On August 31, 2024, Brother Simon Lessard made his first vows as a Dominican for the Province of St. Dominic in Canada. He is originally from Quebec City, and is currently “responsible for partnerships” at Magazine Le Verbe, a magazine that aims to ” to bear witness to Christian hope in the media by combining Catholic faith and contemporary culture. ” Congratulations to Brother Simon Lessard.

Homily given by the Prior Provincial on the occasion of the profession of Brother Simon Lessard, o.p.

Dear Simon, in choosing this Gospel, Jesus asks Peter: “Simon, son of John, do you love me? It’s clear to me that this is the heart of your profession of faith, and that you make Simon Peter’s heartfelt cry your own: “You know, Lord, that I love you”. And that you are ready to go wherever he leads you, following in the footsteps of Saint Dominic, whom you have chosen as your road companion.

To fully understand what lies at the heart of Dominican life, we need to contemplate both the Order’s mission and its history, never losing sight of St. Dominic’s apostolic action in the light of his life as recounted by his brothers and sisters. The study of our history and our missions is essential, for Dominic left us no writings other than the first Constitutions of the Order, which he profoundly influenced, and which thus help us to better grasp the zeal that animated him. It was Father Vicaire, a great historian of the Order in the 20th century, who said:

“There are saints, such as Francis of Assisi, whose faces are accessible to all because they appear in so many stories that are as clear and colorful as illuminations. There are others, like Dominic, who are somehow hidden in… the light of his work, which in a way acts as a screen. ^[1]This is the first time that we have ever heard of a ” missionary intuition” from our founder, but which nevertheless speaks to us of his great missionary intuition, which is boundless, outside the narrow confines of the territory of an abbey church, a canon’s priory or even a diocese.

St Dominic was above all a man of the Church, and a rereading of his missionary action only makes sense from this perspective, where Dominic wants to save the Church of Christ from the schisms and heresies that threaten all around her. For Dominic, the world to be saved and the future of the Church are one and the same. This was to profoundly mark the identity of the Order and of all those who would follow in Dominic’s footsteps.

We of the family of Saint Dominic are of the Church, a Church that must constantly convert itself while making itself the servant of all, and this breath that animates our being together is above all apostolic. Dominican life is lived first and foremost in a mission that is defined and recognized by the Church as an extension of that of the Apostles and, by the same token, of Christ. It’s a life that plunges us into the heart of the Church’s mission, because that was the place of Dominic’s passion. Our Dominican life is shaped and forever marked by the compassion that dwelt in Dominic, and that made him moan and weep at night as he prayed: “My God, what will become of sinners?

Our Dominican life is therefore one of urgency for the world, because the good news of Jesus Christ is misunderstood and God’s love is often scorned. This is what makes Dominic’s steps so lively and cheerful, as well as those of all those who live the Gospel in his own way.

That’s why our Dominican life is one in which God must be our all, and concern for our neighbor the heart of all our commitments. This is why we are called to walk with Dominic on the road of itinerancy, “speaking of God or with God”, accepting to go wherever the mission leads us in discernment with our brothers. Our Dominican life does not turn us into monks, but at the same time it is nourished by study, prayer, silence and contemplation, while being supported by a community of brothers that assumes and carries the preaching and mission of each of its members. Dominican life gives us great freedom of action, while at the same time calling us to a profound life of interiority and fraternal relationships.

This life appeals to our freedom in Christ. It doesn’t lock us into narrow frames. It opens us up to creativity, responsibility and the open sea for the good of the mission. The Benedictine Mathieu de Paris, in the 13th century, was indignant when he saw the first Dominicans leaving their convents to go and preach the Gospel on the roads, something quite unheard of in their day. Mathieu de Paris said of the Dominican friars: “They have the universe for a cloister and the ocean for a fence!” And that’s our pride!

That’s why this freedom of ours also implies great trust in others, in the brothers and sisters with whom we journey. “What do you ask for?” asks the Prior Provincial when a brother makes his profession: “God’s mercy and yours,” replies the professed brother. Think of Dominic, who agreed to give pocket money to a brother who refused to leave without money, as he had asked him to do. There’s no authoritarianism here, despite the shifts of certain eras. Trust and fraternal mercy prevail over the law.

And this is a dimension of our Order that has always struck me. Many times I have heard Christians tell me that they have always loved going to confession with the Dominicans because of the fraternal, non-judgmental welcome they found there.

