Meet Our Vocation Director- Friar Jobe Abbass

Friar Jobe Abbass was born in the city of Sydney in the Canadian province of Nova Scotia. He enjoys taking hour-long power walks daily, reading, and good old-fashioned letter writing. Friar Jobe practiced law for four years in Canada before meeting Father Richard Otto, a Franciscan Conventual, while on vacation visiting his relatives in California. His relatives were part of the charismatic renewal and were crazy about Fr. Richard. They prevailed on him to attend his week-long retreat. Friar Jobe shares, “ During the retreat, I was more than skeptical about his charismatic ways but, when he asked me at the end of the retreat to open the Bible to where God wanted me to, my life was turned upside down as I read aloud Jeremiah 31:7-14, a prophecy that is still being revealed in my life.” A year later, with the help of spiritual direction and the understanding of his family and colleagues, he entered the Franciscan Conventual formation program in New England. After his ordination, Friar Jobe was in parish ministry at Immaculate Conception Church in Trenton, NJ and Infant of Prague Church in Jacksonville, NC between 1985-1987. He then went to the Pontifical Oriental Institute in Rome from 1987-1991, to earn his license and doctorate in canon law. From 1992-2004, he was a professor of canon law at the Pontifical Oriental Institute and then moved to Ottawa, Canada in 2004 and was a professor of canon law at Saint Paul University for 14 years. In 2018, Friar Jobe was appointed as delegate of the Canadian delegation of the Our Lady of the Angels Province of the Franciscan Conventuals and he is also currently serving as the delegation’s vocation director.

“For everything I have received from God and the Franciscan Order, I am happy to be able to give back what little I can to draw others to the Lord, Our Lady and this great life as a Franciscan Friar.” – Friar Jobe Abbass