Franciscan Friars
Dan Riley, ofm
I have been a professed friar since 1970 and was ordained a priest in 1971. I have had the joy of being a member of the Mountain community from its beginning. God gave me this dream which has its deep roots in the Franciscan tradition and the early Church, when I saw, as in the time of the early Church and the founding of St. Francis’ day, a longing among God’s people for places and ways of renewing their lives. The Mountain is a special response to this renewal and a place of peacemaking, another effort that has been a part of my life since I was in college at St. Bonaventure University. Going to school there and entering the friars, I always had a hunger for solitude for myself while I became engaged in the issues of civil rights and peacemaking and was involved in the founding of Campus Ministry at St. Bonaventure University. It was in the early days of this Campus Ministry and St. Bonaventure University’s own desire to renew its sense of the Franciscan tradition that the Mountain began to be born into the lives of the students, faculty, as well as Franciscan men and women in the area and the other local churches. Beyond the rich and many years of ministry with youth, I enjoy painting, gardening and continue to have a great hunger for prayer and a life of itinerancy, taking “the Good News of Jesus Christ” on the road to others.
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Lou McCormick, ofm
I have been a member of the Mt. Irenaeus friar community since July 1991. I was ordained in March of 1965. I spent one year in graduate school before going to Bishop Timon High School (currently Bishop Timon- St. Jude) where I taught math for 24 years. I spent 10 weeks at the Mountain during each of the summers of 1987, 1988, and 1989. Presently I am the household coordinator, spiritual assistant for the Secular Franciscan Order, coordinator of the Outreach Community, and an officer of the corporation. I am also the one to call about spending some time up on the Mountain.
Joe Kotula, ofm
I grew up in Western Pennsylvania and joined the Franciscans in 1982, while living in Boston. I came to Mt. Irenaeus in 1989 and have been there ever since. Although I live at the Mountain and spend most of my time there, I work with the Students for the Mountain group and that brings me to the SBU campus several times a week. I love life at the Mountain and the interaction with students and others who come to visit. I enjoy the outdoors and have a passion for backpacking. Most of my hiking trips are between 5 and 10 days long. I have a long-term goal of section hiking the Appalachian Trail, which I’ll begin in 2004. I love to travel as well, and in 2001, I was blessed with a trip around the world.
Kevin Kriso, ofm
I arrived in August of 2008. Previous to coming here my ministerial experience has mostly been in the counseling field, 12 Step Retreat work, direct service to the poor and in formation work with our newer friars. On a sabbatical in the spring of 2008 I felt the call to move to a place that was closer to the land, that had sharing of the contemplative life as its main ministry and working with younger people. Now here, I am and I can’t wait to see what God has in store for me here.
In Memoriam: Dan Hurley, ofm
Our genial “old man of the Mountain” served from the beginning when he accepted Dan Riley’s invitation to be part of the early team that began the Mountain. “Hurls” retired from a long teaching career in June 1990; most of those years spent at St. Bonaventure University. Hurls passed away in March 2010.
In Memoriam: Bob Struzynski, ofm
