Br. Marvin Bearis has joined the National Chaplaincy Corps for FOCUS, the Fellowship of Catholic University Students. He will provide pastoral care to FOCUS staff, missionaries, campus chaplains, students on campus, and benefactors. As a national chaplain, he will celebrate daily Mass and other sacraments and participate in FOCUS’ orientations and trainings, retreats, days of recollection, and more. He will be based out of Denver, Colo., and will reside with our Capuchin brothers of the Province of St. Conrad.

Br. Brendan Buckley took part in a retreat for priests and lay ministers who offer pastoral care to migrant farmworkers. It was organized by the Catholic Migrant Farmworker Network and held Aug. 3-9 at Loyola University Chicago. “We came to pray, support each other, and strengthen our faith and our resolve to continue to uphold the dignity of all who farm and produce the food we need,” he said.

In his new book titled Who Is My Neighbor, Br. David Couturier, director of the Franciscan Institute at St. Bonaventure University, goes beneath the surface of America’s political conflicts to raise deeper questions. In an age marked by rising nationalism, cultural division, and institutional distrust, disagreements are often framed as clashes over policy or ideology. Brother David argues that the deeper divide lies in how we see the world itself. Beneath every political position is a moral imagination—a way of perceiving others, assigning value, and defining who belongs. His book brings two moral visions into conversation: the contemporary nationalist imagination, and the Franciscan moral imagination rooted in encounter, humility, and fraternity. While one begins with loss and the desire for restoration, the other begins with disruption—moments that unsettle our assumptions and open us to transformation. Who Is My Neighbor follows his book published earlier this year, A New Moral Imagination, which introduces the moral way of Francis and Clare in the context of classical, modern, and Judeo-Christian moral models. Who Is My Neighbor is available at Franciscan Institute Publications. Click HERE code to order the book.

Br. Andre Eduvala of the Delegation of Guam attended the eighth national conference of the Philippine Association of Catholic Exorcists, which was held Aug. 3-7 at the University of Santo Tomas in Manila. He is training to be an exorcist in the Archdiocese of Agana (Guam). Over 300 people attended the conference. At the conference Brother Andre was mentored by leading experts in this field.

Br. Eric Forbes participated in a wreath laying at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier at Arlington National Cemetery on July 15. Every year, the Guamanian community in the District of Columbia, Maryland, and Virginia commemorates the liberation of Guam by U.S. forces from Japanese occupation (July 21, 1944). This year’s ceremony focused on the role of the Guam community’s Catholic faith in keeping their hopes high. Brother Eric took part at the invitation of James C. Moylan, Guam’s delegate to the U.S. House of Representatives.

Br. William Tarraza was named the director of novitiate formation for the North American and Pacific Capuchin Conference. On July 22, he invested six men with the Capuchin habit at San Lorenzo Seminary in Santa Ynez, Calif., marking the beginning of the 2026-27 novitiate year. This is the first class of novices that Brother Will is nurturing as the director of the collaborative novitiate program, and his fourth overall as a member of the novitiate formation team. Collaborating with him are Br. David Hirt and Br. Roach Gaspar of the Province of St. Joseph. Brother Will is also the guardian of San Lorenzo Seminary. In addition, Br. Regis Armstrong is beginning his second year as a solemnly professed friar in residence at San Lorenzo Seminary.