Some of our loyal donors have been supporting the Carmelites for over 30 years. They are our Lifetime Partners. Recently, we invited those in Victoria to join Fr David Hofman, Br Marcolino Gomes and our Fundraising & Development team, for a morning tea celebration in Middle Park.

We shared with them stories about the positive impact their support is making in Timor-Leste and Australia. We gave them a certificate, a pearl encrusted pin and a Timor-Leste bookmark. These small tokens are our way of saying Thank You – two words that we hold deep in our hearts for having them by our side. More story & photos

Yesterday members of the General Chapter shared a private audience with Pope Francis.

Receiving the General Chapter members of the Carmelite Order on September 21, Pope Francis urged them in the contemplation of God and in the service of His people, especially the poor.

Read the story & see photos   |   pdf (203 KB)   pdf Read the Pope's Address to the General Chapter (203 KB)

See the video (commentary is not in English).

Today the participants at the Carmelite General Chapter in Rome elected the members of the General Council who will represent the four geographic regions of the Order.

The General Councillor for Africa is Fr Conrad Mutizamhepo, from Zimbabwe (a mission of the Irish Province) who served in this role in the previous term (2013-19).

The General Councillor for the Americas is Fr Luis Maza Subero, a Venezualan friar of the Catalonian Province where he is currently Prior Provincial. More + photos.

As well as electing Fr Mícéal Prior General yesterday, the General Chapter elected also Fr Benny Phang as Vice Prior General, Fr Michael Farrugia as Procurator General and Fr Christian Körner as Bursar General.

Over the past 6 years Fr Benny, from the Indonesian Province, has served as the General Councillor for our region of the Order (Asia, Australia & Oceania). Fr Michael, from the Maltese Province, was re-elected as Procurator General - the Order's Canon Lawyer and liaison with the Holy See. Fr Christian, from the German Province, has served the past 6 years as Vice Prior General and has been elected to a new role as Bursar General for the Order.

Fr Mícéal O'Neill has been elected the new Prior General of the Carmelites. Fr Mícéal, a member of the Irish Province, is currently the Prior of St Albert’s International Centre in Rome. He has previously served on the General Council and has also worked in Latin America. He is a popular presenter and writer about Carmelite Spirituality, Social Justice and the care of creation.

We offer our congratulations and prayerful support as Mícéal takes up his ministry as Prior General.

For the Carmelite, after the Bible, the most important document in our lives is the Rule of St Albert. Despite being the shortest rule of all the religious orders it has nevertheless been a bedrock for Carmelite life in all its facets for 800 years. St Albert, whose feast day we celebrate today, was a brilliant mind who managed to fashion tremendous wisdom in such a compact text. Of all the words, and all their wisdom in the Rule, the last few have the most meaning for me: “You are, however, to use discretion, which is the moderator of virtue.”