Franciscan Friars Province of Saint Barbara

Check out the Fransican School of Theology's summer continuing education programs!

The leaders of six provinces in the United States belonging to the Order of Friars Minor sent a letter to President Joe Biden imploring him to increase the United States' efforts to end the violence in the Holy Land and address the causes of the conflict. Add your voice to this effort to bring peace by joining the action alert from Churches for Middle East Peace: http://bit.ly/OpposeViolence

Congratulations to Fr. Joseph Chinnici (President Emeritus & Professor of History at the Franciscan School of Theology) on the publication of his new book, American Catholicism Transformed. About the book: Situating the church within the context of post-World War II globalization and the Cold War, American Catholicism Transformed draws on previously untapped archival sources to provide deep background to developments within the American Catholic Church in relationship to Am...erican society at large. Shaped by anti-communist sentiment and responsive to American cultural trends, the Catholic community adopted "strategies of domestic containment," stressing the close unity between the Church and the "American way of life." A focus on the unchanging character of God's law as expressed in social hierarchies of authority, race, and gender provided a public visage of unity and uniformity. However, the emphasis on American values mainstreamed into the community the political values of personal rights, equality, acceptance of the arms race, and muted the Church's inherited social vision. The result was a deep ambivalence over the forces of secularization. The Catholic community entered a transitional stage in which "those on the right" and "those on the left" battled for control of the Church's vision. International networking, reform of religious life among women, international congresses of the laity, the institutionalization of the liturgical movement, and the burgeoning civil rights movement positioned the community to receive the Vatican Council in a distinctly American way. During the Second Vatican Council, the American bishops and theological experts gradually adopted the reforming currents of the worldwide Church. This convergence of international and national forces of renewal -- and resistance to them -- says Joseph Chinnici, will continue to shape the American Catholic community's identity in the twenty-first century. Available on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/American-Catholicism-T//ref=sr_1_1

Virtual Jamboree Brings Together Friars in Formation: Zoom conversations enable postulants, novices, and simply-professed friars from around US to share ideas, fraternity

Roof Replacement Underway in Topawa, AZ Thanks to the generosity of longtime friends and benefactors Harry and Sue Winters, we are getting a new roof in Topawa! This roof covers the church, friary, and parish office quadrangle. The friars will have extra time on their hands no longer needing to deploy buckets and patch leaks whenever it rains! Harry Winters is the nephew of Rene Greff, OFM. Harry used to visit the friars frequently here on the Tohono O'odham reservation. In ...fact, Harry speaks O'odham fluently and has written a book entitled, 'O'odham Place Names: Meanings, Origins, and Histories: Arizona and Sonora. Harry had a career in the mining industry and even did some consulting work at the Gibson Mine before it was donated to the Province of St. Barbara. Sue Winters was one of five young ladies from Boston who were recruited by Howard Hall, OFM to come out to Phoenix and teach at St. Mark's. Besides teaching in the parish school, Sue and her friends cooked for the friars in the friary dubbed "The Adobe Hilton." Also integral to the success of this roof replacement project is Rick Sivilli, a retired contractor and friend of Harry Winters. With generosity and kindness, Rick offers his expertise on this and other repair projects underway in Topawa. Harry and Sue have donated funds for needed repairs to the friary quadrangle to help ensure that the friars will be able to continue to live and minister among the people of the Tohono O'odham Nation. Let us give thanks, and keep Harry, Sue, Rick, and their families in our prayers.

Congratulations to our novices who were invested with the Habit of the Order of Friars Minor at Old Mission Santa Barbara. https://www.franciscan.org/2020//26/investiture-of-novices/

If you are a single man between the ages of 21 and 40 years old and discerning a vocation to the Franciscan Friars, please contact the US-6 OFM Franciscan Vocation Office. Peace and all good!

Happy Feast of St Hildegard of Bingen. We can’t think of a more perfect way to honor her day than sharing this beautiful piece sung by Chanticleer.

If you are a single man, between the ages of 21 and 45, please come join us for an Inquirers Zoom Retreat with Fr. Casey Cole, OFM on Saturday, September 19. Information is below. Peace and all good!

Fr. Leo Sprietsma, OFM, was interred on September 3 in the afternoon at Mission Santa Bárbara. Br. Angelo led the service; Zach (from Assumption Province) read the first reading. Br. Mark read the Gospel from the Leo's copy of the New Jerusalem Bible Fr. Dan Lakcie gave a reflection. Pictured is the entire Fraternity. The novices have not celebrated their investiture yet, so they are the men not in their habits.... To note, Leo asked that his Bible be buried with his ashes. The niche can only fit the urn, so we put a note in the niche that Leo wanted to have his Bible with him, but it didn't fit. The Bible will go to the Archives.