Franciscan Priest and Brother Honored as Volunteers of the Year

Two members of the Province, Father Peter Lyons, TOR and Brother Paul McMullen,TOR were recognized for their service at the Federal Correctional Institute in Loretto, PA on April 30, 2026 at the prison’s Annual Volunteer Recognition Banquet. Dual plaques, handmade by inmates, were presented to the friars by Warden Michael C. Underwood. FCI-Loretto has approximately 100 volunteers who serve in various capacities. Twenty-five of them were present for this ceremony.

Fr. Peter and Br. Paul have served there in prison ministry under the supervision of Martin Statler, Prison Chaplain, for several years. Fr. Peter regularly hears confessions and celebrates Mass on Sundays for the Catholic inmates. Br. Paul assists Fr. Peter with religious formation and leads Communion Services when Fr. Peter is unavailable. These services enable the inmates to receive the Eucharist and participate in the Liturgy of the Word, when a priest cannot be present.

Prior to becoming a Federal Correctional Institute, the prison facilities served as the home of St. Francis Seminary. Completed in 1962, the Seminary provided theological education and training for Franciscan friars as well as diocesan priests until it closed in 1979 due to declining enrollment. It was dubbed “The Rock” by Franciscan seminarians because the life there was often rigid and strict. Fr. Peter can attest to this because he was a seminarian there in the 1960s. In the 1970s he returned to the Seminary to teach theology and serve as Rector.

“The Rock” was sold to the Federal government in 1984 who converted it into a federal prison. The nearly 800 inmates who reside there today may find the atmosphere is still often “rigid and strict.” The prison chapel which hosts both Catholic and non-denominational services was once the St. Francis Seminary chapel.