Newsletter of the Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer
Rome, Italy
May 16, 2006

From the Editor

We have much news this month so let's get right to it.

Grace and Redemption for All!
Gary Ziuraitis, C.SS.R.

Recent noteworthy events in the Redemptorist Family. For a complete record of transitions visit the Officialia site

First Profession of Temporary Vows:
Raymundus Mikael Andri, Province of Indonesia, July 7, 2005
Andreas Au Hurit, Province of Indonesia, July 7, 2005
Lambertus Bayo Sogen, Province of Indonesia, July 7, 2005
Benyamin Bili Umbu Rey, Province of Indonesia, July 7, 2005
Maxedis Lamawato, Province of Indonesia, July 7, 2005
Frederikus Yosef Mele, Province of Indonesia, July 7, 2005
Ambrosius Tomy Kedang, Province of Indonesia, July 7, 2005
Asterius Yuanto Ngebu, Province of Indonesia, July 7, 2005
Raimundo Elson Rodrigues de Lima, Vice province of Manaus, January 28, 2006
Cristóbal Ruiz Diaz Casco, Vice Province of Asunción, February 1, 2006
Cristóvão Gonçalves Ajala, Vice Province of Asunción, February 1, 2006
Aldo Antonio Ramírez Denis, Vice Province of Asunción, February 1, 2006
Nelson Daniel Rojas Zarza, Vice Province of Asunción, February 1, 2006
Gustavo Javier Servian Villagra, Vice Province of Asunción, February 1, 2006
José Setromo Verón, Vice Province of Asunción, February 1, 2006
Fidel Ramón Valenzuela Valenzuela, Vice Province of Asunción, February 1, 2006

Profession of Perpetual Vows:
Adolfo Pinto Flores, Province of Bolivia, February 2, 2006
Lin Antezana Gonzales, Province of Bolivia, February 11, 2006
Justin Bajoulou Bado, Vice Province of Burkina-Niger, February 26, 2006
Max Gonzalo Rodríguez Rodríguez, Province of Bolivia, March 9, 2006
Sergio Francisco Elías Stang, Province of Buenos Aires, March 18, 2006
Osvaldo Alfredo Reyna, Province of Buenos Aires, March 18, 2006
Mauricio Andrán Castillo Navia, Province of Santiago, March 19, 2006
Victor Marcelo Igor Carcomo, Province of Santiago, March 19, 2006

Ordination to the Priesthood:
Abel Makahamadze, Region of Zimbabwe, February 18, 2006
Gladimir Gérard, Region of Port-au-Prince, February 26, 2006
Pétuel Gérard, Region of Port-au-Prince, February 26, 2006
Joseph Vu Duc Trieu, Province of Vietnam, March 15, 2006
Maximiliano Caviglia, Province of Buenos Aires, March 19, 2006
Francisco de Assis Martins Pinheiro, Vice Province of Manaus, March 19, 2006
Ihor Bexkostyj, Province of Lviv, April 7, 2006
Yaroslav Feduniv, Province of Lviv, April 7, 2006
Mykhajlo Ivanyak, Province of Lviv, April 7, 2006
Vitalij Oleshuk, Province of Lviv, April 7, 2006
Ruslan Pikh, Province of Lviv, April 7, 2006
Taras Svirchuk, Province of Lviv, April 7, 2006
Mykola Turkot, Province of Lviv, April 7, 2006
Anatolij Zhyvchak, Province of Lviv, April 7, 2006

May Anniversaries:
50th Jubilee of Profession:
Rev. Stanislaw Stabrawa, Vice Province of Resistencia, May 3, 2006
Brother Adolph (Mark) Van den Maegdenbergh, Province of St. Clement´s/Region of Vlaanderen, May 27, 2006.
Brother Patrick Anthony (Anthony) McCrave, Province of Dublin, May 31, 2006

