News & Events | March 16, 2026
Fruits of a “failed” mission
Fr. David Szatkowski, SCJ, Fr. Joseph Thien Dinh, SCJ and Br. Andy Gancarczyk, SCJ, represented the US Province at the March 9-13 Dehonian Jubilee celebrations in Quito, Ecuador. The Dehonian Jubilee is an international four-year commemoration of the centenary of the death of Fr. Leo John Dehon (August 12, 2025) and 150th anniversary of the congregation (June 28, 2028).
Reflecting on why this year’s celebration was held in a place that was once considered a “failed” mission, Fr. Dave writes that although SCJ missionaries were forced to leave Ecuador in 1896 – only eight years after they arrived – the impact of that first mission was pivotal for the Congregation.
“Of the 18 Dehonians who initially went to the Ecuador, eight would leave the Congregation. But from those ten SCJs who remained, two missions were founded in Brazil and Fr. Gabriel Grison would go to Congo in 1897 to bring the Dehonian presence there. Also, in the short term, the mission experience in Ecuador allowed the Congregation to become more than an institute of diocesan rite. Fr. Dehon and the Congregation gained legitimacy with the Holy See because of the willingness to send religious into the missions.
“After the mission to Ecuador, Fr. Dehon began to write and teach about the Reign of the Sacred Heart in Souls and Societies in a very practical way. He saw the community as being formators of societies and people at all levels. This moved the devotion of the Sacred Heart from being one of internal, personal piety to a way of seeing reparation as social, public, and transformative in the ways society is structured – with justice becoming a form of reparation.
“We are called by our charism to teach, form, lead, and promote a society based on the principles of the Church’s social teaching. In this way, all of us are formators. We are formators for our parishes, our cities, and our world. Whether we do this by preaching in a parish, organizing communities to address difficult issues, or helping to promote good environmental stewardship practices, we are promoting a better society, and so we promote the Reign on the Sacred Heart in Souls and Societies.
“Although the door to a mission in Ecuador was closed for 100 years [the congregation returned to Ecuador in 1997], God used that closed door to open many others.”
Click here to read Fr. Dave’s full reflection on the province website.
Much of Fr. Dave’s information came from presentations given during the week. English translations of two of them:
“Father Dehon’s Social Catechism and his concept of family” by Fr. Emerson M. Ruiz, SCJ
“Adveniat Regnum Tuum in Father Dehon: Kingdom, reparation, and oblation” by Fr. Victor de Oliveira Barbosa, SCJ
Other links:
GENERAL WEBSITE: Coverage of March 9-13 celebration on dehoniani.org
YOUTUBE: Various videos from the week, including presentations and the Jubilee Mass.
FACEBOOK: The DehoniansWorldwide Facebook page has videos and photos from the week.
Budgets due on April 1
Dcn. David Nagel, SCJ, province treasurer, reminds budget preparers that FY27 budgets are due to his office on April 1. And that’s no April Fool’s joke!! The Province Finance Commission will meet to review the budgets soon after so that they can go before the Provincial Council at its April meeting. If you have questions, contact Kevin Stanke, Chris Lambert or Dcn. David.
The Heart of Christ, the Poor and the Church Today
To commemorate the 183rd anniversary of Fr. Leo John Dehon’s birth on March 14, the Dehon Study Center hosted a colloquium titled, “He Loved Us, I Have Loved You: The Heart of Christ, the Poor, and the Church Today.” It took place both in-person at the Provincial Conference Center in Hales Corners, WI, and via livestream.
Fr. Joseph Mukuna, SCJ, DSC director, noted that the colloquium would focus on two texts: Dilexit Nos, the encyclical letter by Pope Francis, and Dilexi Te, the apostolic exhortation by Pope Leo XIV. With those texts as a backdrop, Dr. Megan Furman, PhD, Assistant Professor of Philosophy at Sacred Heart Seminary and School of Theology, did a presentation on “Who Is the Poor Other?” She was followed by Dr. James Stroud, STD, Assistant Professor of Moral Theology at SHSST, who spoke about “Holiness and the Poor.”
By highlighting sections of Dilexit Te, Dr. Furman emphasized that we are called to serve the poor as a way of serving God, of being with God. She highlighted a passage from Paragraph 26:
“One cannot love God without extending one’s love to the poor.”
