Rome, Italy
FROM THE EDITOR: FROM THE PROVINCES: ACTIVITIES OF THE GENERAL GOVERNMENT: REDEMPTORISTS IN THE NEWS: PROFILE: TRANSITIONS:
Lately, the theme of the Holy Father's general audiences has been on the Doctors of the Church. On Wednesday, March 30th, The Holy Father talked about our founder, St. Alphonsus Liguori and made some applications and suggestions at his audience on how to apply the teachings, writings and practices of St. Alphonsus to today's Church. In his message he expressed his esteem for the Redemptorists. SCALA sent that message to you on March 31st (See Scala Archives). In return, Father General sent the following telegram to the Holy Father on April 2: Most Rev. Michael Brehl, CSSR To His Holiness Benedict XVI
intercession of St. Alphonsus and to the Madonna of Perpetual Help, I extend filial greetings to Your Holiness. Michael Brehl, CSSR We note, also, that Pope Benedict celebrates his 84th birthday today and the 6th anniversary of his election as Pope on April 19th in 2005.
May 1st will see the largest influx of pilgrims to Rome since the 2005 funeral of Pope John Paul II. The reason for this influx is once again John Paul II. This time the pilgrims are swarming to Rome to participate in his Beatification Ceremony to be held outdoors in St. Peter's Square. Thousands - if not over a million pilgrims - are expected to stretch out from the square down the Via della Conciliazione to the Tiber River, such as they did in 2005. Shortly after the conclusion of the Beatification ceremony all the faithful will be able to participate in the public veneration of John Paul II in St. Peter's. The veneration, the Vatican says, will continue until all who are in line have had their opportunity to pass by his casket. Then the permanent transfer of Blessed Pope John Paul II's body from the Basilica crypt underneath the high altar to the main floor of the Basilica will take place. The new location is adjacent to where the Pieta is displayed. We offer a look back on the life of Pope John Paul II below. Father Santo Arrigo, Director of Vocation Ministry in Canada, sent us this bit of news: ":On March 15, 2011, the Redemptorist confreres in Toronto were blessed to celebrate the Feast of St. Clement Hofbauer with Fr. Michael Brehl C.Ss.R., Superior General, who was briefly in Toronto between two general visitations. Along with several confreres in our Province who celebrate the Feast of St. Clement as the anniversary of their profession or ordination, Fr. General celebrated 31 years of Ordination to the Priesthood. This celebration brought together the Redemptorist Community at St. Patrick's Parish, the North American Novitiate, Redeemer House Formation Community and Ministries, along with the parishioners of St. Patrick's Church. Fr. Brehl offered great insight into the life of St. Clement, calling us in our missionary zeal to strive to preach the gospel anew.  Jelle Wind, secretary of the Province of St. Clement writes: On Friday, April 1, Fr. Piet Nelen C.Ss.R. of the Province of St. Clement received a royal award from the hands of the mayor of Gulpen-Witten (Limburg, The Netherlands). He was made "Knight in the Order of Orange-Nassau". The Order is a chivalry order given to people whom deserve appreciation and recognition from society for the special way in which they have carried out their activities. The ceremony took place at the end of a symposium in the impressive library of Klooster (Monastery) Wittem on the occasion of the 175th Anniversary of the presence of Redemptorists in Wittem and the Netherlands.
From 1990 to 1999, P. Nelen was provincial of the Redemptorists in the Netherlands. He now lives in Wittem, provincial headquarters of the St. Clement Province. Father Jorge Colon of the Province of San Juan writes to tell us that he has been chosen to receive a Doctorate in Divinity Honoris Causa from the Graduate Theological Foundation in Indiana. The ceremony will take place at the Foundation's headquarters in South Bend, Indiana, USA on May 6th.
FROM THE PROVINCES: Worldwide The second part of the Year of St. John Neumann that began with the sesquicentennial of his death in 2010 reached it's climax on March 28th when the bicentennial of his birth was celebrated throughout the Church around the world. Father General sent a letter to the Congregation, the Redemptoristines and our lay associates about St. John Neumann for the occasion. If you have not seen it yet, we feature the start of the letter below and then link to the rest of it on our cssr.com website. Most Redemptorist communities celebrated the day with special observances.
