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| November 13, 2003 |
There is no contradiction between evangelization and ecumenical or interreligious dialogue, said Jesuit Cardinal Avery Dulles in Washington on October 25 at a symposium on "Evangelization, Ecumenism, Interreligious Relations."
Cardinal Dulles said the two are intimately related because, in the words of the Second Vatican Council, discord among Christians "openly contradicts the will of Christ, provides a stumbling block to the world, and inflicts damage on the most holy cause of proclaiming the good news to every creature."
"The ecumenical movement, if it succeeded fully in its task, would greatly contribute to the work of missionary evangelization," said Cardinal Dulles.
He added that "even partial successes serve to reduce mutual antipathy and increase solidarity among Christians. Every step along the path of ecumenism may be seen as a contribution to the evangelization of the non-Christian world." [Source: CNS. Do not repost electronically]
Br Mike Wilmot SJ has secured federal Housing and Urban Development financing through the city of Omaha to build three low-income houses this year.
The homes will be built by Gesu Housing Inc, a non-profit organization headed by Br Wilmot and his associate, Hunter Jones. The homes will be constructed of poured concrete, which Br Wilmot and local businessman Phillip McKeone have already used in building two houses in North Omaha.
The new homes will sell for about $90,000 each, which would cover Gesu's expenses and help fund additional homes. Qualified buyers would receive up to $30,000 of assistance and finance the $60,000 balance, which will bring monthly payments in line with rental properties.
One of the homes will be built just one block from the Mulumba House, a residence for Jesuits working in North Omaha.
Company magazine's story on Br Wilmot and his concrete housing project is at www.companymagazine.org/v191/concrete.htm [Source: Wisconsin Province]
Marquette University has joined the national Campus Kitchens Project, based in St. Louis, to use university resources in the fight against hunger. Marquette will provide kitchen and office space to Campus Kitchens and working with Sodexho (Marquette’s food service provider), will donate surplus food from residence halls and other dining facilities to Campus Kitchens.
Volunteers from the campus community use the food to create healthy meals that are delivered to individuals and agencies in need in the Milwaukee area.
See also: www.companymagazine.org./v193/maximsminims.htm [Source: Marquette University]
Fr Pius Perumana SJ, pro-prefect of the apostolic prefecture in Nepal, appealed for outside mediation to help end political strife in the country after Maoist rebels killed nine people, including six policemen, in an attack on a police post October 28.
"The situation is precipitating. It calls for a third party to mediate. We ask for an intervention by the United Nations. Only this will restore dialogue," Fr Perumana said.
The rebels are seeking to overthrow Nepal's monarchy with a republic. Some 8,000 people reportedly have died in the fighting over the last eight years.
"Recently there has been a crescendo of alternate attacks and counterattacks by rebels and government troops. Caught in the middle of the crossfire, as always, are innocent civilians," he said.
Fr Perumana said negotiations were suspended two months ago, and dialogue between the two sides has stalled. [Source: CNS. Do not repost electronically]
Cardinal Jean-Baptiste Pham Minh Man, archbishop of Ho Chi Minh City in Vietnam, visited Boston College from November 3-7.
Cardinal Man's interests in Boston College resources are important to his ministry in Vietnam, Fr Julio Guilietti SJ, director of Boston College's Center for Ignatian Spirituality, said. He hopes to establish a partnership with Boston College that will improve delivery of public health services, enhance the library systems of seminaries and schools in the archdiocese, and find methods to better integrate the traditional Vietnamese love for music into church liturgies.
Cardinal Man, elevated to the College of Cardinals on October 21, has been the archbishop of Ho Chi Minh City (formerly Saigon) since 1998. He was named the archbishop of the city's Catholic diocese after the post had been vacant for four years.
The Catholic Church in Vietnam is one of the principal providers of that country's social services, in spite of the fact that only about 8 percent of its citizens are Catholic, said Fr Guilietti, who hosted Cardinal Man. [Source: Boston College]
The Rome Consultation 2004 will be a world-wide meeting of the directors from Jesuit retreat houses. The consultation, an annual event run by the Secretariat of Ignatian Spirituality, will meet from March 21-27, 2004. Participants, limited to 80, are the directors and staff of Jesuit retreat houses and centers. The consultation's topic is "Christology and conversion in the practice of Spiritual Exercises in houses and centers."
Major input comes from Fr Don Gelpi SJ and from the heads of various types of houses and centers on five continents. The consultations have been entirely interactive, and this one will produce the early outlines of a statement "Characteristics of a Jesuit-sponsored Retreat House and Center."
Fr General Kolvenbach, responding in part to the provincial reports to the Congregation of Procurators, believes the swift and world-wide development of this ministry calls for broad-based, collaborative reflection. Participants will be both Jesuit and lay colleagues. The conference will be held at Residenza DeLaSalle in Rome. Cost for the seven days (private room with bath, meals, conference fee) is 500 euros. Contact: Fr Joseph Tetlow, cis@sjcuria.org
The Woodstock Theological Center began its twenty-ninth year with a talk given by John Haughey, SJ entitled "Reason and the Glory of God."
Gasper F LoBiondo, SJ, the director of the Center, indicated that "Reason and the Glory of God" says a great deal about Woodstock's way of proceeding. "In the tradition of Jesuit spirituality, John challenges our thinking and stirs our hearts with gratitude. In this way we enter into our own experiences of how the light of reason and the wisdom of faith go hand in hand. We can find consolation in realizing that our works of justice can flourish only when reason and faith are lovers."
Fr LoBiondo also writes that "At Woodstock they try to work together with one another -- in community -- in search of the presence of divine grace in our everyday lives and in our world. New spiritual energy breaks through in the shared conviction that if we seek the human good together, we can get beyond the distrust that our differences have caused. We can even find God in our differences." [Source: Woodstock Center, www.georgetown.edu/centers/woodstock]
For the whole of the 30 Jesuits Provinces in Europe in 2003 there were 86 new novices, 8 more than last year, who entered the Society of Jesus. The front runner remains Poland: both Polish provinces together comprise 19 percent of all new European novices, 9 in the Greater Poland Province and 7 in the South Poland Province. Italy follows with 11 new novices. For the six Spanish provinces together, 9 new novices entered the new common novitiate for Spain in Zaragoza. Very striking is the high number of new entries in the Independent Russian Region: 8 new novices joined the 5 current second-year novices at the novitiate in Novosibirsk. In addition, the Near East Province (Egypt, Lebanon, Syria, and Turkey) has 4 new novices.
Besides these 86 new novices, there are for the whole of Europe 61 novices who start their second year. Fifty-one novices took their first vows. [Source: Jesuits in Europe News Bulletin]
The National Conference of Catholic Bishops has recently published "Native American Catholics at the Millenium" on the web at www.usccb.org/education/NAC.html
Fr Ray Bucko, SJ did the photographs, and he and Jim Ault at Creighton University and Ray did the maps with demographic data using GIS. Frs Bucko and John Hatcher, SJ worked on every aspect of the document and wrote parts of the text.
This site displays the most recent icon of St Ignatius from Bill McNichol. puffin.creighton.edu/jesuit/andre/ignatius_stars.html
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