After much prayer and reflection, under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, the members of the Augustinian General Chapter have elected our brother Fr. Joseph L. Farrell, O.S.A., as the next prior general of the Order. We are grateful for the humility, experience and willingness of our brother to serve in this critical position of leadership for our Order.
Fr. Joseph Lawrence Farrell, O.S.A., was born on July 11, 1963, at Drexel Hill, Pennsylvania, the son of Francis A. and Patricia S. (Shields) Farrell. He has four brothers and one sister. He was baptized on July 28, 1963, in St. Andrew Catholic Church, Drexel Hill, Pennsylvania. He attended St. Andrew Parochial School from 1969 to 1977, and then Msgr. Bonner High School, Drexel Hill, Pennsylvania from 1977 to 1981. From 1981 to 1985, he attended Villanova University and received a B.S. in business administration. He then entered the Province’s pre-novitiate program at St. Augustine Friary, Villanova in 1985 and went to Blessed Stephen Bellesini Novitiate, the first year of the national novitiate in Racine, Wisconsin, on August 15, 1986. He professed first vows on August 8, 1987, and solemn vows on May 19, 1990. Following the novitiate, he went to Augustinian College, Washington, D.C., and pursued his theological studies at the Washington Theological Union from 1987 to 1991, where he received an M.A. in Theology. He was ordained to the priesthood on June 29, 1991, at Our Mother of Good Counsel Church, Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania, by Bishop Francis Murphy.
Fr. Joe was first assigned to Saint Augustine Parish, (Tower Hill), Lawrence, Massachusetts from 1991 to 1994. He was then appointed chaplain at Msgr. Bonner High School, and a member of the St. Joseph Friary community, Drexel Hill, Pennsylvania from 1994 to 1996. From 1996 to 2003, he was assigned as campus minister at Merrimack College and a member of the St. Ambrose Friary Community. In 2003, he went to Rome, was a member of the Collegio Santa Monica community, and pursued studies at the Pontifical Gregorian University, where he received an STL in 2005 and the STD in 2007. He returned to the United States and was assigned to St. Thomas Monastery and was appointed the director of programming and outreach in the Office for Mission Effectiveness at Villanova University. He also taught at the university. At the Provincial Chapter of 2010, he was elected a counselor of the Province and was assigned as prior to Blessed Stephen Bellesini Friary in Ardmore, Pennsylvania, the pre-novitiate house of formation, from 2008-2010. During the General Chapter of 2013, he was elected vicar general and assistant general for North America.
At this time we give thanks to God for our dedicated and committed servant leader, and offer prayers for wisdom, strength and grace as he exercises this important responsibility on behalf of our Order and the Church.