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GALVESTON, TEXAS - The Provincial Ministers and Custodes of the English Speaking Conference held their annual Spring meeting at St. Patrick Church, part of Holy Family Parish, a ministry of St. John the Baptist Province from April 4-8, 2016.
Conference members welcomed several new Provincial Ministers to the meeting. Among the newly elected were Provincial Minister David Gaa, OFM (St. Barbara Province, USA), Provincial Minister Algirdas Malakauskas, OFM (St. Casimir Province, Lithuania), and Provincial Minister Robert Mokry, OFM (Christ the King Province, Western Canada).
The Spring meeting also marked the final meeting of Provincial Ministers Primo Piscitello, OFM (Immaculate Conception Province, USA), and Paul Smith, OFM (Holy Spirit Province, Australia), both of whom are completing terms of office.
During the meeting, the Provincial Ministers and Custodes of the United States, Canada, and Europe each met separately in sub-conference to discuss matters relevant to their regions.
The Canadian members discussed the process of reconfiguration currently underway there. The members of the European Sub-Conference also met to discuss their plan to establish an Interprovincial Novitiate for Northern Europe. The new novitiate will be located in Killarney, Ireland, and anticipates welcoming its first class of novices in 2017. Participating in this new endeavor will be novices from Ireland, Great Britain, Germany and Netherlands.
The U.S. Sub-Conference met to discuss the on-going conversation about reconfiguration of the seven U.S. Provinces, the approval of a National Common Admissions Policy, and the approval of Friar Michael Blastic, OFM (Holy Name Province) as the new member to the Interprovincial Novitiate Team. They also discussed the selection of a new Novice Master. However, the ministers have sought the input of the novitiate team before making this decision.
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