No. 3 - DECEMBER 1998
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SECOND CONGRESS OF THE CARMELITE FAMILY IN AFRICA |
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The second congress of the Carmelite Family took place from 10 to 14 August 1998 in Mutare, Zimbabwe. The venue was the Diocesan Pastoral Centre in Mutare. Thirty-six members of the Carmelite Family involved in Africa took part. They came from Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Tanzania, Mozambique, Malawi, Spain, Italy, Brazil, Ireland and Zimbabwe. Our brothers and sisters from Rwanda and D.R. of Congo could not be with us because of the political situation in their countries. A presentation concerning the Carmelite presence and apostolates in each mission area in Africa was given by a representative coming from that area. Rwanda and the D.R. of Congo sent their reports which were read to the assembly. In his address, the Prior General, Fr. Joseph Chalmers, stressed the fact that Carmelites have a great tradition which goes back 800 years and that the Carmelite charism is a gift of the Holy Spirit for the Church and for the world. He also stressed that the more we are faithful to our Carmelite tradition the more we shall live the Gospel faithfully. Fr. Joseph then said that he hoped that from the Congress would emerge a plan for the future growth of the Order in Africa. The main talks of the following days were about:
From the evaluation which the participants filled in at the end of the Congress, it seems that all thought that the Congress was a happy occasion to experience true fraternity and that it was useful for the future planning of the Provinces and the Order. The generosity of all concerned was an inspiration and a great encouragement for the future of the Carmelite Order in Africa. For further information: |
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The meeting, held in Fatima (Portugal), began on 31 august at 6 p.m. with a moment of prayer and an address of welcome. The general theme was "Lay Carmelites: Who Are They And What Do They Wish To Become". This theme was developed through the following talks:
Each talk was developed in discussion groups divided according to language. Then, the secretaries of the groups presented reports from the groups to the general assembly. There followed further discussion and a conclusion from the presenter of the talk. The times of prayer also were further occasions for reflection on the theme of the day as well as times of thanksgiving and praise of the Lord. There emerged from these days the fact that the Carmelite Laity is becoming ever more conscious of its role within the Church and within our Carmelite Family. It is clear that the laity has to be and work in harmony with the expectations of the Church, the Carmelite charism and the world of today, in order to effect a clear and meaningful presence in the various lands. For further information: |
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On the morning of 11 October 1998, in St. Peter's Square (Vatican), John Paul II canonized Teresa Benedicta of the Cross, OCD, in the world Edith Stein. Twenty concelebrants accompanied the Pope at the altar: cardinals, archbishops, bishops, Fr. Camilo Maccise, Propositus General OCD, and Fr. Joseph Chalmers, Prior General, O.Carm. Tens upon tens of thousands of the faithful crowded St. Peter's Square, devoutly uniting themselves to the Eucharistic celebration and to the joy for the raising of this "daughter of Israel and of Carmel" to the honours of the altar. Edith Stein was born of a Jewish family of strict observance on 12 October 1891, in Breslavia (then part of Germany, now in Poland). Edith soon showed an uncommon intelligence, keen to learn and full of interest. At fifteen, she declared herself an atheist. She was one of a very small number of women to study philosophy, much less with the founder of phenomenology, Edmund Husserl, whose assistant she became. Edith Stein never told of the deep motives which led to her conversion, however, we can deduce that her approach to the faith was determined by her constant search for truth. She was baptized on 11 January 1922 and dedicated herself to teaching while continuing her philosophical studies until 1933, when the rise of Hitler to power brought racial discrimination which forced her to resign. On 15 October 1933 she entered the Carmel of Cologne, thus realising the vocation she had intuited when she was converted. On 31 December 1938 she left Cologne to take refuge in Echt in The Netherlands so as not to endanger the monastery by her presence. On 2 August 1942 the SS arrested many religious of Jewish origin in retaliation for the condemnation of the persecution by the Dutch bishops. Edith Stein was deported to Auschwitz together with her sister, also a Carmelite, and killed in the gas chamber on 9 August 1942. The cause for her beatification was started by the Curia of Cologne in 1962. On 11 May 1987 the present Pope proclaimed her Blessed. In his homily, John Paul II spoke of the saint's virtues, of Shoah and of the youth of today. At the end he greeted the many pilgrims come to Rome, particularly the members of the Stein family who were in Rome on this happy occasion. The Holy Father concluded the solemn celebration with the recitation of the Angelus, inviting the faithful to keep their eyes on Mary as the new Saint had done. |
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The North American Province of St. Elias, after decision was reached at its 1997 Provincial Chapter, has been engaged in establishing the Carmelite Order on the island of Trinidad in the West Indies. This year has seen great growth in these missions. On August 30, 1998, Fr. John Horan, from the same Province, took up residence in Trinidad living and ministering with the Holy Ghost Fathers in their parish at Sangre Grande, Trinidad. From there, Fr. John has the care of the parish of St. Thérèse in Rio Claro. In New York, Bro. Gerard Tang Choon has begun the Novitiate, the first native of Trinidad to do so. There are also two pre-novices in the Province from Trinidad, Dave Grenoir and Garth Eversley. The project is off to a good start in part due to the cooperation and help of the Corpus Christi Carmelite Sisters whose Motherhouse is in Trinidad and the encouragement of the Archbishop of Port of Spain, Mgr. Anthony Pantin. For further information: |
