 Rome, Italy
FROM THE EDITOR: FROM THE PROVINCES: REDEMPTORISTS AND THE VATICAN:
2011 STATISTICS OF THE CONGREGATION: FEATURED WEBSITE:
TRANSITIONS:
As you are well aware, a strong earthquake, accompanied by a great tsunami, hit Japan Friday, mostly in the northeast part of the country but also felt in Tokyo. An e-mail message from Fr. Marcel Fortin from Maizuru, Vice Province of Tokyo, to former Japanese missionary Father Gabriel Boudreault at the General House, says that our Redemptorist confreres were not hurt and our houses in Tokyo and Maizuru did not have any damage. As of this notice, Father Fortin was unable to make phone contact with the Vice Provincial nor were we. But we can assume that they are busy with ministering to their people.
This month is the 200th anniversary of the birth of St. John Neumann. On March 28, 1811, Neumann was born in Prachatice in what is now the Czech Republic. John Neumann went on to become a missionary in America and became the first Redemptorist to profess his vows there. He also became the 4th bishop of Philadelphia. He founded the diocesan school system in the United States.
To celebrate his 200th birthday, the Archdiocese of Philadelphia will conduct a prayer service at the Shrine of St. John Neumann in which all archdiocesan schools are invited to send two student representatives. The Baltimore Province, which operates the Shrine of St. John Neumann in Philadelphia, held an essay contest for students from the 6th grade to 12th grade. They received over 2000 entries from across the country and the winners will be announced later this spring.
February 27 marked the first anniversary of the devastating earthquake in Chile and damaged some of our Redemptorist houses in the Province of Santiago. In this issue of SCALA, Father General writes about this anniversary and asks us to recall our continued efforts to support our confreres with spiritual and material assistance there.
Gary Ziuraitis, C.Ss.R. FROM THE PROVINCES: Slovakia From February 9 through 11 the three (V)Provinces of Prague, Michalovce and Bratislava held a joint meeting with Father General in attendance. These types of fraternal and formative encounters have been going on for some years among the three units. Language is not a problem since the Czech and Slovak languages are very similar despite the fact they are different languages. There is also the bond between us that forged during the time when the Czech Republic and the Slovak nation were one nation known as Cechoslovakia. This fourth encounter took place at Stebnick near the City of Bardejov in Eastern Slovakia, hosted by the Vice Province of Michalovce and Vice Provincial Fr Jaroslav Štelbaský CSsR. Superior General Michael Brehl came to Slovakia for the first time in his new capacity as Superior General. Before arriving for the meeting, Father General stopped off at Michalovce to visit the church where the reliquary of Blessed Dominic Metod Trčka is. On Sunday he attended the Byzantine Divine Liturgy and visited with the confreres before heading for the Redemptorstine community at Vranov and then the Redemptorist confreres in Strokov. 45 confreres from the three units and Slovak confreres who work in the western part of the Ukraine (Transcarpathian region - a MISSION of the Province of Michalovce) attended. Among the gathered priest and brothers was also our confrere Bishop Chauter Milan. The first meeting was taken up with reports from the three (v)Provincials and the Rectors of communities describing their apostolic works. In the evening Divine Liturgy in the Byzantine rite was held in the nearby village of Stebnick. Bishop Milan presided at the liturgy and Father General preached on the theme of total dedication to God. The remainder of the evening was taken up with a fraternal and personal encounter with Father General who took and answered questions from the confreres. The second day began with Byzantine Rite morning prayer. After breakfast, Father General held a conference on five points of Redemptorist Apostolic Life today, which he characterized as: zeal, concrete apostolic works; community life, the commitment of our religious vows, and authentic witness which gives rise to new vocations and new structures of apostolic vitality. At midday we celebrated the Divine Liturgy. Bishop Milan presided and preached on keeping our gaze fixed on eternal life and remaining faithful – themes that our founder St. Alphonsus preached about often. After supper the three (V) Provincial Councils met together for the first time and introduced the new members recently elected and discussed the various perspectives in the units after the recent chapters. Time was spent on the theme of restructuring and also the situation in the Province of Prague. The evening concluded with a gaudeamus in which folk songs from the various regions were sung. The third and final day began with lauds prepared by the Vice Province of Michalovce. In the morning, Father General held a conference in which he exhorted us on the theme of the last General Chapter: To preach the Gospel ever anew; renewed hearts, renewed hope and renewed structures for mission. Plus he spoke about two important principles to promote restructuring: Conversion (and St. Paul as our model) and a Redemptorist's availability to the Will of God. After the conference the gathered participants discussed the mission of the Byzantine (Greek-Catholic) Rite Redemptorists in Slovakia. At the conclusion of the session we sang the traditional eastern rite "Moleban" to Blessed Dominic Trčka.
After lunch, we returned home happy and joyful. These days of inter(v)provincial meetings, which were fraternal and formative, were very much appreciated by all the participants and we certainly want to continue them into the future. Father General continued on his travels to visit the houses in the Vice Province of Bratislava. Editor's note: More photos in the photo gallery of www.redemptorist.info
Editor's note: Father Martin Huk of the Vice Province of Bratislava sent us this news of renewal and evangelization that is the fruit of international sharing and being led in Slovakia by Father Ratislav (Rasto) Dluhý C.Ss.R.
For more information and pictures from Slovakia go to www.christlife.org/conference/SlovakiaPics.
