'Hermit friars' elect new Provincial

BY JOE JENIUNS AND IRENE LALLY
THE AUGUSTINIAN Friars in England and Scotland last week elected their first English Provincial since 1538.
Co Durham-born Fr Paul Graham, Prior of Clare Priory in Suffolk, takes charge of the order for the next four years.
The order was founded in 1248 as "The Order of Hermit Friars of St Augustine", and was dispersed to Ireland under Henry VIII. The Augustinians returned to England in the last century and in 1977 became independent of the Irish order.
Fr Graham, 49, returned to England in 1993 after spending 8 years in South Korea, where he was involved in the setting up of an Augustinian community.