Fr. Harry Winter
Fr. Harry Winter
Five Ways – March 23
March 29, 2023 Five Ways Newsletter
March 29, 2023
First, my thanks to Artie Pingolt, president of Oblate Partners, for sending me the important attachment. It shows how crucial Christian Unity and Interreligious Dialogue are to confront serious challenges, such as the invasion of the Ukraine by Russia. Such cooperation is needed at the local level too.
Secondly, as we approach the Triduum of Holy Thursday evening through Easter Sunday, you might want to consider the custom of Eastern Christians on Easter Sunday afternoon. They gather in cemeteries to process to the graves of those who have died since last Easter. When they reach each grave, the priest shouts out “Christ is risen,” and the people respond “He is truly risen.”
Let us encourage all our friends and relatives who have dropped out of our Churches, to come with us on Easter and the Sundays after.
Thirdly, the website of Jesuit journal America posted an article on March 7 by theologian Jon Nilson, headlined “The Synod is missing something essential: other churches.” He is very concerned that the USA report “National Synthesis of the People of God in the United States of America for the Diocesan Phase of the 2021-2023 Synod” was crafted from 290 documents distilled from 22,000 reports from parishes, dioceses, etc.
But the importance of working with other Christian Churches is never mentioned in the synthesis. Nilson does not report that the Eastern Churches in the USA did submit their own document. However, especially Episcopalian and Presbyterian Churches have a long record of involving the laity in every major decision and development. A major feature of synodality is to decrease clericalism and increase the role of lay people. Nilson’s concern that ecumenism did not make it into the USA synthesis needs further attention by our bishops.
If any of the Five Ways recipients can find the report on synodality from the Eastern Churches USA, please send it to me.
In the meantime, many thanks to all who commented on the Feb. 14 Five Ways e-letter. May we each have an inspiring Holy Week and Easter!
In Christ’s love,
Fr. Harry Winter, O.M.I.
People who have read the book Dividing or Strengthening, or who have made the retreat (both available, click here) have expressed a desire to pray for unity and to work with other Christians. We meet regularly and update. There are no dues and no regulations. We are a very small part of an increasing web of Christians who identify with one denomination and are concerned with all Christians. Some of the larger groups are Renovare, Stephan Ministries, Taize, and Iona.
Father Tom Ryan, CSP, in his 2015 book Christian Unity: How You Can Make a Difference, describes at length (ch. 5, pp. 83-107) the surge in the number of lay groups focusing on Evangelization and Christian Unity (Paulist Press). But he also states that apathy toward Christian Unity is growing (p. 121).
Currently we have about 50 people connected by e-mail and regular meetings. An initial group came out of the weekend retreat at King’s House, Buffalo, MN, Jan. 15-17, 2010. Following that, there were parish retreats at St. Casimir’s Church, St. Paul, MN, March, 2010 and St. Patrick’s Church, St. Paul, MN, March, 2012. What started out as an update meeting for those who attended any of the three previous retreats was expanded to anyone who is interested in the challenge of sharing our faith: June 6,7, 2012 (evening, repeated the following morning for those unable to come in the evening), and Nov. 7, 8, 2012; May15,16, 2013, May 7th, 8th 2014 See Below
Mass on the Moon
Sixth Sunday after Pentecost (2019)
Fifty years ago yesterday, on July 20, 1969, Presbyterian Ruling Elder Buzz Aldrin celebrated the Lord’s Supper on the moon. The first food and drink consumed on the moon was the blessed bread and wine from Aldrin’s church, Webster Presbyterian, near Houston, TX.
Communion on the Moon Fifty Years Later (2019)
When President Donald Trump gave his State of the Union Message on Feb. 5, 2019, he reminded us that fifty years ago this July 20, humans first walked on the moon. By placing astronaut Buzz Aldrin, among those notables invited, he also reminded us that the first food and drink consumed on the moon was the Blessed Bread and Wine Aldrin had brought from his church, Webster Presbyterian, near Houston, TX.
May the rest of your day be filled with love and happiness
Current
Synodality and Oblates in the USA
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.
In our first installment, we mentioned how much St. Eugene lived synodality, even though he may not have used the word (Synodality and the Oblates: Part 1).
Since the core of synodality is mission, St. Eugene looks over our shoulders as we invest in synodality. (Click here Part Two)
In October, the Diocese entered into the process of discernment regarding ministry. The entire diocese was given 75 questions for parishioners to respond to. So we sent them out and had an above average number of folks fill it out. We also come out as environmentally green and are in the upper 80% in that category in the city and diocese. (Click here Part Three)
The Synodality report submitted by Fr. Jim Allen, regarding our Belleville Oblates, and the Synodality report submitted by Fr. Harry Winter, regarding the Diocese of Syracuse, may seem unrelated. But we are putting them together to show the widespread interest in the Synodality process going on in every religious community and every diocese in the world. Click here Part Four
Two experts recently differed on the role of ecumenism in the process of synodality. I have also inserted the importance of ecumenism as the Oblate Constitutions describe it. (Click here for Part Five)
Oblate Missiologists includes at least one Oblate Missiologist from each of our five geographical regions.
First produced as a hard copy in 1997, it is now made available in two versions on the internet. For a PDF version, click here. The type is smaller and you cannot edit it.
For Ecumenism and Laity in the Oct. 2021-OCt. 2023 Synod.
Thank you for being here for the opening of the Synod. you have come by many different roads and from different Churches, each bearing your own questions and hopes. I am certain the Spirit will guide us and give us the grace to move forward together, to listen to one another and to embark on a discernment of the times in which we are living, in solidarity with the struggles and aspirations of all humanity. I wan to say again that eh Synod is not a parliament or an opinion poll; the Synod is an ecclesial event and its protagonist is the Holy Spirit. If the Spirit is not present, there will be no Synod. Click Here to Read More
Political Order and the Ethics of Peace (August 15 – September 16, 2022)
The global political order is today confronted with one of its most serious and dangerous crises since 1945. The violation of ionternational norms and the massive scale of suffering and destruction have prompted vigorous and unprecedented forms of cooperation aimed at attaining a peaceful resolution. Click here to Read More
Lutheran and Catholic Churches in Sweden Increase Praying Together
In this Voices from the Communion interview, Bishop Johan Tyrberg, Diocese of Lund, Church of Sweden, looks back at how a historic ecumenical event that put his home city on the global map five years ago continues to change Lutheran-Catholic relations there. He also reflects on his early education, his interest in natural sciences and acting, and finding his way into theological formation, and eventually the pastoral ministry. Click Here to Read More
Synodality and Oblates in the USA, Part Four
Posted on August 24, 2022
The Synodality report submitted by Fr. Jim Allen, regarding our Belleville Oblates, and the Synodality report submitted by Fr. Harry Winter, regarding the Diocese of Syracuse, may seem unrelated. But we are putting them together to show the widespread interest in the Synodality process going on in every religious community and every diocese in the world.
