Four Franciscan Friars of the Renewal (CFR) professed their final vows at St. Patrick’s Cathedral, “matriculating” as religious brothers after years of formation, their order’s vicar general said on Saturday evening. 

Br. Jonathan Maria Conte, Br. Caleb Joseph Buresh, Br. Michael Francis Mary Kearney, and Br. Paul Joseph Jones, took their vows in front of family, friends, and fellow brothers and sisters religious at the Mass celebrated by Archdiocese of New York Auxiliary Bishop and Vicar General Edmund Whalen, and concelebrated by St. Joseph’s Seminary Rector Bishop James Massa, Franciscan Friars of the Renewal Vicar General Fr. John Anthony Boughton, and others. 

In his homily, Fr. Boughton indicated that the choice of St. Patrick’s Cathedral for the Mass was intentional.

“We decided because it’s the 800th anniversary of the death of St. Francis to bump up the volume a little bit on our final vows. And you can’t do better than the Cathedral in New York. It’s appropriate, too, because this is our nest. This is where we began,” he said.

This year, 2026, marks the 800th anniversary of the Transitus (transition/death) of St. Francis of Assisi. 

The Franciscan Friars of the Renewal were founded on April 28, 1987, in the Archdiocese of New York, when eight Capuchin friars, including Fr. Benedict Groeschel, Fr. Andrew Apostoli, and Fr. Robert Lombardo, sought to renew personal and communal life within the Church. Taking root in the South Bronx, the friars seek to serve the materially poor in the spirit of the 16th-century Capuchin reform, carrying that charism into evangelization and service to the poor today.

Matriculation, not graduation

Fr. Boughton sought to frame what the day’s events meant for those professing their vows, after eight years of discernment. 

“Brothers, you’re stepping onto a path today. This is not graduation day, this is matriculation day. You’re starting. It’s been a long road to get here, and I know it. It’s been many years in the making. We have to discern whether this is really for you or not. And it is. You have decided today to come before the Lord and say: ‘I want to be buried in a gray habit. I want to die to myself day in and day out for the Lord, for the Gospel, for his glory,'” he said.

Fr. Boughton’s father was a Marine Corps. veteran who accompanied his son during an early discernment trip to New York. “Thirty years ago, when I joined the friars, my father came from Dallas. Not a Catholic, he’d been Protestant all his life. He had no clue about religious life. He was coming to New York, going, ‘Really? You want to go to New York? What is this you’re doing?'” His father’s skepticism soon changed to admiration. “‘You know, John, there’s not a man among them the Marine Corps wouldn’t be proud to have.’ My father’s little snippet there, he didn’t know it, but he unwittingly encapsulated the heart and soul of St. Francis, who knew himself to be a knight for Christ. A knight who stood the tallest on his knees. A knight who is willing to go with his band of brothers and give his life for the Gospel of the Lord. A knight who would follow the way of the cross to glory, not earthly glory, heavenly glory.”

He asked young men who may feel God’s call to consider the religious life, calling it, “a wonderful life, a joy-filled life.” “It’s not for everybody. I don’t promise you a comfortable life. We don’t promise you a cushy life. Jesus did not say, ‘Let your couch take you up, and hold my beer and watch this.’ Jesus said, ‘Take up your cross and follow me.’ And that’s what we are doing, in the footsteps of St. Francis,” Fr. Boughton said. 

Vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience

Each of the men then declared his intention to join the order, and professed vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience. These commitments are also symbolized by three knots on the rope cord worn around their gray habit. The four men then prostrated themselves before the altar for the Litany of the Saints (Litaniae Sanctorum).

Upon completion of the profession of vows and the litany, the four men turned to those in attendance, who applauded their commitment and welcomed them into the order. 

The Mass then continued with the Liturgy of the Eucharist. 

‘Say your prayers, do your work, don’t take yourself seriously, and you’re going to be fine’

In closing remarks, Bishop Whalen said, “On behalf of Archbishop Hicks, thank you. Thank you not only to all those who are here this evening, but a special thank you to the families.”
Turning to Fr. Boughton, he said, “You’ve got to feed them, they’re the thinnest priests I’ve ever seen in my life.”

Bishop Whalen, who served as Cardinal John O’Connor’s secretary when the CFRs were first formed, recalled that inaugural Mass at St. Adelbert’s Church in the Bronx. “All the cardinal kept saying was, ‘It’s going to work. It’s going to work. It’s of God.’ And today we see that. And we’re grateful to God for that.”

The bishop gave the newly professed some advice: “Say your prayers, do your work, don’t take yourself seriously, and you’re going to be fine.”

The Mass concluded and was followed by a reception for the new brothers on the outdoor terrace of St. Patrick’s Cathedral.