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Acknowledgments At the beginning of this study of the Leonine Union of the Order of Friars Minor, I would like to offer a sincere word of thanks and acknowledgment to all those many friends and colleagues who have assisted me in my writing. It is dedicated to my parents, Margret (who passed away in 1990) and Jack; and also to many friar friends of the Australian/New Zealand and Irish Provinces of the Order. Without their support and encouragement this book could not have been written. In a special way, I would like to thank those friars who gave me hospitality and fraternal assistance during my years in Rome: Frs. Fiachra O Ceallaigh, Edmund Dougan, David O'Reilly, Dermot Cox and the community of St. Isidore's College; the friars of the General Curia; my Australian brothers: Cormac Nagle and Peter Confeggi, Aristide Cabassi and the friars of Convento Sant' Angelo in Milan. My sincere thanks, too, to David French, who read the final text and offered me much sound advice and constructive criticism. I have also been fortunate in having the eminent Italian historian, Fr. Giacomo Martina, S.J., of the Gregorian University in Rome, as my guide and mentor. He has been only too willing to share with me something of his profound knowledge of modern Italian Church history and to encourage and supervise my research. His kindness is something of which I am most appreciative. The responsibility for the contents of this volume, of course, remains my own. A work such as this depends to a great extent on the professional and efficient assistance of archivists and librarians. Hence, my thanks to the archivists and librarians of the following archives and libraries: the General Archives of the Order of Friars Minor, the archives of the Vatican, the archives of the Sacred Congregation for Religious and Secular Institutes and Societies of Apostolic Life, the archives of the Sacred Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples, the archives of Bernardino da Portogruaro, Isola San Michele, Venice, the General Archives of the Order of Friars Minor Capuchin, the library of St. Isidore's College, Rome, the library of the Collegio Sant' Antonio, Rome, the Franciscan Library, Convent Sant' Angelo Milan. In the words of St. Francis: "Pax et bonum!" "May peace and every good be yours!" Maurice Carmody, O.F.M. Rome, Italy October 1994. ...

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