NEW YORK -  Fr. John-Marie Cassese, OFM, former Provincial Minister of our beloved Province died Wednesday morning at Mary Manning Walsh Home in Manhattan at the age of 83.
 
Angelo Michael, the son of Michael and Domenica (Capuano) Cassese was born in Boston, MA on September 20, 1926.  John-Marie was received into the novitiate on August 14, 1943.  He made his first profession on August 15, 1944 and was admitted to solemn vows on December 30, 1947.  John-Marie was ordained priest on June 25, 1950.
 
After his ordination, Fr. John-Marie was sent to The Catholic University of America, Washington, DC, where he earned a Master's Degree in History in 1952; then, for one year taught at Christopher Columbus High School in Boston.
 
In 1953, John-Marie was asked to help at the Provincial Curia on a temporary basis.  This pro tempore assignment continued right into 1979.  During that time he assisted as the personal secretary of the minister provincial, fulfilled duties as treasurer, archivist and secretary of the province.  In 1967, Fr. John-Marie was elected vicar of the province and then minister provincial, serving in that capacity from 1973-79.  In addition, John-Marie also received obediences from the Minister General to serve as Visitator for the Academy of American Franciscan History and two U.S. Custodies.
 
In 1980, he was assigned to the General Curia in Rome, serving as editor of Fraternitas.  In 1982, he was elected superior and director of the Academy of American Franciscan History, Washington, DC.  In 1986, when John-Marie returned to New York, he served as parochial vicar of Most Precious Blood Church until 1995.
 
From 1995 through November 2005, Fr. John-Marie resided at Padua Friary with duties as archivist of the province and editor of the Provincial Chronicle.

In December 2005, he moved to Our Lady of Peace Friary, Brooklyn, until the renovation of Padua Friary was completed in March 2007.  In April 2008, John-Marie returned to Our Lady of Peace but in December moved to Mary Manning Walsh Home for the skilled nursing services he required.
 
Fr. John-Marie's body was received at the Shrine Church of Saint Anthony of Padua, the corner of West Houston & Sullivan Streets, New York, on Thursday, April 8.  The Mass of Christian Burial was celebrated at 11:00 a.m. on Friday, April 9.
 
Fr. John-Marie will be laid to rest at Saint Francis Cemetery, Andover, MA, at 11:00 a.m. on Wednesday, April 14.  Fr. Michael Bercik will also be buried that morning.
 
Personal expressions of sympathy can be sent to The Cassese Family, 13 Joyce Avenue, Massapequa, NY 11758-3727.
 
"Friars must remember to offer suffrages for every deceased friar of the province, professed or novice.  In particular, each priest shall offer the Eucharist twice."  "When news of the death of a friar is received, a concelebrated Mass in his memory should be scheduled in the friaries of the province and the foundations."  On the thirtieth day after and on the first anniversary of the death of a confrere, professed or novice, the Eucharist shall be celebrated for him in the house to which he was assigned at the time of death" (PS-8, 1-3).
 
Heavenly Father...we commend to your mercy Fr. John-Marie and our brothers who have embraced Sister Death and we thank you for the gift of their lives.  United in faith and prayer, through the intercession of our Immaculate Mother Mary, Our Holy Father Saint Francis and Our Holy Mother Saint Clare, keep us ever steadfast in your love as we strive for your vision of a world made new.  

TROY, NY - In 1892 the Rev. Giovanni Santoro arrived from Italy and was given permission by Bishop Francis McNierny of Albany to celebrate Mass for 23 families of Italian immigrants in the basement of St. Mary's church in Troy, New York. Fr. Santoro was appointed as a pastor and charged with organizing a national/personal parish for the care of the Italian community that was to be known as the Church of St. Anthony of Padua.

In 1893 Fr. Santoro and the people of St. Anthony's acquired a small storefront to serve as a temporary church. It was listed from in the city directory as the "Italian chapel".

 

By 1905, the congregation of St. Anthony's was able to purchase a church built in 1876 by the Unitarian Society to accommodate the growing parish. Following the renovation of the interior, it was dedicated in 1907. By 1916 a parish school was established in a former public school building and served by the Sisters of St. Joseph of Carondolet.

In 1925, the Most Rev. Edmund F. Gibbons offered the parish to the care of the Franciscans of the Commissary of the Immaculate Conception of New York. The Very Rev. Valerian Pianigiani, O.F.M., Commissary Provincial accepted and administered it personally, establishing the Third Order of St. Francis within the parish as well. Fr. Theophilus Belli. O.F.M. was installed as pastor later that year. 

 

Under Fr. Belli's term the facilities were expanded: a basement meeting and social hall, a rectory, an expanded Chapel and a sacristy. Devotions to St. Anthony were begun as well as First Friday observance with exposition of the Blessed Sacrament.

 

All church debts were liquidated by 1940 and a convent was purchased for the Sisters of the school. The Golden Jubilee of the parish was celebrated in 1942 at a time of growth and prosperity. 

 

St. Anthony's parish lost 13 sons in World War II. By the post-war period, the children and grandchildren of the first Italian immigrants had become full participants in the American society and economy. Thus began a great period of institution building.

 

Appointed for a second time as pastor of St. Anthony's in 1955, the Rev. Thomas DeLuca, O.F.M. set to work negotiating, fundraising and building to consolidate and modernize the parish compound. Between 1957 and 1966 St. Anthony's built a new school, friary, parish hall and gymnasium, playground and offices. In 1965 a new church was blessed and dedicated.  The new St. Anthony's Church was the last major place of worship constructed in downtown Troy and the only one since the early twentieth century. 

