Item 8 - Irish Capuchins open their first novitiate in the United States

1 p.; clipping

A clipping of an article detailing the opening of St. Patrick’s Novitiate at Silverside, Holly Oak, near Wilmington, Delaware, marking the first American novitiate for the Capuchin Fathers of the Irish Province. Bishop Edmond John Fitzmaurice solemnly dedicated the property before a gathering of clergy and laity. The opening represents a major expansion for the Irish Capuchins, who first arrived in the United States in 1910 and had grown to 33 priests serving across 14 parishes and 14 community houses. Due to the illness of the Provincial Minister, Fr. Edwin Fitzgibbon OFM Cap., the superior of the new novitiate, Father Brendan O’Callaghan OFM Cap., led the event and welcomed Fr. James O’Mahony OFM Cap., who delivered the keynote address on the spiritual significance of the new institution. The ceremony concluded with an Apostolic Benediction from the Holy Father and was attended by numerous prominent regional church leaders.

The item is badly torn with extensive fraying to the edges of the paper.