Focusing on the closing paragraphs of Dilexit Te, Dr. Stroud emphasized what Pope Leo calls the Church to be in the world today:
“Christian love breaks down every barrier, brings close those who were distant, unites strangers, and reconciles enemies. It spans chasms that are humanly impossible to bridge, and it penetrates to the most hidden crevices of society. By its very nature, Christian love is prophetic: it works miracles and knows no limits. It makes what was apparently impossible happen. Love is above all a way of looking at life and a way of living it. A Church that sets no limits to love, that knows no enemies to fight but only men and women to love, is the Church that the world needs today.”
In the Q&A session that followed, Dr. Furman turned the focus on the SCJs who were in the room. “What,” she asked, “is your experience of the vow of poverty and ministering to the poor?”
Fr. John Divine is an SCJ from Cameroon, visiting family in the United States. He sat in on the colloquium and shared his experience of ministering to the poor in his home country. “We missionaries have meals together every day, we have shelter. Then we go to the villages where people may not have eaten, who don’t have what we take for granted.
“We are always reminded that a person must first have access to clean water to drink before he can listen to you talk of the riches of Christ.”
Click here or on the image above to view a recording of the colloquium.
Click here to view a few photos.
Reminders
Hour of recollection for SCJs
The Lenten Hour of Recollection for SCJs will take place this Thursday, March 19, at 10:00 a.m. (Central). Fr. Joachim Studwell, OFM (“Fr. Kim”) will lead a reflection on the theme “From the Heart to the World.”
SCJs can participate either in person at the Provincial Offices or via Zoom. A Zoom link was shared with SCJs via email last week. A reminder will be sent on Wednesday.
Questions? Please contact Fr. Joseph Mukuna, SCJ, director of the Dehon Study Center: 414-427-7265, Jmukuna@dehoniansusa.org
Reflection for employees and associates
The Lenten Recollection for employees, associates and other Dehonian collaborators will be on Tuesday, March 24, at 11:00 a.m.
“What is the ‘Sacred Heart’, and does it matter in our broken world?” will be the theme presented by Monica Misey, Director of Dehonian Associates. She will provide an overview of the devotion, Fr. Dehon’s development of it, and how it can impact our ministries today.
Rather than the usual hour, this will be 35 minutes. Please have a journal handy since there will be reflection questions interspersed.
The presentation will take place via Zoom. The link:
https://us06web.zoom.us/j/8342363189?omn=82769755997
Meeting ID: 834 236 3189
PLEASE NOTE: although this second reflection is intended for employees, associates and others who have an affiliation with the Priests of the Sacred Heart, SCJs are very welcome to attend.
Questions? Contact Monica Misey: 414-427-4267, mmisey@dehoniansusa.org
Did this man ever rest?
Writing to SCJs on March 14, the anniversary of Fr. Leo John Dehon’s birth, Fr. Vien Nguyen, SCJ, notes that “In my office hangs a portrait of Fr. Dehon, which was given to me by Fr. Charles Brown. The portrait shows him seated at his desk, holding a newspaper, his gazed focused and thoughtful, as though looking toward the future. At first glance, he appears to be a scholar absorbed in reflection. Yet when we consider the breadth of his work — founding a congregation and schools, raising funds for overseas missions and various projects, and organizing trade unions and congresses—we cannot help but wonder: Did this man ever find time to rest?
“Fr. Dehon showed an extraordinary zeal in the service of God. His life reminds us that when the will is offered to God, divine providence supplies the strength. He understood that the Heart of Jesus beats not only within the quiet of our churches, but also in the noise of factories and the bustle of marketplaces. For him, oblation was not a passive devotion but a tireless love, one that remained close to those on the margins.
“Remembering his witness today, as we mark the anniversary of his birth, may we ask for a share in his courage to persevere in service and remain attentive to those in most need.”
Corrections
Our apologies for a few misplaced dates in recent mailings. First, please note that the Feast of the Sacred Heart is on JUNE 12, not JULY 12 as misprinted in last week’s Fridge Notes. Also, the 50th anniversary of the Vietnamese community in Milwaukee takes place in 2028; next year marks the 20th anniversary of the SCJs ministry to the community at St. Martin of Tours parish in Franklin. The dates were misstated in last week’s Cor Unum.
Closing photo
SCJs and Dehonian Associates processing through the streets of Ecuador during last week’s Dehonian Jubilee.
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