The Discalced Carmelite Friars in London, Ontario
The first foundation of the Discalced Carmelite Friars in English-Canada was started on August 15, 1989. Fr. Filipe Sainz de Baranda, Superior General of the Discalced Carmelite Order, sent Fr. Definitor Anthony Morello OCD to establish the Order of Friars. A general meeting was called for all five OCDS communities at St. Mary’s Church in Brampton. The Definitor General introduced Fr. Dominic Borg OCD as the founding Father of the OCD Friars in English-Canada.

Bishop J.M. Sherlock, former president of the Catholic Conference of Bishops in Canada, welcomed the Discalced Carmelite Friars to his diocese in London. In 1989 the first House of the Friars was purchased by the Order on the outskirts of the little rural town of Lucan, exactly in Elginfield. In the following year Fr. Manny Schembri OCD joined Fr. Borg OCD in Lucan. In the Summer of 1990 the OCDS communities were officially transferred to the direction of the Friars in English Canada, Fr. Dominic Borg OCD being appointed Delegate of the General for the Order’s affairs.

Bishop Sherlock asked the Friars to take over a parish, and Fr. Manny Schembri OCD was appointed as the first OCD Pastor of St. Andrew the Apostle Church, on June 25, 1993, and later Fr. Superior of the House. Stationed in London were also Fr. Ralph Bruzzone OCD, and later Fr. George Vaz OCD, who helped with the Italian and Portuguese OCDS communities respectively. In 1994 the Carmelite jurisdiction in English Canada passed under the province of Malta, and Fr. Dominic Borg OCD was nominated as the Provincial Delegate in the region. Since then three other Maltese friars came from time to time to help in London: Fr. Pius Sammut OCD, Fr. Gabriel Grech OCD, and Fr. Henry Muscat, OCD. The first two Friars joined the London House in 1996, the year Fr. Schembri returned to Malta and Fr. Dominic Borg was installed as the new Superior and Pastor. Fr. Henry Muscat OCD joined in 2002, coming from Taiwan.

The Discalced Carmelite Friars in Toronto
In February 2007 the Discalced Carmelite Friars were offered a parish in Toronto. Fr. Henry Muscat, OCD Provincial Delegate, was installed as Superior and first OCD Pastor at Our Lady of Fatima Shrine in Scarborough. Nearly one year later he was recalled to Malta as Superior, and in his stead, in 2008 Fr. Manny Schembri OCD returned to Canada as Superior of the House in Toronto, and Fr. Victor Mallia OCD arrived as Pastor of the growing parish on the East end of Toronto.

The Mid-Eastern region and the Western region of Carmel in Canada
In 2008 the OCD Definitory General granted the Province of Karnataka-Goa (India) the jurisdiction over the Carmelite presence in Western Canada, thus including the federal Provinces of British Columbia and Alberta. These form the Western jurisdiction of Carmel, while the Canadian Mid-Eastern jurisdiction continues to be under the care of the Discalced Carmelite Province of Malta. The Friars of the Western region live at the Guardian Angels Parish in Vancouver BC. Fr. Jerry D’Souza is the OCD Provincial Delegate, accompanied by Fr. John Pinto and Fr. Mario Fernandes. There are two monasteries of nuns and three OCDS communities.

The Discalced Carmelites in the province of Quebec
The Carmel of Quebec is under the jurisdiction of the French Province of Avignon-Aquitaine. In the Couvent St-Joseph at Trois-Rivières, Quebec, six friars lead a contemplative and apostolic life. Then, there are five monasteries of cloistered nuns, two Houses of the Carmelite Missionary Sisters, 11 OCDS communities, and the Carmelite Secular Institute of Notre-Dame de Vie.

  List of Priors at St. Teresa's Cospicua, Malta

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