Canadian Conclave!
In the regional meeting of the Canadian Carmelites held at Carmel Hill, Deroche from September 18th to 20th, Fr. Charles Serrao, Provincial Superior announced the election of Fr. Jerald D’Souza as the regional superior, Fr. Melwyn Pinto as bursar, Fr. Ranjan Dsa as the coordinator from Eastern region and Fr. Steny Mascarenhas as the OCDS Provincial Delegate. Fr. Jerald D’Souza was a pioneer missionary who came to Canada in 2001 along with Fr. Mario Fernandes. After serving as associate pastor in a couple of parishes he became the first parish priest of Guardian Angel’s parish in downtown Vancouver which serves now as the headquarters of the Canadian Carmelite region. Later he was transferred to St. Edmund’s parish which he has successfully spearheaded for the past 8 years. Being very kind and gentle Fr. Jerry has a mother’s heart with which he attracts young and old to Christ. He has already served the region in the capacities of vocation promoter, bursar and provincial delegate to the OCDS. He received the mantle of leadership from Fr. Rudolf D’Souza who for the past two terms served the region with much zeal and dedication. He was profusely thanked for the wonderful work he did especially in the construction of Little Flower monastery at Carmel Hill and other projects of the region and province. 18 priests and one brother participated in the meeting. During his visit Fr. Provincial blessed the newly constructed stations of the cross trail donated my Helen Chua Tiampo and ably monitored by Fr. Rudolf D’Souza. Earlier, Fr. Provincial presided over the Ceremonies of the OCDS where he clothed one new candidate with a scapular and received definitive promises of two of the candidates. He also made it a point to visit all the local Bishops in whose dioceses our friars are rendering their service.

Kudos to the new regional superior and all the office bearers. A big thank you to Fr. Rudolf D’Souza, the outgoing leader. Keep the region in your prayers

E-mail of Fr. Jerald D'Souza: jerryocd@shaw.ca