What's New

Added to the list of house e-mail addresses this week are two communities in Venezuela You may find them listed on our new SCJ House E-mail Addresses page.

Valencia Community (Parish & Vocational Center): scjvalencia@cantv.net

Mariara Community: scjmariara@cantv.net

This week's Meet an SCJ features Antonio Cuomo, a young priest of the South Italian Province currently living in the Rome V community while continuing his studies.

The office of the general secretary has published the statistical data for the year ending December 31, 1999. It can be found on the Letters and Documents page, or you may link here: SCJ Statistics 1999.

What's Happening

Finance Commission

The General Finance Commission held their annual winter meeting in Rome from February 21 - 23, 2000. In addition to their normal business the members used the time to prepare for the General Conference (The Economy and the Kingdom of God) to be held in Recife from May 16 -26, 2000.

The members of the General Finance Commission are:

Emilio Ciarrocchi CU
Heinz Westendorf GE
Jerome Schaad US
Nico Turmes EF
Javier F. Pascal Larrea HI

Claudio Siebenaler CU (translations)
Carlos Suarez HI (recording secretary)

As has been their custom provincial treasurers from nearby provinces are invited to attend. Angelo Pedrazzi (IS) and Antonio Pizzonia (IM) were in attendance

Comings and Goings

H. Wardjito (CU) returned from his recent visit to Latin America, participating in several meetings of the Dehonian Family in preparation for the October 10 - 13, 2000 Meeting of the Dehonian Family in Rome.

Ryszard Mis (CU) has been in Poland attending the annual provincial conference. He will return to Rome after attending the funeral for Bishop Paul Verschuren, scj, which will take place on Monday, February 29, 2000, at the cathedral of St. Henry in Helsinki.

Fr. General and Umberto Chiarello (CU) return to Rome on February 27, 2000 after completing their visitation to Portugal. Fr. General and Wardjito depart for visits to India and The Philippines on March 1, 2000. They will return to Rome around April 1^st for the start of the spring general council meeting schedule.

Tom Cassidy (CU), departing Rome on February 27^th will visit Canada and the US during the month of March.

One Heart

We, who participated in the Latin American gathering for Inculturation of the Dehonian charism, represented the provinces and regions of Latin America, with the participation of French Canada, the United States, Mozambique, and the General Curia. This seminar took place in Lujan (Argentina) from February 3-12, 2000. The conference occurred during the jubilee year and under the patronage of the Virgin of the peoples from the Region of RIO PLATA. The meeting chose as its motto "WITH ONE HEART". We wish to send to all of our confreres and all the members of the Dehonian Family the following message which attempts to capture the experience of the past nine days and emphasize, in the following principles, the energy source that could direct and strengthen our Dehonian life and our accompaniment with the women and men in today's societies confronting the challenges that the real world presents to us.

Link here to read the entire text of the message With One Heart.

Latin American Peace and Justice Meeting

The participants to the Fifth Latin American Peace and Justice Meeting held in Buenos Aires, Argentina from January 29 to February 2, 2000, have forwarded a copy of their minutes (in Spanish). This meeting focused its attention on the upcoming general conference (CF. Minutes).

Please Remember

The funeral for + Bishop Paul Verschuren, scj, who died on Saturday, February 19, 2000 at his home in Helskini will be held on Tuesday, February 29, 2000. Fr. Ryszard Mis, (CU) will represent the general administration. Fr. General, who is completing his visitation to Portugal this week, sent the following messages to Finland:

Messages to Fr. Jan Aarts, apostolic administrator of Helsinki

Messages of Fr. General to Finish SCJs

Dehon Photo of the Week

From 23 to 25 October 1876 was held in St. Quentin in the rooms of the Patronages St. Joseph the second Diocesan Congress of Catholic Associations. The meeting - one year after the first one in Notre Dame de Liesse - had been substantially prepared by Léon Dehon. Also during the congress in the discussions or by his lecture on the activities of the Diocesan Office of Catholic Associations - Dehon was one of the principal figures of the meeting.

This week Stefano Tertünte writes on Fr. Dehon's being honored by his new bishop with the title of Honorary Canon. He also speculates on why this honor was given to the young priest at St. Quentin (Cf. Canon Dehon).

From the names they gave to their towns, it is easy to see the ideals that inspired the good people who founded this country. All over Quebec you will only find the names of saints, of royalty and of some of their leaders and explorers. There is: Ste-Anne, l'Epiphanie, l'Assomption, St-Pierre, St-Jean, St-Laurent, St-Martin, St-Maurice, Ste-Hélène, St-Augustin, Ste-Rosalie, St-François, St-Félix de Valois, St-Sulpice, St-Vincent-de-Paul. There is Charlemagne, Louisville, Henryville, Champlain, Lévis, Jacques Cartier, Joliette. These names are all typical.

So begins the second part of Fr. Dehon's reflections on civil and religious life in this vast country before journeying down the Pacific coast toward Los Angeles. It is interesting to look back some 90 years on these personal reflections (cf. Reflections).