Friar-Archbishop Kmetec with friars at St. Bonaventure Friary.

Friar-Archbishop Martin Kmetec, OFM Conv., of the Archdiocese of Izmir (Smyrna), Turkey, visited the friars of Saint Bonaventure Friary, Silver Spring, Maryland in September 2023. On Sunday, Sept. 10, the archbishop celebrated the 10:30 a.m. Liturgy at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception. Prior to the Mass, he met with Cardinal Wilton Cardinal Gregory, archbishop of Washington, D.C.

Cardinal Wilton Gregory, archbishop of Washington, D.C., met with Friar-Archbishop Kmetec.

Vice Provincial Friar Gary Johnson, OFM Conv., offers the blessing while Minister Provincial Friar Michael Heine, OFM Conv., looks on.

Little Portion Farm hosted the blessing of the new Fruit Tree Orchard and Wild Flower Garden on Saturday, Sept. 9. Supporters who donated resources for the purchase of the trees and flowers were among those in attendance with many dedicated in the name of beloved family members and friends of these benefactors. Vicar Provincial Friar Gary Johnson, OFM Conv., offered the blessing, assisted by Justice, Peace and Integrity of Creation Director Friar Paul Lininger. Minister Provincial Friar Michael Heine, OFM Conv, whose family purchased and dedicated one of the fruit trees, was also in attendance.

Little Portion Farm is a ministry of the Franciscan Friars Conventual and focused on providing fresh food to those in need while using sustainable farming methods to restore the health of our land. The three-acre farm, located in Ellicott City, Md., functions as an “agro-ecosystem,” with a diversity of plants and habitats to support the life of this “little portion” of creation. As the food harvested from the farm is donated to the Franciscan Center in Baltimore, the overarching mission of this ministry is, using the words of Pope Francis, to “hear both the cry of the earth and the cry of the poor.”

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.

The ordination Mass will be livestreamed: https://www.olvbasilica.org/live-streaming