50th Jubilee of Ordination:
Rev. John Fetsco, Province of Yorkton, May 13, 2006
Rev. Michael Kuchmiak, Province of Yorkton, May 13, 2006
Rev. Brian McGrath, Province of Dublin, May 26, 2006
Rev. Cruice Sanjivi, Province of Bangalore, May 26, 2006

25th Jubilee of Profession:
Rev. Augustin Phaiboon Udomdej, Vice Province of Bangkok, May 1, 2006
Rev. Edwin Mortalla, Province of Cebu, May 28, 2006
Rev. Christopher Romeo Obach, Province of Cebu, May 28, 2006

25th Jubilee of Ordination:
Rev. Peter Renju, Province of Munich, May 1, 2006
Rev. Stephen Clement-Joseph, Province of Bangalore, May 1, 2006
Rev. Alvaro César Cavazzani, Province of Campo Grande, May 2, 2006
Rev. S. Arulanandam, Province of Bangalore, May 10, 2006
Rev. Mauro José Matiazzi, Province of São Paulo, May 16, 2006
Rev. Ernesto De Rama Garcia, Vice Province of Manila, May 16, 2006
Rev. Thomas Burke, Vice Province of Richmond, May 23, 2006
Rev. Kevin Joseph O’Neil, Province of Baltimore, May 23, 2006
Rev. Dennis Joseph Sweeney, Province of Baltimore, May 23, 2006
Rev. Robert Wojtek, Province of Baltimore, May 23, 2006
Rev. John Robert Cody, Province of Denver, May 23, 2006

Episcopal News & Ordination:
His Holiness, Pope Benedict XVI named Father Ignazio Sanna, the Vice Rector of the Lateran Pontifical University in Rome and a professor at the Alphonsianum, Metropolitan Archbishop of Oristano, Italy on April 22, 2006.

Father Phillip Banchong Chaiyara, C.SS.R. will be ordained bishop on Friday, June 23rd, 2006 at Immaculate Conception Cathedral in Ubol Rachathani, Thailand and installed as local Ordinary. Bishop Michael Bunleuen Mansap, retiring Ordinary, will be the Consecrating Bishop.

Deaths:
Rev. William Charles Maggs, 65, Province of Baltimore, March 6, 2006
Rev. Ignacio Pérez Fuertes, 85, Vice Province of Caracas, March 6, 2006
Rev. Martin Branagan, 97, Province of Canberra, April 1, 2006
Rev. Luke Fay, 91, Province of Canberra, April 2, 2006
Rev. Dominique Do Van Thua, 88, Province of Vietnam, April 3, 2006
Rev. Michele Calabrese, 76, Province of Naples, April 8, 2006
Rev. Antonio Etchegaray Rivero, 85, Province of México, April 24, 2006

Supression of Region:
The Region of Beyrouth comprising Beyrouth and Iraq (5006) was suppressed on April 4, 2006. They remain missions of the Province of St. Clement’s as Beyrouth (5006) and as Iraq (5007).

Transfer of Novitiate:
The Novitiate house of the Province of Vienna and the Province of Munich transferred to the city of Innsbuck, Austria. April 4, 2006.

   Index

News from the Provinces

Popular Mission in Angola
From: Ukanda, The new Newsletter of the Luanda Vice Province
Rev. Eugenio Lumingu, C.Ss.R.

Popular or Parish Missions, a characteristic Redemptorist apostolate throughout the world, is experiencing a strong comeback in Angola. The days of intense evangelization experienced in Menongue, in Huambo (an area under our pastoral responsibility) and in Holy Family Parish in Luanda, along with the shorter “Missionary Renewals” that took place in Kuchi, Luanda and Vouga, all speak well for themselves.

(View map at: http://www.cssr.com/english/maps/africa.html)

There is another Popular Mission currently underway at Our Lady of Fatima Parish in Huambo that, after the initial phase of studying and analyzing the socio-religious reality of the local situation, has now entered the second phase: the evangelization of families done house-to-house. The third phase, the missionary preaching as such, will take place from April 30th to May 14th. This Mission will surely encounter challenges because it coincides with the transfer of some confreres and the inexperience of the local lay people. However, several formation sessions were held for lay leaders, who showed plenty of enthusiasm and good will.

