The Carmelite Province of Aragon, Castile and Valencia was the quickest in count it. September 19. "Desiderio Garcia, new Prior General. General Chapter, Malang 2025", said the news. In fact, at the General Chapter of Malang (Indonesia), Fr. Desiderio was elected Prior General in 2025. Prior General of the Order of the Brothers of the Virgin Mary of Mount Carmel for the next six years (2025-2031).
Born in Orange (France), in Provence, in 1970, of Spanish parents, "I am the son of emigrants," he told Omnes. Desiderio, O. Carm., has three degrees, in Ecclesiastical Studies, Biblical Theology and Hebrew Philology. He has been a member of various international commissions in the Carmelite Order.
For six years he has been Prior Provincial of the Carmelites of the Province of Aragon, Castile and Valencia of St. John of the Cross, twenty-one years Formation Councilor in his Province, and eighteen years Master of Novices. He has been part of formation projects in Salamanca (Spain), Aylesford (United Kingdom), Rome (Italy) and Santo Domingo (Dominican Republic).
Desi, as he is colloquially known, was a Councilor for Religious Life, and had been prior and pastor of the Carmelite community of Ayala Street (Madrid) for two years. Having just arrived from the island of Java, and after preaching an Effetà retreat of this parish to many young people, we spoke with him.
First of all, congratulations, did you expect it? What were your first thoughts?
- One never expects these things. I was happily serving, along with my Carmelite brothers, in our Parish of St. Mary of Mount Carmel, known in Madrid as the "Carmelites of Ayala". I learned of my election right there in the chapter hall, once the scrutiny of the first deliberative vote was read, in which it was indicated to me that an absolute majority had been reached. In my case, I felt gratitude for the confidence of the brothers and, at the same time, trembling and fear in the face of the responsibility assumed.
These gifts that God gives are in the form of a cross. Our authority is not that of power, glitter or the medal of merit, it is, rather, that of charity, humility, generous service to all, as Jesus did in the washing of the feet. Thus I manifested it to the capitular brothers and to the whole Order communicating to them, after praying it, that I accepted this responsibility as a service of love to God, to the Church and to the Order of Carmel, in each one of the brothers, so that, together, we could carry to fullness the vocation to which we had been called.
You were born in France, but later lived in Spain.
- I was born in Orange (France) in 1970. My parents are Spanish, I am the son of emigrants. Orange is located in the French Provence, it is a Roman city with an impressive heritage: the ancient theater and the triumphal arch, both declared World Heritage Sites. It is also known for being an important wine center in France. The wines of Côtes du Rhône as well as the vineyards of Châteauneuf du Pape, where my father worked, have been renowned since the 14th century.
Orange is sort of like Merida in the French way. I still have friends and family there. The family, when the grandparents grew old and it was necessary to prioritize what to attend to first, returned to Spain. They settled in Onda (Castellón), where I had my first contact with the Carmelites.
The General Chapter was held in Indonesia. Yesterday he commented that the growth of the Order in Asia is high, higher than in other latitudes.
- It is with great joy that the Carmelite Order, in keeping with the proclamation of the Gospel, is spreading in Asia. It is not superfluous to remember that it is only a round trip, for our origin is Asian. In fact, we were born in Holy LandWe came from there and now the Holy Spirit is taking us there again. We came from there and now the Holy Spirit is taking us there again.
Carmel arrived in Indonesia in 1923, 102 years ago, thanks to the generosity and missionary impulse of the Carmelite Province of Holland. Today, in the largest Muslim country in the world, where the Catholic population is only 3 %, there are more than 400 friars and about 200 young people in various stages of formation. The important thing, of course, is not numbers, strategies or 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.
Have you had the opportunity to inform Pope Leo XIV of your election? Can you highlight any message from the Pope in these first months?
- The Procurator General, who is the institutional representative of our Order before the Holy See, is the one who officially communicates it to the Secretary of State in the Vatican. This is the institutional channel. Subsequently, the appointment is notified to all the Dicasteries of the Holy See, with which the Order, for one reason or another, must be in contact.
