Fr. Desiderio García, new Prior General of the Carmelites: “Our origins are Asian”

In an interview with omnesmag.org, the recently elected prior general of the Carmelite Order, Fr. Desiderio García Martínez, gave insight into his vocation as a Carmelite and where he believes the Order is moving. An online magazine, OMNES is self-described as a Catholic media dealing with current issues from an analytical and reflective point of view, with a Catholic perspective. The interview was published in multiple languages.

Noting that the recent Carmelite General Chapter was held in Indonesia, the prior general remarked on the Carmelite Order’s origins being in the Holy Land. “We came from there, and now the Holy Spirit is taking us back there,” Fr. Desiderio said.

He described the strong growth of the Order in Asia as “only a round trip” since the Order started there. Statistics distributed at the Chapter show that the Asia-Australia-Oceania geographical area contains 722 of the Order’s approximately 2,000 members. Some 263 of these men are in formation. The area is still relatively new to the Order. The oldest Carmelite reality in the area is Australia, founded in 1881, followed by Indonesia in 1923. The Philippines followed in 1958. The Indian Province, the Vietnam Commissariat, the Indian General Commissariat, and the Eastern Indonesian Province are all more recent realities. 

The Dutch Province founded the Order in Indonesia in 1923, 102 years ago. Today, in the largest Muslim country in the world, where the Catholic population is only 3%, the Carmelites province recently split, establishing an Eastern Indonesian Province while retaining the Indonesia Province covering the rest of the country. But the prior general cautioned, “The important thing, of course, is not the numbers, nor the strategies, nor the calculations. Rather, it is to see how the gift of the Carmelite charism, its values, its spirituality, under the action of the Holy Spirit, continues to bear fruit.”

Later in the interview, Fr. Desiderio spoke of “contemplation as not only the heart of the Carmelite charism, but also in itself the best gift we can offer to the world and to the Church.” Carmelites are involved in a broad spectrum of ministries and apostolates—“whatever we do, we pay special attention to people’s spiritual journeys.” The mission among the people is always carried out with “the richness of our contemplative life.”

“I believe that one of the great prophetic challenges of Carmel is to help today’s world cultivate the inner life. An inner life that does not distance us from the ordinary life of people, but on the contrary, immerses us more deeply in the sufferings of humanity. A person with a contemplative gaze is a person with compassionate hands.”

He then used the image, quoting the prophet Isaiah, of “the contemplative spreads his tent” to “make room for God and all who come with Him: humanity. Authentic contemplation leads us to tenderness and compassion, to touch the wounds of the Body of Christ and to heal wounds. I insist the quality of our compassion comes from the roots of contemplation.”

As for his priorities during the coming six years, the prior general spoke about his responsibility to watch over the common good of the entire Order, to ensuring that the Order grows in fidelity to its identity, as well as discerning creatively, looking at our world, the new paths along which God is leading us. This involves accompanying the entire Carmelite Family in cultivating our contemplative attitude in the life of prayer, fraternity, and service in proclaiming the Gospel. He reminds us that this is not done by remote control but “looking the brothers and sisters in the eye, getting to know the reality, and dialoguing with each culture. And above all, it involves deploying the “apostolate of listening.” Two areas of focus emerge from returning to our origins: “the renewal of community life as a place of accompaniment and unconditional welcome” and “the care of our mission, opening windows of hope to vulnerable, poor, and forgotten humanity.”

Although Fr. Desiderio is Spanish, he was born in Orange, France, an ancient Roman city and a World Heritage Site in Provence. “I am the son of immigrants,” he said explaining that his father worked at the vineyards of Châteauneuf du Pape, an important wine-producing center in France since the 14th century. When his grandparents grew old and needed assistance, the family returned to Spain. They settled in Onda, site of a major Carmelite foundation. That was where the future prior general was introduced to the Carmelites.

This article is based on an interview by Francisco Otamendi for omnesmag.org.

The full interview is available here in English.