Monthly Archives: October 2014

Synod dynamics recalled Second Vatican Council

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Archbishop Joseph E. Kurtz of Louisville, Ky., president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, speaks with Alice Heinzen before the morning session of the extraordinary Synod of Bishops on the family at the Vatican Oct. 18. Heinzen and her husband Jeff, from Menomonie, Wis., are auditors at the synod. (CNS photo/Paul Haring)


By Francis X. Rocca
VATICAN CITY (CNS) – Even before the start of the Oct. 5-19 Synod of Bishops on the family, observers were likening it to the Second Vatican Council of 1962-65.
In both cases, an innovative and charismatic pope called an assembly in the first months of his pontificate, seeking to preach the Gospel in terms of contemporary culture and apply Catholic teaching with what St. John XXIII called the “medicine of mercy.”
As it turned out, history also repeated itself in the institutional dynamics of this year’s event, as bishops from around the world asserted their collective authority, leading the assembly’s organizers in Rome to revise some of their best-laid plans.
A classic history, “The Rhine Flows into the Tiber,” recounts the first tumultuous week of Vatican II, when bishops rejected the Vatican’s handpicked candidates for the commissions that would write the council documents.
“It was not a revolutionary act, but an act of conscience, an act of responsibility on the part of the council fathers,” recalled Pope Benedict XVI in 2013. Then-Father Joseph Ratzinger attended Vatican II as a theological adviser to Cardinal Josef Frings of Cologne, Germany, one of the leaders of the bishops’ resistance.
More than 50 years later, bishops at the synod on the family reacted strongly after the Oct. 13 presentation of an official midterm report by Hungarian Cardinal Peter Erdo of Esztergom-Budapest.
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Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the Vatican’s secretary of state, right, talks with Cardinal Donald Wuerl of Washington prior to the start of a consistory for the canonizations of Giuseppe Vaz and Maria Cristina dell’Immacolata Concezione in the Synod Hall a t the Vatican Oct. 20. (CNS photo/Maria Grazia Picciarella, pool)


Cardinal Erdo’s report, which was supposed to summarize the assembly’s first week of discussions, made headlines with its strikingly conciliatory language toward people with ways of life contrary to Catholic teaching, including divorced and remarried Catholics, cohabitating couples and people in same-sex unions.
Immediately after the cardinal spoke, 41 of the 184 synod fathers present took the floor to comment. A number objected that the text lacked certain necessary references to Catholic moral teaching, particularly regarding homosexuality and cohabitation. Bishops also remarked on the midterm report’s scarce references to the concept of sin.
“Three-quarters of those who spoke had some problems with the document,” Cardinal George Pell, prefect of the Secretariat for the Economy, told Catholic News Service. He called the report tendentious, skewed and without sufficient grounding in Scripture and traditional doctrine.
At a news conference Monday, Oct. 13, Cardinal Erdo distanced himself from the midterm report, identifying Italian Archbishop Bruno Forte of Chieti-Vasto, the synod’s special secretary, as responsible for a particularly controversial passage on same-sex unions.
Later that afternoon, the synod fathers divided into 10 working groups to discuss the midterm report and suggest amendments for the synod’s final document.
The midterm report was “seen by many as not being as balanced as it should have been,” Cardinal Donald W. Wuerl of Washington told CNS.
Cardinal Wuerl, one of 11 members of a team that drafted the synod’s final report, said one common objection was to the theological concept of “graduality,” which the midterm report used, among other ways, to suggest the positive value of “irregular” relationships such as cohabitation.
“You don’t see that in the final document because the small language groups said, ‘Yes, it was said, but it didn’t garner support,” the cardinal said.
The synod’s leadership, under Cardinal Lorenzo Baldisseri, who served as general secretary, planned not to publish the working groups’ individual reports but provide them only to the drafters of the final report, along with their approximately 450 suggested amendments.
But on Oct. 16, the bishops insisted that the working-groups’ reports be made public.
“We wanted the Catholic people around the world to know actually what was going on in talking about marriage and the family,” Cardinal Pell said.
On the same day, the drafting committee was expanded to increase its geographic diversity, with the addition of Cardinal Wilfrid F. Napier of Durban, South Africa, and Archbishop Denis Hart of Melbourne, Australia. Just as bishops from a cluster of northern European countries had been leaders of change at Vatican II, some of the more outspoken synod fathers this year were from the English-speaking countries and Africa.
The synod’s final report, which the pope ordered published almost immediately after the assembly finished its work Oct. 18, featured many more citations of Scripture, as well as new references to the Catechism of the Catholic Church and the teachings of Blessed Paul VI, St. John Paul II and Pope Benedict XVI.
Synod fathers voted on each of the document’s 62 paragraphs. All received a simple majority, but three – on especially controversial questions of homosexuality and Communion for the divorced and civilly remarried – failed to gain the two-thirds supermajority ordinarily required for approval of synodal documents.
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Pope Francis attends the morning session on the final day of the extraordinary Synod of Bishops on the family at the Vatican Oct. 18. At left is Cardinal Lorenzo Baldisseri, general secretary of the Synod of Bishops, and at right Cardinal Peter Erdo of Esztergom-Budapest, Hungary, relator for the synod. (CNS photo/Paul Haring)


