Capuchins in California and Northern Mexico began a month-long centennial celebration on March 17, the Feast of St. Patrick. In 1910 the missionary zeal of the Irish Capuchins took them to the Diocese of Baker in Oregon where they established friaries in Hermiston and Bend. Having heard the plea of Bishop O’Reilly of Baker City, our brothers, Fathers Thomas Dowling and Luke Sheehan arrived in the sparsely populated area of Eastern Oregon. One hundred years later that same missionary zeal established yet another friary, this time in Durango, Mexico, the province’s Mission of Northern Mexico. The words of Fr. Thomas to his provincial, Fr. Peter Bowe, O.F.M.Cap., still stir the hearts of the Capuchin Friars – not only Irish, but now American, Asian, African American, and Latino – "I believe that there is a great future for our missions in this part of the world; it is an opportunity for the development of our Province that may never be afforded again." Over the past 100 years friaries, schools and churches between Hermiston, Oregon, and Durango, Mexico, have been built to assist the local Church with the spread of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Mid-American Capuchins Bill Kraus and Francisco Ramirez were part of this history, as they both spent a number of years assisting in the formation of incoming friars in the Northern Mexico mission. Read more about the centennial celebrations the Western American web site