pathways, May 09
Historic vows
Week of prayer for Christian unity: ONE IN GOD'S HANDS
Sister of Mercy named one of Time Magazine's 100 most influential people
Winter warmers
US Bishops urged to restore civility in pro-life efforts
Historic vows
Sisters of the Good Samaritan in Australia, Japan, the Philippines and beyond will rejoice on May 23 when the first I-Kiribati woman makes her perpetual profession.
An Australian contingent will be led by Congregational superior and CRA President Sister Clare Condon SGS who will give an "admonition" during the ceremony. at which Bishop Paul Mea MSC (Kiribati and Nauru) will preside in Sacred Heart Cathedral, Tarawa. Good Sams living in Kiribati and some who have served over many years will join in this joyful celebration.
One in God's hand
Inspired by the witness of churches from a divided country, Christians throughout the world will pray that they may become one in God's hand during the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity 2009, May 24-May 31.
The materials for this week of prayer are rooted in the experience of the churches in Korea. In their context of national division they have turned for inspiration to the prophet Ezekiel, who also lived in a tragically divided nation and longed for the unity of his people.
Traditionally celebrated between 18 and 25 January (in the northern hemisphere) or at Pentecost (in the southern hemisphere), the week of prayer mobilizes countless congregations and parishes around the world. The production of the liturgical and biblical material for the week of prayer is jointly coordinated - since 1968 - by the World Council of Churches (Faith and Order Commission) and the Roman Catholic Church (Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity).
Sister of Mercy named one of Time Magazine's 100 most influential people
Time Magazine has named Mercy Sister Mary Scullion to its 2009 list of the 100 most influential people in the world.
Sister Mary's work to transform homelessness in Philadelphia landed her on this list, putting her in good company with Barack Obama, Oprah and Angela Merkel, Germany's first female Chancellor. Sister Mary, 55, is co-founder and director of Project H.O.M.E., a nonprofit organization that provides housing and services to chronically homeless women and men in Philadelphia.
Winter warmers
Ethica Accessories - a Sisters of St Joseph Peruvian project - will hold a Peruvian Winter Warmer on Friday, May 29, at Mary MacKillop Place, North Sydney.
Handmade products from Peru will be on sale and patrons will also be able to sample Peruvian food and drink. Ethica Accessories provides employment and fair income for more than 200 women living in impoverished parts of Peru. All the goods are hand-crafted in producer groups co-ordinated by the Sisters who have been working to relieve poverty in Peru for more than 25 years. A not-for-profit organisation, it is a member of the Fair Trade Association.
For those who cannot attend the night, goods can be purchased through
the website.
US Bishops urged to restore civility in pro-life efforts
Calling the Obama presidency a new moment in US history, Jesuit Fr John P. Langan of Georgetown University has warned of a current "three-way impasse" on abortion.
He has urged U.S. bishops seeking real change to act with caution, pastoral care and "civil respect for those with whom they disagree".
"The bishops are certainly right to condemn the moral evil of abortion and to warn us against the individualism, selfishness and greed which have had such a devastating effect on American culture and family life as well as on our financial institutions," he said.
"But if they think they make their witness more credible and more effective by developing a quasi-excommunication of the Democratic Party and by aligning themselves with politicians who think that combining pro-life slogans with American chauvinism and exercising American military power without regard to international criticism constitutes an adequate response to evil in the world, they are sadly mistaken."
Langan is Georgetown's Cardinal Joseph Bernardin professor of Catholic social thought and rector of the university's Jesuit community.
According to Jerry Filteau, the National Catholic Reporter's Washington correspondent, Langan delivered a carefully nuanced analysis of the Catholic social teaching challenges facing the new Obama administration and the 111th US Congress at a seminar on Capitol Hill recently, at a function sponsored by The Catholic University of America's Life Cycle Institute.
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