The local Redemptorist bishop, Dom José de Queirós Alves,C.SS.R., has been accompanying closely the various phases of this Mission, giving suggestions and encouraging the work, believing that we Redemptorists have, in the Popular Mission, an apostolic work of great value for the Church in Angola, at a time of re-evangelization (after 30 years of civil war). Equally important, we think the Popular Mission will be a privileged place for fostering the vocation of future Lay Missionaries of the Most Holy Redeemer.

International Community
Copenhagen, Denmark
Benny Matthew Odackel, C.SS.R.
From: Edmonton-Toronto Newsleter

I am fine and doing well. From Canada I went back to Alwaye to stay and minister there, but my provincial sent me back to another cold country! I didn’t think I was such a bad guy! I am in Copenhagen, Denmark, helping out in a Redemptorist Parish. I arrived here February 14th and now I am somewhat settled. Here is some news about my life and ministry here in Denmark:

Community: The Redemptorist community consists of five priests: three Polish, one Irish and me. Since it is an international community, one of the difficulties that we face is the language. One of the Polish priests does not speak English, not a word. The other two can understand and manage speaking a little. Three of us in the community do not speak Danish. So, there is no one common language that all of us can speak. That says a lot! Very often we communicate with each other using sign language. That applies to the cook and the other staff as well.

Language: One of the urgent needs right now is to learn Danish. I have already started an intensive language course in Danish. It is pretty tough. I need to work late at night to finish my homework. Danish seems to be much different from English and much harder. That’s what everybody says and I have started to believe it! It is written in one way and pronounced in another way. Anyway, I have taken it as a challenge and working hard at it hoping I will succeed in it.

Parish: I am assisting Father Patrick Sheils, 82, an Irish Redemptorist, with the English-speaking immigrants. Around 600 people attend the English Mass on a weekend. Around seventy percent of them are from the Philippines and the rest are from other English speaking countries. There is also Danish, Polish and Spanish Masses in the Church.

The parish is very vibrant particularly the Filipino group. They have different prayer groups and I have ample opportunity to keep myself busy. The youth group also is very active. I am unable right now to get involved much with the children, as many of them are not very good at English. So I need to learn Danish if I am to work with children. Parishioners are very friendly and welcoming and are happy that we are here.

Please remember us and our ministry in your prayers as I pray for you.

Iraq
From Asioc News
Vincent van Vossel

Editor’s note: This report dates from late February

Some days, here in Baghdad, there is a curfew and life is impossible, with no electricity or fuel, and everywhere strict police control. A month ago there was a reaction to drawings about the prophet and 5 churches were damaged and the Vatican embassy had a wall destroyed, but this wasn’t too serious.

Now this war of the Mosques is much more dangerous. The people became wild and uncontrollable and want revenge. They don’t have anything except their religion and their mosques which are the holiest thing in their lives. They are ready to die for them. At this moment it is not clear if these angry people can be stopped.

We stay at home. There are no courses in the faculty where we are lecturing, and the site,which is about 20 kilometers from Baghdad is always threatened. Fr. Bashar’s parish is in a Shia district. In fact, next to his church is a mosque but he made the sheik his friend. It is one of the biggest Chaldean parishes, and Fr Bashar has, in record time, built a school. More than 300 children attend this school. There is a flourishing kindergarten and on Friday, school catechism. Fr. Cop, the novice master, has two candidates, both Syrian Catholic. He celebrates this year his 50th jubilee of priesthood. We will try to present him an edition of his collected lectures and conferences in 10 volumes, in Arabic of course. He has just preached a retreat for a group of priests.

The Greek church is now rebuilt and will be solemnly inaugurated around Easter. The Centre for Patrisitics, located at the church, continues even in these dangerous times. There are fifty students enrolled in the Centre. So far we are okay thanks to Divine protection.

