Habemus Ministrum Generalem
Br. Michael A. Perry, OFM re-elected General Minister of the Order
DOMUS PACIS, ASSISI - In a morning full of ritual, ceremony and the 800 year history of the Order of Friars Minor, the 126 voting members of the General Chapter re-elected Br. Michael Anthony Perry, OFM to become the 120th General Minister of the Order of Friars Minor and Successor of St. Francis of Assisi.
The day began early with Holy Mass at the high altar
behind the chapel of the Portiuncula in the Basilica of Santa Maria degli Angeli. Papal Delegate Cardinal Francisco Javier Err?zuriz Ossa presided at the liturgy which was also attended by many interested religious and lay people from the area.
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| Papal Delegate Cardinal Francisco Javier Err?zuriz Ossa celebrating the Mass of election. |
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| General Minister Michael Perry, OFM, in prayer during the Mass. |
In his homily, Cardinal Ossa encouraged the friars, "You want to assume the guidance of the Holy Spirit, as well as accompany and encourage others with the direction that the Holy Spirit wants to take with you in history, to promote a new relationship with creation and with material goods, so that our peoples may have life in Christ.
We ask for the new General Minister and his Definitorium the grace of Peter's obedience and audacity, to recognize the new paths that God continues to open in our day, whether they come from the past or they reveal new gifts of God to humanity, gifts coming from a more radical living of the Gospel."
Following the Mass, the first order of business for the day was the election of the General Minister. As the morning session opened at 9:00 a.m., General Secretary of the Chapter Br. William Short, OFM (SB) outlined the morning for the Capitulars and all non-voting friars present were then invited to leave the Chapter halls and the doors were closed. According to the schedule, oaths were then taken by all those involved. Br. Michael Perry then handed the Seal of the Order over to the Papal Delegate and the vote ensued.
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| In the Chapter Hall the Papal Delegate Cardinal Francisco Javier Err?zuriz Ossa presided over the election. |
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| General Minister Michael Perry, OFM, during the election. |
Br. Michael was overwhelmingly re-elected as the 120th General Minister of the Order on the first ballot. The vote totals were as follows:
- Br. Michael A. Perry, OFM (Sacred Heart, USA): 109 votes
- Br. Francesco Patton, OFM (San Virgilio, Trent): 10 votes
- Br. Pierbattista Pizzaballa, OFM (Custody of the Holy Land): 2
- Br. Julio Bunader, OFM (Assumption BVM, Argentina): 1
There were a total of 126 voters. Four blank ballots were cast.
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| General Minister Michael Perry, OFM, being congratulated following his election. |
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| The Papal Delegate offers a fraternal embrace to Br. Michael following his re-election as General Minister. |
Once the Chapter doors were re-opened, the Chapter Secretary confirmed the election results to the sustained applause of the friars, who then began to immediately gather for the solemn procession from the Chapter Hall to Santa Maria degli Angeli and the Chapel of the Portiuncula. As they stepped from the Domus Pacis, the bells of the Basilica filled the Italian countryside informing the friars, residents, visitors and friends of St. Francis that we have elected a General Minister:
Habemus Ministrum Generalem!
The friars in simple but solemn ritual processed to the Portiuncula where the newly re-elected General Minister made the requisite professions of faith and accept his office standing in the Chapel's entrance.
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| As he processed into the Basilica, the newly re-elected General Minister was greeted by a group of children who gave him flowers. The General Minister stopped briefly to speak with them. |
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| The Chapter friars gather in a circle around the newly re-elected General Minister who makes his profession of faith in the archway of the Portiuncula Chapel. |
Following the profession of faith, each of the friars processed into the Chapel and offered the General Minister their greeting, an embrace, and the sign of peace, in a joyful procession that continued for some time.
The prayerful celebration ended on the high altar behind the Portiuncula with a few brief words of Br. Michael and as he extended the Blessing of St. Francis over the friars. Br. Michael said, "We give thanks today not for an election, not for a General Minister, but because God is faithful, because God forgives, because our God has promised to be with us, the poor brothers, the friars minor. This is for what we give thanks."
After a brief break, the friars of the Chapter enjoyed lunch at the Proto-Convento, the friary of the Basilica. It was a joyous celebration in one of the earliest friaries of the Order. The friars prepared a delicious meal and the lunch concluded with a song by Friar Alessandro, a friar of the Assisi Province who has received great notice for his beautiful singing.
Br. Michael Anthony Perry, OFM, was born June 7, 1954 in Indianapolis, Indiana, the son of James Richard Perry and Agnes J. Coffey, both of Irish origin. In 1976 he began his Postulancy in the Province of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus (St. Louis, MO). On June 25, 1977, he received the Franciscan habit, beginning his novitiate, at the end of which he made his Temporary Profession on the Feast Day of St. Clare, August 11, 1978. After making his Solemn Profession on October 10, 1981, he was ordained a priest on June 2, 1984.
Br. Michael received two Bachelor of Arts' degrees in History and Philosophy, a Master of Divinity, a Master in Missiology and a Doctorate in Religious Anthropology, obtained from Birmingham University in the United Kingdom. His intense interest for the missions ad gentes brought him to live as a missionary for about 10 years in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (formerly Zaire).
He served in religious and theological formation and in Justice, Peace and the Integrity of Creation ministry. Returning from Africa to the U.S., he worked with Franciscans International, with Catholic Relief Services and with the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops.
Br. Michael was elected Provincial Minister of Sacred Heart Province in 2008. He was then elected as Vicar General of the Order during the last General Chapter of 2009. On May 22, 2013 he assumed the service of General Minister to complete the six-year term vacated by Archbishop Jose Rodriguez Carballo who was elevated to the episcopacy at that time. Today, on May 21, 2015 the General Chapter currently in session elected him as the 120th successor of St. Francis. Congratulations to our Brother Michael, General Minister of the Order of Friars Minor!
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