Roundtable Roundup: April 2011
Tuesday, March 29th, 2011Local news from Roundtable members around the country:
TRANSITIONS IN GREEN BAY:
You all know, to varying degrees, that I have been doing a lot of serious thinking the last nine months or so about ministry. After nearly eight months of dialogue with the Norbertine Director of Personnel (Fr. James Herring) and my diocesan supervisor, I submitted my letter of resignation as Social Concerns Director, Diocese of Green Bay, effective Feb. 28, 2011.
To my co-workers, it has been a great pleasure serving with many of you over the years in state immigration advocacy, community organizing in NEWI, the mission of national Catholic offices, and the work of our local Church. As long as I am living in De Pere as a Norbertine, I know that I will be active in Catholic social action ministry in our state. I just won’t be doing it as a represenative of the Diocese of Green Bay.
- Brother Steve Herro, Diocese of Green Bay
TRANSITIONS IN SALT LAKE CITY
It is with conflicting emotions of joy and sadness that I introduce Jean Hill to the Roundtable “family”. Jean has been hired to take my place as I retire after over 26 years as Government Liaison and Director of the Peace and Justice Commission for the Diocese of Salt Lake City. Jean has been an attorney for the State Office of Education for the last 10 years and a member of our P & J Commission. I have been trying to recruit her for years and I know you will all enjoy meeting her at this year’s SASI.
The sad part is the realization that I will no longer have the benefit of working with all of you. My experience on the RT Board and those three and a half years as Chair were some of the most rewarding in my years of working for the church. I have been promising Jean that she will find the RT affiliation as the most satisfying aspect of this job.
Our brutal legislative session has now ended and I should have my files pruned in order to retire early in April. My home e-mail is rowland.dee@gmail.com.
- Dee Rowland, Government Liaison, Catholic Diocese of Salt Lake City, 801.456.9336
DIOCESE OF ORANGE – PARISH SOCIAL MINISTRY GATHERING April 29-30, 2011
Join our diocese and others at St. Bonaventure Church in Huntington Beach on Friday evening and Saturday, April 29-30, 2011 to be inspired about the connection between our faith and actions of charity and justice. Everyone (including parishioners; parish ministry leaders, parish pastoral councils members; and parish administration staff) is invited to this gathering titled Transforming Hearts, Living the Gospel. There are three separate keynote addresses and tracts of workshops in English, Spanish and Vietnamese. Early registration is $50 which includes reception, continental breakfast, lunch and program; $60 after April 15th. Registration is open now. For more information or to register, go to www.catholiccharitiesusa.org/netcommunity/psmtraining or call Ana Olivo at the Diocese of Orange at 714-282-3105 aolivo@rcbo.org. Promotional materials available in all three languages.
CATHOLIC CHARITIES OF LOUISVILLE
Catholic Charities of Louisville in its Parish Social Ministry work is updating last year’s 1-page Parish Survey Checklist of care of creation efforts in each of our 190 Archdiocesan entities (parishes, schools, agency buildings, healthcare facilities, motherhouses). The Record, our Archdiocesan newspaper, is very cooperative in reporting results. Dynamic: gadfly! We support efforts of the Catholic Coalition on Climate Change.
See The Record’s April 2010 Article on last year’s effort.
- Sister Mary Schmuck, RSM, Catholic Charities of Louisville Catholic Identity and External Relations schmuckrsm@scnazarethky.org
DIOCESE OF ST. CLOUD
New! As I Have Done for You…So You Also Should Do is the new pastoral letter from Bishop John Kinney, promulgated in 2011. Opening with Mathew 25, it is a reflective work on the basics of Catholic social teaching, written in a way that calls the reader to reflect on CST as it is seen in action in the diocese and how it can be lived out in a parish setting and in a personal way.
This rewrite of a previous pastoral letter titled, As I Have Done for You…, comes with theological updates and adds discussion/reflection questions for the reader to ponder and for groups to discuss.
Since the main goal for this work was to get it into regular parishioners hands and to get people talking about Catholic social teaching, we also created companion guides that lead adult faith sharing groups, youth and college students through the letter in age appropriate ways.
We also are trying to see if there is interest outside the diocese and, if so, a new adult faith sharing group companion guide can be written that would better engage people outside the diocese.
Anyone interested in finding out more about it or using it, along with the companion guides, can call or email Kathy Langer, Director of Social Concerns, at 320-229-6020 or KLanger@gw.stcdio.org.
See the webpage for the pastoral letter.
LECTURE SERIES IN CAMDEN
I’d like to thank all who participated in, attended, facilitated, planned, or prayed for a Grace-filled, Spirit-led, Hope-filled 11th Annual Romero Lecture Series, on Friday, March 25, at Rutgers Camden, centered on “Images of Justice.” Participants (@ 340) said that they were truly stirred, renewed, and awakened to:
v discover the hunger and hope for justice through art, crafts, film, and poetry
v understand the depths of Latino Spirituality in the most challenging of times, particularly through the witness of Oscar Romero and the perseverance of the peasants of El Salvador, and those ministering and living in solidarity with them.
v see and hear the Gospel through the eyes and lives of people who are oppressed, poor, and struggling for God-given and God-promised justice
v celebrate the life, death, and rising of Oscar Romero through the poetry of his friend and our Keynote Speaker, Carolyn Forche
We will reconvene at the Romero Center on Friday, May 6, at 7:00 PM, to continue to reflect on how the Lecture Series touched and challenged us all. Our own Brother Mickey McGrath will offer the opening presentation on May 6. Carolyn Forche has promised to return in the Autumn to follow up on the message of her Keynote Address. Of course, you did not have to attend the Romero Lecture Series to attend the follow up gatherings.
- Larry DiPaul, ldipaul@camdendiocese.org