I did not have the opportunity to greet the Holy Father personally because I am not yet in Rome. From the island of Java, where the General Chapter was held in Malang, I returned directly to Madrid. We have a transition period to organize visas, residence permits and administrative matters at the civil and canonical level for the members of the General Council. Once there, once installed, it is the Procurator General who is in charge of requesting an audience with the Holy Father to officially present the Prior General and his Council.
I would highlight from Pope Leo XIV's initial message his beautiful message of peace. He pleaded, on the first day, immediately after his election, that the "peace of the risen Christ" touch "all peoples", "all the earth", and that it be "an unarmed peace and a disarming peace".
For those less knowledgeable about the Carmelite Order, tell us about some core feature of the Carmelite charism.
- Contemplation is not only the heart of the Carmelite charism, but is in itself the best gift we can offer to the world and the Church. As mendicants we are open to every ministry and apostolate. Now, since we Carmelites carry out our mission among the people first and foremost with the richness of our contemplative life, whatever we do, we are especially attentive to the spiritual journey of the people.
I believe that one of Carmel's great prophetic challenges is to help the world today to cultivate the inner life. An interior life that does not take us away from the ordinary life of men, on the contrary, it immerses us more in the pains of humanity. A man of contemplative gaze is a man of compassionate hands.
The contemplative "widens his tent," as the prophet Isaiah says, to fit God and all those who come with him: humanity. If one day, all around us, there were no longer any more sick and hungry, abandoned and despised - the minores of whom our mendicant tradition speaks - it is not because there are none, but simply because we do not see them. 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.
Although it may be premature, could you comment on any priorities for your term of office? The other members of the board of directors have also been elected.
- The Prior General is entrusted by the friars to watch over the common good of the whole Order with docility. For it, he should dedicate his maximum effort so that this one grew in fidelity to its identity (what we call in our language, charisma), as well as to discern in creative form, looking at our world, the new ways where God leads us.
This implies accompanying the entire Carmelite Family in cultivating our contemplative attitude in the life of prayer, fraternity and service in the proclamation of the Gospel. This animation, as you can imagine, is not done by remote control. It implies, above all, traveling, looking our brothers and sisters in the face, getting to know the reality, dialoguing with each culture. And above all, to deploy the "apostolate of listening". Living with fidelity the gift received in our Carmelite spirituality, returning to our origins in a creative way, entails several things. On the one hand, the renewal of community life, as a place for accompaniment and unconditional welcome. And on the other, the care of our mission, opening windows of hope to vulnerable, poor and forgotten humanity.
Yes, indeed, the Prior General is not alone. It would be impossible. A good group of Carmelite friars, called the General Council, of different nationalities, also elected at the General Chapter, help and support this mission of government and spiritual animation: Vice General (Friar Hariawan Adji, Indonesia). General Treasurer (Friar Christian Körner, Germany). Councilor for Europe (Friar Richard Byrne, Ireland). Councilor for the Americas (Friar Nepomuk Willemsen, United States). Councilor for Asia, Australia and Oceania (Friar Robert Thomas Puthussery, India). Councilor for Africa (Burkina Faso, Friar Erik Chrisostome) and Procurator General (Friar Michael Farrugia, Malta).
If you wish to add anything...
- I would like to thank God for your work and place the lives of the readers under the mantle of Our Lady of Mount Carmel, our Mother and Sister.
Pablo Mª de la Cruz, O. Carm., a young Carmelite, sick with cancer, who made his Carmelite Profession in articulo mortis (in danger of death).
He himself, before his death at the age of 21, wrote a posthumous letter to Pope Francis during WYD Lisbon 2023, telling him: "In Carmel, the Garden of God, the anteroom of Heaven, grows Mary, the Sunflower of God, whom I like to call and imagine as the Virgin of Springtime. I ask her to transform the deserts of sorrow into gardens of consolation, and in her hands I entrust the evangelization of young people".
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