“What I think Pope Francis succeeded in doing was letting the synod fathers, letting the synod participants, actually come to a real consensus, even though it’s a weak consensus in some areas,” Cardinal Wuerl said. “The process worked, even though there were bumps along the way.”
(Copyright © 2014 Catholic News Service/United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. The CNS news services may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or otherwise distributed, including but not limited to, such means as framing or any other digital copying or distribution method in whole or in part, without prior written authority of Catholic News Service.)

Special Kids, Scouts start fund-raising for new facilities

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Joshua R. helps prepare a meal as part of life skills training in the Special Kids Program.

Joshua R. helps prepare a meal as part of life skills training in the Special Kids Program.

By Maureen Smith
JACKSON – St. Richard Parish has officially kicked off an effort to build a new facility for the Special Kids Program as well as a Boy Scout building and parking lot. The building will be located on property already owned by the parish, across from the main church building.
The Special Kids Program serves young men and women with intellectual and emotional disabilities. Younger students take classes in St. Richard School while the older kids, age 13-21, go to a parish-based program currently located in a house owned by the parish. There, teachers Kim Turner, Lindsay Blaylock and Agnes Morgan build individualized education plans for each student based on their strengths and needs. “It is the best place to be,” said Turner. “These kids are happy. The program offers a calm, stable, happy place and they are learning over here,” she added.
Because each student’s needs and goals are different, they all get very personal attention to learn life skills such as cooking, shopping, cleaning and how to navigate social situations. The students visit the public library, plan menus, shop for, cook and serve meals to special guests and run a small gift booth in the parish office. During the academic portion of the day they will all focus on one theme, but each will get a personalized lesson. “Let’s say we’re talking about money. Some kids will be counting money from the gift booth and talking about how to use it while others will just be recognizing forms of money,” Turner explained. When the students go shopping each one has a specific job. One may push the cart while another uses a written shopping list. Still another may use pictures to find needed items.

Before Special Kids Golf Tournament last year, Mary F. practiced putting.

Before Special Kids Golf Tournament last year, Mary F. practiced putting.

Every year the students host a golf tournament to raise money to support the program. This year the tournament was Thursday, Oct. 17. Turner said they prepared for weeks so the students would know what was expected of them. They have also planted a garden from which they can harvest their own food.
This is the only program in the diocese for children and young adults with these types of disabilities and Turner said the fact that it has a Catholic base is one of the aspects she loves best about it. Pastor Father Michael O’Brien agrees. He said the program is good for the whole St. Richard community, including the typical kids who take classes with the special kids in the separate elementary school program. “It is so good for them to go to school in that atmosphere,” he said. “It’s pro-life all across the board,” he went on to say.
The new development would also include a place for the Boy Scout troops to meet. That program was meeting in another house owned by the parish, but the structure is in need of repair. The special kids building, already named Farrell Hall in honor of Msgr. Patrick Farrell, who founded the Special Kids Program more than 30 years ago, would be connected by a porch to the Boy Scout building. An architect will design each to fit the needs of each program. Turner said updating the design would allow the program, which currently serves seven students, to expand.
A third goal of the project is to add off-street parking for events. Father O’Brien explained that the parish already owns some empty lots across the street. Currently people coming to events in Foley and Glynn Halls have limited parking along the street. Parish leaders decided to join the three efforts into one so the whole development could be cohesive. It will include landscaping and fit into the neighborhood.
Those who wish to donate can contact the parish. Donations can be earmarked specifically to each of the three projects. For more information, call the parish office at 601-366-2335.

