In the Dominican Family, many are aware of the friars, the sisters (nuns and apostolic), members of the secular institutes, laity, and youth. But very few are aware of the Priestly Fraternity as an authentic branch of the Dominican Family.
Dominican Priestly Fraternities are associations of diocesan priests who are formally affiliated to the Order of Preachers and to the Dominican Family through a distinct Rule of life that they profess, and so strive for evangelical perfection as sharers in the grace and mission of the Order of Preachers. They are distinct from the Dominican friars because they are diocesan priests, and they remain so under the direct jurisdiction of their Local Ordinaries, but they are directly associated with the friars through their governance and structure within the Dominican Family.
The Master of the Order, fr. Bruno Cadoré, OP, has just appointed fr. Florentino Bolo Jr, OP, from the Province of the Philippines, as the International Coordinator of the Priestly Fraternities in the Order on 12 October 2013.
Fr. Florentino made his first profession in the Order in 1998 and was ordained to the priesthood in 2005. He has a licentiate in Canon Law from the University of Santo Tomas, Manila, Philippines.
Since his ordination, he has been the Assistant Novice Master, Secretary-General of the University of Santo Tomas, as well as Vice-Rector and Spiritual Director at the UST Central Seminary in Manila. Until his current appointment, he was the Provincial Promoter of the Priestly Fraternity. He is currently residing in Rome and undertaking his Doctoral studies in Canon Law at the Angelicum.
According to him, the last two General Chapters of the Order (ACG 2010 Rome, no. 232; 2013 Trogir, no. 120) celebrated the reality of the Priestly Fraternities, which are established in some Provinces, while newly emerging in others. Thus, the recognition of the place of the Priestly Fraternities in the Dominican Family is not only realized in its inclusion in the International Commission of the Dominican Family (ACG 2013 Trogir, Appendix I, no. 121), but also in the current thrust of the Master of the Order to put these groups in contact and to study the manner in which we can further consolidate this dimension of the Order.
We wish him the best in his new assignment.
Lifted from the Ordo Prædicatorum website