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 My Brothers,
We have completed the thirty sixth annual convention. It was held in Atlanta. This year, the weather was wonderful, and I am sure that some had “golf-lust” which overcame them.
Father Timothy Radcliffe, former Dominican Master General was the key speaker. I encourage you to read what he had to say. His talks are posted on the web site.
Several of the boxes which were to be shipped from Atlanta have not arrived in time for us to get the recordings onto the web-site this week. Look for talks on Mission given by Fr. Tony Gittins and Fr. Steve Bevan next week.
We had the privilege of honoring Father Gene Konkel, a member of the Society of Saint Sulpice. Gene served the priests of the international community through his work at the Vatican II Insitute for the Continuing Education of Priests in Menlo Park. He did this very effectively for twenty six years. Wherever I have been in the United States priests will tell me that they had attended Vatican II Institute and had come to admire Gene Konkel. The proof of Gene’s ability to understand the life of a priest is in the talk he gave in the acceptance of the Touchstone Award. That talk will be up on the website next week as well. I encourage you to read it. You may even wish to download it and read it often.
One of the things we did this year which we have not done in the past is to honor four presbyteral councils which seem to be working effectively and well and which can be used as models by other councils. Each council had its own strength and we are pleased we’ve been able to recognize them. They are the presbyteral councils of Rochester, NY; Detroit, Michigan; St. Paul-Minneapolis; and Chicago, Illinois.
The work of the Federation continues to unfold. Certainly, the listening sessions at the convention provided areas of concern for which we must take some responsibility. Now, back in the office, I am confronted with a still present reality: I continue to try to imagine ways of being sensitive, caring and reconciling with people who have been hurt by priests. But I also continue to be concerned about priests who are not pedophiles who are being asked to leave the priesthood (petition for laicization) because of "an offense against the sixth commandment" which became public. In some instances there is no crime. But, they are being asked to leave just the same. I worry about men who rightly are being asked to petition for laicization. Where will they go, what kind of work will they do? How can we ever forgive them? Is there any life after child sexual abuse – for victim and perpetrator? I don’t have many answers. But, I worry a great deal about it all. It’s a good worry – spurs to action, I hope.
The Holy Father’s message on Holy Thursday continues his call to priests to live lives of personal holiness, to center in Eucharist, to rediscover the place of Mary, to witness to lives of faith. I immediately return to his words in Novo Millennio Ineunte: “This is the other area in which there has to be commitment and planning on the part of the universal church and the particular churches: the domain of communion (koinonia), which embodies and reveals the very essence of the mystery of the Church. Communion is the fruit and demonstration of that love which springs from the heart of the Eternal Father and is poured out upon us through the spirit which Jesus gives us (cf. Rom 5:5), to make us all “one heart and one soul” (Acts 4:32). It is in building this communion of love that the church appears as “sacrament,” as the “sign and instrument of intimate union with God and of the unity of the human race.”
I am conscious more than ever of how important our communion of priests is. By living our communion, we are to the Church what the Church is to the world: “sacrament”, “sign and instrument of intimate union with God and of the unity of the human race.”
NFPC ALERTS:
To NFPC 2004 Convention Delegates and Participants:
Please fax or send your convention Evaluation Form to the NFPC national office, 1337 W. Ohio St., 3rd Fl., Chicago, IL 60622-6490. Fax: (312) 829-8915, if you were unable to give it to us in Atlanta. Your comments are important to us in planning future meetings. Thank you
The NFPC has been asked to forward the following message by the National Association for Lay Ministry:
Your Help is Needed with a Major Parish Survey
In February the National Pastoral Life Center mailed out a parish survey to selected pastors. The survey is an important first step in an ongoing study that was begun by Monsignor Philip Murnion and David DeLambo in 1992. Since the survey is a random sample, there is a one in six chance that a pastor received a copy of this bright yellow survey booklet. While the deadline is passed additional returns would add to the authenticity of the study. If you received the survey it’s not too late to be a part of this important project. Return the completed survey ASAP. Thank you.