Family life an opportunity to embrace joy

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By Karla Luke
The family is experiencing a profound cultural crisis, as are all communities and social bonds. In the case of the family, the weakening of these bonds is particularly serious because the family is the fundamental cell of society, where we learn to live with others despite our differences and to belong to one another; it is also the place where parents pass on the faith to their children. Marriage now tends to be viewed as a form of mere emotional satisfaction that can be constructed in any way or modified at will. But the indispensible contribution of marriage to society transcends the feelings and momentary needs of the couple. As the French bishops have taught, it is not born “of loving sentiment, ephemeral by definition, but from the depth of the obligation assumed by the spouses who accept to enter a total communion of life”. [Evangelii Gaudium 60]
The above passage speaks directly to some of the proceedings at the third Extraordinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops on the Family. The theme of the Synod, “the pastoral challenges of the family in the context of evangelization” recognizes the urgent need of the church to address the social and spiritual concerns of the family today. In paragraph 66 of Evangelii Gaudium, Pope Francis called the family the fundamental cell of society. Our families are the places where we learn about ourselves, our faith and how to relate to each other as human beings with human dignity.
The family dynamic is rich with spiritual symbolism. The love that unites the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit is likened to the love that unites father, mother and child. God consecrated this holy union by allowing His only Son to be born to Joseph and Mary, establishing the “domestic church.” (CCC, 1655). It is our primary family relationships that form the basis for how we will relate to others as our personal world begins to grow.
Strong families build strong societies and faithful followers build strong churches; therefore, it is incumbent upon us as a Catholic Christian family to insure the future of our church by thoughtfully resolving the issues that families face today. Our bishops attended the Synod in an attempt to address these issues. What can we do to help?
Live the Gospel – These words are attributed to St. Francis of Assisi “Preach the Gospel at all times and when necessary use words.” Remember that each encounter with another person is an opportunity to encounter Christ. Just as we show members of our families how much we love them, we must also be aware of those who have broken families or no families at all.
Be merciful and forgiving – Be kind to one another, tender-hearted, forgiving each other, just as God in Christ also has forgiven you. (Ephesians 4:32). We must be tolerant and forgiving of grievances against ourselves and demonstrate forgiveness to our human brothers and sisters.
Pray and faithfully go forth in joy – We must accept God’s challenge to go forth and make disciples of all nations. We stand firmly on the shoulders of the great prophets and saints who have lovingly made a path for us. We pray for peace and justice for all of creation
The human family, is a visible, earthly expression of God’s own intense love for us. It is where we learn our Gospel values of love, mercy, and forgiveness or in the absence of family, we fail to learn them. We are obliged to continue to build up and strengthen our families as one of God’s greatest gifts to humankind.
(Karla Luke is the coordinator of operations and support services for the Office of Catholic Education in the Jackson diocese. She will continue this series on the Joy of the Gospel on in future editions of Mississippi Catholic.)

