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Wednesday, November 30, 2011
ASIA : INDONESIA : RIP ARCHBISHOP DONATUS DJAGOM - AGE 92
Former prelate of Ende archdiocese 'contributed greatly to the growth of the Church'Catholics in Ende archdiocese, in East Nusa Tenggara, are today mourning the loss of a pastor who they say contributed greatly to the growth of the local Church.
Divine Word Archbishop Emeritus Donatus Djagom died yesterday in his sleep at age 92.
His body was sent to Christ the King Cathedral Church in Ende today where it will lie in state until his funeral on December 2.
He will be buried in the grounds of the Archdiocesan Palace after a requiem Mass led by Archbishop Vincentius Sensi Potokota of Ende.
“Archbishop Emeritus Donatus was very close to his people. Many, especially in villages, really felt his presence as a pastor,” Archbishop Potokota said.
He “was dedicated and committed to the growth of the local Church while he led this archdiocese for 27 years,” he said, adding the former prelate “paid great attention to the role of ordinary Catholics.”
Divine Word Father Johanes Damianus Mukese, head of theFlores Pos newspaper, praised Archbishop Emeritus Donatus for building an effective strategy for pastoral work.
“He started pastoral discussions involving priests and laypeople in 1984. During his leadership, three major pastoral discussions were held,” Fr. Mukese said.
He also credited the late archbishop with having encouraged many local people to answer their religious calling.
“The number of native-born priests grew fast, and many of them became missioners,” he said.
Archbishop Emeritus Donatus was born on May 10, 1919 in Bilas, Manggarai and ordained a priest in Teteringen, the Netherlands, on August 28, 1949.
On December 19, 1968, he was appointed archbishop of Ende, and his episcopal ordination was on June 11, the following year. He retired on February 23, 1996.
http://www.ucanews.com/2011/11/30/archbishop-emeritus-dies-at-92/
EUROPE : SSPX LEADER CALLS FOR CHANGES TO VATICAN STATEMENT
By JOHN THAVIS AND STAFF REPORTER on Wednesday, 30 November 2011
Bishop Bernard Fellay, centre, pictured before an ordination Mass in Econe, Switzerland (AP Photo/Keystone, Olivier Maire)
CATHOLIC HERALD REPORT: The head of the traditionalist Society of St Pius X has said a “doctrinal preamble” presented by the Vatican needs changes before it can be accepted as the basis for the group’s reconciliation.
The statement by Bishop Bernard Fellay, superior of the society, appeared to hold out hope for further discussions with the Vatican, but it was unclear whether the Vatican would be willing to revisit the text.
“It is true that this doctrinal preamble cannot receive our endorsement, although leeway has been allowed for a ‘legitimate discussion’ about certain points of the [Second Vatican] Council. What is the extent of this leeway?” Bishop Fellay said in an interview posted on the society’s website.
In September, when Bishop Fellay was handed the preamble, the Vatican did not publish the document but said it “states some doctrinal principles and criteria for the interpretation of Catholic doctrine necessary to guarantee fidelity” to the formal teaching of the Church.
In his interview, however, Bishop Fellay said the preamble was “a document which can be clarified and modified, as the accompanying note points out. It is not a definitive text.”
“The proposal that I will make in the next few days to the Roman authorities and their response in turn will enable us to evaluate our remaining options. And whatever the result of these talks may be, the final document that will have been accepted or rejected will be made public,” he said.
Asked whether the past two years of talks with the Vatican have been pointless, Bishop Fellay said they have allowed the society to present their objections to the doctrinal difficulties caused by Vatican II “and consequently show why adherence to the Council is problematic. This is an essential first step.”
“In Rome itself, the evolving interpretations given to religious liberty, the modifications that have been made on this subject in the Catechism of the Catholic Church and in the Compendium of it, the corrections that are currently being studied for the Code of Canon Law … all this shows the difficulties that you run into when you try to abide by the conciliar documents at all costs,” Bishop Fellay said.
“From our perspective, this nicely shows the impossibility of adhering in a stable way to a doctrine in motion,” he added.
The eventual “canonical solution” envisioned by the Vatican for the society was expected to take the form of a personal prelature, or a Church jurisdiction without geographical boundaries. Bishop Fellay said such an arrangement would be pointless unless the doctrinal differences were resolved.
Last month Fr Paul Morgan, the British superior of the SSPX, saidthat the preamble had been deemed “clearly unacceptable” by SSPX leaders meeting in Italy. He made the comment in a newsletter posted line and then removed.
AFRICA : DEM. REP. CONGO : ELECTIONS HELD IN DISORDER
The first official results will be published in early December, but already the Africa Union and the European Union have launched appeals for the results of the vote to be accepted by all candidates. Fr. Loris agrees that "the problem now is to see if the results are accepted by all candidates. The election observers have in fact found several irregularities. One needs to establish whether this is due to irregularities caused by delays, organizational difficulties and technical and logistical errors, or if it is deliberate fraud. There have been reports of already voted ballots in favor of a particular candidate, but investigation still needs to be carried out to verify these facts", concludes Father Loris. (L.M.) (Agenzia Fides 30/11/2011)
AMERICA : AFRICAN-AMERICAN CATHOLICS ENGAGED IN CHURCH
Catholic News Service
WASHINGTON (CNS) -- African-American Catholics are much more engaged in their church on a variety of levels than are white Catholics, concludes the first National Black Catholic Survey.
