenke, were St. Mary’s parishioners.
“I am very humbled at the opportunity to share God’s merciful love with the world as a friar-priest,” Father Emmanuel said. “I have experienced so many blessings in my life through the example, prayers, teaching, and sacramental ministry of many good priests. I begin my own priestly journey full of gratitude and with a deep desire to share with others the same blessings I have received through Christ’s gift of the priesthood.”
Friar Emmanuel with Archbishop Hartmayer, Friar Heine, and his brother friars on the altar of Our Lady of Victory Basilica.
On Wednesday, Aug. 16, Father Wenke will celebrate a Mass of Thanksgiving at St. Francis of Assisi Roman Catholic Church, 4263 St. Francis Dr., Athol Springs, N.Y., with a second Mass of Thanksgiving to be celebrated Sunday, Aug. 20, 11 a.m., at the Basilica of St. Mary of the Angels, 202 S. Union St., Olean, N.Y.
The Wenke Family celebrate a joyous occasion.
Friar Emmanuel’s next assignment will be Archbishop Curley High School in Baltimore, where he will teach religion and be part of the Campus Ministry team.
The Vigil of Assumption Day was celebrated in the St. Francis High School Chapel in Athol Springs, N.Y., on Aug. 14, 2023, as Friar Antonio Moualeu, OFM Conv. made his Solemn Vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience. Friar Antonio’s request to make solemn vows was granted by Minister Provincial Friar Michael Heine, OFM Conv., and the Definitory. He proclaimed his vows before Friar Michael, “for the entire time of my life.”
Examination of the Candidate: Friar Antonio stands before Friar Michael who questioned him on his readiness to consecrate himself to God and to seek perfect charity according to the Rule and Constitutions of the Order of Friars Minor Conventual.
During his homily, Father Heine said, “Wherever the friars are, there is Antonio in their midst. You will do anything too make the friars lives easier and our lives better. Yes, Dr. Antonio, you will be teaching science and math. Both are important. But continue to be a witness of God’s love by living out your vows.”
Friar Archbishop Gregory J. Hartmayer, OFM Conv., archbishop of Atlanta, was a concelebrant. About 70 friars were in attendance, participating in the Fraternal Embrace as they welcomed Friar Antonio into solemn profession. More than two dozen members of Friar Antonio’s family, including his parents, were on hand, many dressed in colorful clothing of his native Cameroon.
Friar Antonio with Archbishop Hartmayer.
This past summer, Friar Antonio went on a month-long Solemn Vow Retreat of reflection and prayer to prepare more intensely prior to the Aug. 14 celebration. He said he feels called to Religious Brotherhood.
“As my solemn profession of vows with the Conventual Franciscans is now at hand, I can only marvel at how the Lord’s faithfulness, evident throughout scripture, is also made evident in my own life at this moment,” Friar Antonio said. “He promised He would do it, and He has. Like Mary, Francis of Assisi, and so many other saints, I can only continue to marvel at what the next steps on this earthly journey with my brothers and sisters will be. While continually learning that His ways are so far beyond my ways, I am confident that whatever these next steps are, His faithfulness endures forever.”
Friar Antonio spent the past year of his Apostolic Year of Formation living in community at St. Francis of Assisi Friary in Hamburg, N.Y.
Born in Douala, Cameroon, to Eugenie Moaleu and Christophe Moaleu, Friar Antonio is the third of four children (Leolein, Amanda, Nellie). He attended Collège Libermann, a Jesuit-run high school Cameroon. He and his family moved to Dallas, Texas, in early 2004. While working in the nursing field, Friar Antonio Texas A&M University where he received a B.S. in biomedical engineering. He earned an M.S. in biomedical engineering from Northwestern University and a Ph.D. in mechanical engineering from Georgia Tech.
Friar Antonio with his parents, brother and sisters.
“While going through an awakening of my Christian faith as a graduate student, I started getting involved in activities at the school’s Catholic center and also started discerning God’s call for my life. I met the friars at a Eucharistic Congress in Atlanta in 2015, and was invited to visit their community in Jonesboro, Georgia, and later went to a ‘Come and See’ retreat in Maryland,” he said. “I joined the postulancy in Chicago in 2017, then went to novitiate in California the next year. After professing simple vows on July 22, 2019, I was sent to San Antonio for post-novitiate studies, focusing on completing my doctoral studies that I was doing prior to joining the order.”
In 2022, Friar Antonio was assigned to St. Francis High School in Athol Springs, N.Y., for a fraternal/apostolic year. He completed his PhD in Mechanical Engineering during the summer of 2022 at Georgia Tech. He remains on the faculty at St. Francis High School.
Friar Emmanuel served as a transitional deacon at the Franciscan Church of the Assumption in Syracuse.
