Eat, pray, study Italian

Our latest post on the province blog is from Fr. Stephen Huffstetter, who writes as he leaves Bologna headed to Rome:

“After six weeks of Italian language studies at the Cultura Italiana in Bologna, I received a certificate and report card. It has been a while since I’ve been graded! It showed that I have made good progress in the short time here, but also that I have so much yet to learn.

“There have been five SCJs studying here. Fr. Heiner, our superior general, has been brushing up on the Italian he already knows because he will often need to represent the community in public and wants to speak and write well. Fr. Carlos Enrique and I will serve on the council, and Frs. Loc and Quang from the Vietnamese District will begin graduate studies in Rome next month…

“I am impressed by the work of the North Italian Province. The complex in Bologna is huge, and they have changed with the times. Half of the building that used to be our seminary is now a residence hall for university students. Villagio del Fanciullo was constructed after WWII to house the many orphans in the war’s aftermath. Some generous help came from US donors, and the community got advice and support from Fr. Flanagan of Boys Town on what type of programs were helpful. Today’s young people in residence have fled difficult situations in Africa and the Middle East.

“The building also houses a technical school, which teaches skilled trades like welding and being an electrician. There are day care programs, after school programs, and an organization specializing in working with reading disorders such as dyslexia. A host of volunteer groups call the campus home, and SCJs and others offer counseling services for families and individuals.”

Click here to read the rest of the blog post.

 

Pope Francis visits the United States

Pope Francis arrives for his first visit to the United States on Tuesday afternoon. He has stops scheduled in Washington, D.C., New York City and Philadelphia before returning to Rome on Sunday evening, September 27.

Fr. Ed Kilianski will join other major superiors at a Mass with the Holy Father at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington on Wednesday.

The pope addresses Congress at 10:00 am eastern; Sacred Heart Seminary and School of Theology will have a television set up in the main lobby for those who would like to watch it.

Welcome!

Speaking of the new provincial superior, we welcome Fr. Ed Kilianski to Hales Corners this week. He moved into his new residence at Sacred Heart at Monastery Lake over the weekend and begins unpacking his office at the Provinicialate today (after a few meetings, of course!). As noted above, he leaves for Washington, DC, tomorrow, to take part in the Mass with Pope Francis.

Calendar for the US and Canada

A Google Calendar has been created to note meetings, birthdays and other significant events of SCJs in the US and Canada. As of this morning (September 21), it had listings through the end of 2015. Birthdays will be added for January through August during the next day or so.

The calendar includes meeting dates of the provincial and regional councils, significant province and congregational events, and the birthdays of SCJs in the US and Canada.

Click here to access the calendar directly. You can also access the calendar from the US Province website (www.sacredheartusa.org); a link to it can be found at the bottom of any page within the site. The Google Calendar icon is in the right side of the footer (red stripe at the bottom of the page), next to the Facebook icon. Later this week an email will be sent to SCJs in North America with FAQs about using the calendar, including syncing it with your own calendar on a computer and/or mobile device.

Click here to suggest meetings and events to be added to the calendar.

Please remember

Fr. David Tadeu Teixeira, a member of the South Brazilian Province, died September 17. He was born in 1924, professed in 1945 and ordained in 1950.

Fr. Henricus Wilhelmus Nederpelt, a member of the Dutch-Flemish Confederation, died on September 12. He was born in 1938, professed in 1960 and ordained in 1967.

 

Immigration Committee update

As noted last week, SCJs in the U.S. and Canada will soon be receiving the North American Dehonian Story of Immigration, a book of immigration stories compiled by the North American Immigration Committee. A member of the committee will follow-up with a meeting with each local community in North America. The schedule of confirmed meeting dates so far is as follows:

Dehon Formation Community: Oct. 1
Mississippi: Oct. 1
Montréal: Oct. 5
Congregational Home: Oct. 7
Sacred Heart at SHML (floors 1-3): Oct. 8
Sacred Heart Monastery: Oct. 8
Houston: Oct. 22
Toronto: Nov. 9
Ottawa: Nov. 11

The committee is asking each community to discern one further step its members might take locally, whether educational, direct service, advocacy, empowerment or in worship, to address the immigration crisis and the need for compassionate reform.  The committee will also ask for ideas on what might be done corporately.

Please note – every SCJ in North America should have received a copy of the Immigration Committee’s book. If you do not get your copy by the end of the week (September 25) please contact a member of the committee: Fr. Claude Bédard, Fr. John Czyzynski, Br. Duane Lemke, Fr. Richard MacDonald, Fr. Peter McKenna, Fr. Élie Muzungu Kasongo-Ngoy, Fr. Zbigniew Morawiec, Fr. Tony Russo, and Mark Peters.

Archivist on the road

Fr. Wayne Jenkins, our province archivist, is in Saskatoon (Canada) this week for the annual Catholic Archivist Group Conference. The theme this year is “Building Bridges of Faith and Understanding.” Fr. Wayne will discuss the work that went into the development of the new West African artifacts exhibit available online through the Leo Dehon Library at SHSST.

SCJ News available

Click here to download the latest SCJ News; the printed copy is being mailed this week. Click here access previous issues.

More information on annulment process

Last week we provided a link to a piece that Fr. David Szatkowski did in which he explained some of the most significant changes in the annulment process. The Archdiocese of Milwaukee has prepared an extensive FAQ on the upcoming changes. Click here to access it.

Blessed Juan Maria

On September 22, the Priests of the Sacred Heart celebrate the memory of Blessed Juan María de la Cruz García, the first SCJ to be named “blessed.”

Last Friday’s Dehonian Spirituality mailing shared the story of Blessed Juan:

“’I am a priest.’ Under ordinary circumstances, this declaration would be understood as a mark of dedication and service. During the Spanish Civil War, however, it was enough evidence for imprisonment and eventual execution.

“While in a Valencia prison, Fr. Juan María de la Cruz, SCJ, wrote to Fr. Philippe, SCJ, the superior general of the Priests of the Sacred Heart: ‘They are keeping me here, Reverend Father, imprisoned for three weeks because I uttered a few words of protest about the horrid spectacle of the churches being burned and profaned. May God be blessed, may his will be done in everything. I am very happy to be able to suffer something for him who suffered so much for me, a poor sinner.’”

The Dehonian Spirituality issue closes with a prayer in remembrance of all victims of civil strife and those who try to alleviate their sufferings with the gift of their own lives. The prayer is from the Commemoration of Blessed Juan María de la Cruz in the Liturgy of the Hours:

Almighty and Eternal God,
through Blessed Juan María de la Cruz, priest and martyr,
you have sent to your Church a seed of new life.
Grant that all your children
may imitate his virtue
and offer themselves lovingly
as heralds of your love and instruments of peace.
We ask this through Christ, our Lord.
Amen.

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