AMERICA
Continent’s Bishops meet in VancouverThe St. Paul’s Province (Canada) Friday
Fax (25 February) and the Italian daily Avvenire spoke briefly of
the Vancouver meeting of 30 American bishops “representing the Episcopal
Conferences of Canada, the United States and Latin America. They studied themes
from the Apostolic Exhortation Ecclesia in America.” Three Oblate
bishops took part: Gerald WIESNER, Bishop of Prince George and president of the
Canadian Episcopal Conference, Hubert CONSTANT, Bishop of Fort Liberty and
president of the Episcopal Conference of Haiti, and Adam EXNER, Archbishop of
Vancouver, the host.
“In
the final communiqué, they recall their commitment to work for the reduction
and even of the cancellation of the foreign debt of poor countries. The bishops
launched a call to the parishes and dioceses, to pursue initiatives of
sensitization and of solidarity with those who suffer the consequences of
foreign debt. They also stressed the importance of the struggle against
corruption, the necessity of assuring administrative transparency and of
broadening the involvement of citizens in the management of the common good.”
St. Paul’s (Canada): Rose Prince honored at LejacRose Prince, a native woman of the
Carrier Nation, died in 1949. She is remembered for her holiness. Three years
later, when the cemetery had to be moved, it was discovered in exhuming her
body that her remains were still intact, unlike those of the others. Since this
time, the native people come regularly to pray at her grave seeking her
intercession.
Last August 20, 21 and 22 the small
community at Lejac, led by Fr Vincent JAMES, celebrated the 50th anniversary of
her death. Eight bishops were present, including Bishop Gerald WIESNER. Lejac
is in his diocese, 150 km west of Prince George. The guest speaker this year
was Bishop Donald Pelotte, himself a Native American. He is Bishop of Gallup,
New Mexico.
“These
were days of prayer, sharing and celebrating the Eucharist together. We had a
healing service, a candlelight procession, and on Sunday 35 children from the
communities of Stellaquo and Nadleh were confirmed. It was a real celebration
of our faith, a wonderful spiritual experience for all present.” Vincent
continues: “Many people from our small community of 1200 were involved in
planning and preparing for this great event.”
At St. Augustine’s in VancouverSt. Augustine’s parish in Vancouver was founded by the Oblates in 1911. Frs John BRIOUX and Bernard MCCOSHAM are currently in charge. A new parish center was blessed last year. John writes in the December number of Oblate Missions: “Yes, we are proud of our history, but more so of what we are.... Those who preceded us have left a mandate.... Because our parish community is so transitional, we plant the seeds of faith.... The community is incredibly gifted, creative and diverse. We are blessed with numerous ministries: ure studies, contemplative prayer, a social justice committee, a bereavement circle, baptism and marriage preparation, the RCIA, a young adult community, home visitation, music, liturgy and children’s liturgy....”
John begins his article by describing the visit of a young man with a strong anti- Catholic background, who was interested in the possibility of becoming a Catholic. His interest in the Church had been sparked by his fiancee, and he says, he was impressed by the feeling of human warmth. “It was as though I had come home....”
Grandin (Canada): Pastoral Biblical Theology ProgrammeIn September, a new cycle of a three year “biblical
pastoral theology” programme was launched in Calgary under the patronage of
Newman College and Grandin Province. “Of the 46 persons registered, 41 come
from the First Nations; they are eager to discover their biblical roots. This
high enrollment is due in a special way to the involvement and influence of the
natives who participated in the previous cycle.” TheWeek-End Fax of 5
November says: “The last two weekends were focused on the themes of the God of
Liberation in Exodus, social justice in Amos, and on How much God loves us!”
The joy of meetingThere were songs, tears of joy and handshakes at St.
Albert’s Catholic Church on October 31, 1999, as Catholics and Lutherans marked
the signing of the Joint Declaration on the Doctrine of Justification. George
LAGRANGE presided at the service of reconciliation. More than 400 participants
rejoiced over this step towards unity.
The Mission team“Our work is truly blessed by God. Our first Mission
was in Fort Rae, in the Diocese of Mackenzie-Fort Smith, during March 1997. In
December?99, we completed our 16th Mission with a surprisingly successful and
blessed 12-day Mission in Wainright, Alberta. Others are scheduled. We thank
God for the precious collaboration of the youth ministry group?Behold the Lamb’
that has been part of all our Missions. We also had two?follow-ups’ to Missions
at Fort Saskatchewan and at Peavine.” The missionary team is composed of
Jacques JOHNSON, Louis ANDREAS and Al HUBENIG.
Sisters Servants of Mary Immaculate“On February 15, 1900, with little besides his worn
Oblate crucifix and his paternal heart filled with love for the unfortunate
Ukrainian immigrants, Father Albert LACOMBE, then 73 years old, journeyed to
the Ukraine to confer with Bishop Andrew Sheptytsky and the superiors of the
Basilian Order. Accompanied by two Franciscan nuns, his extraordinary
undertaking would be to focus attention upon the need for Ukrainian women
religious for Canada.” New attempts were made by Fr Alphonse JAN (1874-1934) at
the request of Bishop LEGAL, then Bishop of Saint- Albert, which led to three
Basilian Fathers, one lay Brother and four Sisters Servants of the Immaculate
Conception being sent to Canada. They departed from the Ukraine on October 7,
1902. On the occasion of the centenary of St. Joachim’s parish in Edmonton, the
Sisters recall that they never forgot what they owe to the Oblates.
United States Province: A Cross America 2000The Oblates of the United States
Province hope to attract more than 1,000 youth to Belleville, Illinois, for a missionary
pilgrimage that will last from July 13 to16. This gathering is being called
A Cross America 2000. A Cross brings together the two ideas of
traversing as well as that of the cross.
“With this pilgrimage,” explains The
Oblate World in February, “the Oblates want to bring together youth from
all the Oblate parishes of the United States. It is a time to come together for
fun, prayer, reflection, learning and especially to consider our call to
mission as Christians and how we might best respond. We invite the young people
from our parishes to be with us in this pilgrimage and perhaps beyond – as
partners with the Oblates in our work to bring the Good News to the poor.”
Andy
Wier, who with his wife Mary, has just completed two years working with the
Oblates in the San Fernando Valley in California is the “national director of
OMI Lay Associates.” He is now the national coordinator for Oblate youth
ministry. He works with Fr David ULLRICH, who is the person responsible for
this on the Provincial Council. The March OMI USA mentions a gathering
of 150 young people in San Antonio, Texas on January 8 in preparation for this
event. They
came from Oblate parishes across the State.
Oblate SharingThe unification of the Oblate
Provinces in the United States led to the reorganization of the financial aid
to the missions and to various other activities of the Church. All the
organisms are henceforth united in a “United States Province Sharing Fund.” Thanks
to the numerous contributions, including some from many Oblates, the committee
which met January 25 was able to approve allocations for the year 2000 totaling
nearly one million dollars.
In the March OMI USA Fr
Robert MOOSBRUGGER, Provincial Treasurer, mentions some recipients of these
grants: subsidies for Oblate formation in Sri Lanka, in Jaffna, in Poland, in
Congo, in Cedara (South Africa); some missionary activities in Ukraine,
Pakistan, southern Philippines and in various countries of Latin America.... In
the United States, the Fund supports several charitable organizations or others
working for the defense of human rights.
Robert
noted that support of Native American ministries in the United States, as well
as of the two Delegations (Recife in Brazil and Zambia) are assured by other
Funds of the Province and are not therefore included here.
