June 12,
2006 — Vol.
5, No. 6
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The core of consecrated life, the Pope said, is in prayer and daily devotion to the Eucharist.
Read more below.
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The Brotherhood of
Hope have produced a new CD.
Read
more below.
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Care to read this on our website? Click here.
CONTENTS:
-
Strong Papal Call for Reform
in Religious Life
- Brotherhood of
Hope's Second Music
CD on Vocation-Related
Theme
- Work, Prayer, Community
Define Life at Abbey of St. Walburga
- Church's Statistical
Yearbook Reveals Decreasing Numbers of Religious
- Polish Nuns Issue Anti-Prostitution
Leaflets for World Cup
- Sister Rose Thering Dies;
Was Pioneer in Catholic-Jewish Relations
- Religious Vocations Can
Come From Anyplace
- Vatican Says Legionaries'
Founder Cannot Exercise Ministry Publicly
- Salvatorian Nun Loves Helping
Missionaries Through Order's Warehouse
- Pope Reminds Jesuits that
Devotion to Sacred Heart Helps Catholics Focus
on Love
- Order of Consecrated
Virgins to Host Regional Retreat Gathering
in Massachusetts on July 24-30, 2006
- Special Mass and Talk
to Commemorate Father Hardon's 59th Priestly
Anniversary on June 17, 2006
- 75 Religious Orders to
Get Training in Long-Term Nursing Care
- Nun Collects Music Resources
for Hurricane-Damaged Parishes
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Strong Papal Call for
Reform in Religious Life
In a strongly worded statement
to about 1,500 leaders of religious orders,
Pope Benedict XVI called for strong leadership
initiatives, to help men and women religious
survive in "uneasy times characterized
by multiple snares."
In an "ever more disoriented
and confused world," the Pope warned, religious
are vulnerable, and "a secularized culture
has penetrated the hearts and minds" of
too many religious. Moreover, he continued,
many religious have fallen into the "the
trap of mediocrity and of consumer mentality."
To correct these problems, the
Holy Father exhorted the religious superiors
to make "courageous decisions," renewing
dedication and discipline within their communities.
The core of consecrated life, he said, must
always be found in prayer and particularly in
daily devotion to the Eucharist. Consecrated
life entails a commitment to celibacy, the Pope
reminded his audience; it also requires a "sober
and humble way of life." He called attention
to the distinctive clothing that religious men
and women should wear, bearing testimony to
their simple and reserved way of life.
Pope Benedict made his remarks
in the Synod Hall at the Vatican, to participants
in a conference marking the 10th anniversary
of Vita Consecrata, the apostolic exhortation
by Pope John Paul II that concluded the work
of the bishops' Synod on consecrated life.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Brotherhood of Hope's
Second Music CD on Vocation-Related Theme
The Brotherhood of Hope, an IRL
affiliate community, is busy recording
their second music/worship CD this month,
which will be released during fall 2006.
The theme of this new collection of songs
will be Holiness and Vocations (i.e., the universal
call to holiness and particular vocations in
the Church).
A dynamic, new community of
Catholic brothers fully consecrated to Jesus
Christ by vows of chastity, poverty, and obedience
in fraternal common life, the Brotherhood brings
the New Evangelization proclaimed by John Paul
II primarily to college students at secular
universities. Reaching out to inactive and uncommitted
Catholics, they encourage conversion to Christ
and his Church and train students to empower
others with this liberating hope.
Their first album based on the
liturgical season of Advent, A Season of
Hope, was well received and endorsed by
prominent Catholics and Protestants alike.