Whether in a majority black church, a mixed or mostly white parish, the survey found African-American Catholics feel satisfied and fulfilled in their parishes, explained retired Bishop John H. Ricard of Pensacola-Tallahassee, Fla., who is president of the National Black Catholic Congress.
By "engaged," Bishop Ricard explained, the authors of the report mean African-Americans are involved in their parishes well beyond simply attending Mass somewhat regularly. That includes having strong networks of friends and family in their churches, participating in multiple parish activities and saying their spiritual, emotional and social needs are met there.
Bishop Ricard, who is rector of the Washington seminary of his religious order, the Josephites, said the results of the survey surprised and pleased him and the leaders of the National Black Catholic Congress who commissioned it, along with the University of Notre Dame's Institute for Church Life and the office of the school's president. The survey will be used as the basis of a pastoral plan for evangelization that will be presented during next July's National Black Catholic Congress in Indianapolis.
"This is a bright spot for the church," said Bishop Ricard in an interview Nov. 28 at St. Joseph's Seminary. Whatever their parish situation, a majority of African-American participants in the attitudinal survey conducted by Knowledge Networks, "feel affirmed and have decided they are going to stay Catholic," he said. "It's a very optimistic message."
Among the conclusions of the survey were that black Catholics feel more committed to their parishes emotionally, spiritually and socially than do white Catholics. In those respects, as in many other aspects of the survey, black Catholics were shown to be much more like black Protestants in their approach to church than they are like white Catholics.
"Compared with other religious and racial groups, African-American Catholics behave and look like African-American Protestants," said the executive summary written by study authors Darren W. Davis, a professor of political science and associate vice president for research at Notre Dame, and Donald B. Pope-Davis, professor of psychology and vice president and associate provost Notre Dame.
Still, "African-American Protestants are clearly more highly involved by every measure of engagement," they continued. Therefore, they said, the pattern "is taken as suggestive of a cultural effect, as opposed to a Catholic effect, whereby the historical and cultural norms of the African-American community weigh just as heavily on African-American Catholics as on African-American Protestants."
The survey was conducted this summer in phone calls to 3,215 people, including 2,104 African-Americans, proportionally representing Catholics and Protestants according to their ratio in the U.S. population. Seventy-six percent of those surveyed said their parish is not predominantly African-American. No margin of error was given.
In one set of comparisons, asking "how well does your parish meet your needs," black Catholics, and both black and white Protestants were more likely than their white Catholic counterparts to agree. For instance, when the question asked about spiritual needs, 78 percent of black Catholics and 86 percent of black Protestants said "well" or "very well," while 67 percent of white Catholics and 81 percent of white Protestants said the same.
The difference was sharper when the question asked about parishes meeting social needs, with 62 percent of black Catholics, 76 percent of black Protestants and 63 percent of white Protestants saying "well" or "very well," while just 41 percent of white Catholics said so.
Bishop Ricard said the finding that black Catholics are almost as at-ease in mixed or mostly white parishes as they are in majority black parishes shows that efforts have been successful in helping African-Americans to feel a part of the Catholic Church and make it their own.
That model could hold lessons for dioceses and churches that are struggling to help immigrants from Latin America and Asia feel like they belong, he said.
Like African-Americans, Latino and Asian immigrants have a strong cultural sense of community, Bishop Ricard said. "There is less emphasis on the individual and more on the communitarian aspects of a church."
For instance, black Catholics in the survey were much more likely to say it's important that their friends attend their church. Just about 7 percent of white Catholics agreed with that statement. But 27 percent of black Catholics said so. Phrased another way, 48 percent of black Catholics said being with others in church is an important reason to go, compared with 26 percent of white Catholics, 58 percent of black Protestants and 52 percent of white Protestants.
And there also are lessons for all types of parishes that are interested in having their members become more deeply engaged.
Bishop Ricard related the experience of a large Florida parish that made the effort to have the pastor or a member of the parish staff personally visit every one of the 2,000 registered families. Completed over the course of a year, these visits featured conversations about what people wanted from their church, what was working and not working and what their everyday concerns were, he said.
"It had a significant effect on increasing people's involvement," he said. It wasn't so much that the parish would be able to adapt to all those concerns, but a matter of "making people feel personally involved," he said.
The survey did find various aspects of church life where African-Americans consider improvement is needed. Among them that although most African-Americans do not consider the church racist -- 77 percent said they don't consider it racist -- nearly a third have felt uncomfortable being the only black in a church and a quarter have encountered people avoiding them or refusing to shake hands.
Majorities of African-Americans said the church should put more effort into emphasizing black saints; promoting black vocations and black bishops; supporting issues such as affirmative action and problems in Africa and promoting racial integration.
But there was also hopeful news when it comes to young adults being involved, the survey found.
