First in 791 years
First Cooperator Brother Elected Local Superior

NEW ORLEANS, LA—January 7, 2008-- The friars of St. Anthony of Padua Priory elected Brother Herman Johnson, 52, as their 20th Prior.  This is the first time in the 791 year history of the Dominican friars that a cooperator brother has been elected a local superior. The election took place in September, 2007.

As our Dominican Constitutions (§ 443, § II) require that a brother be a priest in order to be elected a superior, the necessary dispensation was obtained from the Vatican’s Congregation for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life on October 25, 2007.

The Procurator General of the Order in Rome, fr Robert Ombres, OP, received the Holy See’s document on November 3 and forwarded it to our Provincial, Martin J. Gleeson, OP  On December 10 the Provincial confirmed Brother Herman’s election as Prior of St. Anthony’s.  That evening, in the presence of St. Anthony’s community, Herman accepted his election.

In reflecting on his election, Brother Herman stated: ”I am happy to accept being the first cooperator brother to be elected as prior.  Having participated for years in the discussions on the vocation of the brother within the Order, I was anticipating major changes.  Yet, I never thought that I would be the one to concretize the inevitable changes by way of being elected and approved as a prior.  I don’t think St. Dominic had cooperator brothers as priors in mind when he asked that they manage all community affairs.  However, it does convey his acceptance of them as full members, integral to the preaching mission of the Order.  Perhaps Dominic has finally gotten his way in terms of emphasizing mission over an unchangeable hierarchical structure.

“Contemporary challenges have caused a re-examination of the role of  religious brothers.  Diminishment in numbers worldwide has raised questions about the primacy of the Order’s commitment to religious life and forced a re-thinking of religious priesthood in comparison with diocesan priesthood.  The presence of the brother’s vocation is a reminder of the primacy of religious life and minimizes the tendency to develop a solely clerical identity.

“I wish to commend the St. Anthony of Padua friars for their broad thinking and courageous action in bringing about change.  This election reflects their attention to what our life is about as a community of preachers and will contribute greatly to that expanded notion of preaching the brother brings (as addressed by recent masters of the Order).  I hope that my election as prior will contribute to a worldwide renewal of vocations to the brothers’ way of life and, more importantly, to a better understanding of the vocation of  male religious in the Dominican tradition.”

Herman was born in New Orleans on December 23, 1954 and did his undergraduate studies at Xavier University of Louisiana.  He was professed at St. Martin de Porres Novitiate in Columbia, SC in 1981.  He received his M.Th. and M.Div. from the Dominican School of Philosophy and Theology in Berkeley, CA, an M.A. in mental health counseling from Xavier University, and a Doctor of Education from Columbia University Teachers College in New York.

Presently Herman is assistant professor of Spanish at Xavier University and is director of, and preacher for, Southern Dominican Global Missions.

Carl B. Trutter, OP (St. Martin)