The Reverend

Casey Cole

OFM
Orders
OrdinationJune 22, 2019
by Luis R. Zarama
Personal details
Born
Lansdale, Pennsylvania
United States
NationalityAmerican
DenominationRoman Catholic
OccupationPriest, author, blogger, YouTuber
EducationGreen Hope High School
The Catholic University of America
Furman University
Catholic Theological Union
YouTube information
Websitebreakinginthehabit.org
Channels
Years active2015–present
Genres
Subscribers302 thousand
Total views54 million
Associated acts
  • Fr. Patrick Tuttle
100,000 subscribers

Casey Cole, OFM, is an American Franciscan friar, Catholic priest, writer, and blogger. Cole runs his own online blog and YouTube channel called Breaking in the Habit and is the author of the books Let Go: Seven Stumbling Blocks to Christian Discipleship and Called: What Happens After Saying Yes to God.

Biography

Early life

Cole grew up in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, before moving to Cary, North Carolina.[1] He was a parishioner at St. Michael the Archangel Catholic Church in Cary. Cole attended Green Hope High School and, in 2011, graduated from Furman University with a degree in religious studies and a minor in poverty studies.[1]

In August 2011, Cole was received as a postulant in the Order of Friars Minor.

Media career and onward

Later in 2011, he began his blog called Breaking in the Habit, writing about considering joining the priesthood, later adding a podcast and a YouTube channel.[2][3][4][5]

He was received as a Franciscan novice in August 2012, where, in 2013, he made his first profession with novices from seven North American provinces in Burlington, Wisconsin at the Franciscan Interprovincial Novitiate. He studied at The Catholic University of America from 2013 to 2016, working towards a master of divinity degree. In 2016, Cole began serving at Immaculate Conception Catholic Church in Durham, a Franciscan parish, and professed his final vows as a Franciscan friar in 2017.[2][6][7] In March 2018, he was ordained a deacon.

In 2019, he received a master of divinity from Catholic Theological Union in Chicago.[2][1]

On June 22, 2019, Cole was ordained a priest of the Franciscan Order by Luis R. Zarama, the Bishop of Raleigh, at Immaculate Conception Catholic Church.[8] At Cole's insistence (wanting "the people of God in their realness to be there"), all lay liturgical ministers who assisted in the celebration of the Mass were women.[2]

Since 2020, Cole has served as the chaplain of Mount de Sales Academy in Macon, Georgia.[9]

Writings

Cole has written three books, Called: What Happens After Saying Yes to God, Let Go: Seven Stumbling Blocks to Christian Discipleship, and The Way of Beatitude: Living Radical Hope in a World of Division and Despair.[10][11]

References

  1. ^ a b c "Franciscan Vocation Ministry » Meet our Student Friars". Archived from the original on June 27, 2019.
  2. ^ a b c d "Sharing the habit: Newly ordained priest celebrates Mass, sacraments and … social media". Diocese of Raleigh. June 26, 2019.
  3. ^ "Breaking In The Habit". Breaking in the Habit.
  4. ^ "Br. Casey Cole, OFM". May 1, 2018.
  5. ^ "Father Casey Cole OFM".
  6. ^ "Lent with Br. Casey Cole, OFM | St Anthony Shrine". St. Anthony Shrine. March 14, 2017.
  7. ^ Cole, Fr Casey (March 3, 2017). "Lent with Br. Casey Cole, OFM". Archived from the original on November 4, 2019. Retrieved November 4, 2019.
  8. ^ "Priestly Ordination of Casey Cole Set for June 22". Holy Name Province. February 20, 2019. Archived from the original on December 2, 2022. Retrieved November 4, 2019.
  9. ^ Staff, M. D. S. (October 16, 2020). "God is Good: Friars in Macon". Mount de Sales Academy. Retrieved May 4, 2023.
  10. ^ "Lisa Hendey & Friends #11: Brother Casey Cole, OFM "Called"". LisaHendey.com. May 3, 2018. Archived from the original on November 4, 2019. Retrieved November 4, 2019.
  11. ^ "Casey Cole Writes First Book". Holy Name Province. April 3, 2018. Archived from the original on December 8, 2022. Retrieved November 4, 2019.
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