CURIA | Friars and Secular Priests Meet for International Assembly of the Priestly Fraternities

From 22-26 February 2016, 16 secular priests and 15 friars gathered together at the Casa del Pellegrino in Rome for the International Meeting of Representatives of Priestly Fraternities of St. Dominic. The assembly aimed to respond to the request of the recent General Chapter of Rome concerning the revision of the Rule of the fraternities, which has remained unchanged since its approval ad experimentum in 1972, and the subsequent definitive approval by the Congregation for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life on 3 December 1996.

As of recent inquiries into the status of the fraternities in the Order, there are a total of 303 members in 12 countries, which include 11 organized fraternities and emerging groups from 9 Provinces, with 7 more Provinces having individual members without established local fraternities. For the assembly in Rome, the participants represented the following:

Europe

SPAIN. Fraternidad Sacerdotal de Santo Domingo en España

1. JORGE RODRÍGUEZ PÉREZ (Gran Canaria)

2. MANUEL RODRÍGUEZ CALERO (Madrid)

3. FRANCISCO J. RODRÍGUEZ FASSIO, OP

TOULOUSE, FranceFraternité Bienheureux-Bertrand-De-Garrigues

1. PHILIPPE JULLIEN (Nîmes)

2. SERGE MAUCQ (Malines­Bruxelles)

Fraternité Saint-Marie Madeleine

1. ETIENNE DUMOULIN (Versailles)

FRANCE. Fraternité Sacerdotale Saint-Augustin

1. JESPER FICH (Copenhagen)

ST. DOMINIC, Italy. Fraternita Domenicana dell'Annunciazione

1. CESARE SILVA (Vigevano)

ST. CATHERINE OF SIENA, Italy

1. ENNIO GROSSI (Avezzano)

2. ANTONIO COCOLICCHIO, OP

ST. THOMAS AQUINAS, Italy

1. GERARDO PERILLO (Salerno)

2. FRANCESCO LA VECCHIA, OP

ENGLAND. Priestly Fraternity of Our Lady of the Rosary

1. JOHN JOSEPH SAWARD (Birmingham)

2. SIMON FRANCIS GAINE, OP

BOHEMIA, Czech Republic. Fraternitas Presbyterorum et Diaconorum S. Dominici

1. VLADIMÍR SLÁMEČKA (Hradec Králové)

2. TOMÁŠ KLÍČ (Olomouc)

3. MARTIN DVOŘÁK, OP

North America

ST. ALBERT THE GREAT, USA

1. THOMAS MCDERMOTT OP

CANADA

1. MATTHEW ANTHONY HYSELL (Edmonton)

Asia-Pacific

ASSUMPTION OF THE BVM, Australia

1. RON PETERS (Wollongong)

PHILIPPINES. Dominican Clerical Fraternity of the Philippines

1. CARLO DEL ROSARIO (Manila)

2. ROMUALDO CABANATAN JR, OP

INDIA

1. DANIEL SAMPATH VEIGAS, OP

Latin America

ST. AUGUSTINE, Argentina

1. PABLO CARLOS SICOULY, OP

ST. LOUIS BERTRAND, Colombia

1. ISMAEL FERNÁNDEZ TORRES, OP

2. RAFAEL GONZÁLEZ PADRÓ, OP

ST. CATHERINE OF SIENA, Ecuador

1. JONNY FRANCE ZOZORANGA, OP

OUR LADY OF THE ROSARY, Vicariate of Venezuela

1. MANUEL EDUARDO SOLÓRZANO ZERPA, OP

BOLIVIA

1. JHONNY LUJÁN, OP

Africa

ST. JOSEPH THE WORKER, Nigeria

1. RAY-MARIA UMOH (Uyo)

2. CHARLES EMEKA UKWE, OP

In the 2013 General Chapter of Trogir, a petition was made for the Prior Provincials to accompany the members of the priestly fraternities affiliated with their Province, and for the same superiors to name a friar to help form the fraternities, if the conditions so require. It also presented a question on the possibility of considering the priestly fraternities as an alternative means of the contribution of the Order to the parish ministry. Furthermore, the Master has organized an International Board of the Dominican Family, which annually brings together representatives from members of the Dominican Family, including one for the priestly fraternities. Following these developments, the Order continues to take into account the specific form of life of a diocesan priest so as to further strengthen the fraternities as a branch of the Order.

Click here to download the Acts of the International Assembly.

fr. Florentino A. Bolo Jr., OP

International Coordinator for the Priestly Fraternities of the Order