Our presence is a support for the Christian community, and we hope that time will bring some relief and security. Four parishioners have been in captivity for three months. Nobody knows where they are or what has happened to them. Please don’t forget us in your prayers.

Looking for Easter Peace. Greetings to all.

Slovakia
Michalovce
60th Anniversary

The Redemptorist Viceprovince of Michalovce of the Byzantine rite began on December 21, 1945 and was canonically erected March 23, 1946. We recently celebrated our 60th Anniversary with a three day affair.

It began on Friday. March 24, 2006 in our House at Stropkov, the first foundation in Slovakia, where the Redemptorists have been present since 1921.The Superior, Jaroslav Štelbasky, presided at the solemn liturgy and the concelebrants included Fr. Stanislav Přibyl, Provincial of Prague, who preached the homily and the Vicar provincial of Warsaw, Fr. Sylwek Cabala, as well as other confreres and guests.

The celebrations continued on the Feast of the Annunciation, March 25, 2006 at Michalovce, the Viceprovincial residence, where Redemptorists have been since 1931. The celebration began in the morning with lectures in the Redemptorist Church of the Holy Spirit organized by Fr. Juraj Rizman. Fr. Jaroslav Štelbasky welcomed all those present and he was joined by the Provincial of Prague, Fr. Stanislas Přibyl. Then Professor Sturák of the University of Presov gave the first lecture on “The relation between the Blessed martyred Bishop Paolo Gojdič and the Redemptorists”. Dr. Peter Borza gave the second lecture on “The relation between the Blessed martyred Bishop Vasil’a Hopka and the Redemptorists”. After a brief pause the third and final lecture entitled: “The Redemptorist Viceprovince of Michalovce and the Blessed Martyr Metodio Domenico Trĉka, C.Ss.R.” given by Fr. Atanáz Mandzák, C.Ss.R.

The festivities continued at 11.30 with a solemn liturgy at which Bishop Chautur, C.Ss.R., Exarch of Košice, presided and preached the homily. The ceremony was enhanced by the presence of the choir of St. Joseph of the Church of the Holy Spirit and that of Saints Cyril and Methodius of the Redemptorist Church of Stropkov. In the afternoon both choirs gave a cultural concert. In addition to the confreres of the Michalovce Viceprovince and the neighbouring Provinces, the Bishop of Prešov, Mgr. Ján Babjak, S.J., the Bishop of Užhorod, Mgr. Milan Šášik, C.M. and the Latin Archbishop of Košice, Mgr. Aloiz Tkáč participated. Also present were the protopresbyter of Michalovce, Fr. František Puci, the Latin Dean of Michalovce, Fr. Pavol Kaminský and other priests of the Eparchy of Prešov and the Exarchy of Košice. The Sisters of the Order of St. Basil and of the Congregation of the Handmaids of Mary Immaculate were also represented at the festival. The Mayor of Michalovce, Jozef Bobik was also present.

The festivities continued on Sunday, 26 March 2006, in the Redemptorist monastery of Stará L’ubovňa with a solemn liturgy at which Bishop Milan Chautur, C.Ss.R , Exarch of Košice, presided and delivered the homily.

In the context of the 60th anniversary, an exhibit was displayed in the monastery of Michalovce giving the history and present state of the Vice province. It included commemorative letters, the book entitled “Blessed Metod Dominik Trčka, first superior of the Greek Catholics in Slovakia (1945-19509)”, and a special issue of the magazine Misionar. There was a program on the regional television and the Slovakian national radio. On the occasion of the feast, Most Rev. Fr. General, Joseph W. Tobin, sent a special letter to the confreres of the Vice province. The greetings and congratulations often included the hope that the work accomplished since the coming of the Redemptorists in Slovakia would continue. Only the years ahead can tell if this hope is realised.

