FRANCISCAN FRIARS OF THE RENEWAL
PIONEER DAYS

by Fr. Benedict J. Groeschel, C.F.R.

As this first issue of Grayfriar News goes to the printer it would be very satisfying if we could announce that our canonical status as a religious community has been ratified. It may be by the time we get this newsletter out because we are very close to being established as a "Public Association of the Faithful" by John Cardinal O'Connor, Archbishop of New York. But this has yet to be finalized. This is the story which will soon become, we trust, a bit of history.

In April 1987 eight solemnly professed Capuchin friars and one seminarian who had already withdrawn for this purpose petitioned the Archbishop of New York to become an "Association of the Faithful" which is shorthand for a provisional religious community. We moved into the closed church of St. Adelbert in the South Bronx and opened St. Crispin Friary named after a Capuchin brother who was the first saint canonized by Pope John Paul II. We chose this patron for our first home because he symbolized many things which we hold to be of critical importance in the Church today. St. Crispin was a devoted follower of St. Francis, who lived among the poor and loved them. He was a man of prayer deeply devoted to Christ, especially as He is present to us in the Holy Eucharist, to Our Lady, and he was a Catholic to the core. He was also a reformer and wrote some very strong, incisive letters to prelates, clergy and laity calling for personal and ecclesial reforms. We discovered that Pope John Paul II, whom we vastly admire, loved this salty old brother who matched his tough words with his own austere and dedicated life.

During our first year at St. Crispin we opened the Padre Pio Shelter for the homeless, the beginning of what we hope to be an array of services to the poor and destitute. We moved into our other chosen apostolate of evangelization by giving parish missions and retreats on personal reform. During this year we were joined at St. Adalbert's Convent by Sister Theresa May and several women postulants who intend to start a parallel community of Franciscan Sisters of the Renewal

In October 1988 we made a pilgrimage to Rome and Assisi to obtain the blessing of the Holy Father and to deepen our knowledge of St. Francis and St Clare. At that time the friar's were received very graciously by Jerome Cardinal Hamer, Prefect of the Congregation of Religious, and were requested to try to remain as a reform custody of the Capuchin Order. The Cardinal suggested that the original offer that had been made to us by the Capuchin superiors to establish an independent house be expanded so that we could have our own formation program and remain in New York. During the rest of the year friendly negotiations proceeded with the Order through the good offices of Bishop Sean O'Malley, OFM Cap., of the Virgin Islands, who was delegated by the Congregation to work out a compromise agreement. In October of this year Bishop O'Malley and I journeyed to Rome together. We met with the general superiors and worked out a possible compromise which would have enabled us to retain our two locations in the Bronx and then expand into another diocese where there were no Capuchin houses. We could ask for more territory in five years. Although this agreement was quite restrictive to us we were willing to try. Father General was favorable to this compromise but wished that it be ratified by the North American Capuchin Conference. However, the conference rejected the proposed agreement at its semi-annual meeting. They feared, I believe, that it might lead to strained relations and ongoing misunderstanding. They reiterated an earlier proposal which we had rejected, namely, that we establish a jurisdiction in a diocese where there were no Capuchins. Our friars and our advisers all believed that this propose would endanger the reform because it would terminate all the work which we had started in the Bronx. Our new shelter, our support for our community of sisters, and our commitment to work in the New York Archdiocese would be terminated. Thus, despite sincere and diligent negotiations done in good will by all, we arrived at an impasse. No really feasible solution could be reached. I think that I can speak for all when I say that we ended regretfully with no hard feelings.

The friars of our community immediately applied for dispensations from our commitment to the Order. As soon these are received from the Congregation we will make perpetual private vows as members of the Community of Franciscan Friars of the Renewal, a Public Association of the Faithful under the jurisdiction of the Archbishop of New York. Cardinal O'Connor never at any time withdrew this invitation although he encouraged us to follow the request of the congregation to try to remain in the Capuchin Order.

Our first two and a half years have been blessed with many graces and many friends. This first issue of Grayfriar News will gratefully record some of these graces and the work the Lord is doing through us. Please pray for our little reform so that we may remain faithful to our goal of living out the Rule and Testament of St. Francis in their austere simplicity. Pray that we may effectively, by word and example, follow the Gospel and preach enthusiastic loyalty to the Catholic Faith, to the Church and to the Vicar of Christ, and that we may encourage preeminent devotion to the Eucharistic Presence of Christ and love for the Blessed Virgin Mary and the Saints. As painful as all these months of struggle have been, the eighteen brothers and sisters of our renewal have discovered new meaning in the words of Our Lord: Do not be afraid, I will be with you.