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Celebrating Our Centenary: Diomede Cardinal Falconio, OFM |
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NEW YORK CITY - The story of our beloved Province is a story of religious men whose defining characteristics are their dedication, hard work and faithfulness to the Church and her mission. In the nearly 150 years since they came to these shores and the 100 years of our Province, that story has had some members whose holiness and accomplishments have shone above the rest. Among those is Diomede Cardinal Falconio. Cardinal Falconio, a member of our Province. rose through the ranks of the Order and the Church to become a bishop, eventually Cardinal and Apostolic Nuncio to the church in the United States, Prefect of the Congregation of Religious Affairs and Procurator General of the Order. Cardinal Falconio was also reportedly the favored candidate to succeed Pope Pius X in 1914 before taking his name out of consideration. Below is a biography of this would-be Pope and towering figure of our history:
Diomede Angelo Raffaele Gennaro Falconio was born on September 20, 1842 in the small Italian town of Pescocostanzo as one of the five children of Donato Antonio Falconio, a goldsmith, and his wife Maria Giacinta Buccigrossi. He received the Sacrament of Confirmation on September 5, 1852, and entered the Order of Friars Minor on September 2, 1860. Upon entering, he also changed his baptismal name from Angelo Raffaele Gennaro to Diomede from Pescocostanzo. Falconio studied at the Franciscan convents of Magliano and Carpineto, making his first vows on September 17, 1861 and his perpetual vows on October 12, 1864.
In the company of two friar-priests, young Diomede arrived in the United States on December 5, 1865, and continued on to Allegany in time to celebrate the Feast of the Immaculate Conception. He was ordained on January 4, 1866 by Buffalo Bishop John Timon, CM; and for the next two years he taught philosophy and theology at St. Bonaventure College and Seminary.
When, in 1867, Fr. Pamfilo, St. Bonaventure's first president, left the United States to return to Rome, the college and the seminary were placed in charge of his secretary, Father Diomede. The Provincial Chapter of 1868 selected the 26-year-old as the second president of St. Bonaventure. The appointment was made on August 20, 1886, Falconio becoming and remaining to this day St. Bonaventure's youngest president.
 Fr. Diomede eventually became an American citizen, and in 1867 he was made Secretary of the then-Custody of the Immaculate Conception.
Soon, the Church would call Fr. Diomede to serivce else where and he served as administrator, chancellor, and vicar general of Harbor Grace, Newfoundland from 1871-1882. He would have become bishop there had he not faced opposition from the Irish Benevolent Society who objected to the appointment of an Italian as their bishop.
Given this friction, Fr. Diomede returned to the Custody where he continued his ministry in New York and Connecticut until 1883. During that time, he ministered at St. Anthony Church in New York City.
In 1883 he would return to Italy due to the illness of his aged parents. During that time, he was elected as Provincial Minister of his original Province, that of San Bernardino in Abruzzi. He served in this role from 1884 to 1889. After becoming prosynodal examiner of the Archdiocese of L'Aquila, he was elected procurator general of the Order in 1889, and Visitor General to the Provinces of Naples and Pouilles between 1889 and 1892.
On July 11, 1892, Pope Leo XIII appointed Fr. Diomede as Bishop-elect of Lacedonia. He received his episcopal consecration on the following July 17 from Cardinal Raffaele Monaco La Valetta, with Archbishops Antonio Grasselli, OFM Conv, and Tancredo Fausti serving as co-consecrators, in the church of S. Antonio da Padova in Via Merulana. He was later named Archbishop of Acerenza-Matera on November 29, 1895, the first Apostolic Delegate to Canada on August 3, 1899, and Titular Archbishop of Larissa in Thessalia on September 30 of that same year.
 The Archbishop was named Apostolic Delegate to the United States on September 30, 1902. During his tenure, he dedicated himself to the spiriutal care of the linguistic minorities, providing spiritual assistance in their language and nominating bishops of the same ethnic origin or who at least spoke their language. Archbishop Falconio was created Cardinal Priest of Santa Maria in Aracoeli by Pope Pius X in the consistory of November 27, 1911, and opted to be promoted to Cardinal Bishop of Velletri-Segni on May 25, 1914.
He was one of the cardinal electors who participated in the 1914 papal conclave, which selected Pope Benedict XV, who later named Falconio as Prefect of the Sacred Congregation for Religious on February 26, 1916. The New York Times, in their obituary announcing his death in 1917 reported that Cardinal Falconio had been the prime candidate to succeed Pius in that conclave. They wrote, "Pope Pius awarded the red hat to Falconio and when, soon afterward, the Sacred Congregation met to choose a successor to Pius, the favorite candidate for the Pontificate was Falconio, who, however, quickly caused his name to be withdrawn."
