The Master of the Order, fr Bruno Cador has appointed fr Alain Arnould as his Socius for Northwestern Europe and Canada. Fr Alain is a son of the Vice Province of St Thomas Aquinas in Belgium and he succeeds fr Vivian Boland who has just completed his tenure.
Fr Alain was born in 1961 at Bruges where he grew up in a wonderful family. He studied Marketing and History of Art at Ghent, London and Cambridge Universities. He came across the Dominicans during his PhD studies. He was part of a bold and extraordinary project of the English Province which consisted of a lay community at the Cambridge Priory. No less than 6 religious vocations sprang up from this project, five of which were for the Dominican family.
After lecturing at London University for a year, fr Alain joined the Belgian entity of the Order. His formation years were spread out between these cities; Strasbourg, Froidmont, Lille and London. He made his first profession in 1994 and was ordained to the priesthood in 1999.
In 2001, he was part of the foundation of the St Dominic International Priory in Brussels. For sixteen year, he has been the Chaplain of the Artists in Brussels which offered him the opportunity to take many initiatives in the visual arts, music and theatre in an attempt to bridge the gap between the Church and Arts. This ministry changed him from a scholar in mediaeval manuscripts to a passionate defender of today’s artistic expressions. No doubt, it was because of this experience that the Master of the Order asked him to coordinate the Jubilee Art Exhibition Auguri which was held at Santa Sabina, Rome last Winter as part of the Jubilee celebration of the Order.
Now resident at Santa Sabina, fr Alain expresses his mind;
My new task and move to Santa Sabina are very challenging for me. With God’s help and the brethren’s mercy, I hope I shall meet some of the expectations! I look forward to meeting and serving the members of the Order of Preachers in the part of the world I am assigned for the next six years.
(14 May 2017)