Diocese of Syracuse Report
When I was assisting the ill pastor in my home parish of St. Paul, Norwich, NY, from July 25-Aug. 7, 2022, the diocese published in its newspaper The Catholic Sun, a summary of 42 listening sessions. What caught my attention was the addition of “special listening sessions,” three of which were “for those who for whatever reason are estranged from the Church, with a particular focus on the LGBTQ Community.” Later in the report, when the top 10 themes were listed, “The LGBTQ Community” was #6. And when this was described, the authors explained “At one of our special listening sessions geared to the LGBTQ Community, several gay people spoke of their experience of being considered ‘possessed’ or ‘mentally ill.’ Their stories were heartbreaking.”
In a meeting with one of my high school classmates, the husband and wife both expressed their concern and bewilderment over a lesbian daughter and daughter-in-law. This development already presented in “Synodality and Oblates in the USA, Part Three,” continues to grow.
The report also described “one of the surprises was how quickly and how deeply the people entered into the sacred silence. For the most part, the people listened carefully and attentively to one another, and seemed to act just as the Holy Father wished: they spoke freely, boldly , and courageously …and respectfully (with a few exceptions).”
The Contribution of a Community of Religious Men Toward the Synod
St. Henry’s Oblate Residence, Belleville, IL
On May 26, 2022, 13 of the 18 Missionary Oblates living in this community gathered prayerfully to express their thoughts on the preparatory questions for the Synod of 2023. The questions were adapted to the nature of this community of priests and Brothers , most of whom are retired or in Reduced Active Ministry.
- How is “journeying together” happening in this community?
The experience of community life has been a unique experience for each person, depending partially on their ministerial assignments: some have been in small communities; some, in large; some were basically alone for several years.
However, there is general agreement that community life here is a positive source of sharing and mutual support. Given the rather advanced age of most of the members, it has been described as “living while dying, making the best of our time together, aware of our mortality.”
Our shared identity as Oblates of Mary Immaculate affords us the opportunity to learn from one another as we move forward together. The Holy Spirit works differently in each of us and helps us to understand our differences and our gifts.
- What is there about Jesus that draws me to him? What is there about Jesus that makes an impression on me?
- Over the years the relationship with Jesus has changed and become more real in various ways.
- Jesus teaches us by his own life to be more giving than receiving.
- We can look at the concrete actions of Jesus as examples of how we can touch the lives of others.
- We also can find images of Jesus in persons who have affected our lives (e.g. a parent or a teacher)
- Jesus wants to be a constant presence in our lives; one who lives within us.
- What is there about the Church that draws me closer to the Lord and to other people?
As “cradle Catholics,” it is difficult to imagine a life totally outside of the Church. But the idea and experience of Church has expanded through contact with different peoples and cultures. At the same time, we would find it difficult to experience God without being in contact with other people.
Most of us knew the Church before we even really knew God and Jesus. It was only through maturing in our faith that we began to realize the transcendence of God and the call to be of service to others.
At this point in our lives, given the experiences we have had in many places and with so many people, the Church is anything but an abstraction. We see the Church in the persons we serve, whether they are prospering or struggling.
- What are my hopes for the Church that will help to draw me closer to Christ?
- To see a Church with living saints who live their Catholic faith in such a way that we too can be proud to be Catholic.
- To see a Church that is willing to look at its way of presenting its moral teaching in a way that attracts and encourages people to walk the path that is sometimes hard. This should include an in depth and fresh look at the relationship between what is considered to be the “natural law” norm and the “lived experience” of people who are also living what they consider to be “natural.” So many people see some aspects of the Church’s moral teaching so stringent and demanding that they either give up or become pathologically scrupulous.
- Some issues in the Church are not going to go away and they need to be discussed openly and without bias and preconceived answers. Among them stand out such areas as the role of the laity and especially women in the Church; obligatory celibacy of the priests of the Latin Rite; inclusivity, even of sinners (and that’s all of us).
- How will the Church be present to the world in the face of climate change and a possible collapse of the environment?
- How can the Church make synodality a normal way of being Church so that this current process not be mere tokenism? Are we going to take the faithful seriously in their own baptized role as “priests, prophets and kings”?
- We need to meet people where they are and as they are.
Archive
For Ecumenism and Laity in the Oct. 2021 – Oct. 2023 Synod
Thank you for being here for the opening of the Synod. you have come by many different roads and from different Churches, each bearing your own questions and hopes. I am certain the Spirit will guide us and give us the grace to move forward together, to listen to one another and to embark on a discernment of the times in which we are living, in solidarity with the struggles and aspirations of all humanity. I wan to say again that eh Synod is not a parliament or an opinion poll; the Synod is an ecclesial event and its protagonist is the Holy Spirit. If the Spirit is not present, there will be no Synod. Click Here to Read More
Pioneer Catholic Feminist, (available on Amazon books)
Do you know who is in your own Clod of Witnesses (heb 12:1), the people in your life who have died but still influence you positively in a significant way? Fr. Harry Winter, O.M.I., Ph.D. traces the history of Virginia’s Governor John Floyd Jr. (1783-1837) and his pioneer feminist wife, Letitia Preston Floyd, *1779-1852) and their descendants to show how their influence is as important for the United States today as President John Adams and his wife, Abigail Adams and their decendants. Click Here to learn more
Superior General Describes Oblate Role in the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples
The Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate continue to play a significant role in many of the most difficult missions around the world. We are well known and highly regarded in the Church for our availability. although with good humor, we like to joke that we are specialists in making missions difficult, the simple truth is that Oblates are laboring with great zeal in many of the most challenging areas of the globe. Click Here to learn more
For the Muslim Response to Pope Francis’ Visit (March 2021)
Pope Francis’s recent trip to Iraq will undoubtably have a lasting impact on the country in ways that only time will tell, however, in the immediate aftermath, a few significant developments can already be seen. Click Here to learn more
“Ecumenical Vademecum” Statement Animating Christian Unity (December 3, 2020)
The ministry entrusted to the bishop is a service of unity both within his diocese and of unity between the local church and the universal church. That ministry therefore has special significance in the search for the unity of all Christ’s followers. The bishop’s responsibility for promoting Christian unity is clearly affirmed in the Code of Canon Law of the Latin Church among the tasks of his
pastoral office: “He is to act with humanity and charity toward the brothers and sisters who are not in full communion with the Catholic Church and is to foster ecumenism as it is understood by the Church” (Can 383 §3CIC 1983). Click Here to learn more
Oblate Missiologists includes at least one Oblate missiologist from each of our five geographical regions. First produced as a hard copy in 1997, it is now made available in two versions on the internet. For a PDF version, click here. The type is smaller and you cannot edit it.