The Czech News Agency reported that Neumann's birth city, Prachatice, Czech Republic, remembered Neumann with a ceremonial mass on March 27th. They noted that his mother was Czech and his father was a German stocking-weaver from Bavaria. People brought along special items produced for the anniversary to be blessed, including a book on the saint and a children's guide book of the local church. An exhibition on St. John Neumann's life and work will open in the Prachatice museum.
Archbishop Edwin F. O'Brien, Archbishop of Baltimore, celebrated the Mass calling it an the occasion "a significant moment for all of us." The archbishop sat in the exact chair that was used 159 years earlier during St. John Neumann's episcopal consecration on the saint's 41st birthday. In his homily, Redemptorist Father Patrick Woods, former provincial leader of the Redemptorists, said St. John was a very ordinary man who did extraordinary things.
Fr. Richard Boever, C.Ss.R., of the Denver Province, and other American Redemptorists, are conducting special St. John Neumann Missions and events throughout the United States. The close of the Neumann Year will be celebrated on June 24, 2012 at the Neumann Shrine Philadelphia, PA, USA. Nearly seven months after a freak accident left him paralyzed from the chest down, Father Murray was homilist at the 10 a.m. March 17 St. Patrick's Day Mass at St. Patrick in Fells Point. It marked a milestone in Father Murray's recovery – only the second time he has preached outside his residence at Stella Maris in Timonium since an Aug. 27, 2010 accident. "It's thrilling to be able to preach again," said Father Murray, who gave the March 6 homily at St. John Neumann in Annapolis. The last several months have been difficult for the former pastor of St. Wenceslaus in Baltimore and St. Mary in Annapolis. During a morning stroll on the boardwalk in Long Beach, N.J., Father Murray fell and hit his head on a railing – leaving him paralyzed from the chest down. He was rushed to the Jersey Shore Medical Center, where he had emergency spinal cord surgery. After undergoing rehabilitation at the Kessler Institute for Rehabilitation in West Orange, the paraplegic moved to Stella Maris Nov. 3. "My wheelchair is my cross," Father Murray said. "Paralysis is certainly a major cross, but it also reveals true character." The priest said he has learned the importance of God's grace in bearing his cross – not alone, he said, but with Christ's help. Although doctors in New Jersey told him there was little chance he would ever move his legs again, Father Murray said his condition is improving, thanks to 10-15 hours of weekly therapy at Stella Maris. Father Murray called it a blessing to live with fellow Redemptorists at Stella Maris, most of whom are elderly or infirm. "An important hallmark of the Redemptorists is community life," he said. "I certainly sense that here at Stella Maris, and I am so grateful for my Redemptorist vocation."
ACTIVITIES OF THE GENERAL GOVERNMENT:  A Letter from Father General Editor's note: On March 28th, Father General sent a letter through the unit superiors to the Congregation meant for all Redemptorists, Redemptoristine sisters and associates in commemoration of the bicentennial celebration of St. John Neumann's birthday. For those who may not have had the opportunity to receive it, we begin it here and provide you the link to the rest: Dear Confreres, Sisters and Lay Associates, Greetings in the name of Jesus Christ who calls us to preach the Gospel ever anew and sends us with joy to the most abandoned and the poor! I write this letter to commemorate the 200th anniversary of the birth of John Nepomucene Neumann. He was born on March 28, 1811 in Prachatitz, Bohemia. In his homily on the day of John Neumann's beatification, Paul VI summarized his life in a few significant words: He was close to the sick, he was at home with the poor, he was a friend to sinners, and today he is the glory of all immigrants, and from the viewpoint of the Beatitudes, the symbol of Christian success. I invite each of you to remember and celebrate during this year the gift God has given to the Church and to the Congregation in the life of this remarkable Redemptorist, the glory of all immigrants, in the context of the call from our last General Chapter.
