Friar Briant (Jerome) William Cullinane, OFM Conv., 94, a Franciscan Friar of Our Lady of the Angels Province, died peacefully on Wednesday, Sept. 17, 2025, at Enfield, Conn.
Born in Elizabeth, N.J., on Aug. 17, 1931, he was the youngest of the three sons of Jeremiah and Jennie (nee Coughlin) Cullinane. The Cullinane boys followed similar pathways in the Church: Jeremiah was a diocesan priest, while John was a permanent deacon. Briant attended Catholic grade and high school in Elizabeth, N.J., before entering the minor seminary of the Conventual Franciscans in 1949.
Briant entered the novitiate in Middleburgh, N.Y., making his simple profession on Aug. 17, 1952. He completed his philosophical studies at Assumption Seminary in Chaska, Minn., before earning his M. Div. from St. Anthony-on-Hudson in Rensselaer, N.Y., during which time he made his solemn profession on Sept. 17, 1955. He was ordained to the priesthood on Feb. 2, 1958, after earning his S.T.L. from The Catholic University of America.
Friar Cullinane’s first assignment was as a parochial vicar at St. Peter’s in Riverside, N.J. He ministered there for five years before moving to Don Mills, Ontario, where he served at St. Bonaventure parish for thirteen years, first as associate pastor and then as pastor.
In 1976, Friar Briant was elected vicar provincial and secretary of the then Immaculate Conception Province, residing at the Provincial House in Union City, N.J. In 1979, he was elected minister provincial, a leadership position he held for two terms. In 1985, he went on a sabbatical year to Italy.
Friar Briant was next assigned to Jacksonville, N.C., as pastor of St. Elizabeth-St. Catherine Parish. In 1991, he moved to Canada, spending six years in service to the Archdiocese of Toronto, most notably as its chancellor. Friar Briant’s final pastoral assignments were to St. Stanislaus Kostka Parish (Castle Hayne, N.C.) and Blessed Sacrament Parish (Burlington, N.C.). In 2002, he lived in residence for a year at Point Pleasant, before moving to Rensselaer, where he lived in residence while serving as chaplain for the Sisters of the Resurrection in Castleton, N.Y.
In 2010, Friar Briant returned to Blessed Sacrament in Burlington, as guardian until 2022, when he made the short move to Pittsboro. In 2025, he made his final move to Enfield, Conn. At the time of his death, Friar Briant was the eldest friar of Our Lady of the Angels Province.
Visitation hours will be held Wed., Sept. 24, from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m., at Blessed Sacrament Catholic Church (1620 Hanford Rd., Graham NC 27253), with a Franciscan Wake Service at 7
p.m. A Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated Thursday, Sept. 25, at 11: 00 a.m., at Blessed Sacrament. Internment will take place at Our Lady of Lourdes Cemetery, Trenton N.J., on Thurs., Oct. 2.