Ghana. Africa
Report from a Redemptorist Missionary
Leonel Guauque, C.Ss.R

The Redemptorists of the Province of Bogotá have been in Ghana since 1994 and Fr. Guillermo Giraldo, C.Ss,R., the present superior, in an interview with Leonel Guauque, a Redemptorist also from Bogotá and studying Social Communications in Rome, gives an account of this mission experience.

Padre Guillermo, can you tell us how the Redemptorists got the idea of going to Ghana?
At the end of the 1980´s the Superior General, Fr. Lasso de la Vega, persistently invited all the Redemptorist Provinces to open missions in Africa regarding it as an historic moment for the future of the Continent. The Province of Bogotá, Colombia, welcomed this invitation and began a process to emphasise our missionary calling and to develop an interest in Africa. Fr. Noel Londoño, General Consultor, visited various countries and several dioceses in Ghana to find an appropriate location. A Provincial Chapter analysed his information and approved Alavanyho for a foundation in the diocese of Ho, in the Volta region of Ghana.

Who were the first missionaries?
The first group was composed of Frs. Luis Enrique Tamayo, superior of the mission, Crisóstomo Ramirez and José Fernando Delgado. After a period studying the English language in England they arrived in Ghana on September 3, 1994.

How did the missionary work begin?
After Fr. Lasso visited the diocese of Ho, whose bishop was Mgr. Francis A. K. Lodonu, our missionaries began their pastoral work by taking over a parish in the area of Alavanyho. They also ministered in the town of Kpeme and in six other stations where the majority of the people were Catholic. A year after their arrival Fr. Luis Enrique died of malaria and typhoid fever. However the mission continued, as new missionaries arrived and remained in Alavanyho until February 3, 2003.

How was the process accepted at provincial level?
At the time the Province of Bogotá did not take a definite decision to make a foundation in Ghana. At the most it was prepared to collaborate on a temporary basis. Later on, however, the Provincial Chapter opted to establish a community in Ghana. It was decided to build a house and begin a vocational and formation process. When Fr. Ramirez was Superior, the community acquired property in the area of Sokodé-Etoe, 10 km. from Ho, the capital of the Volta region. The House was built with help from the Province of Baltimore and the General Curia. On October 16 2002, two missionaries from Bogotá arrived to take up residence.

What is being done there at present?
At a meeting between the Bishop of the diocese in February 2003 and Fr. Francisco Ceballos, Provincial of Colombia, it was agreed to work with the clear objective set down by the Provincial Chapter to establish the Congregation in Ghana. To attain this end it was decided to work towards two well-defined concrete objectives:
The vocation and formation process
The material and spiritual establishment of a Redemptorist parish.

What are the future projects?
In principle they are to continue the plan for vocations and formation by setting up a community in Ejisu for our young philosophy students. This step will probably be taken in the second half of 2006. By then we will have ten young people in formation. Then we will continue to develop our pastoral plan that will take some years to finalize. With the integration of our community with native vocations, we hope, in line with our charism of missionary activity, to start new projects for urgent pastoral needs and with preference for the poor and abandoned.

We are sincerely grateful to Fr. Guillermo Giraldo for sharing his experiences with us and we wish him every success in the difficult missionary task he is carrying out.

Index

Monthly Picture Gallery (  for online viewing only)

1. Father Majorano’s Fonti Gerardine, published by and available through Materdomini.

2. 60th Anniversary liturgy of the Vice province of Michalove in March.

3. Michalovce 60th Anniversary celebration.

4. Representatives from 15 Latin American countries attended the Redemptorist Vocation and Youth Gathering organized by the Father Joseph Grzywacz and held in Bogotá, Colombia in March.

5. Secretary General, Father Joseph Dorcey, usually “strumming” the keyboard of his office computer in Rome, takes time to strum the guitar for the Philippine confreres, whom he led on retreat. Pictured with him is Father Ramon Fruto, author of the article in ORBIS about Bishop Manny Cabajar.

6. Father Dorcey, a Redemptorist of many talents, displays his carving skills at a pigroast held during his stay in the Philippines. Provincial Superior Jovencio Ma of Cebu stands carefully alongside.