Vatican and World Council of Churches publish dynamite document on COVID
Serving a Wounded World in Interreligious Solidarity.
A Christian Call to reflection and Action During COVID-19 and Beyond Click Here to learn more
Commentary on Dynamite Document and Season of Creation
Commentary on the Statement “Christian Witness in a Multi-Religious World” by Harry E. Winter, OMI. Printed in Ecumenical Trends 46 (Oct. 2017, 9):10-11.
Insight by Fernando Velazquez, OMI, May 15, 2017: part of the neglect of this statement comes from the earlier document “Dominus Iesus” (2000). Mission exists in a difficult and creative tension with Unity/Dialogue. Click Here to learn more
Two Oblate Ecumenists on the Road to Glory
Father Waclaw Hryniewicz, O.M.I., an expert on the Eastern Orthodox Church, died on May 26 at age 83 in Poland. Fr. Jean Gueguen, O.M.I., a promoter of the Taize Community, died on May 24 at age 95 in France.
On March 20, 1995, Hryniewicz was the featured speaker at Oblate College, Washington DC, to open the Oblate Center for Mission Studies. Due to his friendship with Fr. George McLean, O.M.I., Hryniewicz had agreed to speak about developments between the Roman Catholic Church and the Eastern Orthodox Churches.
“Understanding the signs of Our Times”
An interesting article from: McLean Center Online Seminars
The current pandemic felt by the entire globe has brought not only deep anxieties and fears but also profound quests and search for root causes and answers for our challenging situations – socio–
political, cultural, ecological, etc. In order to understand the uniqueness and specificity of our times and to look for some resources that may help us deepen our understanding, this special research project intends to explore the philosophical–theological writings of a special figure, Romano Guardini, one of most important intellectuals of the Catholic tradition in the 20th century. Click Here to learn more
New Biography on Fr. George McLean has been released!
If you wish to purchase a physical copy, give Matthew Martin a call 210-340-1366 ext 205 or email him at mmartin@ost.edu and he can sell you one for $17.50 plus $5.00 shipping and handling for a total of $22.50. We take VISA, MasterCard, American Express and Discover. an electronic version is available. Click Here to learn more (link is to large to upload)
Mclean Center Activities — Click Here
Fr. George McLean, OMI — Full Bio — Click Here
Oblate Missiologist, Tragic and Talented (2018)
His Irish parents and he endured the persecution of the English during his youth in Ireland and England. So when Con Scollen worked with the Native Americans in Canada and the United States, he bluntly told them any treaty from the national governments wasn’t worth the paper it was written on. An Oblate for 26 years, and a diocesan priest for the 17 remaining years of his life, he surpassed his teacher, Father Albert Lacombe, OMI, for his knowledge of Native American languages and culture. He is revered by them today. Click Here to learn more
Native Peoples indigenous art at the New York Metropolitan Museum of Art (2019)
Thanks to Fr. Seamus Finn, OMI for this related piece. Click here to watch video
High Point of Bibliographia Missionaria (Dec. 6, 2017)
Thank you for being here for this important moment in the history of the University and our library. We present a volume, 70° c, a unique magazine, Bibliographia Missionaria. Begun in 1935 by Prof. Johannes Baptista Rommerskirchen, OMI, today presents itself as a significant contribution to reflection and research on all things related to the Church’s mission. Click Here to learn more
Witnessing to Jesus, and Ecumenism at Royal Wedding (May 19, 2018)
African-American Episcopalian Bishop Michael Curry’s sermon at the royal wedding is a marvelous combination of witnessing to Jesus, and Christian Unity. His quoting Jesuit theologian Teilhard de Chardin is unprecedented in such a world-wide event. However, he also is an example of the difficulty within the Anglican Communion, where many find his espousal of same sex marriage and other moral matters to be divisive. Click here to learn more
Grieving for an Oblate Accomplishment (2018)
For many years, Oblates were accustomed to seeing an annual photo of an Oblate missiologist presenting to the pope a comprehensive bibliography listing every book or article written the previous year on Mission, Ecumenism, Dialogue, Sociology of Religion, etc. Known as Bibliographia Missionaria, this book was of immense aid to anyone interested in a topic concerning the spread of the Christian faith. Click Here to learn more
Episcopalian/Anglicans Join Lutherans and Catholics in Reformation Document (2017)
On 31st of October 2017, the final day of the year of the common ecumenical Commemoration of the Reformation, we are very thankful for the spiritual and theological gifts received through the Reformation, a commemoration that we have shared together and with our ecumenical partners globally. Likewise, we begged forgiveness for our failures and for the ways in which Christians have wounded the Body of the Lord and offended each other during the five hundred years since the beginning of the Reformation until today. Click here to learn more
Four Articles on Oblates and the 50th Anniversary of the Catholic Charismatic Renewal (2017)
December 19, 2017 – Father John Morin, OMI, and the Haitian US Charismatic Renewal Click Here to learn more
December 10, 2017 – US Oblates and the 50th Anniversary of the Catholic Charismatic Renewal, Part 3: Hispanic Charismatic Renewal Click Here to learn more
November 15, 2017 – US Oblates and 50th Anniversary of the Charismatic Renewal, Part Two Click Here to learn more
September 13, 2017 – US Oblates and the 50th Anniversary of the Charismatic Renewal, Part One Click Here to learn more
Controversial Article
An important Italian Catholic journal, La Civilta Cattolic, has an English version, and in the July 21 issue, there was a controversial article linking Protestant Fundamentalism with Catholic Integralism in the USA. An American bishop has responded with an easily readable article, agreeing with some of the author’s insights, by disagreeing with others. Click Here to learn more
Presbyterians join Lutherans and Roman Catholics (2017)
Five hundred years after the Reformation, one of Protestantism’s leading branches has officially said it now agrees with the Vatican on the main issue at the root of its split from the Roman Catholic Church. Click Here to learn more
Luther, Literacy, and Martin Luther King (2017)
(The Conversation) This year marks the 500th anniversary of Martin Luther’s famous 95 theses, which helped spark the founding of the Reformation and the division of Christianity into Protestantism and Catholicism. 