Friar Emmanuel Wenke, OFM Conv., who grew up in Olean, N.Y., and was a member of St. John the Evangelist Parish there, will be ordained to the priesthood at Our Lady of Victory National Shrine & Basilica in Lackawanna on Tuesday, Aug. 15, at 2 p.m. He will be ordained by Archbishop Gregory J. Hartmayer, OFM Conv., archbishop of Atlanta.
Friar Emmanuel completed his studies for the priesthood at Regis College in Toronto while residing at St. Bonaventure Friary. He and served as a transitional deacon at the Franciscan Church of the Assumption in Syracuse. Prior to that, he spent three years as a theology instructor at Archbishop Curley High School in Baltimore.
He is the son of Deacon Matt and Mary Wenke of Olean. Deacon Wenke serves at the Basilica of St. Mary of the Angels in Olean. One of five children, Friar Emmanuel’s sister, Sr. Frances Marie Wenke, CP, is a member of the Passionist Nuns of St. Joseph Monastery, a contemplative order in Whitesville, Ky.
Friar Wenke will celebrate a Mass of Thanksgiving on Wednesday, Aug. 16, at St. Francis of Assisi Roman Catholic Church, 4263 St. Francis Dr., Athol Springs, N.Y., with a second Mass of Thanksgiving to be celebrated Sunday, Aug. 20, 11 a.m., at the Basilica of St. Mary of the Angels in Olean.
“I am blessed,” Fr. Cricchio said during his retirement ceremony from the U.S. Navy.
Friar Santo P. Cricchio, a chaplain in the U.S. Navy, Navy retired on Saturday, Aug. 5, 2023, following 23 years of service as a Navy Chaplain. Two of Friar Santo’s fellow servicemen spoke, paying tribute to how his ministry as chaplain helped to add a greater depth to what service of our country really implies.
When asked for a quote, Friar Santo simply responded, “I’m blessed.” In his words to those in attendance, Friar Santo challenged the young service men and women and us all to recognize the power of all that we do and say, and the impact that these can have on all those we encounter. To Friar Santo, thank you for your dedicated, selfless service to our great nation. “Non sibi sed patriae” (Not self but country).
~ Written by Friar Gary Johnson, OFM Conv., who attended the ceremony at the Curtin-Garvey Complex, United States Marine Corp Reserve Center, in Brooklyn.
“In the Church’s tradition, religious profession is considered to be a special and fruitful deepening of the consecration received in Baptism …”
~ Vita Consecrata #30
Friar Connor Ouly (from l-r), Minister Provincial Michael Heine, and Friar Marvin Paul Fernandez outside The Shrine of St. Anthony.
Friar Michael Heine, OFM Conv., minister provincial of Our Lady of the Angels Province, received the simple profession of vows from Friar Vincent Mary Ouly, OFM Conv., and Friar Marvin Paul Fernandez, OFM Conv.,on July 21, at the Shrine of St. Anthony in Ellicott City, Md. The Rite of Profession marked the end of the first year of their novitiate.
“It is an exciting day for Our Lady of the Angels Province,” said Minister Provincial Friar Michael Heine, OFM Conv. “Two friars who are saying ‘yes’ to their vocation as Franciscan Friars bring new life and vitality into the province. Just as Saint Francis was called to rebuild the Lord’s Church, so too are these two friars who help rebuild by living the Gospel life!
Friar Fernandez and Friar Ouly will now enter the post novitiate phase of their formation. They have enrolled in the pre-theology program at Catholic University of America.
“Two friars who are saying ‘yes’ to their vocation as Franciscan Friars bring new life and vitality into the province,” said Minister Provincial Friar Michael Heine.
More than 50 friars were in attendance and took part in a fraternal embrace with Friars Ouly and Fernandez following their solemn profession of “obedience without anything of my own and in chastity.” The two friars signed the Book of Profession and had their unknotted cords which are worn around the waste replaced with a cord with three knots symbolizing their vows of poverty, obedience, and chastity. They also were given a copy of the Rule, the fundamental law for Conventual Franciscans.
Reflecting on his simple profession, Friar Ouly said, “This day for me is strengthening of the relationship between myself and Jesus Christ in the Family of St. Francis.” Friar Fernandez added, “It is a blessing and a grace to take the vow and to be part of the bigger Franciscan order.”
About 90 young people from Baltimore, Siler City, N.C., Atlanta, Jonesboro, Ga., Buffalo, and Olean, N.Y., were also in attendance as they started their Assisi by the Chesapeake retreat which was led by the friars..
Fr. Fernandez grew up in Laoag City in the Philippines’ Ilocos Norte province and is now a Canadian citizen. He was a nursing assistant, cook, and manager of nursing assistants at a Senior Living Center before pursuing his vocation. He said he was inspired by the friars in his parish to enter the Franciscan Friars Conventual. His from Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary Parish in Ottawa, Ontario (Archdiocese of Ottawa-Cornwall).
