Former vicar general ordained as archbishop
Sunday, October 7, Fr. Claudio Dalla Zuanna, SCJ, former vicar general, was ordained as archbishop of Beira, Mozambique.
“I feel gratitude and affection for the whole congregation because the SCJs are an integral part of my life,” said Fr. Claudio in an interview done shortly before he left Rome to begin his new assignment. “I have given the congregation many years of my life, but at the same time the congregation has made me who I am. Much of who I am, my education, my way of seeing things as a religious and as a Christian I owe to the Priests of the Sacred Heart.
“Without the congregation I would not be the person I am right now. And I feel this as a gift, in the providential design of God, in view of this service to his church. In fact, some aspects of our spirituality, such as communion and reconciliation, are specifically important to the Church in the area where I will go. If I am in any way equipped to deal with this new service I owe it mainly to the Congregation.”
Click here to read the full interview on www.dehon.it
Fr. Tom Cassidy, SCJ, provincial superior of the U.S. Province, was among the SCJs present at the archbishop’s ordination. We hope to have first-hand news about it from him once he is back to a reliable internet connection.
Year of Faith begins
With his Apostolic Letter of October 11, 2011, Porta Fidei, Pope Benedict XVI declared that a “Year of Faith” will begin on October 11, 2012 and conclude on November 24, 2013. This Thursday, October 11, the first day of the Year of Faith, is also the 50th anniversary of the opening of the Second Vatican Council and the 20th anniversary of the Catechism of the Catholic Church. During the Year of Faith, Catholics are asked to study and reflect on the documents of Vatican II and the catechism so that they may deepen their knowledge of the faith.
“Ever since the start of my ministry as Successor of Peter, I have spoken of the need to rediscover the journey of faith so as to shed ever clearer light on the joy and renewed enthusiasm of the encounter with Christ,” said the pope. “During the homily at the Mass marking the inauguration of my pontificate I said: ‘The Church as a whole and all her pastors, like Christ, must set out to lead people out of the desert, towards the place of life, towards friendship with the Son of God, towards the One who gives us life, and life in abundance.’[1]”
Click here to read more about the Year of Faith on the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ website. Click here to go directly to a Q&A about the year prepared by the USCCB.
Headed to Rome
Fr. Jan de Jong, SCJ, recently retired president-rector of Sacred Heart School of Theology, leaves for Rome today where he will spend a few weeks prior to visiting family in his native Holland. On his calendar this week: taking part in activities on Thursday associated with the 50th anniversary of Vatican II and the opening of the Year of Faith.
Catholic – Jewish dialogue
The Priests of the Sacred Heart are financial supporters of an upcoming presentation by the Catholic-Jewish Conference of Milwaukee titled “Engaging in Public Life: Catholic and Jewish Perspectives.”
The presentation takes place Wednesday, October 31, from 7 to 8:30 p.m. at the Kliebhan Conference Center at Cardinal Stritch University, Milwaukee.
“Catholics and Jews agree that one avenue to justice is involvement in public life, yet both traditions recognize that people of faith may disagree on what constitutes justice or how we as individuals and communities should pursue just ends,” write organizers of the evening.
“This session will explore the principles in Judaism and Catholicism that provide a faith-based foundation for our sphere, while respecting legitimate diversity and encouraging civil debate.”
The presentation is free. For more information call the Jewish Community Relations Council at 414-390-5781.
A day of many holidays
Happy Canadian Thanksgiving to our friends north of the border! Among the other holidays celebrated on October 8: Columbus Day and Native American Day.
Personnel directory
Several SCJs have contacted the Provincialate Offices about the Personnel Directory. Nancy Grzesiak, our administrative assistant, has been busy trying to sort out the database and hopes to have a directory ready to take to the printer soon.
In the meantime, SCJs can access the online directory in the Members section of the province website.
We have also posted a simple text-version of what appears online. It is available as a PDF download from the personnel directory page on the website. SCJs in North America received directions last Friday via email as to how to access it. This PDF can either be utilized on your computer or printed.
