The Province of San Nicolás de Tolentino of Michoacán of the Order of Saint Augustine celebrated its CXIII Ordinary Provincial Chapter from July 13 to 16, 2026, at the Casa Hipona in Moroleón, Guanajuato. The gathering, convened by the then provincial prior, brought the friars together for discernment, the review of statutes, the evaluation of apostolic works, and the election of the new provincial government for the 2026-2030 quadrennium.
The presence of the prior general of the Order, the Most Reverend Father Joseph Farrell, OSA, gave the chapter particular significance. Farrell, elected 98th prior general at the General Chapter held in Rome in September 2025, presided over the votive Mass of the Holy Spirit that opened the proceedings on Monday, July 13, and delivered the opening address. In it, he urged the capitulars to welcome the gifts of the Spirit, to set aside selfishness, and to seek the common good of the Province through fraternal dialogue. The general assistant for Latin America, Father Benjamín García Franco, OSA, also accompanied the sessions.
During the sessions, reports from the province’s schools and works were presented, statutes and final proposals were reviewed and approved, and chapter officers, members of the Statutes Commission, and the base delegate to the Organization of Augustinians of Latin America and the Caribbean (OALA) were elected. On Thursday, July 16, the fourth and final day, the prior general solemnly confirmed during the holy Mass the brothers elected to serve. Subsequently, in the chapter hall, the results of the votes and the final act were read. Once approved, Father Farrell himself declared the CXIII Ordinary Provincial Chapter concluded.
As the main outcome of the elections, the friars chose Father Vicente Flores Villagómez, OSA, as provincial prior, who will lead the province during the 2026-2030 term. Flores Villagómez, who had just completed a second term as councilor and vocation promoter, succeeds Father Marco Antonio Luna Medrano, OSA, who served as provincial prior from 2022 to 2026 and to whom the capitulars expressed their gratitude for his service. The Organization of Augustinians of Latin America and the Caribbean publicly congratulated the new prior and asked for prayers for the new provincial government.
The prior general and the brothers present highlighted the chapter’s character of communion and Augustinian renewal. A reflection by Father Manuel Cortés Guerra, of the Diocese of Irapuato, invited participants to live an ecclesiology of communion, at the service of the most needy and far from any Pelagianism or narrow provincialism.
The joy of the chapter and the beginning of the new period were, however, deeply overshadowed by a tragedy that occurred upon returning from the sessions. On the night of July 16 or the early morning of July 17, 2026, while traveling from Moroleón, Guanajuato, to Morelia, Michoacán, two priests of the province who had participated in the chapter died in a car accident: Father Nicolás Morales Díaz, OSA, and Father J. Carmen García García, OSA. Sources from the Archdiocese of Morelia and the Order itself confirmed the painful passing of both religious, members of the community of San Nicolás de Tolentino in Morelia.
The news caused consternation in the Augustinian community of Mexico and Latin America. The Organization of Augustinians of Latin America and the Caribbean, as well as numerous parishes and faithful, expressed their sorrow and joined in prayer for the eternal rest of the two friars.
The funeral rites for Fathers Nicolás Morales Díaz and J. Carmen García García were celebrated on Saturday, July 18, 2026. The Mass of Christian burial was attended by numerous fathers and friars of the Order of Saint Augustine, as well as the auxiliary bishop emeritus of Morelia, Octavio Villegas Aguilar, who accompanied the community in its time of mourning. The celebration emphasized faith in the resurrection and gratitude for the life and ministry of both priests, dedicated to the service of the Church in the Augustinian tradition.
The Province of San Nicolás de Tolentino of Michoacán, with a long history of educational, parochial, and formative presence, thus begins a new quadrennium under the leadership of Vicente Flores Villagómez. It does so marked by gratitude for the service of the outgoing government, by the fraternal presence of the prior general, and at the same time by the pain of losing two of its members. In the spirit of Saint Augustine, the friars have been invited to live this hour as a call to unity of hearts and trust in Providence.
The new provincial prior and his council now assume the responsibility of continuing the mission of the Order amid the pastoral, vocational, and social challenges of the region, sustained by the prayer of the Augustinian family and of the faithful who have accompanied both the joy of the chapter and the mourning of these days.