Casey Cole


Casey Cole is an American Franciscan friar, Catholic priest, writer, and blogger. Cole runs his own online blog and YouTube channel called Breaking in the Habit and is the author of the books Let Go: Seven Stumbling Blocks to Christian Discipleship and Called: What Happens After Saying Yes to God.

Early life and education

Cole grew up in Lancaster, Pennsylvania before moving to Cary, North Carolina. He was a parishioner at St. Michael the Archangel Catholic Church in Cary. Cole attended Green Hope High School and, in 2011, graduated from Furman University with a degree in religious studies and a minor in poverty studies. In 2019 he received a master of divinity from the Catholic Theological Union in Chicago.

Ecclesiastical life

In August 2011, Cole was received as a postulant in the Order of Friars Minor. He was received as a novice in August 2012, where, in 2013, he made his first profession with novices from seven North American provinces in Burlington, Wisconsin at the Franciscan Interprovincial Novitiate. He studied at The Catholic University of America from 2013-2016, working towards a Master of Divinity degree. In 2016, Cole began serving at Immaculate Conception Catholic Church in Durham, a Franciscan parish, and professed his final vows as a Franciscan friar in 2017. In March 2018 he was ordained a deacon.
On June 22, 2019 Cole was ordained a priest of the Franciscan Order by Luis R. Zarama, the Bishop of Raleigh, at Immaculate Conception Catholic Church. At Cole's insistence, all lay liturgical ministers who assisted in the celebration of the Mass were women.

Writing

Later in 2011 he began his blog called Breaking in the Habit, writing about considering joining the priesthood, later adding a podcast and a YouTube channel.
Cole has written two books, Called: What Happens After Saying Yes to God and Let Go: Seven Stumbling Blocks to Christian Discipleship.