The leader of the worldwide Crosier order, Father Laurentius Tarpin, recently visited the United States for the first time since being named master general in 2015. He spent a week at the priory in Phoenix, Arizona, before arriving in Onamia Nov. 14.
Father Tarpin visited with the Crosier Community, the Crosier men in formation and their formators. He also visited St. John’s Abbey and University in Collegeville. Snowy weather forced the cancellation of a meeting Nov. 18 between Father Tarpin and Bishop Donald Kettler.
Father Tarpin returned to Rome Nov. 20.
“Part of his early work in taking the lead is visiting the areas of the [Crosier] order to get to know the local situations and meet the confreres,” said Crosier Father Kermit Holl, prior of the Onamia Priory. “While Father Tarpin had been in the Twin Cities for a month of English study years ago, this was his first visit with the eyes of leadership.”
Father Holl said Father Tarpin was “delighted to be with us, and he kept commenting on how marvelous it was to be in our communities in Phoenix and Onamia where the Crosiers take their religious life seriously and put great energy in our charism, especially our common prayer life.”
Father Tarpin also gave a presentation to the Onamia community about order-wide issues of formation, leadership development and inter-province solidarity.
“Father Tarpin was unanimously received as a very warm and engaging confrere,” Father Holl said.
“He is young and interested in everything, and his English is very understandable. I think that he learned a lot about the Crosier charism from our living it here in the United States where our balance of prayer, fraternity and ministry is a continuously monitored template toward ‘how we are doing.’ I think that he goes forward with a more concrete sense of what he may also wish to nurture and encourage in other areas of the order.”
Father Tarpin was born March 9, 1969, in Cisantana, West Java, Indonesia, and comes from a family of six siblings. He joined the Crosiers in 1988, made his first profession of vows Aug. 28, 1990, and was ordained to the priesthood June 26, 1996.
In his Crosier life, Father Tarpin served as formator in the post-novitiate in Sultan Agung, Indonesia, has been a member of the council of the prior provincial in Sang Kristus, served as vice provincial, was a member of the planning committee for the 2009 General Chapter and most recently served as prior provincial.
He holds a doctorate in moral theology from Alphonsianum in Rome and has served for several years as teacher and vice rector of Catholic Parahyangan University in Indonesia. He lives at the Crosier Generalate in Rome, where the order is based.
The greatest challenge Father Tarpin said the Crosiers face is declining membership in the Northern Hemisphere and increasing membership in the Southern Hemisphere.
“This poses some financial challenges,” he said. “For the coming year, we would like to improve on sharing personnel, sharing finances, sharing resources and supporting the mission of the order.”