Then things began to change. In the late 1960's a large swath of the old Italian neighborhood was demolished for a never-realized highway project, coinciding with the development of suburban housing on the rural edges of the city. The migration to the suburbs eventually drew down the population of Troy by 50% of what it had been in 1910. The parish school was closed in the 1970's due to lack of enrollment.

 

Because of St. Anthony's city center location, it has long been considered everyone's "second" parish. People doing business downtown have always dropped in to visit during the day. It is an unlocked church where people can come and go. The Liturgy schedule has long included Mass times that are accessible to morning commuters and workers' lunch hour.

 

For two decades the Hispanic Apostolate of the Albany Diocese sponsored sacramental ministry to the growing Spanish speaking community at St. Anthony's. The former school now houses the Roarke Center, a comprehensive outreach center for people in crisis run by Daughters of Charity of St. Vincent de Paul.

 

Four perpetual novenas are observed weekly. The St. Anthony novena has continued uninterruptedly since 1925 and Our Lady of Lourdes since 1944. Devotions to St. Jude & St. Anne are also now observed.

 

The patronal feast of St. Anthony is still observed with the blessing and distribution of bread. For the last several years the feast of St. Francis has been observed with a Mass with the animals and a blessing to follow. 

 

In 2007, the Third Order Secular Franciscans, St. Louis Fraternity (English), having undergone a change in leadership, were invited to move to St. Anthony's Church in Schenectady, NY. Some members made the move. Others united with the St. Bernardine Confraternity at Siena College, administered by the O.F.M., Holy Name Province. The St. Elizabeth Fraternity (Italian) survives as a faithful remnant of a few persons. Clergy of the O.F.M. Province of the Holy Name Province and O.F.M. Conventual Province of the Immaculate Conception have been true friends of the parish in recent years.

 

In 2004, Fr. Mario Julian, OFM was received as pastor. Fr. Julian is a son of the parish and was ordained in the same sanctuary where he now serves. He is assisted by Brother Philip Hira, O.F.M.

 

In 2009, The Most Reverend Howard Hubbard, Bishop of Albany, decreed that St. Anthony's Parish status was altered from that of a personal parish and constituted as a territorial parish. 

GUATEMALA - Friar Michael Della Penna took the following photos from the Way of the Cross dramatically enacted by the children at Valle de los Angeles:

JESUS CARRIES HIS CROSS  

 JESUS GREETS THE WOMEN OF JERUSALEM 

 JESUS CARRIES THE CROSS

 THE CRUCIFIXION

 THE PIETA 

 THE RESURRECTED CHRIST

PULASKI, Wis. - General Minister Fr. José Rodríguez Carballo, OFM, has appointed Provincial Vicar of the Holy Name Province, Friar Dominic Monti, OFM, General Visitor of Assumption BVM Province, based here.

"We are blessed to have someone like Dominic to serve are our visitator," said Fr. Leslie Hoppe, OFM, Provincial Minister of Assumption, in an annnouncement in the March 30 issue of Assumption's Provincial Newsletter.

 

"We are grateful to John O'Connor, OFM, the Minister of the Holy Name Province, for making it possible for Dominic to render this service," he said.

As the General Visitor, Dominic will meet individually with all friars from Assumption Province during fall 2010 and early 2011 and serve as President of the Province's May 2011 Chapter.

In 2002, he was elected to the council of Holy Name Province and became Provincial Vicar in 2005.

ALLEGANY, N.Y. - St. Bonaventure University announced last month that its School of Franciscan Studies, the teaching component of the Franciscan Institute, is suspending new enrollments in the master of arts program taught during the academic year.

The summer session, which features master's degree offerings in addition to an Advanced Certificate Program and general orientation courses, will continue to be offered, according to a March 19 news release from SBU.
Faculty in the school and Franciscan Institute, founded in 1939, concluded through program assessment that the M.A. in Franciscan Studies was not generating enough enrollment to be viable beyond the 2010-2011 academic year.

Students already enrolled in the master's program will be able to complete their degrees. By virtue of current endowments and gift funds, the university said it is committed to continue the salaried positions of current tenured faculty while a transition to new programs and goals is taking place.

"To see a program that has educated in the Franciscan tradition so many friars, sisters and laity from North America and across the world coming to an end - at least for now - is, of course, very sad," said Fr. Michael Cusato, OFM, director of the Franciscan Institute and dean of the School of Franciscan Studies.

 

The declining enrollment of Franciscan vocations in the United States and the fact that "most of our international students come to us scholarship-dependent has forced the institute and the university to face certain inescapable financial realities," said Fr. Michael.

"It would appear that the Franciscan Institute is at a crossroads in its history," said Provincial Minister John O'Connor, OFM. "The status of the Franciscan Institute will be discussed at the April meeting of the OFM English-speaking Conference."

"Conversations have begun, focused on new programs and directions for the institute," said John, who will be participating in the ESC meeting April 11 to 16 in Ireland. "We, Holy Name Province, will closely monitor those discussions and help in any way necessary to ensure the future of the Franciscan Institute and the important role it has in the ongoing life of the ESC and the Order."

"While it is difficult to suspend a program that has produced so much good for the Franciscans of this era, the university must now aggressively seek ways to expand the institute's reach and resources. We are equal to that task and welcome the opportunity it provides," said Sr. Margaret Carney, OSF, SBU president and former director of the institute, said in a letter to FI students, alumni donors and others.

"This period through the end of the 2011 academic year will allow time to plan for the teaching program's future," said Sr. Margaret. "The institute remains a vital and critical resource for Franciscan scholarship, and we have no intentions of abandoning that commitment. Our board of trustees joins me in assuring members of the Franciscan order that this commitment is not subject to cancellation."

The university is embarking on a planning process to determine how the programs of the school of Franciscan Studies can be developed for future needs.

 

This story originally appeared in the March 31 issue of HNP Today, newsletter of the Holy Name Province.