Our colleagues from the Interfaith Coalition in Washington have organized a delegation of religious leaders to express prayerful solidarity with the people of the Ukraine!
Please keep them in your prayers as they make this pilgrimage!! – Fr. Séamus P. Finn, OMI
World Religious Leaders Travel in Emergency Just Peace Mission to Pray in Kyiv (24-25 May 2022)
WARSAW, POLAND– A high-level delegation of religious leaders will travel to Kyiv in an emergency intervention seeking to contribute to ending aggression against Ukraine, the bombing of Ukrainian cities, and to pray for a just peace. The leaders will meet in Warsaw, Poland, and travel 14-hours by bus to Kyiv, Ukraine, on May 24 and return to Warsaw on May 26.
In March, Mayor Vitali Klitschko of Kyiv, Ukraine’s besieged capital, issued a call to the religious leaders to come to Kyiv: “I make an appeal to the world’s spiritual leaders to take a stand and assume the moral function that is incumbent upon them, and to proudly assume the responsibility of their religions for peace,” said Klitschko. “ … Come to Kyiv to show their solidarity with the Ukrainian people. To show their compassion, and to join together in a spirit of harmony that my country and the whole world needs. Let us make Kyiv the capital of humanity, spirituality, and peace.”
This May, religious leaders from around the world have answered Klitschko’s plea. More than a dozen leaders and people of faith from the major world religions will arrive in Kyiv on Tuesday, 24 May to engage in prayer, pastoral accompaniment, and distribution of humanitarian aid, as well as key encounters with peacebuilders, religious leaders, and political leaders. READ THE FULL STORY @ OMIUSA.ORG.
Pope Francis is asking every parish, retreat center, house of formation, and Catholic center to discuss synodality. In the seven mandated questions, the fourth asks “How connected do you feel to the core mission of the Church–making disciples for Jesus?” St. Eugene de Mazenod must be agreeing with this on every Catholic being a missionary.
St. Eugene de Mazenod
The province website Mission-Unity-Dialogue, www.harrywinter.org, has been updated to help with this. At the bottom of the home page, two pyramids have been constructed to reflect a vital change in our structure and attitude, to better promote mission. On the left is the Latin rite Roman Catholic Church as it has existed from the Council of Trent, 1563, to the beginning of the Second Vatican Council in 1962. At the top of the pyramid is the pope, alone, and at the bottom, the laity. On the right is our Church as it now exists, with the changes of the Second Vatican Council, the laity on top, and the pope with the bishops on the bottom. The schema of these two pyramids can easily be printed in Sunday bulletins, and other resources both for vowed Oblates, and lay Oblate discussion.
The Oblate US Province and Oblate School of Theology have jointly issued a statement on the recent killings in Buffalo, New York. The Oblates have a long history in Buffalo.
“We, as Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate who serve the people of Buffalo in pastoral care, and as Oblate School of Theology, a ministry of the Missionary Oblates, pledge to continue preaching this truth proclaimed by St. Eugene, to work toward unity and truth, to eradicate racism in ourselves and work against it wherever it may be found.”
Congratulations to Dr. Steven Nabieu Rogers, new Executive Director of Africa Faith & Justice Network (AFJN)! OMI USA JPIC has been a member of AFJN for 30 years.
Washington DC – The Africa Faith and Justice Network, a Catholic 501(c)3 organization, has named Dr. Steven Nabieu Rogers as its new Executive Director. With Catholic missionary congregations and numerous Africa-focused coalitions of all persuasions, AFJN works to advocate for just relations with Africa and in partnership with African people as they engage in the struggle for justice, peace, and the integrity of creation.
“I am pleased to announce that Dr. Steven Nabieu Rogers has accepted AFJN’s Executive Director position” said Sr. Florence Deacon, OSF, Chair of the Board of Directors. “Dr. Rogers comes highly recommended and has a breadth of knowledge and experiences that will serve him well in his new leadership role. I believe his grasp of the realities of what is happening in Africa and his vision will set AFJN up for a solid future.”
Dr. Rogers earned his Doctorate of Philosophy in Urban Planning and Public Policy from the University of Texas at Arlington (Arlington, TX) and a Masters in Social and Public Policy from Duquesne University (Pittsburgh, PA). Prior to joining AFJN, he was a faculty member and Old Mutual Research Fellow at the University of Cape Town’s Graduate School of Business (Cape Town, South Africa). Dr. Rogers has published articles on globalization, urbanization and housing in Africa and believes that Africa’s needs are best served by an African-led intellectualism emanating from the lived experiences of Africans. READ FULL RELEASE.
By Sr. Maxine Pohlman, SSND, director of La Vista Ecological Learning Center
For fifty-two years, Earth Day has been commemorated on April 22nd since Democratic Senator Gaylord Nelson initiated the event out of his deeply felt concern for our deteriorating environment. Interestingly, he elicited the cooperation of a Republican congressman to be his co-chair. Together they launched an effort that has gained momentum and branched out as its significance deepens during our present climate crisis.
This year our Earth Day celebration took place inside the Buckminster Fuller Dome on the campus of Southern Illinois University in Edwardsville which provided the perfect ambience. As I looked up at the continents etched into the dome and then around at the participants drumming and dancing underneath, I felt a deep gratitude for being alive, and isn’t that what an Earth Day Celebration should evoke?
Others felt equally moved. One woman commented, “I felt blessed! I enjoyed sharing thoughts and memories, catching up with old friends, meeting new ones. And the drumming and dancing was awesome!” Another participant wrote a thank you saying, “What an uplifting blend of celebration, inspiration, education and call to action. It was perfect for the Easter season of hope and renewal!”
This event was offered by the Confluence Climate Collaborative, of which La Vista Ecological Learning Center is a member. We had just read and discussed the book All We Can Save: Truth Courage, and Solutions for the Climate Crisis, and during the afternoon we shared our favorite quotes, thoughts, and poems. One that especially touched me was by Geneen Marie Haugen: In our time of disturbance and radical change, we are crossing a threshold, a portal, or an unseen bridge from one world to another. It could be said that the bridge is either collapsing beneath us, or being made as we walk together, in the long twilight hours when one civilization gives way to another.
I truly felt that we were making the bridge together as we shared ourselves during the afternoon. And being together ignited my hope that one civilization really is giving way to another, to one that believes in solutions to the climate crisis that hear both the cry of Earth and the cry of the poor. I also felt blessed!