Click Here to learn more
Four Oblates Praised; Vital Statement Examined at Ecumenical Meeting (2017)
During the National Workshop on Christian Unity, held May 1-4 in Minneapolis, MN, four Oblates were praised and a vital statement concerning Social Justice, Mission, and Ecumenism/Interreligious Dialogue was publicized. Click Here to learn more
Commentary on the Statement “Christian Witness in a Multi-Religious World” (2017)
As an ecumenist convinced that Mission is at the heart of Christian Unity, I was stunned at the May 1-4, 2017 National Workshop on Christian Unity (NWCU)to discover that the statement “Christian Witness in a Multi-Religious World” was published in November, 2011. I had never heard of this remarkable, vital and practical accomplishment of the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue, the World Council of Churches, and the World Evangelical Alliance. Click here to learn more
The 500th Anniversary on the Reformation: A Year of Unparalleled Opportunity (2017)
In his new book on Martin Luther: An Ecumenical Perspective, Cardinal Walter Kasper notes that our ideas about Martin Luther have undergone transformations in a number of ways over the past 500 years. Historically, for Catholics, Luther was the church father of Protestantism, the heretic to blame for the division of the Western Church. Click Here to learn more
Islam and Oblates
The 2017 De Mazenod Conference of the Missionary Oblate Partnership was held February 10-12 at the Oblate Renewal Center in San Antonio, Texas. The theme of this year’s conference: Christianity & Islam: Can We Talk? provided opportunities for enlightened conversations on a highly-charged and often emotional topic. Click Here to learn more
Basics of Islam
The Basics of Islam, presented to Oblate Partners, Feb. 10-12, San Antionio, TX. Scott Woodward, DMin, Oblate School of Theology
Click Here to learn more
Archbishop Hebda encourages homework in uniting Catholics and Lutherans (2017)
Most Rev. Bernard Hebda, Roman Catholic archbishop of St. Paul/Minneapolis, delivered these remarks at the joint serve led by two Lutheran bishops at Central Lutheran Church, Minneapolis, MN on Jan. 22, 2017. His remarks set the spirit, though, for the entire year to come when on Jan. 21, 2018, one of the Lutheran bishops will speak at Hebda’s cathedral. Read of his inspiring and joyful presentation. Click Here to learn more
Oblate School of Theology Reformation Achievement: (2017)
Rev. Paul Ziese, Pastor of San Antonio, Tx’s MacArthur Lutheran Church: “There is probably more openness among Catholics to the need for reformation, and more Protestants recognize the wound of the Reformation.” Click Here to learn more
Witnessing to Jesus, and Ecumenism at Royal Wedding of May 19, 2018
African-American Episcopalian Bishop Michael Curry’s sermon at the royal wedding is a marvelous combination of witnessing to Jesus, and Christian Unity. His quoting Jesuit theologian Teilhard de Chardin is unprecedented in such a world-wide event. Click Here to learn more
Jim Holland, Praised Indigenous Oblate Missionary, to dismissed oblate, to Honary Oblate?
When our superior general, Louie Lougen, wrote his article for the Catholic Digest on Oblate Spirituality, he mentioned how Oblates are not only specialists in difficult missions, but specialists in making missions difficult (see Dialogue/Islam Page for his article). Click Here to learn more
For Lucien Bouchard OMI’s Ministry to Hmong in Laos
I’m writing these notes about my missionary life in Southeast Asia and will relate especially about my 18 ½ years stay in Laos from Nov. 17, 1956 to May 8, 1975. After I was forced out of Laos by the Communist Lao regime in 1975, I then joined six French ex-Laos missionaries and went with them to Indonesia where we arrived at the end of January, 1977 in the city of Jakarta. Click Here to learn more
Fr. Greg Gallagher, OMI Re-Elected Presiddent of U.S. Catholic Mission Association (May 2016)
Fr. Greg Gallagher, OM, Administrative Councilor/ Office of Mission and Ministry/Assistant Treasurer for the U.S. Province has been I re-elected president of the U.S. Catholic Mission Association. Click Here to learn more
Fr. Gallaher’s role in the choosing the new Executive Director of the US Catholic mission Association.
The Board of Directors of the United States Catholic Mission Association is pleased to announce the selection of Donald L. McCrabb, D.Min, as the new Executive Director for the USCMA, effective Dec. 7, 2015. Click Here to learn more
The Manhattan Decoration, an Oblate Connection (2009)
For most Oblates of a certain age, “Manhattan” means either the island borough in N.Y. City, or the “project” which developed the atomic bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945. But on Nov. 20, 2009, an ecumenical group released a statement pledging their commitment to defend human life, traditional marriage, and the rights of conscience. Click Here to learn more
Buffalo New York, Holy Angels Church, 2 Bishops Statements
Personal Disclosure: the photo to the right shows Episcopalian then Father William Franklin with Father Harry Winter, O.M.I. and Father Franklin’s father-in-law, Joseph Vircillo, at the home of Joe and his wife Catarina Vircillo, in Fr. Winter’s Buffalo, NY parish, St. Rose of Lima, for the Christmas Eve traditional Italian fish dinner, 1998. Also at table but not in the photo is Father Franklin’s Catholic wife, Carmela Vircillo Franklin, a classical Latin scholar, who served as Director of the American Academy in Rome from 2005-10. During that time, Father Franklin served at several Episcopalian and Anglican Churches in Italy. They have two adult daughters.
