(Capuchin) Election Eve

Tomorrow afternoon, the Capuchin Chapter currently meeting in Rome will proceed to its main order of business -- the election of the order's new General Minister -- and all indications are that the man pictured here will run away with the result.

In an informal straw ballot of capitulars taken yesterday, the Swiss provincial Fr Mauro Jöhri trounced his fellow nominees with 148 votes. The first runner-up received 27.

The presumed GM-in-waiting is understood to be a skilled linguist and a possessed of a good-natured, warm serenity. The Swiss province is also viewed as a prime vantage for the order's global work, given the presence of Franciscans International in Geneva, its proximity to Rome and the province's sponsorship of missionaries in Indonesia.

Whoever it may be, the chapter's choice will succeed Canadian Fr John Corriveau, who is standing down after serving the maximum tenure of two six-year terms as head of the 11,000-member community. More as it comes in....


PHOTO: Loggiarazzi

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