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PRIESTS IN THE NEWS:
The New York Times (April 29, 2004) reported that Dominican Father Thomas Doyle, a long-time advocate for victims of clergy sexual abuse, was removed from his assignment as an Air Force chaplain at Ramstein Air Force Base in Germany. The action by Archdiocese of Military Services Archbishop Edwin F. O’Brien took place in September according to the Times report. The report characterizes Father Doyle’s reassignment to a North Carolina Air Force base as a demotion. However, Father Doyle declined to describe the action as punitive. “I don’t think it would be fair to me to say yes it is, or no it isn’t,” he said. “He said he didn’t want to ‘pick a fight’ with his archbishop and was neither angry or bitter,” the report states. However, the report continues that he acknowledged that his role as victim’s advocate, “has not been received well by many bishops.” The Times article states the Father Doyle’s “dismissal stemmed from a memorandum he wrote for two superiors at Ramstein interpreting the archbishop’s expectation for how Catholic base personnel should be ministered to. On several points he appears to contradict the written guidelines of Archbishop O’Brien. For example, the report notes, “the archbishop had said that base chaplains were expected to celebrate Mass daily and that Catholics at installations with assigned priests have a right to Mass regularly.” Daily Mass is a “strong custom, but not an ‘essential element to the practice’ of the faith,” according to what Father Doyle reportedly wrote. The report describes Father Doyle’s current assignment at Johnson Air Force Base as providing drug and alcohol counseling services, but [he] does not serve as a chaplain.
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NEWS BITES:
The long-awaited Vatican instruction describing norms for celebrating Mass has finally been released, according to a Catholic News Service report (April 23, 2004). The document titled Redemptionis Sacramentum (The Sacrament of Redemption) was written by the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments. The report states the document “seeks to promote reverent celebration of the Mass and devotion to the Eucharist in accord with the church’s liturgical norms. Its concerns range from avoiding such crimes as blasphemous desecration of the Eucharist to assuring that the liturgical roles of priests and laity are kept clearly distinct and that priests wear proper vestments when celebrating Mass.” The 65-page instruction singles out 28 “grave matters” which put “at risk the validity and dignity of the most holy Eucharist.” The document distinguishes three types of “Remedies” among which are “Graviora delicta,”––especially grave crimes against the Eucharist that are treated as crimes in church law with serious ecclesiastical penalties attached, abuses that are “objectively grave matters,” and other abuses that “are not to be considered of little account, but are to be carefully avoided and corrected.” The report notes that “In almost every place that the instruction lists an abuse that the church regards as particularly grave to the point that it harms the Eucharist’s dignity or validity, it uses terms such as “illicit,” “grave abuse,” “altogether forbidden,” “not to be tolerated,” “not permissible” or “reprobated.” Cardinal Francis Azinze, prefect of the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments said that the instruction took more than a year to write and went through 12 drafts, with some of them marking major changes. The CNS report can be accessed at their Web site: www.catholicnews.com. The instruction can be accessed on the Vatican Web site: www.vatican.va/roman_curia/congregations. Click “Redemptionis Sacramentum.”
The Catholic News Service (April 29, 2004) reported that the number of US Catholic seminarians in post-college studies dropped 4 percent this past year. However, the report noted there were bigger enrollment declines in deacon candidate and lay ministry formation programs. The Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate (CARA) conducted the survey, according to the report. Lay ministry programs suffered a decline of 27 percent, from 35,448 in the 2002-03 school year to an estimated 25,964 currently. Deacon formation programs had a 17 percent decline from 2,514 in 2002-03 to 2,092 candidates in programs in 2003-04. Those figures are somewhat misleading, the report notes, because many dioceses were apparently in transition to adding an aspirant period before candidacy. CARA reported 886 aspirants in 2002-03 but 1,233 in 2003-04. The figures were published in late April in the spring issue of The CARA Report. For more detailed findings access the CARA Web site: http://cara.georgetown.edu for the Catholic Ministry Formation Enrollments: Statistical Overview for 2003-2004.
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UPCOMING EVENTS:
 The US Conference of Catholic Bishops and the Catholic Health Association of  the US have joined 18 other partner groups to sponsor Cover the Uninsured Week scheduled from May 10-16. The purpose of this event is to focus attention on the nearly 44 million individuals who lack health insurance in the US. Through activities in communities nationwide, doctors, nurses, business owners, religious leaders, educators, union members, and others are coming together to affirm that silence cannot be maintained when tens of millions of Americans cannot afford health care coverage. The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation has developed a variety of materials to facilitate involvement in Cover the Uninsured Week activities. For more information access: www.covertheuninsuredweek.org, www.usccb.org, or www.chausa.org.
 The Center for Parish Development is sponsoring its Convocation 2004 from July 29-31 at the Cenacle Retreat Center in Chicago, IL. The theme for the assembly is Becoming a People of Salt and Light. Key resource people for the convocation include Mark Lau Branson, Inagrace Dietterich, and Jack Belsom. The convocation is for church leaders who seek resources and support for living missionally. For more information contact the Center for Parish Development, 1525 E. 55th St., Suite 201, Chicago, IL 60615. Tel: toll free (866) 752-1596, (773) 752-1596. Fax: (773) 752-5093. E-mail cpd@missionalchurch.org. Web site: www.missionalchurch.org.