If you have questions regarding the online directory or the PDFs please contact Mary Gorski at the Provincialate.
THANK YOU to those who checked their listings and either corrected or added information. The online listings will be updated before the end of the day (October 8) and the PDFs will reflect the new information, as will our office data base.
Reflecting on India
As noted previously, Mary Gorski, communications director for the U.S. Province, and Fr. Heru Ismadi, SCJ, secretary general, had a whirlwind tour of the District of India after several days of workshops at Dehon Vidya Sadhan, Aluva, in the SCJs’ Indian District. Fr. Heru and Mary teamed up to do presentations on communications (including website development, use of social media and writing skills) and on the nuts and bolts of running an administrative office in the congregation. They were there from September 1-14.
“Fr. Heru and I felt like we were on a general visitation,” wrote Mary in a personal reflection posted on the province website. “With Fr. Thomas [Vinod, district superior] as our host we traveled by bus, auto rickshaw, train, plane and several white-knuckled car rides to just about all of the SCJ locations in India from Aluva and Kumbalanghy in the south, to Mumbai and Eluru, which bookend India’s midsection.
“We visited St. Anthony’s, a sub-parish in Thane, near Mumbai. Basically, the chapel was a barren second-story room with an altar, a coffee pot and a few religious objects. It was barren, except for the giggles of a trio of teen girls sitting on the floor working on a church project together. Youth ministry is one of the priorities of SCJs working in Mumbai. The community has only been in the area a few months and already young people are getting more involved in the church, ‘and bringing their parents with them,’ said Fr. Aji, one of two SCJs who minister in the area.
“That night it rained. Unlike most of the people who live near St. Anthony’s I was staying in a home that remained dry even during the worst of the storm… In the morning we opened the door to walk to Divine Mercy for Mass. Looking down we were greeted by at least a foot of water in the street. Yet after a week in India, we had learned to make do. We rolled up our pants and waded around the block to the church.
“All I could think about on the way there were the people whom I had seen yesterday near St. Anthony’s, living in modest dwellings with only tarps and tin as protection from the rain. I assumed that most were not able to keep the majority of the rain out from their homes.
“But in the midst of the flooded streets of Thane people came to a weekday morning Mass. Umbrellas and rolled pant legs were the uniform of the morning. Just another day in India.”
Click here to read the full reflection
Photos
A picture is worth a thousand words. If you’d rather skip Mary’s written reflection you can CLICK HERE to go directly to a photo album from the visit and get a sense of the district and the places to which Mary refers.
Provincial’s time
Fr. Cassidy returns to Hales Corners after attending the ordination of Archbishop Claudio Dalla Zuanna in Beira, Mozambique. He has council meetings on October 11-12 and the Blessing of Sacred Heart at Monastery Lake on Friday, October 12. Archbishop Jerome Listecki of Milwaukee will join SCJs at the blessing.
Mark the date!
As noted below, the next Mission Education Conference will take place April 8-9 at St. Joseph’s Indian School in South Dakota. Last week SCJs should have received an email from Mike Tyrell, executive director of Child Services at St. Joe’s, reminding them about the dates and asking for tentative numbers from their locations of how many might be attending. He also suggested making hotel reservations soon and gave information about two Chamberlain-area hotels.
If you did not receive this email, or if you have questions about attendance at Mission Education, please contact Karla Herman at 605.234.3410, adminr@stjo.org
Upcoming meetings and events:
October 11-12: Provincial Council Meeting
October 12: Dedication of Sacred Heart at Monastery Lake
November 13-14, North American Councils meeting in Toronto
December 18-19: Provincial Council Meeting
2013:
January 29-30: Provincial Council Meeting
March 13: Local Superiors Meeting
March 14: Provincial Council Meeting
April 8-9: Mission Education Conference, St. Joseph’s Indian School
April 30 – May 1: Provincial Council Meeting (budgets)
Week of June 3: Province Election Assembly.