Rooting out resentment through admiration

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IN EXILE
By Father Ron Rolheiser, OMI
It’s not only love that makes the world go round. Resentment too is prominent in stirring the drink. In so many ways our world is drowning in resentment. Everywhere you look, it seems, someone is bitter about something and breathing out resentment. What is resentment? Why is this feeling so prevalent in our lives? How do we move beyond it?
Soren Kierkegaard once defined resentment in this way. Resentment, he suggested, happens when we move from the happy feeling of admiration to the unhappy feeling of jealousy. And this, sadly, happens all too frequently in our lives and we are dangerously blind to its occurrence. Me, resentful? How dare you make that accusation!
Yet it’s hard to deny that resentment and its concomitant unhappiness color our world. At every level of life, from what we see playing out in the grievances and wars among nations to what we see playing out in the bickering in our board rooms, class rooms, living rooms, and bedrooms, there is evidence of resentment and bitterness. Our world is full of resentment.
Everyone, it seems, is bitter about something, and, of course, not without cause. Few are the persons who do not secretly nurse the feeling that they have been ignored, wounded, cheated, treated unfairly, and have drawn too many short straws in life; and so many of us feel that we have every right to protest our right to be resentful and unhappy. We’re not happy, but with good reason.
Yes, there’s always good reason to be resentful; but, and this is the point of this column, according to a number of insightful analysts, both old and new, we are rarely in touch with the real reason why we are so spontaneously bitter. For persons such as Thomas Aquinas, Soren Kierkegaard, Robert Moore, Gil Bailie, Robert Bly, and Richard Rohr, among others, the deep root of our resentment and unhappiness lies in our inability to admire, our inability to praise others, and our inability to give others and the world a simple gaze of admiration.
We’re a society that for the most part can’t admire. Admiration is, for us, a lost virtue. Indeed in the many circles today, both in the world and in the churches, admiration is seen as something juvenile and immature, the frenzied, mindless shrieking of teenage girls chasing a rock star. Maturity and sophistication are identified today with the kind of intelligence, wit and reticence, which don’t easily admire, which don’t easily compliment. Learning and maturity, we believe, need to be picking things apart, suspicious of others’ virtues, distrustful of their motives, on hyper-alert for hypocrisy and articulating every reason not to admire. Such is the view today.
But what we don’t admit in this view of maturity and learning is how we feel threatened by those whose graces or virtues exceed our own. What we don’t admit is our own jealousy.  What we don’t admit is our own resentment. What we don’t admit, and never will admit, is how our need to cut down someone else is an infallible sign of our own jealousy and bad self-image. And what helps us in our denial is this: Cynicism and cold judgment make for a perfect camouflage; we don’t need to admire because we’re bright enough to see that there’s nothing really to admire.
That, too often, is our sophisticated, unhappy state: We can no longer truly admire anybody. We can no longer truly praise anybody. We can no longer look at the world with any praise or admiration. Rather our gaze is perennially soured by resentment, cynicism, judgment, and jealousy.
We can test ourselves on this: Robert Moore often challenges his audiences to ask themselves this question: When was the last time you walked across a room and told a person, especially a younger person or a person whose talents dwarf yours, that you admire her, that you admire what she’s doing, that her gifts enrich your life, and that you are happy that her path has crossed yours? When was the last time you gave someone a heartfelt compliment? Or, to reverse the question: When was the last time that someone, especially someone who is threatened by your talents, gave you a sincere compliment?
We don’t compliment each other easily, or often, and this betrays a secret jealousy. It also reveals a genuine moral flaw in our lives. Thomas Aquinas one submitted that to withhold a compliment from someone who deserves it is a sin because we are withholding from him or her some of the food that he or she needs to live. To not admire, to not praise, to not compliment, is not a sign of sophistication but a sign moral immaturity and personal insecurity. It is also one of the deeper reasons why we so often fill with bitter feelings of resentment and unhappiness.
Why do we so often feel bitter and resentful? We fill with resentment for many reasons, though, not least, because we have lost the virtues of admiration and praise.
(Oblate Father Ron Rolheiser, theologian, teacher and award-winning author, is President of the Oblate School of Theology in San Antonio, TX.)

Hispanic Ministries begins pastoral planning

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By Elsa Baughman
JACKSON – On Tuesday, Oct. 16,  the diocesan Office of Hispanic Ministry met for a second time this year with religious and lay Hispanic leaders and Bishop Joseph Kopacz to talk about the future of their work in light of a study released earlier this year.
The National Study of Catholic Parishes with Hispanic Ministries was conducted under the leadership of Hosffman Ospino, assistant professor of Hispanic ministry and religious education at the Boston College School of Theology and Ministry. The Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate of Georgetown University collaborated in the study and the Diocese of Jackson participated in it.
During the morning session, Sister María Elena Méndez gave an overview of some the findings noting that the 20 million Hispanic immigrants currently living in the United States is four times the number of Irish immigrants who came between 1840-1960.
About this, Ospino said the church needs to develop a strategic plan to welcome and serve this predominantly Catholic ethnic group in the U.S. or risk alienating them.
Brother Ted Dausch, CFC, director of the Office of Hispanic Ministry, continued by saying his office will begin formulating a pastoral plan to guide their work. He told participants the office needs to know their dreams and goals so they can be incorporated into the plan.
He compared the present reality with that of the immigrants who came to this country in the 1900s and established “wonderful structures which helped support and invigorate their Catholic communities,” such as schools, hospitals, churches, etc.
“Now we need new structures that will help us too support and invigorate our communities,” he said, adding that is the reason to meet to talk about what is going on in their communities and what they want to change or add to their present reality in planning for their future.
Joel Montoya and his wife, Rosalinda, were invited to give their own experience as members of the Family Christian Movement, a program offered in the diocese through the Office of Hispanic Ministry. This program is now in its third year in the Jackson area which includes Forest and Carthage. In Tupelo, couples from New Albany and Houston are also participating.
Brother Dausch invited those present to talk with couples in their parishes about the movement and see if they are interested.
Father Lincoln Dall, pastor of Tupelo St. James Parish and the spiritual director of the movement in his parish, also gave information about how this program is working in the Tupelo area.
After lunch, Bishop Kopacz told participants there are a lot of good things happening within the Hispanic community. “I have seen that and experienced that when I have visited the different churches,” he said. “I commend you for all that is happening,” Bishop Kopacz added.
He mentioned he met recently with Brother Dausch and Sister Méndez and Sister María Josefa García of the Office of Hispanic Ministry to talk about laying the groundwork for a diocesan-wide process to bring people together to envision, to dream about the life of the diocese.
“Unity in our diocese, that is always the dream,” he said. “That was Jesus’ dream in the Last Supper, before he died, that we all may be one. So we will continue working on that. “