For more information visit www.brotherhoodofhope.org.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Work,
Prayer, Community Define Life at Abbey of
St. Walburga
At the Abbey of St. Walburga in Virginia Dale, life is marked by
the pattern of the Liturgy of the Hours from the early church --
matins, lauds, prime, terce, sext, none, vespers, compline -- and
is as peaceful as breathing in and out. It is a life of work and
prayer, where work is prayer, and where the fruits of one's work
are readily visible and pertinent to daily life -- the cattle are
fed, the crops are planted, the linens cleaned, meals cooked for
the next guest. It is a life that increasingly draws young women
like Angela Read, who recently turned 21 in the monastery, located
just north of Fort Collins. It is the clear mission of the monastery
that the Benedictine superior, Mother Marie-Michael Newe, believes
draws the women, regardless of age. "I believe that when a
woman comes here to visit our community, our priorities are simple
and clear," Mother Marie-Michael told the Wyoming Catholic
Register, newspaper of the Diocese of Cheyenne. "We follow
the holy rule of St. Benedict, we live in community, under an abbess,
and all of this for the love of God," she said.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Church's
Statistical Yearbook Reveals Decreasing Numbers
of Religious
The number of religious in Africa and Asia has increased, but not
enough to offset decreases in other areas of the world. The Vatican
press office revealed this as they released the newest edition of
the "Statistical Yearbook of the Church," covering the
years 1978-2004, prepared by the Central Office of Church Statistics,
and published by the Libreria Editrice Vaticana.
The press office also announced that in 2004 there were over 55,000
men religious, not including priests, in the world, and more than
767,000 women religious. The number of men religious decreased by
27.4% in the span of 26 years, nearly the entire pontificate of
Pope John Paul II, from 75,000 in 1978.
Africa reported a 48% increase in the number of male religious and
Asia reported a 39% increase. Europe reported a 46% decrease in
the number of male religious, the Americas reported a decrease of
30%, and Oceania reported a decrease of 47%. Of all male religious
in the world, 16.40% reside in Asia, 14.16% in Africa, 30.14% in
the Americas, 36.24% in Europe, and 3.06% in Oceania.
The Holy See said the number of women religious has also shown "a
strongly decreasing dynamic," with a decrease of nearly 22%
worldwide from 990,768 in 1978. An "increase was decidedly
sustained in Africa and Asia: approximately 62% and 64%, respectively," the
Holy See stated. Europe reported a decrease of 39%, the Americas
reported a decrease of 27%, and Oceania reported a decrease of 41%.
Of all women religious in the world, 19.64% reside in Asia, 7.49%
in Africa, 28% in the Americas, 43% in Europe, and less than 2%
in Oceania.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Polish
Nuns Issue Anti-Prostitution Leaflets for
World Cup
Polish nuns, anticipating an increase in human trafficking and prostitution
during the World Cup in Germany, have issued anti-prostitution leaflets
in multiple languages for circulation during the competition. "Our
resources are extremely limited, but we're doing what we can," said
Ursuline Sister Jolanta Olech, president of Poland's Conference
of Superiors of Female Religious Orders. "We're deeply concerned
at reports that men's lives are to be made nicer by importing 100,000
young women from Europe's poorest countries." Plans for the
leaflets were approved in late April, and in an interview, Sister
Jolanta said the Union of European Conferences of Major Superiors
had asked national organizations to campaign against prostitution
during the World Cup, the world's largest soccer tournament, which
will be held in 12 German cities June 9-July 9. Sister Jolanta said
the leaflets were being supported by Caritas in Poland and would
be circulated in Polish, Bulgarian, Romanian, Russian and other
languages.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Sister
Rose Thering Dies; Was Pioneer in Catholic-Jewish
Relations
Dominican Sister Rose Thering, a pioneer in Catholic-Jewish relations
who dedicated most of her life to fighting anti-Semitism, died of
kidney failure May 6 in Racine, Wis., at the Dominicans' Siena Center,
where she became a nun in 1936. She was 85 years old. Her funeral
Mass was to be celebrated the evening of May 9 at the Siena Center
Chapel, with final commendation and interment the following morning
at the order's cemetery. A scholar, educator and activist, for decades
she was in the forefront of challenging Christian prejudices against
Jews and Judaism and promoting Christian-Jewish understanding. Sister