Such marriages between leaders of two Christian Churches, once very rare, are becoming increasingly frequent. Are we Oblates prepared to work with such leaders?
Catholic and Episcopal Bishops of Western New York Issue Joint Call for Shared Prosperity March 4, 2016 2:57 pm
The Right Rev. R. William Franklin, Bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Western New York, and Most Reverend Richard Joseph Malone, Bishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Buffalo issued am inspiring joint pastoral letter late last year, which we would like to share more widely. Our thanks go out to Fr. Harry Winter, OMI for bringing. Click Here to learn more
Priestless County Adapts (1977)
How does a former Oblate parish covering an entire county, adapt to being priestless? Several very significant elements have developed in Monroe County, West Virginia, to help the faith grow. Jim MacGee OMI became the first resident priest in Monroe County, in 1977.
Click Here to learn more
Newman DeMazenod, Bede
In the last issue of VieOblateLife (68,#1),, Bishop Gilles Cazabon OMI explained that St. Eugene visited Blessed Newman in 1859, at Maryvale, England (p. 41). As in many things, St. Eugene was ahead of his time, recognizing Newman’s holiness and insights. Do we need to continue our ecumenical conversion as a congregation? Click Here to learn more
November 22, 2013: Ecumenical and Missionary Aspects of the Assassination of John F. Kennedy.
From 1941 to 2006, Oblates ministered in Appalachia, especially in West Virginia. At that time, the Catholic population of the state was less than 5%; Protestants made up about 45% and were considered very anti-Catholic. John F. Kennedy could only win the presidency of the USA if he won his party’s primary election in WV. Click Here to learn more
The following statement, Please click here, is not only a celebration of Maryknoll’s Centennial, but more importantly for Oblates, how to refocus with diminishing numbers. Please consider especially the fourth principal, Mission and the Mass
Vatican 2
Short and incisive explanation of why Vatican II is a “pastoral” council, in which John O’Malley, S.J., summarizes the impact of Vatican II.
From the moment the Second Vatican Council opened, it has consistently been described as a pastoral council, sometimes so insistently and unthinkingly that the expression has become a cliché. The word cliché implies that while the description might well express a truth, it at the same time trivializes the council and produces yawns. Click Here to learn more
For Pope Francis on Vatican II and Ecumenism See Pope Francis Page
Did Seminarians and Student Priest in Rome Influence Vatican II? For Fr. Harry Winter’s Documentation click on the following Chapter links:
Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter 3 Chapter 4
The Four Oblates Who Influenced Vatican II the Most
The first session of the Second Vatican Council began on Oct. 11, 1962 with 33 Oblates listed as “Fathers of the Council,” 5 as periti (experts) and 6 as theologians accompanying individual bishops.1 The number of “Fathers” would change only slightly during the next three sessions, but the number of experts would significantly grow, as each Council Father would change his expert for each session, so more priests could experience the Council. Click Here to learn more
Vatican II and Anti-Clericalism from Paul VI to Pope Francis by Way of the Catacomb Pact
The major helping professions, Medicine, Law and Religion, all face professional deformation. Doctors need a strong bedside manner, or they fail in improving the health of their patients. Lawyers need to be approachable, or they will fail in defending their clients. And pastors must “smell like the sheep,” to use a favorite expression of Pope Francis. Yet the lengthy training of all three professions leads to a separation between the helpers and the helped.
Clericalism is the term applied to clergy who climb higher up than their people. Anti-clericalism is the effort which from time to time the Church develops to return pastors to being one with their people. One important warning: there are Catholics who want their clergy to be clerical, making all their decisions for them, and making their lives easier. As we speak about anti-clericalism, it is important to be on one’s guard against such parishioners.
Pope Paul VI during Vatican II, begged the bishops to simplify their life style and to become more approachable. He himself led the effort.
Walter Abbott SJ, in his edition of the Documents of Vatican II, has observed, in the discussion of the Decree on Bishops, that “During the Council, there was much criticism of the sign of pomp and wealth seen in the lives of bishops. The subject was as delicate as the proper age for episcopal retirement. But as the fourth session closed, Paul VI made an adroit gesture, full of his own generosity, but pointedly symbolic of this ‘humility and simplicity of life.’ He gave each bishop a ring, simple in form and tasteful in design, bearing no jewel nor decoration except a small engraved miter. The ring spoke more eloquently than a hundred decrees” (commenting on #15, p. 407, n. 45).
The final text of the Decree on Bishops, promulgated during the fourth session on Oct. 28, 1965, did contain the expression Abbott refers to: Bishops “should also be mindful of their obligation to give an example of holiness through charity, humility, and simplicity of life” (#15, p. 407). In retrospect, the effort for simplicity was buried in more theological questions in the decree: the relation of bishops to the pope, the development of episcopal conferences, and the compulsory retirement of bishops at a certain age.
One of my close childhood friends, a lieutenant colonel in the USA Armed Forces, arrived in Rome with his wife on Nov. 20, 1964, the day before the third session ended. Word had gone around the seminaries (I was in my fourth year of theological studies and my seventh year in Rome ) that Pope Paul had told the Council Fathers in no uncertain terms to “approach the people.” So when J.J. and Helene and I went to the Basilica of St. Mary Major for the pope’s visit in the afternoon of Nov. 21, after the third session had closed that morning in St. Peter’s, we found cardinals standing uncomfortably in the piazza, waiting for people to approach them. Unaccustomed to this, many Italians stood at a respectful distance.
Helene was the niece of the superior general of a small religious order, and had no awe of cardinals. With American directness she walked up to one of the cardinals and instead of kissing his ornate ring, shook his hand and started chatting with him. Quickly others followed. It was a great lesson that change could happen. Sadly, the next great step forward in declericalizing the Church, the Catacomb Pact, seems to have been forgotten until the cardinals chose Pope Francis. On Nov. 16, 1965, 40 bishops descended into the Catacombs of Domitilla and signed a radical pact: they vowed to forego expensive limousines, glorious palaces and even honorific titles. In internet items concerning a documentary made in 2012 for German tv and called “Pact of the Catacombs–The Secret Pact of Vatican II,” we learn that 500 council fathers would sign the pact and present it to Pope Paul VI as the council ended. Dom Helder Camara, Archbishop of Olinda and Recife , Brazil , seems to have been the inspiration, joined by Cardinal Giacomo Lercaro of Bologna , Italy .
