A message from our Minister Provincial, the Very Reverend Fr. James McCurry, OFM Conv.:
Effective today, the new Central American Custody of “Mary, Mother of Mercy” was born – appropriately on the Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe, Patroness of the Americas.
As Minister Provincial of Our Lady of the Angels Province, I was given the privilege of being Principal Celebrant of the Chapter’s Opening Mass of the Holy Spirit. Enclosed is an excerpt from my “final message” to the friars of our former Provincial Delegation of Costa Rica.
Members of the New Central American Custody “Mary, Mother of Mercy” with their former Minister Provincial of Our Lady of the Angels Province – Very Reverend Fr. James McCurry, OFM Conv. (center in red vestments), their new Minister Provincial as they are now a Custody of the Province of Our Lady of Consolation – Very Reverend Fr. Jim Kent, OFM Conv. (top row left), Conventual Franciscan Federation Assistant General of our Order – Fr. Jude Winkler, OFM Conv. (top row 2nd from left) and the Minister General of our Order – Most Reverend Fr. Marco Tasca, OFM Conv. (kneeling bottom far right)
December 12, 2017: Our Lady of the Angels Province Minister Provincial’s Final Message to the Friars of Costa Rica Before the Establishment of the New Central American Custody
Esteemed Brothers:
Sacred emotions fill my soul in this, my final message to you as your Minister Provincial, prior to your transfiliation into the new Central American Custody of Mary, Mother of Mercy. For seventy-one years, we your confreres of North America, first as the Province of the Immaculate Conception which later became the Province of Our Lady of the Angels, have been given by God the unequaled privilege of planting and watering the seeds of St. Francis in the fertile soil of Costa Rica. Now in your maturity, you are entering into a seraphic marriage with our beloved brothers of Honduras.
Three holy and honest emotions in particular are mixed together in my soul these days:
- Joyful gratitude as my Province gave you birth, formed you, and has watched you grow to adulthood.
- A profound sense of bereavement as the original Mother Province of all Latin America allows our grown child to leave our care.
- Confident love as we give you in holy marriage to your Honduran spouse.
United strongly together as equal partners in this holy endeavor, may your new Franciscan covenant of life and live truly become “something beautiful for God.”
(Front) Most Reverend Fr. Marco Tasca, OFM Conv., Friar Carlos Trovarelli, OFM Conv., Fr. Jude Winkler, OFM Conv. (Back) Very Reverend Fr. James McCurry, OFM Conv., Fr. Jorge Dobles, OFM Conv., Very Reverend Fr. Jim Kent, OFM Conv., Friar Isidoro Mejia, OFM Conv.
December 13, 2017: Friar Jorge Dobles, OFM Conv. was elected to serve as the 1st Custos of the newly established Mary, Mother of Mercy Custody
There were 27 voting members in the Chapter (including the Minister General, the Assistant General for FALC, and the Ministers Provincial of the Provinces of Our Lady of Consolation and Our Lady of the Angels. Friar Jorge, the newly elected Custos, was a member of Our Lady of the Angels Province until the day before his election, when all Friars of the former Our Lady of the Angels Delegation in Costa Rica were transfiliated into the newly established Custody if Mary, Mother of Mercy. From 2010 until 2014, Friar Jorge served as a member of the Definitory of the former Immaculate Conception Province (joining with St. Anthony of Padua Province to form Our Lady of the Angels Province in 2014). From 2014 until this week, he served as Provincial Delegate for the Our Lady of the Angels Delegation, in Costa Rica.
Oath of Office: the New Custos of the Custody of Mary, Mother of Mercy – Friar Jorge Dobles, OFM Conv., in received by the Most Reverend Fr. Marco Tasca, OFM Conv. – Minister General of our Order of Friars Minor Conventual (OFM Conv.)
