P. Joseph Farrell, new general prior of the order of San Agustín is elected in Rome

The Order of San Agustín advertisement That Fr. Joseph Lawrence Farrell, Osa, was chosen as his new general prior, becoming number 98 in more than 750 years of history of the Augustinian family to which Pope Leo XIV belongs.

The election took place this afternoon in Rome, during the 188th General Chapter, in the Pontifical Patristical Institute Augustinianum, with the participation of 73 chapter friars with the right to vote.

Until today, Farrell served as Vicar General of the Order and General Assistant for North America. He received the seal of approval from Fr. Alejandro Moral Antón, who concluded his second term as a prior general, and accepted the service at the head of the order.

Fr. Robert P. Hagan, Osa, provincial prior of the province of San Tomás de Villanova, commented that this decision was carried out “after much prayer and reflection, under the guidance of the Holy Spirit.”

“We are grateful for the humility, experience and disposition of our brother to serve in this critical leadership position for our order. At this time, we thank God for this servant and dedicated and committed leader, and we offer sentences for wisdom, strength and grace while exercising this important responsibility in the name of our order and the Church,” he said.

Words of the New Prior General

Days before the election, during the start of the General Chapter, the then Vicar General addressed his Augustinian brothers with words that today charge a new value.

“The 188th General Chapter of the Order is a new chapter in our common history. We know that stories are part of our human tradition. The beauty of our history as Augustinians is that it continues to develop. There is no final chapter. There is no epilogue to read in the end and then close the book. We can continue with our history, always adding new chapters ”, express.

He also stressed that the Augustinian road goes through the return to the heart, citing St. Augustine: “Go back to your heart and from there to God. You are returning to God, as you see, from the closest possible place, if you have returned to your heart” (Sermon 311, 13).

The new prior general recalled that the Mission of the Augustinians is to serve the neighbor from charity: “Isn’t that exactly what it means to be Augustine? Being in relation drives us to transcend ourselves and to share … When these gifts are offered for the common good, the call to human being is truly fulfilled.”

P. Farrell’s trajectory

The Order of San Agustín informa That Fr. Joseph Farrell was born on July 11, 1963 in Drexel Hill, Pennsylvania (USA), and belongs to the Agustina province of Santo Tomás de Villanova.

He professed his first votes in 1987 and was ordered priest in 1991. He studied business administration at the Villanova University and later theology at the Washington Theological Union. Subsequently, he obtained his doctorate in sacred theology at the Pontifical Gregorian University, with a thesis on the Augustinian spirituality of responsibility in the sermons of San Agustín.

He has exercised as a pastor, university chaplain and professor in various institutions, in addition to performing training and government positions within the order. In 2013 he was elected Vicar General, responsibility he held until the date of his election as a prior general.

During these years he collaborated with international commissions for Augustinian education, initial and vocational training, spirituality and apostolate.

The Order of San Agustín, present in more than 50 countries, prays for the new prior general to receive “wisdom, strength and grace” in its service to the Church and the world.