FRANCE’S Fr. Bruno Cadoré, O.P., is the new Master General of the Order of Preachers, elected by the 290th Dominican General Chapter at the Salesianum in Rome last September 5.
Cadoré, former head of the French Dominicans, replaced Fr. Carlos Aspiroz Costa, who served as Master General of the Dominican Order from 2001 to 2010. The 86th successor of Saint Dominic will serve a nine-year term. As Master General, Cadoré is also the Chancellor of UST.
In an interview with h2onews.org, Cadoré said the role of the Master of the Order is to be the “servant of unity among all brothers, communities, and different cultures around the world.”
“With the mystery of the unity given to us, I believe, through the joy of being recipients of the Word of God, the joy of loving people as children of God and, it could be said, as Dominic did,” Cadoré said.
Former Master of the Order of Preachers Fr. Timothy Radcliffe, O.P., said in his homily before the election, posted on the Order’s website, that he wanted a Master who will not put challenges aside, but face them.
“The greatest challenge [of the Dominican Order] is to invite people to make that strong, brave commitment to be the disciples of Jesus Christ,” Radcliffe said. “I want [the next Master] to give us the courage to be bold and be brave to follow Jesus.”
UST Prefect of Libraries Fr. Angel Aparicio, O.P., noted that Cadoré has been French provincial for eight years, and therefore qualified to become Master.
“I’m very glad that we have a new Master [General] of the Order,” Aparicio said. “Now that the Order has a new Master, we must continue the mission of serving the Church and the people. We must serve them with Dominican charism, which is searching for the truth in every matter.”
Fr. Fausto Gomez, former regent of the College of Rehabilitation Sciences, praised Cadoré for his myriad accomplishments.
“He is an intellectual man, being both a doctor of medicine and theology,” he said.
Born in Le Creusot, France, Cadoré was a practicing pediatrician before he entered the Dominican novitiate in 1979. He made his profession in 1980, and was ordained priest six years after.
Cadoré was the Prior Provincial of the French Province before being elected as Master General. Before his designation as Prior Provincial, he was the director of the Medical Ethics Centre of the Catholic Institute of Lille.
The Order elects a new Master every nine years.