The Cardinal died in Rome, at the age of 74. He is buried in the Franciscan church of his native Pescocostanzo. |
| International JPIC Council meets in Bolivia |
 The meeting of the International Council of JPIC of the Order of Friars Minor began February 21, 2010, and will continue until Feb. 27. The meeting is being held in the Retreat House that our brothers in Bolivia have in Tarata-Cochabamba. Participating are the brothers of the Office of JPIC of the General Curia, a representative of every one of the 13 Conferences of the Order, and the members of the Animation Committee. The General Animator for Evangelization will give a talk titled "How to Promote JPIC Values in Evangelization, in Light of the Final Document and the Mandates of the General Chapter of 2009." The General Secretary of Formation and Studies will present a talk titled "How the Ratio Formationis Franciscanae Can Incorporate JPIC Values in Initial and Ongoing Formation." Also invited to the meeting are the provincial JPIC Animator, the provincial Secretary of Formation, and the provincial Secretary for Mission and Evangelization from the Missionary Province of San Antonio in Bolivia.
The meeting will consider the decisions of the General Chapter of 2009 which refer to JPIC, found in Mandates 43 and 44, in order to reflect together on how to implement these decisions in our entities and fraternities.
Mandate 43:
In the next six-year period (2009-2015) all the Entities of the Order, with the help of the JPIC Office, should commit themselves to:
· Promote in Initial and Ongoing Formation the values of our Franciscan spirituality highlighted in JPIC.
· Examine the impact of our style of life on creation, especially regarding climate change, and promote environmental justice in order to highlight the relationship between social and ecological themes (cf. the specific projects for Africa, the Amazon and Indonesia).
· Promote active non-violence in our lives, with particular emphasis on the resolution of conflicts.
· Pay special attention to the excluded of our society, according to the reality of each Entity, with a particular commitment to the defense and promotion of human rights.
· Consider and promote the ethical use of economic and natural
· resources in the life of the friars, in their ministry and in society.
Mandate 44:
The General Chapter requests continuation of the JPIC course at the PUA, and recommends that similar courses be given in all Fran¬ciscan Institutes of Higher Learning. |
| From Haiti to all the Brothers of the Order |
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ROME - General Minister Jose Rodriguez Carballo, recently sent a delegation from the General Curia to view the devastation following the earthquake in Haiti. Below is the letter from the delegation as they prepared to return to Rome:
Dear Brothers of all the Order,
As we are about to depart Haiti, we want to share with you what we felt and saw during these days:
- We thank the Lord whom we encountered alive among the debris of Port-au-Prince. He is alive, that is, among the survivors, the sick, and in all the poor; He is also the life of the deceased. We were able to pray at mass graves and bring there your prayers as we have as well as your affection and solidarity for the living.
- We want to thank the brothers who live in the three fraternities of Port-au-Prince. Our hearts are full of joy and admiration at the way they live fraternal life with passion. The Churches and Convents have made room for the sick, the refectories for the hungry, and dormitories for the homeless. They walk amid destruction and misery in order to seek the poor Christ in the poor and help them not lose hope in the God of life. The strength to survive, in fact, is innate in the Haitian people who rely much on the help of the Friars.
- We want to thank you, dear brothers of all the Order, for being close to the Haitian people at this time. Here, on your behalf, we have opened our hands for them. Now we open it to you by offering you the gratitude of the brothers and the people of Haiti. We thank also the brothers of Santo Domingo who prepared truck loads of food and sanitary supplies to be brought to the neighboring country of Haiti. To this effect, we have opened an account in Santo Domingo, so that all the money collected thus far may be channeled to help the people survive.
We wish, therefore, to keep you inform of further developments, even financially.
In the meantime, let us continue to pray for the people and the Friars of Haiti.
Thank you!
Br. Massimo Tedoldi ofm
General Secretary for the Missions and Evangelization
Delegate for the Minister general
Br. Edwin Alvarado Segura
Provincial Vicar
Province N.S. de Guadalupe
(Central America and Panama)
Br. Luis Enrique Saldaña
Provincial Definitor
Br. Sergio Fallas Mora
Provincial Definitor
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| Prayer for Vocations |
O Mary Immaculate, Patroness of the Americas
and Queen of the Order of Friars Minor,
we ask you to inspire humble and chosen souls
for a life in Christ and in the spirit of St. Francis.
With
Motherly care,
foster vocations to our Order and to our Province,
so that seraphic love, labor and sacrifice
will ever flourish in this land dedicated to your protection.
Amen.  |
| VOCATION DISCERNMENT WEEKENDS |
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The Vocation Office will hold Discernment Retreat Weekends on the following dates and locations. Please advertise them in your bulletins, websites and other publications:
March 19-21:
St. Francis Centre, Caledon, Ontario
May 21-23:
St. Leonard Friary, Boston, MA
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