When casual conversation, a search for the truth, and concern for society’s most vulnerable come together, you get a life-long friendship with the Dominican Friars.

“My life has been incredibly enriched, and I know my wife would say the exact same, by our involvement with the Friars,” said Edward “Ed” Sweeney, a friendly Manhattanite who has made the Catholic faith and community service a priority for his life.

His relationship with friars brings to life St. Paul’s ancient metaphor of the Church as the Body of Christ, one where the unique gifts of the laity and the intellectual depth of the Dominican Friars combine to foster a hopeful future.

To start his story, Sweeney goes back almost 20 years. “Ed, you have to meet this priest,” a friend said. 

That priest was Fr. Gabriel Gillen, O.P., who was serving at the Church of St. Catherine of Siena in Manhattan. They clicked over casual conversation. Unfortunately, Fr. Gabriel’s emergency beeper alerted him to a dying person in need of Anointing of the Sick, cutting their conversation short. Nonetheless, they kept in touch. “He’s become certainly one of my closest friends,” Sweeney recalled.

After that initial encounter, more Friars entered his life. As those friendships multiplied, Fr. Gabriel saw Sweeney’s involvement in philanthropy in New York as a possible indication that he would consider supporting the Friars on a deeper level, and Ed agreed. “I’ve gotten a lot more out of it than perhaps I’ve put into it,” he said.

His friendship with the Dominican Friars is also a source of hope and has strengthened his faith. He described his experience with the Dominican Friars as “a counter-narrative” to common accounts of closing churches and declining vocations.

“The amount of energy that the Friars have is something that I’m amazed and in awe of,” Sweeney said. They have used that energy to share the truth with him.

He observed that, with the Friars, “There is no dumb question.” They are “such intellectual heavyweights,” he said. “I am grateful for their patience with me, because I’ve asked them many tough questions on a whole number of theological and philosophical issues.”

The witness to the truth is sorely needed in society today, Sweeney reflected, offering as an example the problem of anxiety that is “very real in young people that I interact with.” 

“It’s as real as a heart attack, this sort of darkness and despair and anxiety that they struggle with,” he said. The Friars’ “preaching of the truth and the Gospel of Jesus” is a comfort in this battle. He recalled how a Friar once quoted St. Catherine of Siena, answering “What is the most essential truth in life?” 

Her reply? “Know that you were loved before the beginning,” he paraphrased. 

“I think if people that are despairing, or that are searching for meaning to their life — for them to know that, it is such an enormous comfort,” he said.

Providing comfort and care to others is important to Sweeney. He suffered the loss of a disabled brother who died young. He also saw a cousin flourish through the assistance of an organization that cares for those with special needs. These relations inform his conviction of the importance of the Gospel of Life, that every person is sacred. Movements in society to legalize physician-assisted suicide weigh heavily on him. Nonetheless, the witness of the Dominican Friars on behalf of the Gospel of Life gives him hope for the future.

The “caliber of men” entering the Order impresses him. “It’s nothing short of providential,” he said.

“These are the next leaders of the church, for the next 100 years,” he said. The  investment in the Dominican Friars “is a pittance compared to the return on the investment.” 

Rooted in a 20-year friendship and a shared love for the pursuit of truth and gratitude for the gift of life, Sweeney’s dedication to the Dominican Friars reflects a life-long pursuit of truth and human dignity. What began as a providential encounter in New York has evolved into a vital partnership in mission, allowing Sweeney to channel his personal history into a legacy of hope for the next generation of the Church.

To support the formation of the next generation of Dominican Friars, please visit friarsforlife.org. 

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