On Monday the 9th of September 2013 the Master of the Order, Brother Bruno Cadoré, had a private audience with Pope Francis at the Apostolic Palace. This was the first direct contact between Brother Bruno and Pope Francis who was elected as Bishop of Rome on the 13th of March 2013.

Brother Bruno was warmly welcome by the Holy Father with all the normal protocol of a papal audience. Earlier in the summer the Master had written to the Pope to tell him about the general chapter of Trogir and Pope Francis had replied, through the Secretary of State, offering his best wishes for the chapter. This meeting was a chance for Brother Bruno to thank the Pope for his good wishes and to thank him also for the apostolic blessing which he had imparted to the Chapter and to the whole Dominican Family. It was an opportunity for the Master to speak with the Pope about the discussions and decisions of the Trogir Chapter, and to present him with a copy of its Acts.

The Master spoke about the Order’s desire to place its charism at the service of the Church particularly in the work of evangelisation. He shared with the Holy Father his hopes for the formation of the brothers and for their availability for the mission of the Church. They shared thoughts about the place of religious in the local churches and of their freedom to move from established commitments to meet new needs. Other themes discussed were the Order’s commitment to the study of theology and the link between centres of study and research with the apostolic and pastoral mission of the Order.

Brother Bruno also spoke with him about the Jubilee celebrations of the Order centred on the year 2016 and Pope Francis assured the Master of his willingness to participate in some of the Jubilee celebrations taking place in that year.

The Pope and the Master took leave of each other looking forward to their next meeting which will be on Ash Wednesday 2014 at Santa Sabina.

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Brother Vivian Boland, OP