THE NEWS FOR THE WEEK OF November 12, 2007...
Provincial’s time Fr. Tom Cassidy has council meetings Monday and Tuesday. And although he had tentative plans to travel to San Antonio after the meetings, he’ll be heading north instead to Toronto. The following week he will be spending a few days with SCJs in St. Louis. Please remember… Fr. Justin Guiltnane, who continues hospitalization following a stroke. He is now in St. Luke’s Stroke Center, Rm. 10511 (Milwaukee). His speech is improving, but he is unable to answer the phone. He had a slight touch of pneumonia, but that cleared up well. Fr. Godfried Egelie, a member of the Dutch-Flemish Province who died November 3. He was born in 1929, professed in 1953 and ordained in 1958. James R. Walters, the uncle of Fr. Jim Walters, who died November 8. He was 80. Correction Of course as soon as the Personnel Directory is printed, an error is found. Please note that the fax number for the Provincialate Offices is 414-425-2938. It is incorrectly listed under Fr. Thomas Cassidy’s name on page 4. It is correct under the heading for the Provincialate Offices. Community support As we reported last week, Archbishop Timothy Dolan, currently apostolic administrator of the Diocese of Green Bay, gave St. John the Evangelist parish permission to open a homeless shelter. The permission was given even though the city of Green Bay, where the parish is located, had not given the zoning authorization to allow the shelter to function. Fr. Guy Blair is pastor of the parish. The COTS shelter had operated the previous two winters with a conditional permit but was not given such authorization by the city this year. The archbishop gave St. John’s permission to open the shelter, stating that “Our action is being taken only because the homeless currently have no other place to turn.” The shelter has been a topic of strong discussion in Green Bay. Some of that discussion has taken place on the website and in the pages of the Green Bay Press Gazette. The following are a few of the comments published by the paper: “Kudos to the diocese! The shelter is so sorely needed! To those who oppose it, I ask what solution they would propose. The homeless mentally ill will not simply disappear if ignored. The diocese stepped in to meet a need the city did not.” “Good job Catholic Church of Green Bay. Lots of people read the Bible every day but you are reaching out, ‘whatsoever you do to the least of my people.’ The church may have been rocked with some bad times but I challenge anyone to show me a church that does more for the poor. I’ve attended churches with ultra expensive audio visuals and the latest Christian Rock but all they seem to do is to focus on themselves and reading their Bibles. The Catholic Church I grew up in emphasized helping the less fortunate and I’m proud to see they still are.” “Bravo Catholic Church! Shame on you who would rather see people freeze, sleep in doorways, parks and people’s yards rather than have the church break a city ordinance! I agree the city has no backbone. But the backbone I’m talking about is standing up to the people of the city who elected them and opening another shelter.” In paperback The Collar-A Year of Striving and Faith Inside a Catholic Seminary is now available in paperback. The book, written by Jonathan Englert, traces the journeys of five seminarians studying at Sacred Heart School of Theology. Englert’s purpose is to tell a story of meaning about a seminary and several different men at different points in their priestly formation. A three-part interview featuring Jonathan Englert describing his book can be read on-line at: http://www.bustedhalo.com/features/BustedJonathanEnglertPart1.htm A long road to India The District of India is happy to report that after several months, a shipment of donated supplies from Sacred Heart School of Theology in Hales Corners to the new SCJ theology residence in India FINALLY arrived. A truck loaded with everything from theology texts to clothing made its way to Christu Dehon Nivas earlier this month. To view photos of the delivery, go to: http://scjindia.smugmug.com Fridge Notes There will be no Fridge Notes the week of November 26 –– the week after Thanksgiving. Mary Gorski will be at the SCJs’ Communications Congress in Madrid, Spain. Don’t forget to send your news items in for the following week. You can e-mail Mary at marygorski@sbcglobal.net, call her (or leave a voice mail message) at 414-427-4266 or send news to the Provincialate Offices. Available from the archives If you would like a copy of Documenta XX Septima Conferentia Generalis (documents from the seventh General Conference) contact Fr. Wayne Jenkins at 414-427-4274, provarch@poshusa.org. Celebrate! Looking for a reason to celebrate? Next week Monday, November 19th, the U.S. Province celebrates its 74th anniversary.