A 49-year old Dubliner is the new head of the Irish province of the Franciscan Friars. Fr Hugh McKenna was selected as Minister Provincial at a congress attended by 90 friars from Ireland, Zimbabwe, Rome and Belgium, who came together for a week of prayer, reflection and planning for the future.
A native of Foxrock in Dublin, Fr McKenna was educated in the Franciscan College, Gormanston, entered the Order in 1979 and was ordained in 1989.
Currently Guardian in Ennis Friary where he has spent the last three years, he has served in a variety of ministries, including in friaries in Galway and Killarney, as Formation Director in St Isidore's College, Rome and as Vicar Provincial for the past five years.
Fr McKenna described his appointment as “a great honour and a privilege for me” and noted that he is following in the footsteps of Fr Caoimhín Ó Laoide who was also a former Guardian of Ennis Friary.
He said the Franciscans had discussed the need to look at new directions in ministries at their meeting and this would be one of the challenges he had to lead them through over the next six years.
“In all our friaries, we have the traditional ministries of working in the church, confessions, things like that,” he said.
“There was a strong sense that we need to free up people to go into new areas where there are new needs, such as working with the youth and working with adult faith formation,” Fr McKenna revealed.
He said that in some towns, “there would be more urgent need with working with the marginalised and there is a sense that we need to reach out to them.”
This included, “working with people who are being described as the new poor, those who are finding it so difficult because of the recession and they very often get left out of the loop,” he added.
The Franciscans also had discussed the need for friars to get involved with adult faith formation, Fr McKenna went on.
“There is a sense that there is a whole generation, or a couple of generations out there who after they left school haven’t really had an opportunity to deepen their knowledge of their faith and that’s something we as Franciscans are hoping to work on over the next three years.”
“I would like to take an active role in encouraging and promoting this and helping out in any way I can.”
Fr McKenna revealed he would be responsible for 135 friars in the Irish province of the congregation.
“My main ministry will be to them, looking after them and making sure that things are going well for them and providing leadership for the entire province of friars, of what are we going to be doing over the next three years and addressing any challenges that arise.”
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