This attitude is very revealing of the fruitful ministry of many of our brothers, for Dominican life implies a positive vision of man and the world, a vision open to God’s grace and mercy, an unfeigned love for every man and woman encountered on the path of mission. Think of Dominique spending the night talking with a Cathar innkeeper. There is certainly no contempt or rejection of the other in Dominic’s attitude when he finds himself with a heretic. Quite the contrary, in fact. His only concern is to save his brother, and in this sense our mission is one of dialogue with the other and with the world.

Simon, eight hundred years ago, Dominic de Guzman, contemplating the distant horizons of Osma and Caleruega where he lived in Spain as a canon, heard the Lord’s call to the distant steppes where those who knew nothing of the good news of Jesus Christ lived, and who were called Cumans. It is this same call that still resonates today for you and for all those who take inspiration from this young Castilian canon, called with him to stand on the frontiers of the great challenges of our world. And if we Dominicans have pitched our tent in Dominic’s garden, it’s because we share a spiritual filiation with his charism as herald of the Good News of Jesus Christ, as well as his ardent compassion for the world. May your commitment to the Order of Preachers through the promise of your vows, dear Simon, give you the grace to continue deepening your call to follow Christ in the manner of Saint Dominic. If you give yourself entirely to it, you’ll find the greatest happiness of all. Jesus Christ’s promise!

Fr. Yves Bériault, o.p. Prior Provincial

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^[1] Preface to Guy Bedouelle’s book Dominique ou la grâce de la parole. Fayard-Mame, 1982. p.7.

On February 3, 2024, the friars of the Province of Switzerland and delegates from the Province of France gathered in Fribourg around the Master of the Order, fr Gerard Francisco Timoner III, OP, to proceed with the suppression of the Province of Switzerland and the erection of the Vicariate of Switzerland of the Province of France.

Following the reading of the decree abolishing the Province of Switzerland and erecting the vicariate, the Provincial of France, Brother Nicolas Tixier, OP, instituted Brother Didier Boillat, OP, as the first Vicar Provincial of the Vicariate of Switzerland. In his bilingual address, Brother Nicolas warmly thanked Brother Benoît-Dominique de la Soujeolle, OP, who had accompanied the Swiss Province in preparing this institutional change, made necessary by the needs of the Order’s mission in Switzerland.

The Master of the Order gave thanks for the hundreds of brothers, sisters and lay members of the Order who for centuries have served the Gospel message in Switzerland by their word and their presence. He stressed that this change in status does not mean the end of the Order’s mission in Switzerland. On the contrary, the international experience of the Province of France will breathe new life into Dominican preaching in the confederation.

Nicholas Paul Crowe, OP, is the new Prior Provincial.

Meeting in Chapter, the friars of the Province of England have elected Brother Nicholas Paul Crowe, OP as their new Prior Provincial. His election was confirmed by the Master of the Order, Brother Gerard Francisco Timoner III, OP, on April 9, 2024.

“Deo gratias! It is with joy that the friars announce the election of a new Prior Provincial, Brother Nicholas Paul Crowe, OP, who has been elected and confirmed by the Master of the Order today, April 9, 2024″, write the friars of the Province of England. In the afternoon, after Vespers, the letter of confirmation from the Master of the Order was read and Brother Nicholas made his profession of faith and took the oath of fidelity, thus taking up his duties and succeeding Brother Martin Ganeri, OP.

Brother Nicholas grew up in Stevenage, near London. After studying geography at Cambridge University and spending a year working with Dominican Volunteers International in the Philippines, he entered the novitiate in 2008. After ordination, he was appointed vocation promoter and director for the English province, a position he held for several years before studying moral theology at the University of Fribourg. Following these studies, he was elected Prior of Cambridge in 2022, Prior of Oxford in 2023 and now Prior Provincial of the English Province.

The chapter now continues in Oxford under his presidency, as the capitulars discuss the needs of the Dominican mission in England, Scotland and Jamaica, work to implement plans and appoint brothers to further the Order’s mission for the salvation of souls. “Please continue to pray for us, and in particular for Brother Nicholas, who has been entrusted with this responsibility for the next four years. May God, who began this good work, bring it to perfection in Christ. May the Blessed Virgin Mary, Queen of the Holy Rosary and Patroness of the Order of Preachers, pray for us”, ask the brothers of the English province.

Let’s Commit to Peace and Human Dignity” Haiti 2024

Every year, from the first Sunday of Advent to the Solemnity of the Epiphany of the Lord, the Dominican Month of Peace is celebrated, during which the Dominican Family programs pastoral activities and proposes prayer intentions for a specific country, which this year will be Haiti, under the motto “Let’s commit ourselves to peace and human dignity”.
On the occasion of the Dominican Month of Peace, the Master of the Order writes a letter in which he gives indications on how to live it. In addition, the Order’s official website, www.op.org, shares material related to pastoral activities and prayer intentions prepared by the Dominican family.
In recent years, Dominican Months for Peace have been dedicated to the Amazon in 2023, Myanmar in 2022, Ukraine in 2020, the Democratic Republic of Congo in 2018 and Colombia in 2017.

