N E W S
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To view news stories from previous years click here
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JUBILEES 2010 IN THE PROVINCE
We give thanks to God and rejoice with our Brothers as they celebrate ...
80 YEARS OF AGE
24 June 1930 Br Con O'Connell
21 November 1930 Br Austin Kinsella
DIAMOND JUBILEE - 60 Years
22 September 1950 Br Ninian Arbuckle Diamond Jubilee of Religious Profession
GOLDEN JUBILEES - 50 Years
6 September 1960 Br Cornelius Smith Golden Jubilee of Religious Profession
24 September 1960 Br Godfrey Tortolano Golden Jubilee of Ordination to the Priesthood
RUBY JUBILEES - 40 Years
4 June 1970 Br Malachy Seymour Ruby Jubilee of Religious Profession
SILVER JUBILEE - 25 Years
12 October 1985 Br Christopher Dyczek Silver Jubilee of Ordination to the Diaconate
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THE JUBILEE YEAR IS CONCLUDED IN WESTMINSTER CATHEDRAL
The series of celebrations to mark 800 years of the existence of the Franciscan Order came to an end in this country with a concelebrated Mass in Westminster Cathedral and a reception in the Cathedral Hall afterwards.
To read a fuller account and see more pictures click here and scroll down.
To view the reports of all the events in the Jubilee Year click here
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AN ADDITIONAL EVENT IN THE EIGHTH CENTENARY CELEBRATIONS
On Wednesday, 3rd March 2010, at the International Franciscan Study Centre, Canterbury, an additional event in the celebration of the Eighth Centenary of the Franciscan Rule took place. “THE GOOD, THE BAD, THE UGLY”, a mostly anecdotal account of the Friars Minor in Post-Reformation England as recorded in the OFM Archives was given by Br. Ninian Arbuckle OFM, Provincial Archivist of the OFM Province of the Immaculate Conception in Great Britain. To read the account and see the illustrations click here
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A JOINT COURSE AT THE FISC WITH THE ANTONIANUM UNIVERSITY IN ROME
To view the brochure for this course click here
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FRANCISCANS TO LEAVE CHILWORTH
- The Friary at Chilworth seen from the friary cemetery
The following communiqué was issued by the Province on Wednesday, 10th February 2010:
It is with very great sadness that the Order of Friars Minor (Franciscans) announces that they are to leave their friary in Chilworth, Surrey. It was built in 1890, to serve as the novitiate house of the English Province in succession to a friary in Killarney. Most of the present friars in the Province experienced the beginning of their Franciscan life in this house and therefore they carry important memories from their time there. In recent years the novitiate has moved elsewhere. An interesting aspect to the Chilworth parish is that it adopted the five priorities of the Order as its priorities. This closure has come as part of a strategic plan for the future of the Province which included the opening of a project for youth at Cold Ash in Berkshire in co-operation with the Franciscan Missionaries of Mary.
To go to the Chilworth site click here
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THE PROVINCE TAKES STOCK AND EXAMINES ITS FUTURE
The "Chapter of Mats"* at Chigwell
From Sunday evening, 15th November, until Wednesday morning, 18th November 2009, twenty-seven members of the Province accepted the challenge to meet together at Chigwell Convent, within the parish of Woodford Green, together with the Minister Provincial and Definitors, to reflect on the reality of the situation of the Province and examine possible paths for the future. The reflection was led by an outside facilitator, Mr Mark Davis, who introduced the process of "conversation", looking at the perspectives, at the sources of hope and joy, the consequences to be faced, and the decisions to be made. At each stage there was an input, time for individual reflection, a meeting in conversation groups, and feedback to a plenary session. The whole was embedded in prayer together and a period of lectio divina in groups. The Eucharist was celebrated each morning in the convent chapel and on the last morning with the Sisters all present. The insights of this meeting will now have to be digested by the Definitory and hardened into decisions which may involve the closing of present houses and the beginning of new ones. They will need the support of all our prayers.
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* The term "Chapter of Mats" is a historic one as used by Franciscans and evokes the memory of the last General Chapter during the life-time of Saint Francis in 1221 when it was still possible to gather together all the Brothers of the Order, already numbering five thousand. They lived around the Portiuncula Chapel in huts made of reed-mats which gave the name to the occasion. Now the term "Chapter of Mats" is used of any meeting of all the friars in a particular place open to any friar who wants to come, as distinct from the regular formal canonical Chapters whose membership and procedures are strictly regulated by law.
- At each stage there was a meeting together
- and a time spent in conversation groups
- and a time spent in individual thought
- and reflection
- and prayer
- The facilitator kept the whole process moving
- The final Eucharist was celebrated with the Sisters
- led by the most recently ordained friar
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Sister Death has visited us several times in the past year
Our Province has encountered Sister Death several times over the past twelve months and has committed into her gentle arms several of its Brothers.
On 12th February 2009 Fr Clement Fisher died in South Africa where he had spent all his priestly life. He had joined the South African Province to show his solidarity with the people he was serving but we still mourned him as our departed Brother.
On 3rd July 2009 Fr Peter Hooper passed away after a great deal of suffering. To read an account of his life and death click here.
On 26th October 2009 we heard the terrible news of the death of our Brother Joseph O'Toole in a road accident in Zimbabwe. His body weas flown back so that he could be buried in his native Scotland. To read an account of his life and death click here.
On 22nd November 2009 the last of our missionaries in India, namely Fr Joachim Tinneny, left this world, so bringing to an end the long history of our missionary activity in that area. To read all about it click here (and scroll down).
On 24th January 2010 Fr Noel O'Dwyer, ex-Provincial of our Province, came to the end of his earthly life. To read an account of his life and the funeral in Glasgow which celebrated it click here (and scroll down).
On 9th February 2010 Fr Walter Hobson came to the end of a long life aged 90. Read about him and his funeral by clicking here.
On 28th February 2010 Fr Leslie Roberts died in Southmead Hospital, Bristol, where he had been taken from the Campania Care Home in Weston-Super-Mare. He died on the exact anniversary of the death of his twin brother Stanley, also a friar of our Province, in 1990.
May all our departed Brothers through the mercy of God rest in peace.
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