Meet the Diffinitorium

At a provincial chapter in the Dominican Order, an elected council called a diffinitorium (composed of six members, called diffinitors) is tasked with making a number of appointments and operating decisions during the course of a provincial chapter. Below is a list of the friars who were elected for this important job this chapter, with brief biographies. The Dominican Constitutions describe the work of the diffinitorium: “It belongs to the diffinitorium to issue assignations, to fill offices or positions, and to attend to other matters in accordance with our laws” (LCO, §358). During the chapter, the diffinitors lead deliberations exercising, alongside the provincial, full ordinary power of law over the province. At the conclusion of the chapter, the diffinitors will serve as members of the Provincial Council for the next four years, that is, until the provincial chapter of 2018. Joseph Guido, O.P., is an assistant professor of psychology at Providence College, where he is also a staff psychologist with the Personal Counseling Center. Father Guido is an alumnus of Brown University and holds a Doctor of Education in Human Development and Psychology from Harvard University. Joseph Barranger, O.P., is currently prior of St. Dominic Priory in Washington, D.C., where he oversees the provincial Center for Assisted Living. Fr. Barranger has served in a variety of pastoral settings including as Chaplain at Providence College, Prior of the Dominican House of Studies, and pastor of the Dominican Mexicali mission. Fr. Barranger is an instructor in pastoral field education at the Pontifical Faculty of the Immaculate Conception (Washington, D.C.). Andrew Hofer, O.P., has most recently served as Master of Students in Washington, D.C., where he also teaches at the Pontifical Faculty of the Immaculate Conception. Previously, Fr. Hofer has served as a missionary in Nairobi, Kenya, and earned a doctorate in theology from the University of Notre Dame, specializing in patristic theology. Darren Pierre, O.P., a native of Fort Wayne, Indiana, continues to serve the Province of St. Joseph as Socius and Vicar Provincial (an appointment he has held since 2011). Fr. Pierre has ministered in a variety of pastoral settings including St. Gertrude parish (Cincinnati, OH) and St. Patrick Parish (Columbus, OH) and as Promoter for the Lay and Clerical Fraternities of St. Dominic. Fr. Pierre holds a master’s degree from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Allen Moran, O.P., is prior of St. Gertrude Priory in Cincinnati, Ohio, which includes the novitiate of the province. Fr. Moran has taught at Providence College (Providence, Rhode Island), the Angelicum (Rome) and the Pontifical Faculty of the Immaculate Conception. Fr. Moran holds a doctorate in economics from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Dominic Legge, O.P., teaches at the Pontifical Faculty of the Immaculate Conception in Washington, D.C. Fr. Legge earned a J.D. from Yale Law School and practiced law as a trial attorney for the U.S. Department of Justice before entering the Order. He recently defended his dissertation on the Trinitarian Christology of St. Thomas Aquinas at the University of Fribourg (Switzerland).