Our brothers Phil White, OFM Cap., and Patrick Monahan, OFM Cap., were ordained in June, and while they were ordained "worlds apart," they could not be more united in our Capuchin brotherhood.
Br. Philip had served his Diaconate internship at Our Lady of the Mountains parish in Cumberland, MD, while our Br. Patrick served as a deacon in the missions of our Custody in Papua New Guinea. Both friars had a large turnout of local friars, though Patrick's family could not quite make the trans-continental journey - but the villagers traveled miles for the event at the Cathedral in Mendi, SHP, in PNG.
Phil's Ordination went on without a hitch on June 2nd. The Provincial mentioned that it was an honor and joy to have our brother bishop Bill Fey, OFM Cap., present as the ordaining prelate, and you can tell from the photos published by our Br. Matt Hindelang that Bill, who serves as bishop of the Kimbe in PNG, was honored to be home and "do the honors."
Meanwhile, we received more photos from friar Manuel Avilés, OFM Cap., who serves in our Custody of Puerto Rico, but took the time and trouble to travel to Papua New Guineas for Patrick's celebration:
"I am back in the States, and I am finally able to send you some pictures from Patrick’s first Mass. It was a blessings to be with my classmate and see the impressive ministry that our brothers do in PNG. The choir was from the medical school that our brother Thomas Choi directs. The day after Patrick’s first Mass we drove several hours and then walked over two hours to get an outstation to celebrate Pentecost at Williame in the diocese of Mendi." (And we imagine that Br. Thomas was a big promotor of Croatia in the World Cup!)
