On the morning of Saturday, August 30, 2025, at the Conventual Franciscan parish of Our Lady of the Visitation in Dublin, Ireland, Deacon Peter George Flynn, OFM Conv. was ordained a friar-priest.

The ordaining bishop, the Most Rev. Paul Dempsey, auxiliary bishop of the Archdiocese of Dublin, delivered a moving homily which focused on Our Lord’s words taken from Gospel selected for the occasion: “You did not choose me, no, I chose you” (Jn. 15:16). Bishop Paul emphasized how Christ is at the heart of the priesthood, and it is only by being sustained by Our Lord’s strength and grace that any priest can do what he has been called to do.

At the end of the Holy Mass, kneeling before Our Lady’s side altar, Friar Peter George consecrated his priesthood to the Blessed Virgin, presenting the Mother of God with a bouquet of flowers.

“It was a wonderful day for the Blessed Angelus of Pisa Custody,” said Our Lady of the Angels Provincial Minister Provincial Friar Michael Heine, OFM Conv. “The smile on Friar Peter George’s face and the proud look of his family brought joy to the entire Church!”

After the Ordination Mass, there was a wonderful lunch put on in the parish hall with Friar Peter George cut his cake to much applause. Later that same evening, his family and the friars (including those who had travelled to Dublin for the ordination) went out for a dinner together. A beautiful day was had by all. Please keep Friar  Peter George and the friars of BAP Custody in your prayers.

Friar Gerry Waterman, OFM Conv., was a guest on “Catholic Conversation,” produced by the Diocese of Syracuse, talking about what it means to walk with Syracuse University students in their faith journey, and how the chapel and new Catholic center are creating sacred space in the midst of campus life.

Three young people, Madeline, Amanda, and Karlie were commissioned as the 27th group of FrancisCorps volunteers by Minister Provincial Friar Michael Heine, OFM Conv., at Assumption Catholic Church in Syracuse, N.Y. The mission of FrancisCorps is Gospel Service. As brothers and sisters to those “in need”, FrancisCorps volunteers share their gifts and talents in a year-long, faith based community in the spirit of Saints Francis and Clare of Assisi.

Alongside them were the FrancisCorps staff, A.J., Jenny Rose, and Friar Nader Ata, OFM Conv., as they each were presented with a Tau cross, which today is a symbol of an individual’s commitment to living the Gospel of Jesus Christ in word and in deed in the footsteps of Saints Francis and Clare of Assisi.

In his homily, Friar Michael said, “For this year, you will live together, pray together, eat together, laugh together, and yes, even cry together, the three of you. And that number three, it’s not an accident because we worship a Triune God: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Three persons, one God, and three is the number of divine friendship. So, this year, the three of you will grow in holiness together, in divine friendship.”

FrancisCorps 27: Thank you for saying “yes” to the Spirit of Assisi, “yes” to service of others, and “yes” to FrancisCorps. Madeline, Amanda, and Karlie, we look forward with joy and gratitude to walking with you throughout this year!

To learn more about or apply to FrancisCorps, we invite you to visit www.franciscorps.org

The question was simple and familiar to many in religious life: How does one deal with a curmudgeon – someone who is set in his ways, resistant to change and vocal about it?

“I have an idea, but I can’t say it out loud,” quipped Conventual Franciscan Father Michael Heine, prompting laughter from the banquet room at Baltimore’s Hyatt Regency Hotel July 24.

“The key is just to be loving,” he continued. “There is no easy answer. One of the worst things you can do is pull away. Just love them. To realize his past, he’s so hurt or something, you know, to acknowledge that and keep reaching out and trying.”

Father Heine, provincial leader of the Conventual Franciscans’ Our Lady of the Angels Province in Ellicott City, spoke during a panel on fraternity at the Conference of Major Superiors of Men (CMSM) National Assembly. Held in Baltimore July 21-23 under the theme “Rejoice in Hope: Solidarity and Fraternity,” the assembly gathered 150 leaders representing 125 religious jurisdictions for dialogue, reflection and celebration of faith.

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St. Stanislaus Basilica in Chicopee, Mass., participated in Steubenville East this past weekend in Springfield, Mass.  Friars John Koziol and Edgar Varela participated together with Sr. Agnesa Neru and Sr. Cordelia, Deacon David Southworth, and parishioner Michael Benoit and his daughter Sydney also participated. The youth event is sponsored by the Franciscan University in Ohio. We had a vocation table, where we met with many teens to share our Franciscan charism. There were over 1,200 teens present.

~ Submitted by Friar John Koziol, OFM Conv.

Farmer Matt Jones with some of the harvest from Little Portion Farm.

