Friar Lucjan BOGUCKI (53) was elected the new Custos of the Conventual Franciscan Provincial Custody of the Immaculate Conception of the B.V.M. in Slovakia.
Friar Lucjan was born on January 2, 1966, in Piwniczna, Poland. He entered the Order in 1984, and five years later, made his solemn profession on December 8, 1989. He was ordained a priest on June 22, 1991. When the Custody was established in 2003, he was elected its first Superior. Since 2017, he has been the Guardian of the friary of St. Peter in the Vatican, also known as the community of the Vatican College of Minor Penitentiaries.
On July 8-11, 2019, the Provincial Custody of Slovakia, which chose the Immaculate Virgin Mary as its patron saint, celebrated its fifth Ordinary Custodial Chapter. This young religious Jurisdiction is the offspring of the Province of St. Anthony and of Blessed James of Strepar in Poland (Cracow). The Custody gathered all of its religious together in Chapter to evaluate the last four years and to elect a new Custos and his Definitory.
This special meeting of the friars took place in the friary in Brehov, Slovakia. It began with Mass presided over by Friar Marian GOŁĄB, the Minister Provincial of the Mother Province of Cracow.
As the meeting got underway, the Chapter President, together with the friars, elected Friar Tomasz VLČEK as the Chapter Secretary. Then the presidents of the various commissions were elected to coordinate the work of the Chapter and to review the Custody’s most important areas of activity.
In the first part of the Chapter, the Minister Provincial, Friar Marian GOŁĄB and the outgoing Custos, Friar Tomasz LESŇK, presented their reports concerning the canonical visitations that had been carried out. The friars also heard the report of the Custodial Econom, Friar Peter GALLIK, and reports from the directors of various activities: the formation of young friars, the Militia of the Immaculata, vocation and youth ministry, the Secular Franciscan Order, the development of the cult of the Martyrs Stefan INGLOD and Companions, and the “St. Francis House” which concerns those with alcohol addiction.
Discussions on the reports were distilled into a document giving an evaluation of the last four years. The text was worked on and presented in the Chapter auditorium and after a few corrections, was voted on and approved.
Friars Jacek MICHNO and Jan M. SZEWEK
