What's New

This week in preparation for the General Conference we have a text in French, a second part of a speech of Prof. Albert Hari, "L'argent - Maître du Monde?", a text in Italian by Ricardo Moro - ACLI: "Quatro ragioni per rimettre il Debito", and from the National Conference of Brazilian Bishops "The Challenges Facing Brazil Today" (in English).

We present the sixth in our series of Dehon cartoons by Javier Prate, a collaborator on several SCJ publications in Spain. The images are displayed in the church of Saint Martin, Saint Quentin (GA). They are aimed at young people, but can be appreciated by all generations. They depict different scenes in Fr. Dehon's life and his spirituality. this week's image is entitled: "Participation à la vie publique".

Thanks to Francisco Marîn we now have a copy Fr. General's letter to the congregation for March 14, 1999, in Spanish. Below is a translation of the email message we received from Francisco accompanying the translation.

My name is Francis Marín (I'm writing using my brother's email address). I was born on March 14, 1971. Some time ago I learned about Fr. Dehon and was pleased to discover we share the same birth date. Out of curiosity I visited your web site and saw that there was no Spanish version of letter marking [Fr. Dehon's] birthday. I took the time to translate it for you and am sending it in Word 97). (received on May 15, 1999)

The letter can be linked here and will also be added to the Letters and Documents page (CF CASA GENERALIZIA SCJ -14 Marzo 1999 ).

What's Happening

The General Superior with the consent of his council has appointed the following provincial administration for Flanders (FL) effective September 1, 1999:

Provincial:

P. Michiel Marcel GRONDELAERS (second term)

Council:

1. p. Marcel Loyens
2. p. Ludo Loyens
3. f. Harry Theo Schurgers
4. p. Albert Vander Elst

New Finnish priest for the diocese of Helsinki, Finland

On May 22, 1999, in the church of the Saint Henry, Tuomo T. Vimpari was ordained to the priesthood by Bishop Paul Verschuren (retired). This is just the fifth Finn in the modern history of Finland to become a Catholic priest. It also marked the first time in history of the Finnish Catholic Church that a priest was ordained in the Cathedral of Saint Henry.

(...)
 

 

The first Finnish Catholic priest in modern Finland was Wilfrid von Christierson. He was born in Vaasa on May 16, 1878. He entered the Catholic Church on August 1, 1896, and was ordained in Paris on July 3, 1903. Kustaa Adolf Carling was the second. He was born in Helsinki on November 22, 1882. He entered the Catholic Church on September 14, 1904, and was ordained on September 6, 1911, in Saint Petersburg. Third was Martti Voutilainen, a member of the Dominican Order. He was born in Tohmajärvi on December 3, 1926. He entered the Catholic Church in December of 1953, and was ordained in Helsinki in the church of Blessed Mary of Assumption on September 3, 1961. That was the first ordination in Finland first ordination in 400 years. The next priest was our scj confrere Teemu Sippo. He was born in Lahti on May 5, 1947. He entered the Catholic Church on May 27, 1966 and was ordained in Helsinki in the church of Blessed Mary of Assumption on May 28,1977.

Provided by Zdzislaw Huber (FIN)

Latin American Lay Dehonians Meet.

The Assembly of Latin American Lay Dehonians met in Recife, Brazil from May 21-23, 1999. Thirteen participants representing the various provinces and regions in Latin America, along with Fr. Wardjito (CU), responsible for the Dehonian Family at the general level, and Fr. Renato Maia, provincial superior of the North Brazilian province (BM).

The delegates reflected on the role of lay dehonians as we approach the dawn of a new millennium, as well as reflection on the description of the typical lay dehonian in Latin American. In addition Fr. Wardjito presented a reflection on the core elements of our dehonian spirituality as well as reporting on plans for the International Meeting of the Dehonian Family planned for October 2000 in Rome. Finally the delegates elected a new coordinator and fixed the date for the next assembly to be held in Santiago Chile in April, 2002.

On the morning of May 22nd several scjs working with the lay dehonians reflected on a paper dealing with the role of scjs who accompany lay dehonians. Since the day was also a Marian Feast, the group made a pilgrimage to the Sanctuary of Mount Conceáõ, a shrine dedicated to Our Lady. The assembly ended with the celebration of the Feast of Pentecost.

Provided by Luiz Carlos (BM)

    Meeting of Lay Dehonians May 21-23, 1999, Recife, Brazil

 Congratulations

To the following scjs who will be celebrating profession and ordination anniversaries during the month of June

Religious profession

25 years: 21/06/74 P Leão Maurício Messias de Souza BM

Ordination

65 years: 29/06/34 P Bernhard Lödding GE

50 years: 26/06/49 P Onorino Raffaele Venturini MZ and P Giovanni Bonalumi MZ
P Mario Saverio Sangiorgio IS and P Mario Luigi Barziza IS

25 years: 01/06/74 P John Young US; 15/06/74 P Jerzy Choczaj PO; and 29/06/74 P Gérard Gregoire Lachivert F. GA

Please Remember

We received the following information on +Fr. Isidoor de Voss (FL) who death was reported in last weeks news update (May 29, 1999). We would also like to apologize for mistakenly using Fr. Voss' photo the week of May 22, 1999, identifying it as that of +Fr. Maurice Mathieu (GA). The error has seen been corrected.

Born in in Gooik on September 27, 1920, he took his first vows on September 24, 1941. Fr. de Voss announced the Good News by dedicating himself to the students, alumni and their families, by his preaching, visiting the sick, sharing life with others, especially the poor. As a true priest of the Sacred Heart he loved others as himself. His great love of soccer taught him to always strive for victory, even when the odds seemed impossible. His death on Pentecost Eve, surely is not a defeat, but a victory of unending charity (1 Cor. 13:8)

Dehon Photo of the Week

Léon Dehon spends the years 1855 to 1859 primarily in Hazebrouck, i.e. in French Flanders. Although he admits not to know this country in depths, it is nevertheless important with regard to Dehon's development to take a look at the atmosphere that Léon‚ inhaled' through classmates and teachers, as well as through holidays and trips through French Flanders. Please link to Photos from the Life of Fr. Dehon #7