The Baltimore Business Journal has named Matt Jones, farm manager at Little Portion Farm, as one of Greater Baltimore’s 2025 40 Under 40. Little Portion Farm, a ministry of the Franciscan Friars Conventual of Our Lady of the Angels Province, donates 100% of its produce to soup kitchen and food pantry partners serving individuals in need. Under Matt’s direction and leadership, Little Portion Farm has donated more than 100,000 pounds of fresh produce to serve people in Greater Baltimore living with food insecurity since the first seeds were planted on the farm six years ago.

When Matt first joined the friars in 2019, the three-acre plot that is now Little Portion Farm, was an empty field, with soil greatly devoid of nutrients after years of overproduction by prior tenant farmer activities, which included chemical use and industrial farming methods. The mission of this uniquely Franciscan ministry was twofold – restore the health of the land and grow food for the poor.

Matt was selected as a 2025 40 Under 40 Honoree for his success in developing a now thriving, biodiverse farm that provides food for those facing food insecurity in the region, and for his efforts in creating a gathering space for community service, reflection, and education. Little Portion Farm hosts thousands of visitors and volunteers every year. As the farm continues to grow – both in how much land is cultivated and how many people come to the farm to serve – Little Portion Farm will be able to provide increased amounts of produce to their partners serving the vulnerable in Greater Baltimore.

St. Anthony of Padua Church in Mossley Hill, Liverpool, England was the setting for the priestly ordination of Friar John Paul Banks, OFM Conv., on Saturday, July 5, 2025. Archbishop John Sherrington, appointed by the late Pope Francis on Apr. 5, 2025, and having only received the pallium from Pope Leo XIV the week before, was the ordaining prelate. Friar-Priest John Paul was the first priesthood ordination to happen under the new archbishop. Friar  John Paul is a Conventual Franciscan friar of the Blessed Agnellus of Pisa Custody.

During the Holy Mass of Ordination, Archbishop Sherrington delivered a powerful and touching homily, offering the newly-ordained friar-priest this counsel: “As teacher, faithfully communicate the joy of the gospel of Jesus Christ by carefully loving and studying the scriptures and the teaching of the Church. Break these down so that the people of our age and culture may understand the message they communicate. This is a challenge for our technocratic and secular age.”

“As a Franciscan Conventual, you are called to model your life on St. Francis who was humble and poor, who loved creation and all God’s creatures calling them ‘brother’ and ‘sister’, who loved so deeply that he carried the stigmata in his body. As Pope Francis wrote ‘He was particularly concerned for God’s creation and for the poor and outcast. He loved, and was deeply loved for his joy, his generous self-giving, his openheartedness. He was a mystic and a pilgrim who lived in simplicity and in wonderful harmony with God, with others, with nature and with himself. He shows us just how inseparable the bond is between concern for nature, justice for the poor, commitment to society, and interior peace.’ (LS 10). Like Francis see that the world is a joyful mystery to be contemplated with gladness and praise.”

In a touching moment at the end of the Mass, Archbishop Sherrington went over to embrace Friar  Giles Zakowicz, OFM Conv., who had, just the day before, celebrated his 50th anniversary of priesthood.

Friar Chris Dudek, OFM Conv., sent photos from the Assisi Pilgrimage. There were 33 participants which included youth from St. Stanislaus Basilica in Chicopee, Mass., UNC Chapel Hill, N.C., Archbishop Curley High School, Baltimore, and St. Francis High School, Athol Springs, N.Y. We visited Rome, Bagnoregio, Assisi, La Verna, Padua, and Venice. It was great to see young people from various locations and life experiences bond, learn, and pray together at the major sites in the life of Francis and Clare.

Our Lady of the Angeles Province welcomed a new friar priest: Friar Franck Lino Sokpolie, OFM Conv., who was ordained to the priesthood by Friar-Archbishop Gregory J. Hartmayer, OFM Conv., on Saturday, July 19, 2025, at Holy Cross Catholic Church in Atlanta, Georgia.

During his homily, Archbishop Hartmayer, archbishop of Atlanta, said, “It is obviously a great joy for me to be with you, my Conventual Franciscan family, to ordain our brother, Friar Franck-Lino Sokpolie, to the priesthood of Jesus Christ. God not only calls, he equips. Christ Himself places His words in your mouth making you His herald, His preacher, His minister of the sacraments.

“A priest’s credibility is never about age or status. It is about holiness. Not only in your preaching but in your conduct, through humility, Franciscan simplicity, and joyful service. Be a witness in love, especially toward the difficult, in faith, proclaiming Christ crucified, even at a cost. In purity, keeping your heart undivided for the Lord.”

“Be a witness in love, especially toward the difficult, in faith, proclaiming Christ crucified, even at a cost. In purity, keeping your heart undivided for the Lord,” said Archbishop Hartmayer.