Redemptorists commissioned by Bishop Kopacz

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By Elsa Baughman
GREENWOOD – “Here we are, called by the grace of God,” announced Father Harry Grile, CSsR, provincial superior for the Redemptorists of the Denver Province, during a special commissioning Mass for the four Redemptorist priests who are serving in the Mississippi Delta.

Bishop Joseph Kopacz prays the prayer of commissioning for the four Redemptorist priests as members of the Hispanic ministry initiative in the Mississippi Delta. The Mass was celebrated in the newly built Chapel of Mercy on the grounds of the Locus Benedictus Retreat Center. (Photo by Elsa Baughman)

Bishop Joseph Kopacz prays the prayer of commissioning for the four Redemptorist priests as members of the Hispanic ministry initiative in the Mississippi Delta. The Mass was celebrated in the newly built Chapel of Mercy on the grounds of the Locus Benedictus Retreat Center. (Photo by Elsa Baughman)

Several priests, religious and lay ministers joined Father Grile and Bishop Joseph Kopacz in the new, tiny, Chapel of Mercy, Wednesday, Oct. 15, at noon.
Fathers Patrick Keyes, Ted Dorsey, Scott Kastenberger and Thanh Dinh Nguyen, have committed to working in Hispanic ministry in the Delta for five years.
During the homily, Father Grile said he was very happy to be in Mississippi. He told the story of his congregation and their journey to minister in the United States in 1832. “There is something in our blood, the Redemptorists, that where there is a need, where there are people that God calls us to, sometimes those living in the margins of society, that is where our heart goes out,” he said.
The strategy of the church, Father Grile said, is “you gather the people (Hispanics, in this case), you tell the story (the love and mercy of God) and you break the bread (Jesus, whose life was broken for us).”
At the end of Mass, with the four priests gathered around the altar Bishop Kopacz said, “. . . In the name of Jesus Christ, the Good Shepherd, I, Bishop Joseph Kopacz commission you to preach the good news of Jesus Christ, in the manner of the great apostle St. Paul, to the communities of the Mississippi Delta. May God bless your labors and open the hearts of our people to hear the word of God.” Then he handed each one a cross which they placed inside their belts.
Bishop Kopacz thanked Father Grile for his glimpse into the length, breath, height and depth of the Redemptorist spirit and heroism in their mission and ministry in their serving of the Lord and their presence in the diocese.
“A lot of heart and mind has come together as we celebrate today. It’s very clear what the Lord is doing.”
Before the recessional hymn, Father Dorsey said it is a Redemptorist tradition in a gathering like this to end with a prayer for perseverance to Our Mother of Perpetual Help with the singing of the Salve Regina.
The Redemptorists’ motto is “with Him there is plentiful redemption.” Like St. Alphonsus Liguori, their founder, they follow Jesus the Redeemer in preaching this Good News to the poor.
A dinner, hosted by Lee and Magdalene Abraham, followed in the hall of the Tallahatchie Crest, a new building which houses the Locus Benedictus Retreat Center. The Abrahams are members of Immaculate Heart of Mary Parish and owners of the land where the Chapel of Mercy was built.
In the Sept./Oct. 2014 newsletter the Redemptorists of the Denver Province, Father Keyes wrote, “The people of the Delta are people of great faith: churches are full on Sunday mornings. People generally don’t ask strangers where they work, they ask where they attend church.
This ministry is a daunting task, but St. Alphonsus, St. Clement and St. John Neumann are surely applauding the new initiative. In the people we minister to, we see the shepherds of Scala, the children of Warsaw and the immigrants of Philadelphia. No one needs to ask where the poor and abandoned are in the Delta. We are grateful to the Denver Province and to our benefactors who support this ministry.”