 The National Catholic AIDS Network (NCAN) has announced details of its 17th annual National Catholic AIDS Ministry Conference. The conference will take place from July 16-19, 2004 at Loyola University Chicago’s Lakeshore Campus. The theme of this year’s assembly is Living Waters. Featured presenters include Dominican Father Timothy Radcliffe, Emily Gantz-McKay, Jesuit Father Jon Fuller, Sister Pat Talone, RSM, Dr. Robert Fullilove, Father Robert Vitillo, and UN Special Envoy for AIDS in Africa, Stephen Lewis. For more information contact, NCAN, 1400 W. Devon Ave., Chicago, IL 60660. Tel: (773) 508-7080. Fax: (773) 508-7083. E-mail: info@ncan.org. Web site: www.ncan.org.
 The Roundtable - an Association of Diocesan Social Action Directors is hosting the 2004 Social Action Summer Institute from July 25-30 at Loyola University Chicago. Cooperating institutions include the USCCB’s Department of Social Development and World Peace, Catholic Charities USA, the Catholic Campaign for Human Development, and Catholic Relief Services. Hosts and co-sponsors include the Archdiocese of Chicago and Loyola University Chicago’s Center for Urban Research and Learning. Keynote speakers include Cardinal Francis George, OMI, Archbishop of Chicago, and author and researcher Father Andrew Greeley. Workshops will be offered on the topics of “Understanding Global Trade Agreements,” “Adult Formation: Tools You Can Use,” Developing Multicultural Constituencies,” “Engaging Pastors,” and more. More information is available at: http://www.nplc.org/roundtable/events/summerinstitute04.htm. Or, contact Jeffry Odell Korgen, Secretary, the Roundtable, National Pastoral Life Center, 18 Bleecker St., New York, NY 10012. Tel: (212) 431-7825. Fax: (212) 274-9786. E-mail: jkorgen@nplc.org.
The Paulist Fathers are sponsoring a series of programs for priests this summer at St. Mary’s on the Lake Center in Lake George, NY. Offerings include: Priesthood for the 21st Century with Father James Keenan, SJ, June 21-25. For the Sake of the Church: Re-thinking the Laity/Clergy Relationship with Paul Lakeland, Ph.D., July 12-16. Let’s Watch a Movie: Spirituality Through a Lens with Mary Moriarity, June 14-18. Models of Discipleship for Priestly Spirituality with Father Lawrence Boadt, CSP, June 28-July 2. Each summer the Paulist Fathers offer a series of retreats at the center. Some retreats are designed only for priests, both diocesan and religious. Others are for priests and laity together. All retreats begin on Monday morning at 9:00 AM and conclude with lunch on Friday. For more information contact, St. Mary’s on the Lake, P.O. Box 31, Lake George, NY 12845. Tel: (518) 796-9197. E-mail: kennethmcquire@cs.com.
Direction Ministries, an affiliate of the Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate sponsors two summer programs. A 12-day Spiritual Direction Workshop takes place from June 14-25. The workshop integrates academic with the experiential and focuses on the dynamics of the spiritualization process. Limited to 15 participants. Orientations and Transitions is a five day program/experience for clergy, male and female religious and laity which is designed for those moving through transitions of aging and retirement. Participants are from 60 to 75 years of age. It takes place from July 2-7. Both programs are presented by Father Gerry Weber, OMI, M.Th. and Mrs. Billie Castro, RN, M.T.S. Programs take place at the Oblate School of Theology in San Antonio, TX. For more information contact, Mrs. Castro, (210) 822-8761. E-mail: ebhc@wt.net. Or Father Weber, (210) 732-8024. E-mail: gmaw1@satx.rr.com. Directions Ministries, 334 W. Kings Hwy., San Antonio, TX 78212-2830.
 The Conference of Major Superiors of Men (CMSM) and the Leadership Conference  of Women Religious (LCWR) have announced their joint assembly to take place from Aug. 19-22 in Fort Worth, TX. The theme of the joint meeting is No Longer Bystanders: Creating Peace in Violent Times. The keynote speaker is Mary Robinson, former president of Ireland and UN Commissioner on Human Rights. The event will be held at the Forth Worth Convention Center with accommodations available at the nearby Radisson and Forth Worth Plaza Hotels. A pre-assembly workshop will take place on Thurs. Aug. 19 featuring Dr. Monica Applewhite of Praesidium Services. More information will be announced on the new CMSM web site as soon as it becomes available: www.cmsm.org.