Born in Togo, West Africa, Friar Lino is the son of Emilie and Ange Sokpolie. Twenty years ago, he and his family, including his sisters Sonia, Angela, and Elodie, moved to Richmond, Virginia. He hails from a family with multiple vocations to the Catholic Church: his aunt is a Benedictine nun in France, and two uncles are priests in Togo, one a Benedictine abbot and the other a rector of a diocesan seminary. Growing close to his aunt and uncles and witnessing their joy in their vocations inspired Friar Lino to consider his own calling. He recalls, “Although their vocation story deeply moved me, I had believed throughout my teens that priesthood was merely a childhood dream. However, during my first year of college, I began to discern my vocation once again.”

Of the Sokpolie family’s many vocations to the Church, Archbishop Hartmayer said, “For a family rooted in prayer, it is a testimony in faith.”

“The Church is blessed to call you a friar-priest,” said Friar Michael Heine, OFM Conv., minister provincial of Our Lady of the Angels Province.

At the conclusion of the ordination Mass, Our Lady of the Angels Minister Provincial Friar Michael Heine, OFM Conv., said: “On behalf of all the friars, I want to thank your mom and dad, your sisters, your grandparents, your entire family for entrusting you to us. Lino: here, in the deep south, we are blessed to call you our brother.

“The Church is blessed to call you a friar-priest. You remind us that by the grace of Christ, our Franciscan brotherhood, our Franciscan relationships, they are stronger than any racial or cultural barriers that may arise. Please, be who you were born to be. Celebrate your culture. Honor your point of view. Live from the depths of your heart. By your yes, you make Holy Cross Parish, the Church, and the Franciscan order richer.”

While exploring religious life, Friar Lino considered various communities. At each Come and See discernment weekend, he felt something was missing and couldn’t quite identify what it was. His mother suggested he also consider the Franciscans or Dominicans, but he was leaning toward the Benedictines. One day, he googled “Franciscans,” and the Shrine of St. Anthony in Ellicott City was the first site he clicked on. “Finally, I emailed the shrine and the Benedictine Abbey of St. Meinrad, leaving it to God to guide me. Whoever responded first, I would consider a sign.

“The shrine responded the next morning. I trusted that was God’s way of leading me, and nearly twelve years later, I am being ordained as a friar priest.” Friar Lino often reflects on St. Benedict Joseph Labre’s words: “The Providence of God is never wanting to him who confides in God as he ought,” which he finds very true. During his first Come and See weekend with the friars, he realized what was missing wasn’t food but community seeing the friars be their authentic selves, joking, laughing, supporting one another. That experience cemented his calling, and the rest was history

“Beginning this new chapter in my Franciscan journey has left me with no words but gratitude,” Friar Lino shared. “I look forward to the experiences that come with being a friar priest. I am at peace, happy, and grateful that God has allowed me to live out my vocation in this way.”

Friar Lino with his brother Franciscans.

Friar Lino earned his Master of Divinity in 2025 from the Oblate School of Theology in San Antonio, Texas. He holds a B.A. in French and Francophone Studies from The Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C., where he also minored in philosophy and received an Advanced Certificate in European Studies. His first assignment as a friar-priest will be to serve the people at Holy Cross Parish in Atlanta, working closely with the Hispanic community. He spent two summers in Colombia, learning Spanish and ministering alongside friars in Bogotá and Medellín.

Since joining the province, his assignments have included St. Philip Benizi Catholic Church in Jonesboro, Georgia; St. Paul Roman Catholic Church in Kensington, Connecticut; working with retired friars in Rensselaer, New York; and ministering at St. Ann-Pacelli Catholic School in Columbus, Georgia. Friar Lino professed simple vows on July 21, 2016, and solemn vows on July 30, 2021. He was ordained a deacon on April 6, 2024, at The Basilica of the National Shrine of the Little Flower in San Antonio.

In his free time, Friar Lino enjoys playing tennis, reading, sleeping, and occasionally hiking with friends, though he admits with some reluctance.

At the end of his ordination Mass, Friar Lino shared, “What a profound gift God has given me, not only the gift of my vocation but also the blessing of seeing all of you here today, the many people who have helped shape me into who I am. Today, I see the tapestry of my vocational journey, with every thread representing a moment, a person, a step along the way. Thank you! Thank you! And thank you!” He added, “At my solemn vows, I said ‘I do’ to living my life in a particular way; at my diaconate, I renewed that commitment to serve God’s people. And now, as a friar priest, I say once again, ‘I do’ with all my heart. I have become what I love, and what I love has shaped who I am, first as a friar, and now as a friar priest. Thank you! Please pray for me, and be assured of my prayers for you all.”

“I have become what I love, and what I love has shaped who I am, first as a friar, and now as a friar priest. Thank you! Please pray for me, and be assured of my prayers for you all.”