The Very Rev. D. Dominic Izzo, O.P. ’88 called his re-election as prior provincial of the Dominican Province of St. Joseph “an overwhelming feeling.”

Re-elected during the provincial chapter meeting at the College in June, Father Izzo will serve another four-year term.

“It is an affirmation of the good things that have happened over the past four years in which we tried to build on the work of many Friars before us,” he said.

As he begins his second term as prior provincial, Father Izzo said his focus will be on two major goals set at the chapter meeting. One will be to enhance his fellow Dominicans’ “continued renewal” as contemplative preachers, in which the emphasis is on the common life, prayer, and study.

The second focus will be heightened attention to the Dominican mission, in which the “challenge for us will be to continue to discern God’s call for us to serve in the New Evangelization,” he said.

While we live in challenging times, said Father Izzo, these are opportunities to realize that “the works of grace will abound all the more. The call is for us to have courage and trust in God, especially in the times of trial and difficulty. I am sure we have yet to see all the good things God has in store for us,” he said.

According to the Constitutions of the Dominican Order, the primary duties of the prior provincial are to promote “the authentic spirit and life of the Order” in his province; to keep “the common good of the Order very much at heart;” and to “promote cooperation between the province and the hierarchy and between the province and other religious families.”

Founded in 1805, the Province of St. Joseph is one of four self-governing Dominican provinces established in the United States. It comprises the six New England states, the Middle Atlantic states, Kentucky, and Ohio. It also oversees a mission in Eastern Africa and supports Dominican missions in Pakistan, Peru, Chile, the Solomon Islands, and the Philippines.