Index

Activities of Father General and the General Council

Vice Province of Manila
Father Joseph Dorcey, C.SS.R. leads anniversary retreat
Excerpted and adapted from: News and Features Newsletter
Father Frank Pidgeon, C.SS.R.

Late January and early February, Father Joe Dorcey, C.SS.R., Secretary General of the Congregation, led the entire membership of the Province of Cebu and the Vice Province of Manila through five days of reflection and prayer. Around fifty confreres gathered in Cebu, the remaining thirty in Bacolod in the second week, for what was recognized as a special moment in their lives.

Father Dorcey came from Rome at the invitation of the local superiors to give the retreat. He proved to be an excellent choice. Father Joe is a native of Nebraska, USA. Nebraska, as most know, is all about corn and more corn. But Father Joe, from Wayne, Nebraska, a tiny agricultural town, showed that he had what it takes to lead a large group of masters in spiritual direction through a five day retreat.

Fr. Joe first came in touch with a Redemptorist formation program at the tender age of 14. About 14 years later, he was ordained a Redemptorist priest. In his own words, to be a Redemptorist missionary was all that he ever wanted in life.

Now in his early fifties, the young looking Father Joe showed that hard work and difficult living conditions had not diminished his religious spirit. He spent 14 years in the Vice province of Manaus, along the Amazon River, in Brazil and then another two in Nigeria. He was then called to Rome as the Secretary of the Superior General, and passed on from there to be Secretary General of the Redemptorist Congregation when Father Raymond Douziech, then Secretary General, was elected a Consultor General in the chapter of 2003.

The man is the message. One may forget the contents of his conferences but it will be many years before one can forget the impression he made on his listeners. As someone has said about those who exercise a particular influence on the lives of others, it is not so much what they say to you but how they make you feel after you meet with them. With his disarming smile and unassuming manner, Father Dorcey quickly captured the attention of his listeners.

Now and again, we caught sight of his copy of the Constitutions and Statutes. Page after page of the text was heavily underlined, testimony to his familiarity with it and the source of his Redemptorist spirit.

In his office in Rome, with a view of the entire world-wide Congregation, good and bad news crosses his desk daily. But Father Joe takes it all in stride. He has confidence in the future of the Congregation. While in some countries the Congreagation is in crisis, in other countries it is flourishing. Father Joe is positive that the Congregation has a bright future. With men like Father Joe in leadership roles in the Congregation, we can say “Amen” to that.

Profiles

Bishop Floréncio Coronado, C.Ss.R,
The Bishop who translated the Bible into Quechuan
From: Periodical ¨El Mundo,¨ March 4, 2006.
José Manuel Lopez Vidal.

Editor’s note: Redemptorist Bishop Florencio Coronado, C.Ss.R, of Peru, passed away on February 25, 2006 in Lima.

He was Bishop of Huancavelica, Peru, for almost 30 years and then became famous for his translations. Bishop Coronado translated a whole series of religious books from Catalan to Quechuan. Those who knew him say that his greatest joy was to have helped the native Peruvian people to pray in their own language. He died in Lima on Saturday, February 25, at the age of 97.

Floréncio Coronado Romani was born May 23, 1908 in Caja Espiritu, Huancavelica, a locality about 440 km. south east of Lima. He entered the Redemptorist Congregation and was ordained a priest on September 18, 1938 in Belgium, where he had been sent for further study.

Having returned to his native land he dedicated himself body and soul to preaching to the people of his own ethnic group. He was always faced, however, with the problem of the language. The Quechuan Indians used to ask: ‘Why can’t we pray to God in our own dialect?” This question troubled him for many years though he could not find time to give an adequate response.

In 1956 he was appointed Bishop of the new diocese of Huancavelica, a mountainous region of Peru that included his birthplace. Subsequently, he travelled through this whole area preaching the Word of God to the poorest of the poor, the Indians of his own ethnic group.

