The Provincial Chapter of the Neapolitan Province was held from August 31 until September 3, 2026, in the Oasi Francescana De Lilla Center (Bari, Italy)

The Prior General, Desiderio García Martínez, O. Carm., in his homily at the opening Eucharist, reminded the participants that our faith is not based on human intelligence, but on the wisdom of God. (la nostra fede non si fonda sull'intelligenza umana, ma sulla sapienza di Dio) He said, “We must certainly be intelligent witnesses of the Gospel, but Jesus reminds us that intelligence, according to human logic, alone is not enough.” (Dobbiamo certamente essere testimoni intelligenti del Vangelo, ma Gesù ci ricorda che l'intelligenza secondo la logica umana, da sola, non basta.)

While acknowledging the obvious challenges that the province faces, the outgoing prior provincial, Cosimo Pagliara,  O. Carm., said that the life of the province (founded in 1379) is rich in having a great history and still has fertile resources for the future. (ricca di una grande storia (1379) e ancora ha feconde risorse per il futuro.)  The originality of living the Carmelite charism among the people of Southern Italy must never be lacking. 

The theme of the chapter was I Have Plans of Peace for You and Not of Misfortune for a Future Full of Hope (cf. Jeremiah 29:11) – Young People and Interculturality: A Challenge for Carmel.” (Ho per voi progetti di pace e non di sventura per un futuro pieno di speranza (cfr. Geremia 29,11) Giovani e interculturalità: una sfida per il Carmelo.)

Don Riccardo Pincerato (head of Italy’s National Service for Youth Ministry) spent an afternoon in dialogue with the chapter. He reminded the participants that too often young people are seen as the objects of our ministry and not as the subjects themselves who say something to us about God. Instead of trying to answer the question, “What must I do for the young?” instead each person needs to answer the question, “Who am I for the young?” Our youth ministry is about ensuring that young people become adult Christians (and not about creating projects of events). The challenge is to create communities that welcome young people. 

Dominic Praveen Lawrence, O. Carm., (who until his election as Commissary General in India had been the prior and rector of the Shrine of Maria Santissima di Campiglione, Caivano, Naples) gave a presentation to the chapter on Internationality and Interculturality. Interculturality does not happen through great meetings or events but through the actions and routines of daily life. He observed that not only was he welcomed but he was valued and given co-responsibility. Interculturality is not just a sociological action but also places Christ at the center which is especially important for Carmelites being brothers called by the same Lord.  

Bency Varghese, O. Carm., also gave a presentation to the chapter on Interculturality. He observed how welcomed he was into the province. Interculturality is now an essential part of our religious life which is not just about living together but living in communion. He noted that just because people eat, work and pray together does not mean that they have authentic interculturality. There is always the risk of ethno-centrism: thinking of one’s own culture as being the right culture and using it to judge other cultures. Communion and true interculturality does not come about by hosting people in a province or in a community. 

During the chapter, the participants made a visit to the Basilica of St Nicholas in Bari which contains the relics of Saint Nicholas. The Dominicans have had responsibility as custodians of this important shrine for over 70 years. Emmanuel Albano, OP, spent time with the participants explaining the importance of the shrine especially as a center of ecumenism. It is a place which has succeeded in bringing all Christians together. A very special moment was our moment of prayer together at the relics, led by the prior general, Desiderio García Martínez, O. Carm.

During the chapter, the following were elected to be the government of the province for the next three years:

Prior Provincial: Cosimo Pagliara, O. Carm.
First Councilor: Nicola Barbarello, O. Carm.
Second Councilor: Milosz Mazewski, O. Carm.
Third Councilor: Bency Varghese, O. Carm.
Fourth Councilor: Aureliano Pacciolla, O. Carm.

From the Archives and General Library of the Carmelite Order

Our archives contain correspondence between Father Luigi Laghi, who was prior general of the Carmelites from 1742 to 1756, and the subprior of Traspontina in Rome, Father Avertano Bevilacqua. This correspondence provides valuable and entertaining information on culinary and medicinal recipes popular in the 18th century, which Laghi was particularly fond of. 

In one of the letters, dated February 12, 1758, Laghi writes from the convent in Forlì, in the province of Romagna-Marche, and asks Bevilacqua to send him a basket containing eighty or one hundred pounds (i.e., 35-45 kg) of macaroni, of the kind usually eaten at the Traspontina monastery, but which are “truly from Naples, and not from Rome!” [AGOC, II Rome (Tr.) 118.1.1., Bevilacqua file, Correspondence received 1958].

At the time, the term “maccheroni” was used to generically define dry durum wheat pasta, without reference to a specific shape (spaghetti, vermicelli, short pasta, hollow pasta, etc.). This product, which became typical of Mediterranean cuisine, was very successful in Bourbon Naples and was exported from the Neapolitan capital throughout pre-unification Italy. The Neapolitans themselves were called “mangiamaccheroni” (macaroni eaters), a nickname that was later extended as a stereotype to Italians who had emigrated abroad. In the 18th century, the streets of Naples were teeming with trattorias and street vendors selling pasta with tomato sauce, which was also eaten on the street as takeaway food, and local producers formed a special guild of “vermicellari” to protect their economic interests.