The only complete text of the pact is furnished by Boaventura Kloppenburg OFM, in his book The Chronicle of Vatican II. (Kloppenburg was an expert at Vatican II and later a bishop in Brazil ). In six paragraphs, the signers not only pledge themselves to personal simplicity, but to remake their diocesan administration into social works based on charity and justice for all and led by competent laypeople.
Is there a direct connection between Helder Camara and the former archbishop of Buenos Aires , now Pope Francis? Attempts are being made by Oblates in Brazil to see if either Camara or Bergoglio mention each other in their writings.
A final piece which shows the great interest in this matter was begun by the Franciscan columnist for the national USA Catholic review America , edited by the Jesuits. Daniel P. Horan OFM never expected in his one page article “Lead Us Not Into Clericalism” to stimulate the discussion he did (Oct. 21, 2013, p. 33). There was an explosion of blog responses, letters, and a status update in the Nov. 18 issue, pp. 6-7. Another blog response was printed in the Nov. 25 issue, p. 7; Horan responded in general in the Dec. 9-16 issue, p. 7. He has touched a nerve, and Pope Francis keeps exposing that nerve, in order to address the issue.
As with so many advances, new questions are raised. What does professionalism mean and how does it differ from clericalism? Is the number of pastors who value parish councils increasing? It would seem to be in the monthly parish council meetings that both the substance and style of a new relationship between the pastor and the parish are shown. Reports on this are very mixed.
It would also seem that the leadership of the pope is crucial. Bishops will follow his example; priests will follow the example of their bishops. May Pope Francis, guided by the Holy Spirit, show us what Jesus would have us do regarding clergy lifestyle and example
It would also seem that the leadership of the pope is crucial. Bishops will follow his example; priests will follow the example of their bishops. May Pope Francis, guided by the Holy Spirit, show us what Jesus would have us do regarding clergy lifestyle and example
Secularism
I. John Allen, “Support for “Healthy Secularism”
During Benedict XVI’s Sept. 2008 trip to France, he endorsed what French President Nicolas Sarkozy has dubbed “positive laicite”—a French term for which there is no exact English equivalent, though the usual translation is “secularism.” The basic idea is that religious freedom and church/state separation are positive things, as long as they mean freedom for, rather than freedom from, religion.
The emergence of Islam as the church’s central interfaith preoccupation has turbocharged support for “healthy secularism.”
Proof can be found in the Middle East. Squeezed between two religiously defined behemoths, Israel and the Muslim states which surround it, the tiny Christian minority has no future if fundamentalism prevails. Their dream is to lead a democratic revolution in the region. That outlook reflects a basic law of religious life: secularism always looks better to minorities who would be the big losers in a theocracy.
Momentum towards healthy secularism in Catholic thought has implications well beyond the Middle East.
In both Europe and the States these days, there’s considerable debate about the political role of the church. Critics, including many Catholics, sometimes argue that bishops are “too political.” Americans, for instance, are still chewing over the role the U.S. bishops played in the health care reform debate.
If there is a force in Catholicism capable of balancing the scales, it’s likely to be the relationship with Islam, and the perceived need on the Catholic side to offer a credible model of the separation of religion and politics. That points to a keen irony: The specter of shariah might do more to give Catholic leaders pause about blurring church/state lines than a whole legion of liberal Western theologians. National Catholic Reporter blog, “Pondering Islam and its discontents,” Nov. 5, 2010.
II. May 27-30, 2008 Forum was partly to help the Secularity Team in Indiannapolis develop its program.
Click on Mission with Secularity for the link to more information on the team.
III. The following document was submitted to the participants in the May, 2008 meeting.
Missionary Ecumenism and the May 27-30, 2008 Forum on Secularity
by Harry E. Winter, OMI, hewomi@aol.com, May 4, 2008
…The division among Christians damages the most holy cause of preaching the gospel to every creature and blocks the way to the faith for many (Vatican II, Decree on Missionary Activity, #6; Decree on Ecumenism, #’s 1, 4; Catechism, #855).
…As Oblates with many scattered resources in missionary ecumenism, how can we bring these resources to bear on the challenge of secularity? The recent statement of Cardinal Walter Kasper that “certain features of the Christian mystery have at times been more effectively emphasized by other Churches or Ecclesial communities ” (A Handbook of Spiritual Ecumenism, New City Press, 2006, #10, highly recommended) applies to both Eastern Orthodoxy and Protestantism.
I…Eastern Orthodoxy
…..A friend who visited a state-owned art museum in Moscow not long ago was surprised to observe people kneeling, bowing their heads and praying reverently in public before the icons and other Christian works on display. Some worshipers left a flower or a candle on the floor beside a work. Apparently such gestures are commonplace. That these Christians had encountered the art outside a church seemed to matter not at all, since the art itself was seen in that culture and among the Orthodox as worthy of veneration (Karen Sue Smith, “Artful Contemplation,” America, March 3, 2008, p. 16).
…..With the recent thawing of contact with the Orthodox (“Ravenna Was ‘Breakthrough’ in Orthodox-Catholic Ties,” Zenit, 2/19/08), we need to take advantage of our Oblates who are bi-ritual. In the past two years, the Polish-Canadian pre-novices in Buffalo, NY have shown a great interest in the work of Father Waclaw Hryniewicz, OMI, the Polish Oblate who served for many years on the International Catholic-Orthodox Dialogue. Our Oblate College in Washington, DC, trained many priests of the Maronite and Ukranian Rites.
…..Many Eastern Orthodox leaders have recently indicated a new interest in working with Roman Catholics on secularity. The Patriarch of Constantinople, Bartholomew I has a special concern for environmental issues. “The Green Patriarch” and his actions in this area have the support of the Vatican. Environmental concern is an area where secularists and people of faith can work together.
