{"id":1320,"date":"2026-03-02T17:18:07","date_gmt":"2026-03-02T17:18:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/assisijourney.org\/about\/"},"modified":"2026-04-01T09:57:22","modified_gmt":"2026-04-01T09:57:22","slug":"about","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/assisijourney.org\/?page_id=1320","title":{"rendered":"About"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
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About us<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t
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We met as students in Rome in 1987 at the Capuchin Franciscan Institute in the <\/span>Antonianum. We discovered a mutual interest in the works of St. Bonaventure and initiated our study with his<\/span> Itinerarium Mentis in Deum (Journey into God)<\/em> by developing a retreat experience centered on this masterpiece.<\/span>
Shortly after beginning our work with the Journey retreats, we entered into a dialogue on solitude as experienced and lived by St. Francis. This led to our first publication venture when we organized translations of articles that evolved into the anthology, <\/span>Franciscan Solitude<\/em>, to encourage a broader dialogue on solitude within the Franciscan family. It was the first of a long line of publications. Interest in the topic of Franciscan solitude had grown, and we decided to risk a pilgrimage to the Franciscan places of solitude in Italy frequented by St. Francis. So in summer of 2000, under the auspices of <\/span>Franciscan Pilgrimage Programs, <\/a>we conducted a pilgrimage to thirteen of these holy sanctuaries.<\/span>
Later on, in the year 2010, we took two groups of pilgrims to southern Bavaria to visit sanctuaries connected with the Capuchin, Saint Konrad of Parzham, to the Austrian church dedicated to Secular Franciscan, Blessed Franz J\u00e4gerst\u00e4tter, to the most popular sanctuary in Germany dedicated to Mary\u2014the Capuchin chapel at <\/span>Alt\u00f6tting<\/a>, and finally to the renowned Passion Play at Oberammergau.<\/span>
When Laurent Gallant OFM and Andr\u00e9 were preparing St. Francis\u2019 <\/span>Office of the Passion <\/em>for publication as a prayerbook, Laurent was interested in the possibility of the <\/span>Office <\/em>to be chanted. So Josef was commissioned to compose the music for the<\/span>Office<\/em>. And with a generous grant from Secular Franciscan, Paul Perkins, we produced our first CD\u2014<\/span>The Geste of the Great King<\/em>.<\/span><\/h4>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t
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Andr\u00e9 R. Cirino OFM<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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I am a friar minor of the Province of the Immaculate Conception, New York. My academic background includes: BA, Immaculate Conception College 1963; MA West Virginia University, Counseling, 1968; STM, Woodstock Jesuit School of Theology, 1975; and  Franciscan Studies at the Pontifical University, the Antonianum, in Rome.
My ministerial experience includes parish work, Franciscan formation, education, publication and spiritual assistant for the Secular Franciscans of the Little Portion Fraternity. I have also worked at the Little Portion Retreat House for the poor in Bronx, New York. From 1984 to 2025 I have conducted pilgrimages to Assisi\/ Rome, Prague, England, Mallorca, France, Germany and the California Missions. I lectured at the Franciscan International Study Centre, Canterbury, England, during the Lent term for 10 years.<\/span><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t

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Andr\u00e9 R. Cirino, OFM<\/p>

andrerobc@gmail.com<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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Awards<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t
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\u00a0<\/p>

On June 4, 2013, Dr. Richard Artman, President of Viterbo University, and the Franciscan Sisters of Perpetual Adoration<\/a>\u00a0of LaCrosse, Wisconsin, gave Andr\u00e9 their\u00a0Pope John XXIII Award<\/a>\u00a0for Distinguished Service.<\/p>

St. John XXIII Award by Viterbo College<\/a><\/p>

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On November 7, 2013, eve of the feast of Blessed John Duns Scotus, Dr. Anne Prisco, President of Felician College, Lodi, New Jersey, awarded Andr\u00e9 his\u00a0<\/span>first honorary doctorate<\/a>.<\/span><\/p>

Andr\u00e9 received his second honorary doctorate at St. Bonaventure University, New York, with Sister Margaret Carney, President of the University.<\/span><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t

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Josef Raischl OFS<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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I was born in Alt\u00f6tting, in the very Southeast of Germany near the Austrian border. As a married Secular Franciscan I live with my wife Bernadette in Dachau near Munich and we have three young, adult children \u2013 Jona, Elia, Chiara. I was director of Christopher\u2019s Hospice in Munich (www.chv.org) working there for more than 30 years.
My graduate studies encompass both philosophy and theology from the Catholic University of Eichst\u00e4tt and the Franciscan International Study Centre, Canterbury, England, as well as a MA in Social Work (Dipl. Sozialp\u00e4d. FH) in Munich.
I did my post-graduate studies in Franciscan Spirituality in Rome at the Capuchin Franciscan Institute at the Pontifical University Antonianum.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t

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Josef Raischl<\/p>

josef.raischl@t-online.de<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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About us<\/h4>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

About us We met as students in Rome in 1987 at the Capuchin Franciscan Institute in the Antonianum. We discovered a mutual interest in the works of St. Bonaventure and initiated our study with his Itinerarium Mentis in Deum (Journey into God) by developing a retreat experience centered on this masterpiece.Shortly after beginning our work with the Journey […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"no-sidebar","site-content-layout":"page-builder","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"disabled","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"disabled","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"enabled","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-1320","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/assisijourney.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1320","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/assisijourney.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/assisijourney.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/assisijourney.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/assisijourney.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1320"}],"version-history":[{"count":120,"href":"https:\/\/assisijourney.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1320\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4486,"href":"https:\/\/assisijourney.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1320\/revisions\/4486"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/assisijourney.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1320"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}