As Cardinal Cipriano, Archbishop of Lima, said at his funeral: ‘He was a man of strong character, not given to sentimentality or squeamishness. He was a person of great firmness and even severe when there was question of getting at the truth and when the good of others was at stake. He was also a father and pastor who travelled long distances, spent long hours at work and was of untiring dedication.”

Having retired as Bishop in 1982, Bishop Coronado reconsidered the request of the Quechuan people. He decided to do something about it. Together with an Irish priest, Demetrio Mohillo, (Dermot Molloy) later to be appointed Bishop, he embarked on the project of translating the most important biblical and religious texts into Quechuan.

As a result of his work the New Testament became the Musucc Testamento, the first bilingual version of the bible in Castilian-Quechuan. It was financed by the German Episcopal Conference.

In addition to the Bible, Mgr. Coronado and his friend, Bishop Molloy, translated the Ordinary of the Mass, the Ritual of the Sacraments, a book of devotional prayers, the Catechism and the Imitation of Christ into Quechuan. As a result of all this it was possible after 1994 for the Quechuan Indians to pray in their mother tongue.

It was only then that Mgr. Coronado took some rest. In 2005 he was honored for his translations and his apostolic work among the native Indians. He was awarded the Gold Medal of Santo Toribo de Mogrovejo, one of the highest honors of his country. However, he always said that his greatest honor was that now the people were able to speak to God in the language of their fathers.

Featured Redemptorist Website

Our featured Redemptorist websites this month are:

The Vice Province of Michalovce:

http://www.redemptoristi.nfo.sk/misionar/

The Retreat House Casa Cristo Redentor in the Province of San Juan:

http://www.casacristo.com/

 Index

Sources should be in every one of our libraries and in each of our Houses of Study. While we express our thanks to Fr. Majorano for this outstanding work we would like to inform you that the volume is available for confreres at the special price of 50 Euro including postage and it can be ordered directly from Valsele Tipografica, valsele@netlab.it

Dublin, Ireland
Mariannella
Summer School in Theology
July 31 – August 4, 2006

In Good Company: Moral Theology in Pastoral Practice
Raphael Gallagher, C.SS.R.

How to approach sensitive moral questions is a delicate task in the Church today. It is made even more challenging by the many new and complex questions confronting moral theologians in the 21st Century.

Almost 300 years ago St. Alphonsus Liguori faced a similar challenge. Though a Doctor of the Church and Patron of Moral Theologians, Alphonsus Liguori is a forgotten figure in today’s theological disputes. Yet he had a particular way of approaching moral questions that upheld the dignity of conscience and the formative role of the Church. For his troubles he was misunderstood by opponents of both conscience and Church.

The inheritors of the theological school of St. Alphonsus face the same delicate task. While times have changed and many of the issues are different, a basic tension between conscience and Church authority remains. What has St. Alphonsus and some of his followers to teach us about doing moral theology today?

This course will introduce participants to some wrtilngs of St. Alphonsus, and of a few of his distinguished followers including Bernhard Häring, F.X. Durrwell, Seán O’Riordan, Paul Hitz and others. There will be a combination of lectures, guided readings and discussions. The hope will be that a better understanding of the school of theology founded by St. Alphonsus could be seen as a positive contribution to today’s troubled Church.

Cost: Residential €325 (including a non-refundable deposit of €30.)
Non-residential €135 (including a non-refundable deposit of €30)

To apply contact: Brendan O’Rourke or Anne Hughes
Marianella, 75 Orwell Rd., Dublin 6, Ireland
Info@marianella.ie
www.marianella.ie/

Thailand
Father Apisit Kritsaralam, C.Ss.R.
Vice Provincial of Thailand

We are pleased to announce that Bishop-elect, Philip Banchong Chaiyara C.Ss.R. will be consecrated Bishop of Ubol Rathathani on

Bishop Michael Bunluen Mansap will be the Consecrating Bishop.

Index