REDEMPTORISTS IN THE NEWS:
Ukraine Six years ago next week, Pope Benedict, in his installation address in St. Peter's Square declared "The Church is young and alive!" Evidence of the strength of his conviction is the recent past and recent activities of a unique branch of our Universal Church, the Ukrainian Greek-Catholic Church – the largest of the Uniate branches with 5.5 million members worldwide - and our affiliated Redemptorist provinces, Lviv and Yorkton.
On closer examination, Archbishop Shevtuk is a native of the Ukraine, a former seminary rector, experienced in the Greek-Catholic bureaucracy and service to the hierarchy, extremely intelligent, dedicated, a multi-linguist and multi-talented choice. His youth will only help him to invigorate his Church with the same qualities. In reality, the Greek Catholic Church has a history of electing young leaders that have long reigns.
Despite having suffered persecution and going underground along with the rest of the Church for so long, Redemptorist influence in the Ukraine is in no way minimal. Today the Redemptorists are just as young as the new head of the Church. Our Redemptorist Province of Lviv is now 114 members strong, with 34 of those being students preparing for Holy Orders. Its provincial is only 35 years old. You might recall that Lviv was where the Redemptorist International Youth Congress was held in the summer of 2010. The Greek-Catholic Church also has 5 Redemptorist bishops serving it as ordinaries and auxiliaries in the Ukraine and several others in the diaspora. Two of these bishops were instrumental during the transition from Cardinal Husar to Archbishop Schevchuk. Archbishop Ihor Vozniak, C.Ss.R., Greek-Catholic archbishop of Lviv, served as administrator during the inter-regnum. Auxiliary Bishop Bohdan Ziurakh, C.Ss.R., auxiliary bishop of Kiev-Halyc and Secretary of the Synod of Bishops, announced the Synod's decision of Archbishop Shevchuk's election at his enthronement ceremony.
Canada Editor's note: In the diaspora, in Canada, the Redemptorist Ukrainian Province of Yorkton leads a more precarious life. It has 21 confreres, of which six have been chosen by the Church to be bishops. The Yorkton province grew out of the need to minister to the Ukrainian refugees and immigrants who fled persecution first from Czarist Russia and later from Nazi Germany and Soviet Russia. Their descendants are now fourth and fifth generation Canadians. One of the bright lights of the Yorkton Province is its ministry called"The Welcome Home." * " 'The Welcome Home' allows youth to commit one year of their lives to live with Redemptorists to experience Christian community and ministry among the poor and marginalized in Winnepeg, Manitoba, Canada. On average, 30 young people have participated yearly since 1993. The ministry features building community through times of prayer and celebration and an outreach to children in the neighborhood. Since the involvement of the laity is essential to this ministry, The Welcome Home is a model of collaboration and inspires a commitment to the Redemptorist charism. The loca Ukrainian Catholic Church is challenged to the choice in favor of the poor through the witness of The Welcome Home. It has also assumed the care of a local Ukrainian Cahtolic parish just down the street that affords the Welcome Home the opportunity use larger facilities when needed and to welcome the loca parish into its ministry to the abandoned [Conspectus Generalis, 2009]."
Rome Editor's note: Father Wodka and I were both privileged to interview Cardinal Varkey when he came to Rome in 2005 for the funeral of Pope John II and the election of Pope Benedict XVI. I did a print interview for ORBIS, 2005 and Father Wodka did a video interview for TRWAM TV. The following two excerpts – one print and one video – from these interviews give us deep insight into Cardinal Varkey's love for his religious Congregation and his love for the Syro-Malabar Church.
Fr. Wodka's video interview also in 2005 on the Syro-Malabar Church (in English):
India Editor's note: Because the Syro-Malabar bishops were in Rome for their "ad limina" visit at the time of Cardinal Varkey's death, the funeral for the much-loved Syro-Malabar Church leader was postponed until April 10 in Kerala so that the bishops could return for it. SCALA will offer coverage of the funeral events in the next issue.