Rose's doctoral research 1957-61, before the Second Vatican Council,
focused on anti-Jewish teachings in U.S. Catholic catechisms, many
of which at that time blamed all Jews for the death of Jesus. "Her
unflinchingly honest analysis ... profoundly influenced the development
of the council's groundbreaking declaration, 'Nostra Aetate,'" said
Eugene Fisher, an associate director of the U.S. bishops' Secretariat
for Ecumenical and Interreligious Affairs.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Religious
Vocations Can Come From Anyplace
A few years ago Teresa Min-Sook Kim was a young Korean immigrant
in Minnesota, a non-Catholic who spoke little English. Jay Toborowsky
was a young Jewish man working as an aide to the mayor of Woodbridge,
N.J. Carol Derynioski had been teaching more than 25 years and had
her own home in Boca Raton, Fla. What do a Korean immigrant in Minnesota,
a Jewish political aide in New Jersey and a Catholic teacher in
Florida have in common? Now they are called "Sister" or "Father" and
each was recently featured in a local diocesan newspaper as an example
of some of the ways the call to priesthood or religious life can
be heard.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Vatican
Says Legionaries' Founder Cannot Exercise
Ministry Publicly
In a decision approved by Pope Benedict XVI, the Vatican has said
the founder of the Legionaries of Christ, accused of sexually abusing
minors, should not exercise his priestly ministry publicly. The
Vatican also said May 19 it would not begin a canonical process
against the founder, 86-year-old Father Marcial Maciel Degollado,
because of his advanced age and poor health. The Vatican statement
did not get into details about the allegations against Father Maciel,
but Vatican sources said the wording of the statement and its call
to penance signaled it had found there was substance to the accusations.
In the statement, Vatican spokesman Joaquin Navarro-Valls said the
Vatican had investigated the claims made by former Legionary seminarians
against Father Maciel, who founded the Legionaries in his native
Mexico in 1941. "After having submitted the results of the
investigation to attentive study, the Congregation for the Doctrine
of the Faith, under the guidance of the new prefect, His Eminence
Cardinal William Levada, has decided -- taking into account both
the advanced age of Rev. Maciel and his delicate health -- to forgo
a canonical process and to call the priest to a life reserved to
prayer and penance, renouncing any public ministry," the statement
said.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Salvatorian
Nun Loves Helping Missionaries Through Order's
Warehouse
When 18-year-old Dora Zapf told her father that she had a vocation
to the Sisters of the Divine Savior, he said, "I give her six
weeks and she'll be back." The six weeks has stretched into
a half-century with the community, whose members are also known
as Salvatorians. Her vocation has taken her from her home in Kirschschoenbach,
Germany, to England, to Tanzania and finally to the United States,
where Sister Dora has worked at the Salvatorian Mission Warehouse
in New Holstein, Wis., since 1973. This year she is celebrating
her 50th jubilee as a Salvatorian. When asked why her father predicted
she would not stay, Sister Dora replied: "I was a pretty wild
one. I wasn't just sitting around, so that is why he didn't believe
I had a vocation. It's not always the sitting-around ones who have
vocations. God likes a cheerful giver."
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Pope
Reminds Jesuits that Devotion to Sacred Heart
Helps Catholics Focus on Love
Devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus helps Catholics focus on the
reality of God's love and their obligation to love others, Pope
Benedict XVI said. In the Sacred Heart, "we can recognize in
an ever clearer way the limitless love God has for us," the
pope wrote in a May 15 letter. The papal letter was addressed to
Father Peter-Hans Kolvenbach, superior general of the Society of
Jesus, in recognition of the Jesuits' efforts to promote the devotion
throughout the church over the past 150 years. In 2006, the Church
celebrates the feast of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus June 23.
Pope Benedict said the devotion acquires its deepest meaning only
when people express their awareness of God's love by dedicating
their lives to his service. "The experience of the love of
God is lived as a 'call' to which one must respond," the pope
said.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Order of Consecrated
Virgins to Host Regional Retreat Gathering in
Massachusetts on July 24-30, 2006
There will be a regional retreat
gathering for members and friends of the Order
of Consecrated Virgins on July 24 – 30, 2006
at the Espousal Retreat House in Waltham, Massachusetts.
