Great Britain & Ireland: A Summer of Growth

In Great Britain and Ireland, our friars of Our Lady of the Angels’ Custody of Blessed Agnellus of Pisa are known as the Greyfriars.
Our Order’s first presence there began when St. Francis of Assisi sent them to England in 1224. During the English Reformation, our friars loyal to the Holy Father were forced to flee and did not return until the early 20th Century.
Following a month-long Solemn Vow Program in Assisi, Friar Colin Mary EDWARDS (front left), Friar Joe FENTON (center) and Friar Paul Francis Becka (front right) professed their Solemn Vows in the Capuchin Church in Oxford on the 2nd of August 2017, the Feast of Our Lady of the Angels.
The vows were received by the Custos, Friar Peter Damian MESSENGILL (rear right), and among the many celebrating was Friar Miljenko HONTIĆ, the Assistant General for the Central European Federation.
On the Sunday just prior to the Solemn Vow celebration, 30th July 2017 in the Blackfriars Church in Oxford, Friar Gerard Mary TOMAN (front left) and Friar Benedict ABUGU (front right) were ordained to the Transitional Deaconate at the hands of The Right Rev. Malcom McMAHON, OP, Archbishop of Liverpool, along with three of their Dominican classmates.