Churches belonging to the Latin and Syro-Malankara Catholic rites in Kerala also flew black flags and postponed celebrations as mark of respect for the cardinal. Long queues of people gathered outside Little Flower Hospital in Angamaly where the cardinal's body lies. Thousands of people flocked to Lisie Hospital after local television announced the cardinal's death. Syro-Malabar Church spokesperson Father Paul Thelakat said ordinary poor people outnumbered priests and nuns among the mourners. "The crowd that came to the hospital shows the cardinal's popularity among ordinary people," the priest said. P. K. Narayana Panicker, secretary of a Hindu association, said the cardinal had a special love and respect for all religions. "He led the Church without offending anybody," he added. T. Arifali, a Muslim cleric, said Cardinal Vithayathil was the hope for unity in Kerala's politically polarized community. He was baptized on June 20, 1920 in the parish church of Wadowice by Fr. Franciszek Zak, made his First Holy Communion at age 9 and was confirmed at 18. Upon graduation from Marcin Wadowita high school in Wadowice, he enrolled in Krakow's Jagiellonian University in 1938 and in a school for drama. The Nazi occupation forces closed the university in 1939 and young Karol had to work in a quarry (1940-1944) and then in the Solvay chemical factory to earn his living and to avoid being deported to Germany. In 1942, aware of his call to the priesthood, he began courses in the clandestine seminary of Krakow, run by Cardinal Adam Stefan Sapieha, archbishop of Krakow. At the same time, Karol Wojtyla was one of the pioneers of the "Rhapsodic Theatre," also clandestine. After the Second World War, he continued his studies in the major seminary of Krakow, once it had re-opened, and in the faculty of theology of the Jagiellonian University. He was ordained to the priesthood by Archbishop Sapieha in Krakow on November 1, 1946. Shortly afterwards, Cardinal Sapieha sent him to Rome where he worked under the guidance of the French Dominican, Garrigou-Lagrange. He finished his doctorate in theology in 1948 with a thesis on the subject of faith in the works of St. John of the Cross (Doctrina de fide apud Sanctum Ioannem a Cruce). At that time, during his vacations, he exercised his pastoral ministry among the Polish immigrants of France, Belgium and Holland. In 1948 he returned to Poland and was vicar of various parishes in Krakow as well as chaplain to university students. This period lasted until 1951 when he again took up his studies in philosophy and theology. In 1953 he defended a thesis on "evaluation of the possibility of founding a Catholic ethic on the ethical system of Max Scheler" at Lublin Catholic University. Later he became professor of moral theology and social ethics in the major seminary of Krakow and in the Faculty of Theology of Lublin. On July 4, 1958, he was appointed titular bishop of Ombi and auxiliary of Krakow by Pope Pius XII, and was consecrated September 28, 1958, in Wawel Cathedral, Krakow, by Archbishop Eugeniusz Baziak. On January 13, 1964, he was appointed archbishop of Krakow by Pope Paul VI, who made him a cardinal June 26, 1967 with the title of S. Cesareo in Palatio of the order of deacons, later elevated pro illa vice to the order of priests. Besides taking part in Vatican Council II (1962-1965) where he made an important contribution to drafting the Constitution Gaudium et spes, Cardinal Wojtyla participated in all the assemblies of the Synod of Bishops. The Cardinals elected him Pope at the Conclave of 16 October 1978, and he took the name of John Paul II. On 22 October, the Lord's Day, he solemnly inaugurated his Petrine ministry as the 263rd successor to the Apostle. His pontificate, one of the longest in the history of the Church, lasted nearly 27 years. Driven by his pastoral solicitude for all Churches and by a sense of openness and charity to the entire human race, John Paul II exercised the Petrine ministry with a tireless missionary spirit, dedicating it all his energy. He made 104 pastoral visits outside Italy and 146 within Italy. As bishop of Rome he visited 317 of the city's 333 parishes. He had more meetings than any of his predecessors with the People of God and the leaders of Nations. More than 17,600,000 pilgrims participated in the General Audiences held on Wednesdays (more than 1160), not counting other special