II. Protestantism
…..”It seems that the evangelical and Pentecostal movements have the most energy in our time” (Dean Hoge, “Challenges Facing the Priesthood in America,” Origins 37 [April 17, 2008, #44] :710). Catholic charismatics have led an amazing convergence with Pentecostals and evangelicals. Although some Pentecostals (and fundamentalists) would still not be caught dead with an RC, the amount of cooperation today is growing by leaps and bounds. Oblates have a strong presence within the charismatic movement, and within earlier movements which also stress the same adult conversion experience (Cursillo and Marriage Encounter, for example).
…..One cannot forget how the Presbyterian Reformed centers of Taizé and Iona have resulted in greater cross-fertilization, for mission and evangelization, especially among the young. Even the late Francis Schaeffer’s center at L’Abri, Switzerland, took the lead in cooperation on reducing abortion, in addition to attracting thousands of young people to its various centers on different continents.
…..Hispanic bishops Ricardo Ramirez CSB (Las Cruces, NM) and Placido Rodriguez CMF (Lubbock, TX) have shown initiative in working with Hispanic evangelicals and Pentecostals. Efforts by World Vision International to build bridges to Catholicism are slow in Latin America, but they are trying. Pentecostal leader Juan Sepulveda has written movingly of ecumenical progress at the Fifth Latin American Bishops Conference (Aparecida, Brazil, 2007): Ecumenical Trends 37 (April, 2008, #4): 9/57-11/59.
…..Ron Rolheiser’s sketching of conservatism versus liberalism (Secularity and the Gospel, pp. 49-50, 85-87) reminds us of the phenomenon of red states and blue states. Red states not only tend to vote Republican and have conservative values; they also have higher rates of religious practice and are rural oriented. When Harvey Cox wrote his classic Secular City, he explained how urbanization is related to secularity (rev. ed., 1966, pp. 3-12). Can our three person secularity team, residing in Indianapolis, IN, also alert Oblates working in more rural and small town areas, to the differences between faith practices in red and blue states?
…..Cox’s ch. 9 “Sex and Secularization” has this marvelous view:
…..If Americans had consciously set out to think up a system that would produce maximal martial and premarital strife for both sexes, we could scarcely have invented a more sexually sabotaging set of dating procedures than we have today (p. 180).
…..Modesty, chastity, and a mature Christian view of sex are important elements in our exploration of secularity.
…..Since Pope Leo XIII’s encyclical on social Justice Rerum Novarum (1891), observers have noted that the papacy is liberal in matters of Justice, Peace and Integrity of Creation (JPIC), and conservative in matters of doctrine. On the Protestant side, Jim Wallis and his journal Sojourners is the latest in a line of evangelical liberals, conservative in doctrine and liberal in JPIC.
…..Here in Buffalo, NY, a growing number of African-American Protestant pastors are discovering the courses in spirituality at the inter-diocesan seminary. Our resources in spirituality at Oblate School of Theology, and Lebh Shomea should be attractive to Hispanic evangelicals and Pentecostals.
III. Proclamation and Dialogue exist in creative tension. The following article from Columban Missions, Nov. 2007, p. 11 challenges us. See the Assisi Page for this article
Oblate Missiologists
February 2020 Revised Edition of Oblate Missiologists
By Harry Winter, OMI
Feb. 2020 edition of Oblate Missiologists, A Workbook, features the mention of the first Oblate martyr, Brother Alexis Reynard (1828-75).
Our first Oblate martyr died defending a young 14-year-old orphan girl, Genevieve Duquette, from their guide, Louis Lafrance, on a journey in the Arctic in 1875. Brother Alexis Reynard (1828-1875) and the girl both were murdered by Louis. Details are given by Ileana Chinnci, COMI (Oblate Missionary Cooperator), in Oblatio Studia 8, “Oblation and Martyrdom,” pp. 161-64.
Click here for more details on Bro. Alexis Reynard
For the Feb. edition of the Workbook, with a further contribution by Bishop Wieslaw Anthony Krotki, O.M.I., of Hudson Bay, CLICK HERE.
Information about Bibliographia Missionaria
With disappointment and great regret, I want to inform you that after eighty-three years of activity the publication of the Bibliographia Missionaria comes to an end. Despite having the right staff and editor, the Rector of the Pontifical Urban University has taken the decision to conclude this important work for missiology. One of the few missiological journals published for so long, appreciated by many specialists, thus ends. As one of the publishers, I feel to remember the story of this publication. Read More Click Here
The Story of Brother Alexis Reynard, O.M.I., Our First Oblate Martyr. 2019/2020
Feb. 2020 edition of Oblate Missiologists, A Workbook, features the mention of the first Oblate martyr, Brother Alexis Reynard (1828-75). Click Here to Learn more
Oblates Preserving Hmong Culture in Minnesota (February 27, 2018)
How does a church named after the patron saint of Ireland, located in St. Paul, Minnesota, become the focal point of outreach to an ethnic group from Laos? It’s a testament to the diversity of ministry of the Missionary Oblates. Click Here to learn more
A Love Letter to One Oblate and all Oblates, as the Hmong language is Constructed. (June 6, 2017)
On behalf of the Catholic Hmong congregation here at St. Patrick, I want to Thank you Father for bringing us to this church. Without you, we might not be here today. So thank you so much for everything that you have done to find us a home. Click Here to learn more
Oblate Yves Bertrais and others construct the Hmong language. (October 4, 2018)
Although multiple attempts were made to spread the gospel to the Hmong in Asia, the most well known and successful was that of an Oblat of the Immaculate Heart priest namesed Yves Bertrais (Txiv Plig Nyiaj Pov). Click Here to learn more
For Lucien Bouchard OMI’s Ministry to Hmong in Laos
I’m writing these notes about my missionary life in Southeast Asia and will relate especially about my 18 ½ years stay in Laos from Nov. 17, 1956 to May 8, 1975. After I was forced out of Laos by the Communist Lao regime in 1975, I then joined six French ex-Laos missionaries and went with them to Indonesia where we arrived at the end of January, 1977 in the city of Jakarta. Click Here to learn more
Fr. Anatole Baillargeon, OMI (1914-2008) was among the many Oblates who have been involved with US Catholic Mission Association (USCMA), Executive Research Assistant, U.S. Catholic Mission Council. For more information, click here.
