Conventual Franciscans Open Friary in Havana

Cathedral of Havana

The Conventual Franciscans are increasing their presence in Cuba. The Order’s first missionaries moved into the country only nine years ago. This year they opened St. Maximilian Kolbe Friary in Havana – their second house in the country. The new friary will be a home to postulants and friars. The men living there will only have to walk several hundred metres to reach the Church of St. Francis where they serve the spiritual needs of the people of Havana.  St. Clare Church – the other parish where the friars work – is about 10 kilometres away from St. Maximilian Kolbe Friary.

St. Maximilian Kolbe Friary in Havana, Cuba

It took the Order of Friars Minor Conventual five years to refurbish their second house, which stands in Havana’s historic district.  Their first home is in Matanzas, 90 kilometres east of Havana, where Fray Silvano Castelli is guardian. Equipped with a chapel, a library stocked with books, a kitchen, a dining room, and ten bedrooms, the friars’ house in Havana will allow many postulants to discern their vocation through education, fraternal life, and prayer.  And as their numbers increase, the friars based in Havana will be able to serve more people in that city.

(Sources of all related images on webpage and homepage: Conventual Francisans and wikipedia.org.)