What's New

The congregational statistics for the second quarter have been published. Note since French Canada is a region under the general administration it is listed here as CGA-NP. Normally members of regions are included in individual province reports. Likewise since both India and the Philippines have novices and both are communities under Rome the novices fall under the General Curia. (CU). [cf. SCJ Statistics - Statistiques - Statistiche 2nd Quarter 1998]

What's Happening

Both the new Index Domorum '98 and Documenta XVII: capitulum generale XX have been printed and mailed to the provinces. Of special note the new Index Domorum also contains the email addresses of houses now on line.

A short life of Leo Dehon, Founder of the Priests of the Sacred Heart of St. Quentin by Yves Ledure was recently published in English by the British-Irish Province. According to the introduction to the English edition, Leo John Dehon has just been declared Venerable by the Church. His spirit lives on in the works of his priests and brothers. He also has many followers among the laity. Two of these, Marian Thompson and Evelyne Bartlett, were so inspired that they undertook the translation of this book under the guidance of Desiderius Geraerts (NE).

Congratulations to the following Portuguese SCJs who made their first profession of vows on September 21, 1998:

• Joaquim António Ferreira Maglhãres
• César Augusto Pinto Ribeiro
• Pedro Miguel Andrade da Silva
• Helder António de Mendonça e Silva
• Daniel Telo Santos de Menezes
• Sérgio Filipe Ribeiro Pinto
• Ricardo Jorge Ribeiro freine de Oliveira

Likewise congratulations to José Luis Domínquez Gonzáles of the Spanish Province who makes his final profession on September 27, 1998.

The US Province held its 75th anniversary celebration in South Dakota on Tuesday, September 16th in Lower Brule. Highlights included a Mass of Thanksgiving, dinner and an evening show, including Lakota traditional and modern Indian dancing. In addition to scjs from the US Province and August Hülsmann, provincial of the German Province, the ESL (English as a Second Language) group from Hales Corners traveled the 650+ miles ( 1,046km) to attend the celebration. Part of the two day celebration included tours of the Lower Brule and Crow Creek Indian Reservations staffed by a pastoral team headed by Yvon Sheehy (US), superior of the SD SCJ Community.

After the festivities the ESL group had the opportunity to visit scj sites in Chamberlain (St. Joseph Indian School and Akta [to honor] Lakota Museum) as well as those on the Cheyenne River Indian Reservation. Their trip concluded with a visit to the Badlands and Black Hills, including Mount Rushmore and the Chief Crazy Horse Monument.

Part of the group attending US SCJ 75th Anniversary Celebration. St. Joseph's Catholic Church, Fort Thompson on the Crow Creek Indian Reservation. [Note: The new church was dedicated in May of this year}.

News from Madagascar

Novitiate Opens

On September 29th the new Novitiate at Antsirabe, Madagascar, will open with four novices and six postulants. The novitiate's superior is Fr. Alfredo Caires with Fr. Giuseppe Cuomo serving as novice master. Construction of the new novitiate began in 1994.

The house is located on the high plains of Madagascar, which is also the most Christian region in the country. Christians account for 52% of the total population, with Catholics making up about half of the Christian population.

The House of Formation in the diocese of Fianarantsoa

The house of formation, Foyer de Notre-Dame de Fatima, opened on September 14th with 25 candidates. This marks the third year the house has been in operation. The bishop of Fianarantsoa has entrusted to the scj community a pastoral zone encompassing eight communities with about 6000 Catholics.

New Missionaries for Madagascar

On September 22nd four new missionaries left Portugal to begin their work in Madagascar. With the addition of these four there are now nine priests, one brother and four scholastics from the Portuguese SCJ Province working in Madagascar.

SCJ Assembly in Madagascar

September 9th marked the close of the SCJ Malgash Assembly held at Antananarivo. This year's theme was The Church &endash; Family and Eucharist.

Pedro Fernandes Coutinho (LU) Photo taken in Curia Garden on 21.09.98

Editor's Note: Fr. Pedro Fernandes Coutinho, who is stationed at Fianarantsoa, provided the above information. He left from Rome on September 21st to return to Madagascar after a visit to Portugal. He informs us that the scj's in Madagascar hope to be on line soon and will work to develop a Malgash SCJ Web site.

SCJ Texas-Mexican Border Immersion Experience

A group of five SCJs will participate in an immersion experience on the Texas-Mexican border, Monday - Wednesday, September 21-23. They include two scholastics - Joseph Dinh and David Szatkowski - as well as John Klingler, who just finished six years of pastoral work among the Native Americans in South Dakota, and Frank Wittouck, pastor of a very large parish in Texas. Bob Bossie, director of JPIC, will also participate.

The experience will be conducted by the Rio Grande Border Witness Program which offers the following description of its program: "delegations visit refuge shelters, detentions centers, poor colonias on both sides of the border, and Maquiladora factories in Mexico. They learn about such issues as free trade, political asylum for refugees, and the health and environmental hazards along the Rio Grande. They hear the stories of churches and community groups who work with border residents to overcome poverty and oppression."

The goal is to see some of the effects of the global economy in a different context, and to reflect upon what it says to us in our own life and ministry.

The SCJ community in the South Texas (the Valley) will provide housing for the delegation.

Information provided by Bob Bossie (US)