As the Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate and the Pontifical Urbaniana University Library discuss dropping the hardcopy annual edition of Bibliographia Missionaria, or perhaps ceasing publication entirely, it is helpful to review this priceless contribution by our community to the study of missiology.
Not only has the yearly issue been of immense help to missiologists of every denomination, but it has shown that German missiologists could work in a then French religious order, to be succeeded by Polish, and most recently, a Madagascar missiologist. Consult “Bibliographia Missiologia: Thermometer of Missiology,” for a sketch of this accomplishment:Click Here.
Based on the pioneering work in missiology bibliography by Oblates Robert Streit and Johannes Dindinger, the first volume of Bibliographia Missionaria was published in 1935 by Johannes Rommeskirchen, OMI. He edited the annual volume for the next 20 years.
In 1977, Willi Henkel, OMI assumed the role of editor. He was assisted by Josef Metzler, OMI, Nickolas Kowalski, OMI and Werner Rorig, OMI. For a detailed explanation of his predecessors by Henkel, see his 1982 “Bibliographers in the Service of Mission,” Oblate Missiologists, pp. 37-45, Click Here.
Marek Rostkowski, OMI, assumed the editorship in 1998, and published it until 2016, when Alphonse Rakontondravelo, OMI, took that position. Alphonse has been involved with the 2017 edition, which may be the first and last to be published online.
As the Urbaniana University decides whether an internet edition is possible, let us thank God for the 78 issues so far published. What an accomplishment by our Oblate missiologists! May the Holy Spirit help all concerned in the decision.
For a unique contribution by the Oblates to the study of Missiology, Ecumenism, and World Religion Click here to learn more
National Workshop on Christian Unity May 2017 praises Oblate Missiologists, Click Here Use link for OMIUSA Four Oblates
Letitia Preston Floyd: A direct descendant, Austin Floyd, has found many more unedited letters of the Floyd Family, at West Virginia University Library. More about this in the future.
It is fitting that this most spirited defense of a Catholic being able to serve in American politics, was written by the son of Letitia Preston Floyd (see below for our calling her an Oblate missiologist). Benjamin Rush Floyd penned this in 1852, See how far Catholics have come (and Jews and Southern Baptists and members of other faiths): Click Here to Learn More
Corona Virus: An Opportunity to Work with Fundamentalists, click here.
Ron Rolheiser OMI notes that the Oblates of Mary are the best kept secret in the missionary world. May this booklet help us become more grateful for the great witness God has enabled us to make.
Roman Catholic and Episcopalian Bishops of Buffalo, NY: Ecumenism for Evangelization. Some Oblate Reflections.
For Archived Oblate Missiologist Articles Please Click here
For June 3rd article on Letitia Preston Floyd Click Here; for more see below:
Letitia Preston Floyd Rediscovered (see third item below). Dr. Jim Glanville has recently publicized the importance of Letitia Preston Floyd, with three articles in The Smithfield Review, vol. 19, 2015. Working with Ryan S. Mays, he published “A Sketch of Letitia Preston Floyd and Some of Her Letters,” (pp. 77-120), and “Governor John Floyd, Letitia Preston Floyd and the Catholic Church” (pp. 121-36). He worked with Fr. Winter and edited the article Fr. Winter originally wrote in 1990 “Letitia Preston Floyd: Pioneer Catholic Feminist” (pp. 137-45). Copies of The Smithfield Review may be obtained: info@smithfieldplantation.org.
Much information on Letitia and her family is available on the website maintained by Dr. Glanville: www.lynnside.org.
Update on “Thermometer of Missiology”: the accomplishment described at the end of this paragraph is now edited by Marek Rostkowski, OMI, and the 77th volume, for the year 2014, has now grown to 4,727 bibliographical entries, 41 reviews, and 301 journals indexed. Any publication regarding ecumenism, interfaith dialogue, and social justice, as part of evangelization, is recorded. It has its own website: Bibliographia Missionaria. Please Click Here
Greg Gallagher OMI; Robert Schreiter, CPPS – 2014
The following article from the Summer 2014, Mission Update of the United States Catholic Mission Association (USCMA) explains why the ecumenical American Society of Missiology is so important. Twice Robert Schreiter, CPPS, is presented. Schreiter has taught many Oblates who have studied at the Chicago Theological Union.
Greg Gallaher, OMI, is currently President of the USCMA Click Here and look for pages 6 and 7.
An Oblate Missiologist: Letitia Preston Floyd (1779-1852)?
In what sense is this woman an Oblate missiologist? Her influence on spreading Catholicism in the States of WV, Virginia, Kentucky and Tennessee is enormous, through her children whom she encouraged to become Catholic at a time when Catholicism was despised and rejected. She was the sister of a governor of Virginia, James Patton Preston; the wife of a governor of Virginia, John Floyd; and the mother of a governor of Virginia, John Buchanan Floyd.
When Fr. James MacGee OMI became pastor of Monroe County, WV, he discovered St. John’s Chapel , Sweet Springs, WV, built by Letitia’s daughter Letitia Floyd Lewis. When I succeeded MacGee as pastor, I took up the story of the Floyd’s and Lewis’. Below is an article describing the high point, on Aug. 15, 1990, when the bishop of the Diocese of Wheeling-Charleston, Bernard Schmitt, dedicated the marker on Mrs. Floyd’s grave.
Recently a Virginian historian, Jim Glanville, has discovered the article and is mining the correspondence between Mrs. Floyd and Bishop Vincent Whelan, for her actual entry into the Catholic Church. We hope to post his article soon.
Thus Mrs. Floyd is an Oblate Missiologist in the sense that she led many into the Catholic Church, and in the sense that Oblates have discovered her influence. Click here for the Aug. 15, 1990 article. Click here for article
April 18th 2013 Oblate Convocation. The interest group on Missionary Ecumenism was presented twice. Fr. Ron Rolheiser OMI introduced it Harry Winter OMI facilitated and Dan Nassaney OMI concluded each session. Click here for introductory material
We now have the first doctoral dissertation (1983) done on Father Andre Seumois, OMI. Click here for the PDF version.
This article of Marcello Zago has appeared in the June 2012 issue of Ecumenical Trends. click here to view BONDING PROCLAMATION, ECUMENISM AND DIALOGUE