25 November 2000

What's New

This week we are adding to our International Meeting of Dehonian Educators page, in preparation for next year's dehonian educators conference to be held in Salamanca an unpublished speech by Fr. Dehon called "Aux Jeunes Gens" it is available in French, Italian and Portuguese.

In this week's Meet an SCJ we present Renato José Rohr (BM) who was born in July, 1947, in Boa Vista do Buricá and is currently participating in the scj ongoing formation program here in Rome. The participants were on retreat last week and will bring their program to a close this week. The next ongoing formation program will be done for the French Language Group in the fall of 2001.

What's Happening

General Council

The general council will spend the last week of November at the Foligno SCJ house, a part of the South Italian Province. In addition to taking up normal business the council will take some time for evaluation. After the council returns to Rome, Fr. General will travel to Holland with Ryszard Mis (CU) for their pastoral visit.

NB Due to the meeting and the possible difficulties with phone connections the news page for December 2^nd may appear one or two days late.

SCJ Life Expectancy

In 1978 Fr. Raijmakers published a table of scj life expectancy (cf. Necrologium SCJ 1878-1978, p. 234). Odilo Leviski (BM), assistant secretary general, has carried this research forward through 1999 (cf. SCJ Life Expectancy). It will also be posted to the letters and documents page.

Impressions of Byelorussia

Czeslaw Konior (PO), superior of Rome II had the opportunity to visit Byelorussia on the occasion of the dedication of the first retreat house in the region. Fr. Konior as provincial of the Polish Province was instrumental in establishing our scj presence there and in other parts of Eastern Europe. He kindly consented to offer some observations on this visit which took place at the end of October (cf. Impression of Byelorussia).

Dehon Photo

Stefan Tertünte (GE) was kind enough to do another Dehon Photo essay after he discovered a photo of Leo Harmel who played an important part in Fr. Dehon's social thought development (cf. Leo Harmel and a Plan for Change in the Congregation).

Much has already been written about the relationship between the two Leos, Harmel and Dehon. This would furnish enough material for a book on its own. Each in his own way admittedly, Harmel and Dehon were kindred spirits. Both of them imbibed from their mothers a devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus. Both of them throughout the story of their lives developed a similar spirit of self-sacrifice and acceptance of suffering, and a submission to what they saw after due thought and prayer to be the will of God. Both belonged to the Third Order of St. Francis and both shared similar ultramontane ideas coupled with profound obedience to the Pope. It is hardly to be wondered at, then, that after they first met in 1873 at a congress of the amalgamated workers groups a lifelong friendship developed.

Please Remember

+Fr. José Alves Vieira (LU)

born: 05.12.1934
first profession: 29.09.1956
ordained: 18.06.1961
died: 17.11.2000 at Funchal

Born in Ponta do Sol, Portugal he made his novitiate and theological studies in Italy. He returned to Portugal in 1962 and for a time was assigned to the scj missions in Mozambique. His first work was in the Seminary in Milevane. In 1971 he was transferred to Guruè.

For one year he went to Brussels to attend a course at "Institute Lumen Vitae".

He then moved to Mauela where he stayed until 1975, when he went to Ile and Namorrai. The civil war caused much chaos and many missionary stations had to be abandoned. So for one year he worked at the formation house in Maputo, in 1987. In 1993 he was appointed superior of the formation house in Fomento, Maputo. In 1998 he was asked to follow the theology students from Mozambique who were studying in Cameroon. .

But, his stay in Cameroon was short too due to illness. He had to return to Portugal seaching for a cure. Very little could be done.

In Funchal, he still served as spiritual director until, during the last few days, his situation worsened and he finally died on November, 17^th. He spent all his active life in Mozambique so many of his confreres in Portugal don't know him.

NB The English text is a summary of a much more extensive obituary available in Portuguese.

Letters from the First Novices

In the twenty-third in our series from CORRESPONDENCE OF THE FIRST NOVICES BEFORE THE "CONSUMMATUM EST 1878-1883" by Egidio Driedonkx, we present the eight letter sent by Fr. Paris to the novice Falleur .

"Most Sacred Heart of Jesus, you are our Love.

I ask pardon for interrupting your retreat. I received what you sent me yesterday. It came through one of the seminarians. But I am not satisfied. You did not send the Manual of the triple corona of gold. He paid me one and a half francs for this..."