New Franciscan Postulant Admitted

CHARLOTTE, NC, 20 May 2015 (ORCNS) - Sister Rebecca Clare Naomi Crowe Burch, p/TOR Mar. was admitted as a postulant to the Franciscan Third Order Regular of the Brothers and Sisters of Penance of the Blessed Virgin Mary (TOR Mar.) on May 18th in Charlotte, North Carolina, USA. The rite of admission was officiated by Rt. Rev. Msgr. Abbot Anthony Giunta, the Minister General of the order. Also participating were Rt. Rev. Thomas Gordon, Rt. Rev. Luis Morales, and Canon Rusty Marts, of the OAC.

The TOR Mar. is a Franciscan Third Order Regular, meaning its members are clerics, laymen, or laywomen who take vows of chastity according to their state in life, obedience, and stability. The first order (monks and friars) and second order (nuns) Franciscans are exclusively unmarried and take vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience. Members of the Third Order, or "tertiaries," otherwise participate in good works according to Franciscan tradition. "Regular" tertiaries, such as the TOR Mar, have a habit, while secular tertiaries typically do not. The TOR Mar. operates within the Patriarchal See of St. Stephen, Anglican Rite Roman Catholic Church.

Msgr. Abbot Anthony imposes the white veil on
Sister Rebecca Clare as Bishop Gordon looks on.

L-R: Mr. Gordon, Canon Marts, Sister Rebecca Clare,
Bishop Gordon, Bishop Morales, and Msgr. Giunta.