Retreat presentations will be made by Sean Cardinal
O'Malley, OFM Cap., Sr. Marian Batho, Delegate
for Religious, Fr. Tom DiLorenzo and Fr. John
Sassani.
The Order of Consecrated Virgins
is an ancient form of consecrated life that
goes back to apostolic times. Committed to a
holy plan of following Christ more closely,
they are consecrated to God by the diocesan
bishop according to the approved liturgical
rite.
For additional information or
to obtain a retreat form please e-mail Jane
Claire Forte at janeclaireforte@verizon.net or
telephone her at 781-395- 9137.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Special
Mass and Talk to Commemorate Father Hardon's
59th Priestly Anniversary on June 17, 2006
On Saturday, June 17, 2006 at
the Colombiere Jesuit Retirement Center Chapel
in Clarkston, Michigan, there will be a special
celebration in honor of the 59th anniversary
of the priestly ordination of the late Rev.
John Hardon, S.J. Father Hardon helped to found
the Institute on Religious Life in 1974 and
a number of other Catholic apostolates. A noted
author, catechist and retreat master, he died
on December 30, 2000.
The evening will begin with
a 7:00 p.m. Corpus Christi Vigil Mass celebrated
by with Rev. Herbert J. Raterman, S.J. At approximately
8:00 p.m. a Rosary Procession to Father Hardon's
graveside will take place, followed by a talk, “ The
Life and Times of Fr. John A. Hardon, S.J.”,
to be given by Mr. Jay McNally, biographer of
Father Hardon. There will be a $5.00 charge
per person to attend the talk and reception
and RSVPs are required.
For more information please
call 248-548-0204 or 586-306-2780, or e-mail anthonyb1989@juno.com.
For a PDF flyer of the event click
here.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
75 Religious Orders
to Get Training in Long-Term Nursing Care
A new grant will allow staff
working at nursing homes and similar facilities
for elderly religious to learn the principles
of a concept called "person-centered care." In
all, representatives from 75 religious orders
will be invited to an Oct. 31-Nov. 1 conference
in Chicago on the concept. Many conference costs
will be covered through a $182,446 grant from
the Retirement Research Foundation of Chicago,
which has promoted person-centered care for
15 years. Person-centered care is described
as a caring culture that establishes positive
relationships between staff and residents that
respect an older adult's life history, identity
and preferences. Person-centered care also ensures
engagement in meaningful activity, and provides
and encourages an overall sense of well-being.
According to Precious Blood Sister Janice Bader,
project director of retirement services for
the U.S. bishops' National Religious Retirement
Office, each of the 75 orders being invited
to participate cares for at least 100 elderly
or infirm members.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Nun
Collects Music Resources for Hurricane-Damaged
Parishes
While cleaning shelves in the music and arts room at the Humility
of Mary Center in Davenport, Sister Nancy Wooldridge thought to
herself, "What can I do with all this sheet music? I can't
recycle it -- it must be of value." Shelves and boxes were
full of sheet music featuring classical, traditional and religious
arrangements, lesson books and accompaniment music that the sisters
had collected over the years. The retired music teacher, a member
of the Congregation of the Humility of Mary, talked with other sisters
in the motherhouse about what to do with the materials. Someone
suggested donating them to Hurricane Katrina victims. Through Sister
Rosemary Eich, who had served in Biloxi, Miss., Sister Nancy was
able to contact Phil Beining, music ministry director and parish
administrative assistant at the Cathedral of the Nativity of the
Blessed Virgin Mary in Biloxi. Beining told her the parish had received
offers of money, food and clothing -- but not music. He needed choral
music for the church and advanced organ music. Beining, who had
worked with Sister Rosemary for many years, said he was delighted
to hear from Sister Nancy.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
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