"African-American young adults, both Catholic and Protestant, are more religiously engaged and consider religion to be more important than whites of the same age," the authors wrote. "Older individuals are more religiously engaged than younger adults, and there is an age gap, but African-American young adults are also religiously engaged. Whatever disengagement exists among African-Americans, it cannot be attributed to a generation gap. White Catholic young adults, by contrast, have an extremely low level of religious commitment."
It also found that black Catholics were much more likely than their white counterparts to say religion is important in their lives. They also are more likely to say they would turn to their pastor or another church leader for help in times of crisis such as a death in the family, marriage or alcohol problems.
AUSTRALIA : INCLUSION OF PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES
ARCHDIOCESE OF MELBOURNE REPORT: BY Denis Fitzgerald
Advent is a time of yearning to see the presence of Jesus in our world. As Christians, love of neighbour is one of the ways in which we are called to give witness to this presence.
This has a parish dimension as well as a personal one. As Bishop Peter Elliott put it in a recent letter to Australian parishes: “We are challenged and called to be a loving, compassionate and inclusive community – to be truly ‘One Body in Christ’.”
Who is our neighbour? We know from the parable of the Good Samaritan, and from two thousand years of action and reflection on Christ’s teaching, that we are called to continually extend our reach, to include as our neighbour both those who are close to us and those with whom we may not immediately be comfortable; as the saints have done through the ages, and as so many strive to do today.
It is a challenge in our parishes and communities to ensure that all people are included in the life of the Church: those new to our area; people who are shy, or who do not communicate readily; people different from ourselves – older, younger, richer, poorer. Our time is limited, as is our energy. And there are people who we do want to catch up with. How can we get around to everyone?
This challenge cannot be met by any one of us, but it cannot be met without us. A parish or community endeavour is called for, involving many individuals in a concerted way. (See boxed text below).
Another dimension to our engagement can be as part of the broader political community.
Work continues towards the development in Australia of a National Disability Insurance Scheme. This broad proposal would establish a national scheme to tackle the individualised needs of Australians who have a permanent disability. The recommendations being worked on by governments at Commonwealth and state level would greatly increase the quality of care and of support for those who care for them.
Popular support is also necessary. A report earlier this year from the Productivity Commission considered that there would be positive long-run economic benefits from such a scheme, but that it would require that we double our current public spending on disability support.
Individuals, parishes and other groups can express their support for these developments through the website www.everyaustraliancounts.com.au
Denis Fitzgerald is Executive Director of Catholic Social Services Victoria.
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Each of us as individuals and members of parishes is called on to promote and recognise the gifts and lives of people with disability, as part of our broad response to the Gospel call: “Whatsoever you do to the least of my people, that you do unto me” (Matt 25:40).
Disability is a major factor in the lives of many Australians. There are 350,000 people in Australia who have a permanent disability, and rely on others for care, mobility or communication. About 550,000 people are primary carers of people with disabilities.
Since 1992, the United Nations has promoted 3 December as International Day of Persons with Disabilities. The observance of the day aims to promote an understanding of disability issues and mobilise support for the dignity, rights and wellbeing of persons with disabilities. It seeks to increase awareness of gains to be derived from the integration of persons with disabilities in every aspect of political, social, economic and cultural life.
The Church in Australia has regularly drawn this day to the attention of parishes, and has provided resource material to assist parish communities to engage more effectively with their members who have disabilities. It reminds us that many people with disability are participating fully in their parish communities. But it also reminds us that this is not always the case, and it seeks to increase awareness of gains to be made.
In 2011, the material provided by the Australian Catholic Bishops Conference includes a booklet, Reflection and Response: Welcoming People with Disability. The booklet speaks to us in various ways. By reminding us of te scriptural setting: “‘Just as each of us has various parts in one body, and the parts do not all have the same function: in the same way, all of us, though there are so many of us, make up one body in Christ, and as different parts we are all joined to one another’ (Rom 12; 4-6).”
By drawing out some of the implications of this: “Parish communities need every person to be part of the worshipping body. A parish is not complete or whole unless it includes, nurtures and rejoices in each of its members.” And by providing a set of prayer cards and support material to assist parishes in creating accessible communities.
A complementary series of checklists challenges us in the areas of:
- Hospitality and relationships
- Sensory access
- Resource access
- Buildings and physical access.
For information on support materials: www.css.org.au
Kairos Catholic Journal Volume 22, Issue 22
http://www.cam.org.au/social-justice/disability-inclusion-and-love-of-neighbour.html
TODAY'S SAINT: NOV. 30: ST. ANDREW THE APOSTLE
St. Andrew the Apostle | |||||||||||||
APOSTLE | |||||||||||||
Feast: November 30 | |||||||||||||
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TODAY'S GOSPEL AND MASS ONLINE: NOV. 30: Matthew 4: 18 - 22
| Matthew 4: 18 - 22 | |
| 18 | As he walked by the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon who is called Peter and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea; for they were fishermen. |
| 19 | And he said to them, "Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men." |
| 20 | Immediately they left their nets and followed him. |
| 21 | And going on from there he saw two other brothers, James the son of Zeb'edee and John his brother, in the boat with Zeb'edee their father, mending their nets, and he called them. |
| 22 | Immediately they left the boat and their father, and followed him. |