 The Paulist National Catholic Evangelization Association is sponsoring two 3-day Leadership Training seminars for its Envision Program. The dates are May 3-5 and Sept. 27-29. Both programs will take place at St. Paul’s College in Washington, DC. The principal benefits of the three-day program is to: implement the Envision process, understand the focus of Catholic evangelization, understand and establish the Envision leadership structure in the parish, and plan the approach for getting started. For more information contact Father Anthony Krisak, Director, Envision Services, 3031 Fourth St., NE, Washington, DC 20017. Tel: (202) 832-5022. Fax: (202) 269-0209. E-mail: envision@pncea.org. Web site: www.parishplanning.org.
 The National Pastoral Life Center (NPLC) is once again hosting its Pastoring in Today’s Parish workshops. Dates for the two upcoming workshops are: July 11-16 at Bergamo Center, in Dayton, OH and Jan. 16-21, 2005 at Marywood Center in Jacksonville, FL. To assist pastors who may be pastoring in more than one parish, the NPLC has made additions to its program. The added features of the workshops include: Pastoring More Than One Parish and Generations in Parishes: Who Are We Ministering To? For more information contact, Sister Donna Ciangio, OP or Bob Marshall, NPLC, 18 Bleecker St., New York, NY 10012-2404. Tel: (212) 431-7825. Fax: (212) 274-9786. E-mail: conferences@nplc.org. Web site: www.NPLC.org.
 The National Association for Lay Ministry (NALM) announces their 28th Annual Conference from June 3-6 at the Hyatt Regency Crown Center in Kansas City, MO. The theme for this year’s meeting is Prophetic Voices in Critical Times. The keynote speaker is Dr. Ada Maria Isasi-Diaz, professor of Ethics and Theology at Drew University. Other speakers include Dr. Peter C. Phan, Father Gregory Polan, OSB, and Dr. Zeni Fox. Pre-conference events include a Ministry Formation Director’s Institute and a Parish Life Coordinators/Pastoral Associates Roundtable. For more information contact, NALM, 6896 Laurel St., NW, Washington, DC 20012. Tel: (202) 291-4100. E-mail: nalm@nalm.org. Web site: www.nalm.org.
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PUBLICATIONS & RESOURCES:
 Stewards of God’s Mysteries: Priestly Spirituality in A Changing Church, edited by Rev. Paul J. Philibert, OP. A collaborative effort of the NFPC launched in 1998. This study of priestly spirituality was inspired to commemorate the Thirtieth anniversary of the NCCB document, Spiritual Renewal of the American Priesthood. A committee composed of Father Melvin C. Blanchette, SS, Father Daniel E. Danielson, and Father Paul J. Philibert, OP produced the study. Available in April for $9.95 from the NFPC, 333 N. Michigan Ave., Ste 1205, Chicago, IL 60601. Phone: (888) 271-6372. Fax: (312) 442-4709. E-mail nfpc@nfpc.org. Web site: www.nfpc.org
 Evolving Visions of the Priesthood: Changes from Vatican II to the Turn of the New Century, by Dr. Dean R. Hoge and Jacqueline Wenger is an NFPC commissioned book based on a longitudinal study of attitudes of priests begun in 1970 by the National Opinion Research Center. The book provides updated information on changes in priests’ attitudes toward ecclesiology, the needs of priests, and other important issues since the end of Vatican Council II in 1965. The book is published by The Liturgical Press. Available for the special price of $17.00 from the NFPC, 333 N. Michigan Ave., Ste 1205, Chicago, IL 60601. Phone: (888) 271-6372. Fax: (312) 442-4709. E-mail: nfpc@nfpc.org. Web site: www.nfpc.org.
 Instruction on the Eucharist (Redemptionis sacramentum), the follow-up to last year’s encyclical Ecclesia De Eucharistia from Pope John Paul II, addresses a wide range of abuses, or violations of liturgical law with respect to the celebration of Mass and the adoration of the Blessed Sacrament. This Instruction comes from the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments in consultation with the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. The book is published by USCCB Publishing and will be available on May 15, 2004 for $9.95, 3211 Fourth Street, NE, Washington, DC 20017. Tel: 800-235-8722. Fax: 202-722-8709. Website: www.usccb.org/publishing.
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