Reminding today’s world suffering from violence that God has revealed himself as a God of liberation

Magister in Sacra Theologia

“Today’s world is once again suffering from a great deal of violence, not only on the battlefields but also in language, politics, human relations, even within couples and families. There is also a great lack of hope.

Jean-Michel Poffet, OP, who received the Master of Sacred Theology diploma¹ of the Order of Preachers in 2023, in an interview with Ordo Praedicatorum media :

What does it mean to you to have received the Master of Sacred Theology diploma from the Master of the Order?

I was obviously very honoured that my Province had chosen to propose me for the MST and that the Master of the Order had granted it to me. The laudatio underlined the link I had always tried to forge between the study of Sacred Scripture and preaching in the broadest sense. Anything that could shed light not only on the past of the texts studied, but also on their future for the people of God. I can only be encouraged to continue in this direction.

As a master of sacred theology, how do you see the Order’s current theological contribution to the Church and the world?

Today’s world is once again suffering from a great deal of violence, not only on the battlefields, but also in language, politics and human relations, right down to the couple, the family and so on. There is also a great lack of hope. It therefore seems urgent to me to seek to bring to light the Revelation of a God who is a “friend of mankind”, a God of liberation, who showed this with Moses and above all with Jesus. And Jesus, himself wounded, shows his wounds to his disciples after his resurrection, while entrusting them with peace and forgiveness. A real humanization program…

In a context of technological revolution, how should we approach biblical interpretation?

The tools at our disposal facilitate Bible study, offering historical, archaeological and linguistic documentation. But nothing will ever replace hermeneutics: the interpretation of biblical texts in the light of faith. Not just the search for what an ancient author meant, but what an inspired text can still say for today and tomorrow. The Holy Spirit accompanies this search and this service to the Church.

What suggestions do you have for biblical scholars wishing to implement a biblical pastoral ministry project?

For many years, I myself chaired and animated a Bible Association in French-speaking Switzerland, organizing annual sessions and supporting work in small groups throughout the year. Two poles need to be held together: fidelity to the Word of God, with exacting standards for the content transmitted, and a pedagogy that enables people with no university training and sometimes even very little study to understand the Word of God and benefit from its light. We’ve always been careful to include non-academics, women and not just men or clerics, and younger people too.

What do you think of the growth of Pentecostalism in Latin America and Africa, defined as “continents of hope”?

I can’t answer that question because I don’t know enough about Latin America and Africa. The only thing that strikes me is that, in all these groups, there’s a desire for fervor and fraternity, whereas our celebrations or our proposal of faith seem too disembodied or abstract.

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Brother Jean-Michel Poffet was born in 1944 in Fribourg, Switzerland. He joined the Order in 1964. He did his novitiate and two years of philosophy in Belgium. He then studied theology at the University of Fribourg. He was ordained a priest in 1970. After two years of pastoral ministry in the Dominican parish of Saint-Paul in Geneva, he studied at the Pontifical Biblical Institute in Rome, obtaining a licentiate in biblical studies in 1975. After three years of ministry in Geneva, he returned to Fribourg and obtained a doctorate in theology in 1984. He was appointed Associate Professor at the Faculty of Theology of the University of Fribourg. He is co-founder and president of the Association Biblique de Suisse Romande. In 1999, he was elected Director of the École Biblique et Archéologique Française de Jérusalem, and re-elected twice until 2008. In 2007, he was appointed Commander of the Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem. On January 1, 2009, he was awarded the Légion d’honneur by the French government. On September 15, 2023, he was awarded the degree of Master of Sacred Theology by the Master of the Order. He was elected prior several times and regent of studies for his province. He continues to give courses, retreats and lectures, notably in monasteries and for religious communities, as well as in the media. He is the author of numerous articles and books on exegesis, with a particular emphasis on biblical theology and the spiritual importance of studying Scripture. Several of his works on biblical theology have been translated into various languages.

1. It is an honorary diploma issued by the Master of the Order, on the recommendation of the General Council, in accordance with certain requirements for the granting of this diploma. The title dates back to 1303, when the then Pope Benedict XI, a Dominican, created the diploma so that the Order of Preachers could grant the faculty to teach theology. Today, it is an honorary and exclusively academic title, but it is the highest recognition of excellence in the sacred sciences within the Order of Preachers. ︎