🌍 New Leadership for the Carmelite Order
🙏 With hearts full of gratitude and hope, we joyfully announce that Fr. Desiderio García Martínez, O.Carm., has been elected and confirmed as the new Prior General of the Carmelite Order.
🇪🇸 Born in Spain in 1970, Fr Desiderio is a member of the Spanish Carmelite Province of Aragon, Castile and Valencia. Fluent in English, Spanish, and Italian, he has served the Order in many ways:
• 🕊️ Novice Master in Aylesford and Salamanca (1997–2009 & 2011–2017), guiding new members of Carmel.
• ✝️ Prior Provincial of his Province (2017–2023).
• 📖 Studied philosophy and theology, specialising in Biblical theology and Hebrew philology.
• ⛪ Parish Priest (2009–2011 and 2023–2025) and Counsellor for Religious Life (2023–2025).
Now, as Prior General, he begins his ministry of guiding the entire Carmelite family worldwide with wisdom, faith, and compassion.
💛 We also express our heartfelt thanks to Fr Míċeál O’Neill, O.Carm., for his six years of dedicated service as Prior General, leading the Order with generosity and commitment.
✨ Alongside Fr Desiderio’s election:
• Fr Franciscus Xaverius Hariawan Adji, O.Carm., of the Indonesian Province, has been elected and confirmed as Vice Prior General. Born in Indonesia in 1969, Fr Heriawan served as Vice Prior Provincial for two terms and, since 2022, has been the Prior Provincial of the Indonesian Province.
• Fr Michael Farrugia, O.Carm., Maltese Province, has been re-elected Procurator General.
• Fr Christian Körner, O.Carm., German Province, has been re-elected Bursar General.
🙏 May the Lord bless Fr Desiderio and the new leadership team as they serve the Order and the Church.
Our Lady of Mount Carmel, pray for us!
🌍 New and Returning Leaders in the Carmelite General Council
🙏 Fr Rolf Nepomuk (Nepi) Willemsen, O.Carm. has been elected and confirmed as Councillor General for the Americas.
🇩🇪 Born in Germany in 1977, Fr Nepi is a member of the Carmelite Province of the Most Pure Heart of Mary. Most recently he served as First Councillor of the Province and as Prior and Director of Formation at Whitefriars Hall in Washington, D.C.
🙏 Fr Robert Thomas Puthussery, O.Carm. has been re-elected as Councillor General for Asia, Australia, and Oceania.
🇮🇳 Born in Kerala, India in 1967, Fr Robert made his simple profession in 1987 and solemn profession in 1990, and was ordained a priest in 1994.
📖 His rich ministry includes service as Prior and Rector for Carmelite minor seminarians, Chaplain to Syro-Malabar Catholic communities in the UK, Student Director of the British Province, and Sub-Prior of the international community at East Finchley, London, where he completed his PhD in pastoral psychology at the University of Liverpool.
🌏 Since 2019, as General Councillor for Asia, Australia and Oceania, Fr Robert has overseen the General Carmelite Youth Commission, while continuing to give orientation and motivational talks to students, teachers, clergy and medical professionals.
🙏 Fr Richard Byrne, O.Carm. has been re-elected and confirmed as Councillor General for Europe. We offer our warmest fraternal congratulations and hold him in our prayers as he continues this important work in the Order.
🇮🇪 Born in Dublin in 1969 and educated by the Carmelites in Terenure College, Fr Richard made his simple profession in 1989 and was ordained in 1996 after completing his studies at the Milltown Institute.
✝️ Elected Prior Provincial of the Irish Province in 2015 and re-elected in 2018, Fr Richard also served as Chairperson of the Catholic Schools Partnership, supporting Catholic schooling nationally in Ireland.
📜 At the 2019 General Chapter, he was first elected General Councillor for Europe, responsible for the Commission for Liturgy and Prayer and the Communications Task Force, a role he will now continue for another six-year term.
🙏 Fr Eric Chrisostome N’Do, O.Carm. of Baetica–Burkina Faso, has been elected and confirmed as Councillor General for Africa.
🇧🇫 Born on 10 September 1982 in Koudougou (Burkina Faso), Fr Eric entered the Carmelite Order in Bobo Dioulasso. He made his simple profession in 2008 and solemn profession in 2011.
✝️ After his ordination in 2012, he was assigned to the postulancy house in Ouagadougou. In September 2013 he moved to Madrid, Spain, to specialise in philosophy at the Pontifical University of Comillas, focusing on humanism and transcendence.
📚 After completing a thesis on Edith Stein in June 2017, he returned to the community in Ouagadougou, where he has been teaching philosophy at the Catholic University of Saint Thomas Aquinas.
🗣️ Fr Eric is fluent in French, English, and Spanish.
🙏 We give thanks for these brothers’ generous service and pray for Fr Nepi, Fr Robert, Fr Richard, and Fr Eric as they continue to guide the Carmelite Order with wisdom and faith.