Father Laghi's request certainly reflects the gluttony of the former general, already famous for his passion for chocolate, but it also testifies to Naples' primacy in the production of dry pasta, especially in terms of quality.

The document is preserved in the ‘S. Maria in Traspontina’ section of the AGOC and has been catalogued in the volume Santa Maria in Traspontina. La vita di una comunità carmelitana attraverso le carte d'archivio. Inventario del fondo, edited by Jacopo De Santis, Rome, Edizioni Carmelitane (Collana Subsidia Archivi Carmelitarum), 2023.

More information about the book is available at edizionicarmelitane.org

Below we share some videos sent in from Carmelite communities and ministries from various part of the world.

We wish you the very a very blessed Christmas and a New Year filled with God’s rich blessings.

The celebration of the solemnity of Our Lady of Mount Carmel at Bobo Dioulassou, Burkina Faso began with a procession at 1700hrs and finished with Mass which ended at 2100hrs followed by a meal for all attendees.

On August 15, 2020, the Solemnity of the Assumption of  Mary, the episcopal ordination of  Msgr. Luis Francisco Miranda Rivera, O. Carm., Bishop of the Diocese of Yunque, Fajardo-Humacao, was celebrated at 10:00 a.m.

Due to the impact of the Coronavirus COVID-19 pandemic, and to respect the measures established by the health authorities, the consecration was held at the Marcelo Trujillo Panisse Coliseum in Humacao.

Msgr. Roberto Octavio González Nieves, Metropolitan Archbishop of San Juan, presided over the episcopal ordination. Msgr. Ghaleb Moussa Abdallah Bader, Apostolic Delegate for Puerto Rico, read the apostolic mandate of His Holiness Pope Francis.

Bishop Eusebio Ramos, Apostolic Administrator of the Diocese of Fajardo-Humacao, was in charge of introducing those attending the celebration: the Episcopal College of Puerto Rico, the civil authorities, as well as the presence of the Carmelite Order, represented by Fr. Jorge Luis Rivera Maldonado, O.Carm., Commissary of the Antilles, who read, on behalf of the entire Order, the congratulations of the Prior General, Fr. Míceál O'Neill, O.Carm.

The parish Carmelite communities of Añasco, Mayagüez, Ciales, Morovis, Santa Teresita and the Luis Llorens Torres Residential Home, actively participated in the celebration.

The new bishop requested, in his final address, the apostolic zeal of the prophet Elijah to accompany the diocese (cf. 1 Kings 19,7-8), and he made mention of his 40th anniversary of consecrated life in the Carmelite Order and the jubilee of the first centenary of the presence of the Carmelite friars in Puerto Rico.

He invited all those present to be a "Church which goes out", ready to work in evangelization, and, by its apostolic communion, to make the Kingdom of God visible. He pointed out that he dreams of a united diocese, where everyone feels integrated, and in which each one, in his or her particular vocation (laity, religious and diocesan clergy) helps the growth of the People of God. As a challenge, he underlined his desire to serve and to listen to everyone, to found a contemplative feminine Carmel in the Diocese, to extend the communities of the TOC, to promote the domestic church, and to work, through a spirituality of communion, with the ecumenical movement of  Puerto Rico.

On August 12, 2020, the canonical recognition of the special relics of St. Angelo of Jerusalem will take place in the Cathedral of Agrigento. The celebration will begin at 9.30 am and will be presided over by the Archbishop of Agrigento, Card. Francesco Montenegro. The pilgrimage of the relics will follow, placed in the new plexiglass urn, in the town of Sant'Angelo Muxaro, where Holy Mass will be celebrated at 11.30. At 5.00 pm the relics will be transported to Palma di Montechiaro, for a short tribute to the Saint in front of the church of the same name and, subsequently, they will arrive in the Sanctuary of S. Angelo in Licata. Solemn Holy Mass will be celebrated at 8.00 pm, presided over by the Prior General, Fr. Míceál O'Neill, O.Carm.

All the celebrations will be streamed  live on the Facebook page "Ottavo centenario Sant'Angelo" (https://www.facebook.com/OttavoCentenarioSantAngelo)

P. Roger Bonneau, (PCM)
11-07-20
Ortus: 13-01-33
P. Temp.: 26-08-54
P. Soll.: 26-08-57
Ord.: 04-06-60

Fr. Jan Tibben, (Neer)
11-07-20
Ortus: 16-07-36
P. Temp.: 18-07-55
P. Soll.: 18-07-58

Sr. M. Mercedes Martín Gómez, (VDA)
15-07-20
Ortus: 07-10-26
P. Temp.: 17-04-48
P. Soll.: 25-05-52

P. Patrick Harney, (Aust)
17-07-20
Ortus: 26-03-21
P. Temp.: 13-03-47
P. Soll.: 13-03-50
Ord.: 13-01-52

P. Valerian Mercieca, (Mel)
01-08-20
Ortus: 23-04-38
P. Temp.: 09-10-55
P. Soll.: 07-05-59
Ord.: 27-05-61