Chile Editor's note: On February 17, the first anniversary of the devastating 8.8 magnitude earthquake that struck Chile that caused some $30 billion in damages throughout the country, another earthquake of 6.0 magnitude struck Chile. Although there were no reports of damage or injuries, it served as a haunting reminder of one year ago. Father General had just submitted this message to be published in this edition of SCALA the day before the latest tremor to remind the confreres of the Chilean quake and their efforts to recover: Dear Confreres, February 27, 2011 marked the first anniversary of the devastating earthquake which shook Chile in 2010. As you know, hundreds of thousands of homes were completely destroyed, others were badly damaged. Thousands of schools and hundreds of hospitals and medical facilities were also destroyed or affected. Hundreds of people lost their lives, and others were injured. The human casualties could have been much worse without the infrastructure in Chile which acted quickly. However, approximately two million people were seriously affected by the earthquake and subsequent tsunami, which resulted in the loss of homes and the flooding of many coastal communities.
During the past year, Chile has done much to recover. Many homes have been rebuilt, and it is hoped that few people will be homeless to face the winter of 2011. The earthquake affected the Redemptorist missionaries of Chile primarily in Cauquenes, where our house, parish hall, and offices were destroyed, and the beautiful and historic Church was severely damaged. The parish of Our Lady of Perpetual Help in Santiago was also badly shaken, and the church requires significant repairs as well. The immediate generosity of other Redemptorist (V) Provinces helped our confreres to recover as best as they could at the time, but the rebuilding will take significantly longer and require further resources. It is important that we do not forget our confreres and those with whom and for whom they minister in Chile as they continue rebuilding not only their structures, but also their lives, families, and hope. As we remember this significant first anniversary, we assure them that they are in our prayers. In the Redeemer, REDEMPTORISTS AND THE VATICAN: Rome Editor's note: Father Vimal Tirimanna, C.Ss.R. of the Region of Colombo and professor of systematic moral theology at the Alphonsianum has been named to this Commission. The Anglican-Roman Catholic International Commission (ARCIC) is opening a new phase of dialogue with a meeting scheduled for May 17-27, 2011. A communiqué from the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity noted that this new phase of work was mandated by Benedict XVI and the Anglican archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams, at their meeting in November 2009. The first meeting of the new phase of the commission will take place at the Monastery of Bose in northern Italy. The communiqué noted that "the task of this third phase of ARCIC will be to consider fundamental questions regarding the 'Church as Communion -- Local and Universal,' and 'how in communion the Local and Universal Church comes to discern right ethical teaching.'" It added that "these interrelated topics emerged from the Common Declaration of the Pope and the archbishop of Canterbury."
The co-chairmen of this phase are Archbishop Bernard Longley of Birmingham, England and Anglican Archbishop David Moxon of the New Zealand dioceses. The other Roman Catholic members of the ARCIC include: Auxiliary Bishop Arthur Kennedy of Boston; Paul Murray, professor of theology and religion at Durham University in England; Janet Smith, professor of moral theology and the Father Michael J. McGivney Chair of Life Issues at the Sacred Heart Major Seminary in Detroit, Michigan; Redemptorist Father Vimal Tirimanna, professor of systematic moral theology at Rome's Alphonsianum University; Benedictine Father Henry Wansbrough from Ampleforth Abbey, England; Sister Teresa Okure of the Society of the Holy Child Jesus, from the Catholic Institute of West Africa, Nigeria; and Father Adelbert Denaux, former professor at the Catholic University of Leuven, Belgium. The Anglican members include: Paula Gooder, canon theologian of Birmingham Cathedral, England; Bishop Christopher Hill of Guildford; Reverend Mark McIntosh, Van Mildert canon professor of divinity at the University of Durham, England; Bishop Nkosinathi Ndwandwe of Natal, Southern Africa; Area Bishop Linda Nicholls for the episcopal area of Trent-Durham in the Diocese of Toronto; Reverend Michael Poon from the Trinity Theological College in Singapore; Reverend Canon Nicholas Sagovsky, retiring canon theologian at Westminster Abbey, England; and Reverend Peter Sedgwick, principal and warden of St. Michael's College, Llandaff, Wales. Reverend Charles Sherlock, former registrar of the Melbourne College of Divinity in Australia, will serve as a consultant to the ARCIC. The Vatican communiqué noted that "the international membership of this new phase of ARCIC represents a wide range of cultural settings, and brings to the commission a variety of theological disciplines." The official work of dialogue, sponsored by the pontifical council as well as the Department for Unity, Faith and Order of the Anglican Communion, has taken place over the past 40 years. 2011 STATISTICS OF THE CONGREGATION:
State of the Congregation by Conference:
For aficionados of St. Alphonsus Liguori,, Father Salvatore Brugnano from the Province of Naples, has created and compiled a comprehensive one stop website service for original language (Italian) information about St. Alphonsus, which loosely translated could be called: "All things Alphonsus and then some." It is still a work in progress, but it covers such things as Alphonsus' letters, writings, music, paintings, images of him during different stages of life, short and long biographies, and much more . It can be found at: http://www.santalfonsoedintorni.it/ 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: Deaths: Sister Margaret "Peg" Banville, O.Ss.R., 85, Monastery of Esopus, N.Y., USA, February 21, 2011. Jubilees – April: Triple Jubilarian! 60th Jubilee of Profession: 60th Jubilee of Ordination: 50th Jubilee of Ordination: 25th Jubilee of Profession: 25th Jubilee of Ordination: Electoral News:
Past issues of SCALA are archived at: http://www.cssr.com/scala/index.shtm Subscription address scalaenglish-subscribe@scalanews.com |
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