Liturgical items top USCCB meeting agenda

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By Mark Pattison
WASHINGTON (CNS) — Liturgical matters will take center stage on the agenda of action items at the fall general meeting of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, (USCCB) to be held Nov. 10-13 in Baltimore. Bishop Joseph Kopacz will attend the meeting.
There will be five liturgical items up for consideration. All are subject to amendments from bishops. All but one require approval of two-thirds of the bishops, followed by final approval from the Vatican.

In this 2013 file photo, members of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops pray before an afternoon session during the bishops’ annual fall meeting in Baltimore. Liturgical matters will take center stage during this year’s meeting, to be held Nov. 10-13 in Baltimore. (CNS photo/Nancy Phelan Wiechec)

In this 2013 file photo, members of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops pray before an afternoon session during the bishops’ annual fall meeting in Baltimore. Liturgical matters will take center stage during this year’s meeting, to be held Nov. 10-13 in Baltimore. (CNS photo/Nancy Phelan Wiechec)

Archbishop Joseph E. Kurtz of Louisville, Kentucky, who is president of the USCCB, will deliver his first presidential address. He was elected to a three-year term last November. As is customary, Archbishop Carlo Maria Vigano, apostolic nuncio to the United States, also will address the assembly.
During the meeting, the bishops will choose a new secretary-elect for the USCCB, and vote for the chairmen-elect of five committees. A number of presentations will be made, including one on underserved communities and Catholic schools, and another on a recent pilgrimage of prayer for peace in the Holy Land.
The bishops also will conduct the canonical consultation on the sainthood cause of Father Paul Wattson. Father Wattson was an Episcopal priest who co-founded the Society of the Atonement, also known as the Franciscan Friars and Sisters of the Atonement, to further Christian unity. He was received into the Catholic Church as were all men and women in the society at the time, and devised the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity, still observed each January.
On the first day of the meeting, the bishops will concelebrate Mass at the Basilica of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Baltimore in honor of the 225th anniversary of the establishment of the Archdiocese of Baltimore. Baltimore was the first diocese founded in the United States. The bishops had similarly marked the bicentennial of the U.S. hierarchy in 1989 with a Mass at the basilica.
The liturgical items up for consideration:
— A revised translation of the ritual book “Dedication of a Church and Altar,” used whenever a new church is built or when a new altar is made. The revised English translation incorporates the modifications from the Code of Canon Law as well as bringing the translation into conformity with the Roman Missal, Third Edition.
— A first-ever official English translation of the ritual book “Exorcisms and Related Supplications,” revised after the Second Vatican Council, and promulgated in Latin in 1999 with an amended version in 2004. The main part of this book is the rite of major exorcism and includes an introduction outlining criteria for its use, which is always the decision of the bishop alone. While this text affirms the reality of evil in the world, it even more so affirms the sovereignty of Jesus to overcome any and all evil.
— A supplement to the Liturgy of the Hours of an English translation of the prayers used for the feast days of saints who have been added to the general calendar since 1984.
— Modifications to the Revised Grail Psalms, originally approved in 2010 by the Vatican. The USCCB Committee on Divine Worship recommended improving the translation and its “sprung rhythm” to make proclamation and singing easier.
The fifth liturgy-related item would authorize rewriting for later approval guidelines from its 1995 document “Guidelines for the Celebration of the Sacraments with Persons with Disabilities” in light of medical developments and increased awareness of challenges faced by Catholics today, such as gluten intolerance, also known as celiac disease.
Other action items to be addressed by the bishops include the 2015 USCCB budget, the 2016 diocesan assessment, and a proposal to proceed on a revision to the “Ethical and Religious Directives for Catholic Health Care Services.”
In USCCB elections, Archbishops Gregory M. Aymond of New Orleans and Timothy P. Broglio of the Archdiocese for the Military Services have been nominated as secretary-elect. The five committees seeking chairmen-elect, and their bishop-nominees, are:
— Committee on Communications: Bishop William F. Murphy of Rockville Centre, New York, and Archbishop Joseph F. Naumann of Kansas City, Kansas.
— Committee on Cultural Diversity in the Church: Archbishop Gustavo Garcia-Siller of San Antonio, and Bishop Joseph J. Tyson of Yakima, Washington.
— Committee on Doctrine: Bishop Robert J. McManus of Worcester, Massachusetts, and Archbishop Allen H. Vigneron of Detroit.
— Committee on National Collections: Archbishop Thomas J. Rodi of Mobile, Alabama, and Bishop Jaime Soto of Sacramento, California.
— Committee on Pro-Life Activities: Cardinal Timothy M. Dolan of New York and Archbishop Jose H. Gomez of Los Angeles.
The secretary-elect and the chairmen-elect will serve one year in that capacity and then begin a three-year term.
The bishops also will vote on members for the board of the Catholic Legal Immigration Network and Catholic Relief Services, the USCCB’s international aid and development agency, as well as hear a presentation by Archbishop Paul S. Coakley of Oklahoma City, chairman of the CRS board, and CRS president Carolyn Woo on CRS’ work on capacity building.
Other presentations scheduled for the USCCB meeting:
— Underserved communities and Catholic schools, presented by Archbishop George J. Lucas of Omaha, Nebraska, chairman of the Committee on Catholic Education, and Bishop Daniel E. Flores of Brownsville, Texas, chairman of the Committee on Cultural Diversity in the Church.
— The pilgrimage of prayer for peace in the Holy Land, presented by Bishop Richard E. Pates of Des Moines, Iowa, chairman of the Committee on International Justice and Peace.
— USCCB engagement with the church in Africa, presented by Cardinal Theodore E. McCarrick, retired archbishop of Washington.
— The observance of the Year of Consecrated Life and the “Guidelines for the Reception of Ministers in the United States, Third Edition” and plans for their implementation, presented by Bishop Michael F. Burbidge of Raleigh, North Carolina, chairman of the Committee on Clergy, Consecrated Life and Vocations.
— A status report on the 2013-16 USCCB strategic plan, “The New Evangelization: Faith, Worship, Witness,” presented by Archbishop J. Peter Sartain of Seattle, USCCB secretary,
— Separate reports by Archbishop Salvatore J. Cordileone of San Francisco, chairman of the Subcommittee for the Promotion and Defense of Marriage; Archbishop William E. Lori of Baltimore, chairman of the Ad Hoc Committee for Religious Liberty; and the USCCB working group on the life and dignity of the human person.
(Copyright © 2014 Catholic News Service/United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. The CNS news services may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or otherwise distributed, including but not limited to, such means as framing or any other digital copying or distribution method in whole or in part, without prior written authority of Catholic News Service.)

