• 1975-1978 - Associate Pastor of Our Lady of Mt. Carmel, East Boston;
• 1979-1983 - Chaplain of Villa Colombo Home for the Aged and Part-time Associate Pastor, St. Charles Borromeo, Toronto;
• 1983-1985 - Associate Pastor, St. Lawrence Martyr, Scarborough, Ontario;
• 1985-1989 - Associate  Pastor, St. Charles Borromeo, Toronto;
• 1989-1990 - Pastor, St. Lawrence, Scarborough, Ontario;
• 1990-1998 - Pastor, St. Charles Borromeo, Toronto;
• 1995-1998 - Provincial Definitor;
• 1998-1999 - Director of Post-Novitiate Formation, Convento San Francesco, Rome;
• 2000-2001 - Procurator, Formation Team, Convento San Francesco, Rome;
• 2001-2004 - Guardian, Formation Team, Convento San Francesco, Rome;
• 2004-2010 - Guardian and Pastor, St. Leonard, Boston; Provincial Definitor.

Bishop Muldoon, Cardinal Maradiaga, and Bishop Camilleri following the Mass

"For [Fr. Panfilo], Franciscan life - in order to be pastorally relevant -- had to shed its medievalism and its monasticism; and be accommodated/adapted into the new North American context.  And that, for me, is his legacy.  And that, for me, is the unique feature and the unique contribution of our Province to the implantation of our Order in these United States. Always less monastic that most - if not all - of the other provinces and custodies of our country; always more committed than others in parish ministry, always concerned (in the early days with  Italian immigrants, and now with African-Americans, Hispanics and Asians) to bring what Blessed John Baptist Scalabrini, Bishop Scalabrini, called 'the comfort of the Faith and the smile of the homeland'... our friars, with genius and frailty, have for these last 100 years believed and lived Fr. Panfilo's convictions ... accepting his legacy as our modus vivendi."

Friars exit the Church in vestments created specially for the Centenary

"It is not my intention to tell the history of this beloved Province. Others are able to do it much better than I.  For my part, I wish to recall some important dates.  In 1855 a small group of Italian friars arrived in the Diocese of Buffalo at the request of Bishop John Timon, three friars from the province of Abruzzi and one from the Roman Province. On March 1, 1861, the Custody of the Immaculate Conception was erected with 21 brothers. Fr Pamphilus of Magliano was nominated as the first Custos. He was a man conversant in the English language; versed in the teachings of the holy Doctors of the Order, St. Bonaventure and Bl. John  Duns Scotus; a man a great knowledge, profound humility, tireless patience and great apostolic zeal.  The new entity, responding to the pastoral needs of the times, assumed various ministries, particularly parishes, first for Irish and then for Italian Catholics, first in the United States and then in Canada.  It should be remembered also the founding of the College, now St. Bonaventure University, for the formation of youth, especially for those who wished to become friars or diocesan priests, and also other centers of Christian formation.  These newly arrived friars began quickly to minister to the People of God by way of popular missions, in parishes, teaching and with the Secular Franciscan Order.  They overcame many difficulties in these first years, until finally in 1910 the Custody of the Immaculate Conception was erected as a Province with 57 friars.  Today as we celebrate 100 years since the foundation of the Province, I extend my heartfelt best wishes to all its members, particularly to the Minister Provincial and his Definitory.

 

Dear brothers, you have a great history to recount, but also you have before you a great history to construct.  Look to the future, in which the Spirit sends you to do still greater things (VC 110).  This implies a constant effort to recreate our charism, in order to revitalize and inculturate it in the actual situations of our time. In turn this requires: clarity, a vision of the future, evangelical boldness. Clarity to look at the present situation without fear.  Clarity is needed, namely, the capacity of critical judgment which enables us to go beyond the appearance. Clarity is needed which help us to enter into a climate of discernment so as to discover the will of God.  Vision of the future. We can not be satisfied with more or less adequately managing the present moment. Without letting go the present, which is the time that we have at our disposal to live with passion our commitments as Friars Minor; without uprooting ourselves from the past, in which God has written with us a great history; we must therefore look to the future. Our responsibility is great in this sense that we are to prepare for the future with imagination and creativity, to intuitively sense where the Spirit leads us. Boldness.  After having become aware clearly of the present situation, after having a thorough vision of the future, boldness is necessary.  Without boldness and courage, without daring, the waters will remain at a standstill with the risk that in a short time they will become contaminated. In this sense I recall a principle that is very clear for me: He who moves can make a mistake, but he who has not moved is already made a mistake.

St. Anthony Pastor Joseph Lorenzo, OFM; New York Archbishop Timothy Dolan; Archbishop of Tegucigalpa, Cardinal Oscar Andres Rodriguez Maradiaga; General Minister Jose Rodriguez Carballo, OFM; and Provincial Minister Robert Campagna, OFM

Friars gather before the Mass