Brother René Lebuïnus Dinklo, OP, was postulated Prior Provincial of the Dominican Province of The Netherlands on 11 September 2021 at the Convent of Our Lady of the Rosary, Huissen, The Netherlands. Following his confirmation by Brother Gerard Timoner III, OP, Master of the Order of Preachers, Br. René accepted his postulation and made the Profession of Faith.
Born on 24 June 1965 in the southern Netherlands in the city of Sittard, whose patron saint is St. Rosa of Lima, Brother René worked briefly with the government before joining the Dominican Order. He was accepted in the novitiate in 1993, made his first religious profession in 1994 and was ordained to the priesthood in 2005. He studied theology at the Catholic University of Nijmegen with a specialization in exegeses of the New Testament.
Brother René was rector of the Dominican church in the city of Zwolle and prior in the convent of Zwolle for two terms. He was also a member of the Provincial Council and the Financial and Economic Advisory Board. On 13 March 2013, he was elected prior provincial for the first time, and on 18 March 2017, he was re-elected. At the time of his first election, Br. René was the youngest brother in his Province.
On 9 September 2021, the Provincial Chapter of The Netherlands, held in Huissen, unanimously approved a merger of the Dominican Province of the Netherlands with the Dominican Province of Belgium. The decision has yet to receive the approval of the Master of the Order of Preachers, but he has already become cognizant of it. It is therefore likely that the fusion of the Dutch and Belgian provinces will become official on 30 May 2022 and that a Provincial Vicariate of The Netherlands will be erected in the Province of Belgium.
We commend to your prayers our brother’s service to the Order and to the Church.