Vocations awareness week invites prayer, discussion

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By Norma Montenegro Flynn, USCCB
WASHINGTON — The Catholic Church in the United States will celebrate National Vocation Awareness Week, November 2-8. This observance, sponsored by the U.S. bishops’ Committee on Clergy, Consecrated Life and Vocations, is a special time for parishes in the U.S. to foster a culture of vocations for the priesthood, diaconate and consecrated life.
Pope Francis, in his November 2013 apostolic exhortation, Evangelii G103114vocationaudium, underlined the continued need to build a culture of vocations. “The fraternal life and fervor of the community can awaken in the young a desire to consecrate themselves completely to God and to preaching of the Gospel. This is particularly true if such a living community prays insistently for vocations and courageously proposes to its young people the path of special consecration,” Pope Francis wrote.
“A culture of vocations is one that provides the necessary support for others to hear and respond to God’s call in their lives,” said Bishop Michael F. Burbidge of Raleigh, North Carolina, chairman of the U.S. bishops’ Committee on Clergy, Consecrated Life and Vocations. “With God’s grace, we help build that culture through fervent prayer, the witness of our lives and the encouragement we extend to those discerning a vocation to priesthood or consecrated life.”
A 2012 study, “Consideration of Priesthood and Religious Life Among Never-Married U.S. Catholics,” conducted by the Georgetown University-based Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate (CARA), highlighted the role community encouragement plays in the discernment process. (Full study: www.usccb.org/beliefs-and-teachings/vocations/survey-of-youth-and-young-adults-on-vocations.cfm)
“The number three seems to be critical in making a difference in the life of someone contemplating a vocation,” said Father Shawn McKnight, USCCB’s executive director of Clergy, Consecrated Life and Vocations. “When three or more people encourage someone to consider a religious vocation, he or she is far more likely to take serious steps toward answering that call.”
Father John Guthrie, associate director of Clergy, Consecrated Life and Vocations, adds that National Vocation Awareness Week should also focus on communities that are underrepresented among religious vocations today, especially Hispanics.
“While numbers of U.S. Hispanics pursuing religious vocations are picking up, they still lag behind the overall demographic trends,” said Father Guthrie. “Fifty-four percent of U.S. Catholics under the age of 25 are Hispanic, yet only 15 percent of students in major seminaries are Hispanic, and many of these were born in other countries. To reach this untapped potential, the Church must do far more to engage and support young people in these communities.”
Observance of Vocation Awareness Week began in 1976 when the U.S. bishops designated the 28th Sunday of the year for the celebration. It was later moved to Feast of the Baptism of the Lord in January. Last year, after extensive consultation, the Committee on Clergy, Consecrated Life and Vocations moved the observance of National Vocation Awareness Week to November to engage Catholic schools and colleges more effectively in this effort. This will be the first year it will be held in November.
More information and resources for National Vocations Awareness Week, including a prayer card, suggested prayers of the faithful and bulletin-ready quotes are available online at www.usccb.org/beliefs-and-teachings/vocations/national-vocation-awareness-week.cfm