audiences and religious ceremonies [more than 8 million pilgrims during the Great Jubilee of the Year 2000 alone], and the millions of faithful he met during pastoral visits in Italy and throughout the world. We must also remember the numerous government personalities he encountered during 38 official visits, 738 audiences and meetings held with Heads of State, and 246 audiences and meetings with Prime Ministers. His love for young people brought him to establish the World Youth Days. The 19 WYDs celebrated during his pontificate brought together millions of young people from all over the world. At the same time his care for the family was expressed in the World Meetings of Families, which he initiated in 1994. John Paul II successfully encouraged dialogue with the Jews and with the representatives of other religions, whom he several times invited to prayer meetings for peace, especially in Assisi. Under his guidance the Church prepared herself for the third millennium and celebrated the Great Jubilee of the year 2000 in accordance with the instructions given in the Apostolic Letter Tertio Millennio adveniente. The Church then faced the new epoch, receiving his instructions in the Apostolic Letter Novo Millennio ineunte, in which he indicated to the faithful their future path. With the Year of the Redemption, the Marian Year and the Year of the Eucharist, he promoted the spiritual renewal of the Church. He gave an extraordinary impetus to Canonizations and Beatifications, focusing on countless examples of holiness as an incentive for the people of our time. He celebrated 147 beatification ceremonies during which he proclaimed 1,338 Blesseds; and 51 canonizations for a total of 482 saints. He made Thérèse of the Child Jesus a Doctor of the Church. He considerably expanded the College of Cardinals, creating 231 Cardinals (plus one in pectore) in 9 consistories. He also called six full meetings of the College of Cardinals. He organized 15 Assemblies of the Synod of Bishops - six Ordinary General Assemblies (1980, 1983, 1987, 1990, 1994 and 2001), one Extraordinary General Assembly (1985) and eight Special Assemblies (1980,1991, 1994, 1995, 1997, 1998 (2) and 1999). His most important Documents include 14 Encyclicals, 15 Apostolic Exhortations, 11 Apostolic Constitutions, 45 Apostolic Letters. He promulgated the Catechism of the Catholic Church in the light of Tradition as authoritatively interpreted by the Second Vatican Council. He also reformed the Eastern and Western Codes of Canon Law, created new Institutions and reorganized the Roman Curia. As a private Doctor he also published five books of his own: "Crossing the Threshold of Hope" (October 1994), "Gift and Mystery, on the fiftieth anniversary of my ordination as priest" (November 1996), "Roman Triptych" poetic meditations (March 2003), "Arise, Let us Be Going" (May 2004) and "Memory and Identity" (February 2005). In the light of Christ risen from the dead, on 2 April a.D. 2005, at 9.37 p.m., while Saturday was drawing to a close and the Lord's Day was already beginning, the Octave of Easter and Divine Mercy Sunday, the Church's beloved Pastor, John Paul II, departed this world for the Father. From that evening until April 8, date of the funeral of the late Pontiff, more than three million pilgrims came to Rome to pay homage to the mortal remains of the Pope. Some of them queued up to 24 hours to enter St. Peter's Basilica. On April 28, the Holy Father Benedict XVI announced that the normal five-year waiting period before beginning the cause of beatification and canonization would be waived for John Paul II. The cause was officially opened by Cardinal Camillo Ruini, vicar general for the diocese of Rome, on June 28 2005.
Video: Highlights (in several languages) of the pontificate of John Paul II.
Recent noteworthy events in the Redemptorist Family. For a complete record of Transitions visit the Officialia site First Profession of Temporary Vows: Profession of Perpetual Vows: Ordination to the Priesthood: 60th Jubilee of Ordination: 50th Jubilee of Profession: 50th Jubilee of Ordination: 25th Jubilee of Profession: 25th Jubilee of Ordination: Deaths: Cardinal Varkey Vithayathil, 83, Major Archbishop of the Syro-Malabar Church, Province of Liguori, April 1, 2011 Very Rev. Roger Michel, 65, Provincial
Superior of Lyon-Paris, April 11, 2011
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