From June 11-15, 2018, the Capitular friars of the Province of St. Joseph of Cupertino, California, USA, met in Castro Valley for the second part of their Ordinary Provincial Chapter.
Delegates from the Province, and from its Provincial Delegation in Vietnam, were present. The friars discussed their Four- Year Plan extensively. A major part of the Plan was the fulfillment of the Province’s commitment to continue to foster the development of the Delegation in Vietnam. The Chapter, in fact, approved the construction of a new postulancy house in Cu Chi (Ho Chi Minh City). They also made a significant grant of Province funds to facilitate the building project.
The Chapter discussed the establishment of a Marian house at the St. Maximilian Kolbe Friary in Castro Valley and encouraged the friars there to develop a definition of the life style that this would entail.
Friar John HEINZ was selected as the Province Econom.
Two teams of vocation promoters were established to address the needs of this program, both geographically and ethnically. The Chapter approved the suppression of one friary in Reno, Nevada, and the establishment of two new friaries (one at the Our Lady of Grace parish in Castro Valley and the other in Van Mon, Vietnam). They also approved the establishment of an ad hoc commission, along with the Provinces of Our Lady of Consolation and St. Bonaventure, to explore how they might collaborate more in these coming years.
Friar Jude WINKLER, Assistant General for the Conventual Franciscan Federation (CFF)