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Vocations awareness week invites prayer, discussion

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By Norma Montenegro Flynn, USCCB
WASHINGTON — The Catholic Church in the United States will celebrate National Vocation Awareness Week, November 2-8. This observance, sponsored by the U.S. bishops’ Committee on Clergy, Consecrated Life and Vocations, is a special time for parishes in the U.S. to foster a culture of vocations for the priesthood, diaconate and consecrated life.
Pope Francis, in his November 2013 apostolic exhortation, Evangelii Gaudium, underlined the continued need to build a culture of vocations. “The fraternal life and fervor of the community can awaken in the young a desire to consecrate themselves completely to God and to preaching of the Gospel. This is particularly true if such a living community prays insistently for vocations and courageously proposes to its young people the path of special consecration,” Pope Francis wrote.
“A culture of vocations is one that provides the necessary support for others to hear and respond to God’s call in their lives,” said Bishop Michael F. Burbidge of Raleigh, North Carolina, chairman of the U.S. bishops’ Committee on Clergy, Consecrated Life and Vocations. “With God’s grace, we help build that culture through fervent prayer, the witness of our lives and the encouragement we extend to those discerning a vocation to priesthood or consecrated life.”
A 2012 study, “Consideration of Priesthood and Religious Life Among Never-Married U.S. Catholics,” conducted by the Georgetown University-based Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate (CARA), highlighted the role community encouragement plays in the discernment process. (Full study: www.usccb.org/beliefs-and-teachings/vocations/survey-of-youth-and-young-adults-on-vocations.cfm)
“The number three seems to be critical in making a difference in the life of someone contemplating a vocation,” said Father Shawn McKnight, USCCB’s executive director of Clergy, Consecrated Life and Vocations. “When three or more people encourage someone to consider a religious vocation, he or she is far more likely to take serious steps toward answering that call.”
Father John Guthrie, associate director of Clergy, Consecrated Life and Vocations, adds that National Vocation Awareness Week should also focus on communities that are underrepresented among religious vocations today, especially Hispanics.
“While numbers of U.S. Hispanics pursuing religious vocations are picking up, they still lag behind the overall demographic trends,” said Father Guthrie. “Fifty-four percent of U.S. Catholics under the age of 25 are Hispanic, yet only 15 percent of students in major seminaries are Hispanic, and many of these were born in other countries. To reach this untapped potential, the Church must do far more to engage and support young people in these communities.”
Observance of Vocation Awareness Week began in 1976 when the U.S. bishops designated the 28th Sunday of the year for the celebration. It was later moved to Feast of the Baptism of the Lord in January. Last year, after extensive consultation, the Committee on Clergy, Consecrated Life and Vocations moved the observance of National Vocation Awareness Week to November to engage Catholic schools and colleges more effectively in this effort. This will be the first year it will be held in November.
More information and resources for National Vocations Awareness Week, including a prayer card, suggested prayers of the faithful and bulletin-ready quotes are available online at www.usccb.org/beliefs-and-teachings/vocations/national-vocation-awareness-week.cfm