Friar Fernandez kneels at the feet of Friar Michael Heine.
Fr. Ouly is from Prince of Peace Parish in Steelton, Penn. (Diocese of Harrisburg). He studied voice/opera at the Juilliard School in Ne. York City. His vocation was driven by the Conventuals dedication to serving the poorest of the poor in simple but necessary ways in parishes, schools, and hospitals.
“By religious profession the friars publicly commit themselves to live the Gospel in fraternity and minoritas … the friars recognize that they have received the grace from God the Father to follow Christ in his chaste, poor, and obedient way of life. They dedicate themselves entirely to God and bring their baptismal consecration to a particular fulfillment.”
~ Constitutions, 4.1, 9.1
A joyous day for Friar Marvin Paul Fernandez and his family.
The family of Friar Vincent Mary Ouly shared this special day with him at The Shrine of St. Anthony.
Bishop Michael J. Fisher, bishop of Buffalo, was the principal celebrant for a Memorial Mass for the late Friar Joseph W. Bayne, OFM Conv., at St. Joseph Cathedral in downtown Buffalo on July 15. Fr. Bayne, a former chaplain with the Buffalo Fire Department, died June 23 in Chicago at the age of 66. “We remember a wonderful priest, Fr. Joe Bayne,” Bishop Fisher said. “Let us hold him in our hearts and our prayers. He was a priest above all things. We thank his family for the gift of his vocation to the Franciscans. May his soul, and the souls of all the faithful departed, through the Mercy of God, rest in peace.”
Archbishop Gregory J. Hartmayer, OFM Conv., archbishop of Atlanta, was among the concelebrants at the Mass which was attended by friars from the United States and Canada. Priests and permanent deacons of the Diocese of Buffalo were also on the altar.
In his homily, Minister Provincial Fr. Michael Heine, OFM Conv., “Joe loved Buffalo and was a great ambassador for the city. Many of us are still in shock at his sudden death. It is with faith we come before God and thank and praise him for the gift he has given us in Joe Bayne. Joe has reached the goal of his life and for that we are happy. Joe loved to say, ‘I don’t care what they think of me. I’m going to tell it like it is.’ We didn’t always see eye to eye, but we don’t hold grudges. Joe’s personality served him well in his preaching. Like John the Baptist, Joe preached Jesus Christ in a way that captivated his listeners. Joe met people where they were. He was rock star here in Buffalo.”
Fr. Michael then read “A Firefighter’s Son,” a poem Father Joe had on the first page of a scrapbook that was filled with clippings of the story of his father, a Baltimore Fire Department firefighter who perished fighting a fire in 1977.
“Joe is synonymous with the fire department. He would show up to the most difficult situations. He ministered to the firefighters, the first responders, and their families, and of course, those whose lives were turned upside down. His presence was one of hope. His truly were the arms of God as he hugged and consoled so many. Joe loved being a Franciscan Friar. From day one he wanted to be the best friar and he always encouraged young men to consider the Franciscans. Joe loved being a friar priest. He was a great preacher and celebrated the sacraments with so many. He was a mentor to so many priests.
“Yes, we all know, life is difficult … because life involves sacrifice. Jesus crucified and risen from the dead boldly proclaims hope does not disappoint. We will see Joe again. And so, Joe, Friar Joe, Father Joe, ES11, Billy to your mom and family, we already miss you. Thank you for saying yes to Jesus and being His presence in our lives. We now commend you into the merciful arms of Jesus.”
Several people delivered Words of Remembrance
Buffalo Fire Commissioner William Rinaldo said, “He had a significant impact on the Buffalo Fire Department and an enduring legacy he left behind. He served with a distinction for over a decade as department chaplain. He was uniquely qualified to handle the tough stuff (of being a fire chaplain). He had a deep understanding and passion for the unselfish work performed by firefighters. His presence at fire sciences projected a sense of calm. He served this department long and faithfully. Let today serve as a final salute to his courage and commitment to his beloved firefighters.
Dan Nevereth, commissioner, Homeland Security and Emergency Services – Erie County: “Fr. Joe was our first chaplain. He was the godfather of our tremendously talented chaplain corps of today. He was a calming force in the eye of a hurricane. He was a beacon of comfort.”
Bill Miles, executive secretary, New York State Association of Fire Chaplains: “I called him brother. He was a brother to every one of us. Fr. Joe held training sessions to help other chaplains to be more effective. All of you had the same experience with our brother Joseph. He was always there for all of us.”
Jim McCullough, retired deputy commissioner, Erie County Department of Emergency Services: “On behalf of Fr. Joe’s mother, Jean, she would like to thank all the firefighters for honoring her son these past few weeks. Joe was made of steel. He was our Superman.”