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On 13 September 1998, at the Carmel of Vetralla (Italy) and before the whole Church represented by Card. Achille Silvestrini, the bishop of Viterbo, Mgr. Chiarinelli, the Carmelite Provincial, Fr. Carlo Cicconetti, many priests, the Mayor and a large number of faithful, the Carmelite nun, Sr. Maria Grazia Israele pronounced her final "Yes". At the express desire of this young Carmelite nun, the solemn profession was marked especially by the presence, at the mystical wedding between God and Israel, of representatives of the Jewish community in the persons of Mr. Aharon Lopez, Ambassador of Israel to the Holy See and Mrs. Tullia Zevi, ex-president of the Italian Jewish Community. Their presence as well as the choice of hymns appropriate to the occasion (the entrance hymn went "...the sceptre of David bursts with joy, the morning promised to Abraham has come...", the offertory hymn "Shema Israel, the Lord is your God......", the communion hymn said "Behold, she is in readiness: Jerusalem the spouse of the Lord!"), the choice of readings, and the participation of the Jewish representatives, turned the little chapel of Vetralla into a part of the land of Canaan, a peaceful corner of Jerusalem where Jews and Christians, almost exceeding the efforts at interreligious dialogue, embraced each other in love, in yearning for unity, while giving freedom to the one God to make it come true according to His will. For further information: |
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The fifteenth meeting of Lay Carmelites in Sicily was held on 11-13 September 1998 at Pergusa (En). Over 150 participants from the whole island, led by Fr. Carmelo Scellato, organiser, and by their spiritual assistants and presidents, experienced moments of great spirituality in a true oasis of peace. The meeting was opened by the local assistant with a reflection on the theme "The Holy Spirit is Lord and gives life". On the following days, three figures who inspire Carmelites were presented: Liberata Ferrarons, Spanish Carmelite tertiary who died in the odour of sanctity on 21 June 1842, Blessed Isidore Bakanja, the young Congolese who was martyred on 15 August 1909 and Fr. Elia Carbonaro, Sicilian Carmelite who died twenty-five years ago in Trapani leaving behind shining examples of mystical asceticism and of ministerial activity, especially dispensation of the Sacrament of reconciliation and the celebration of the Eucharist. Besides these presentations, the programme included a cultural trip to the city of Enna and an evening of recreation. The meeting closed with speeches by the president of the Lay Carmelites of the Italian Province and the local president for the TOC in Sicily. Both presented in general the programme and itinerary for the year 1998-99. For further information: |
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The world Congress of the UCIP, the International Catholic Union of the Press, took place on 15 September 1998 at the headquarters of UNESCO in Paris (France). Journalists of all ages were present to discuss the theme "The written media, means of social communication for tomorrow: a Christian and practical professional vision". The following day, awards were given by the UCIP to Catholic journalists who distinguished themselves in their country and in the world by their professional service and for the values they communicated through their work. This year, the Titus Brandsma Award, sponsored by the Episcopal Conference and the Carmelite Province of the Netherlands, was awarded to Mr. Ignatius Gonsalves of Kerala, India. Over the past 15 years, Gonsalves has lived and worked for Catholic ideals and interests. He has committed himself to the poor and disinherited in search of their dignity, justice and equality. Convinced that in India, because of religious fanaticism and fundamentalism, the press has a very important role to play by spreading information, he has dedicated himself to the formation of Christian young people who are preparing themselves to undertake a journalistic career. Because of his convictions, Gonsalves has been challenged, threatened and intimidated, and yet he has continued to expose and spread the knowledge of the social evils and crimes of the government. Gonsalves was at the top of the list of persons who are considered non grata by the communist party which since 1957 has often been in power in Kerala. For further information: |
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Cardinal Darmaatmadja, archbishop of Jakarta, expressed great anxiety over the violence which broke out in the capital between 11 and 14 November 1998, when 14 persons were killed and hundreds wounded. Thousands of students who were protesting peacefully against the special session of the highest Assembly of State, clashed with the police and the armed forces. In a communiqué of 14 November, the archbishop said: "We are disturbed and saddened. Many people are asking themselves whether there is still any good will among us. We do not seem to be capable of tolerating differences among us without committing violence. We must find a solution so that the situation may not worsen. Let us pray for all the victims from all the groups." The worst clash took place on 13 November in front of the Catholic University of Atmajaya, in the centre of the city and near the Assembly hall. The soldiers brutally opened fire on the students and on large groups of local people. The following day the protest took the form of disorders in some commercial districts where people looted and set fire to some shops. In many provincial cities, students continued to demonstrate in the streets until Monday, 16 November, as a sign of solidarity towards their friends who were killed. On 14 November, in Medan, North Sumatra, more than ten thousand students occupied Polonia airport the whole afternoon, thus causing some flights to be cancelled. On the same day, in the Carmelite parish "Flower of Carmel", west of Jakarta, Cardinal Darmaatmadja led the funeral of Bernardine Realino - Irawan, a student of the Catholic University of Atmajaya, killed during the events of 13 November. Those present were greatly moved because the victim was well-known as one of the medical volunteers formed by the Jesuit Fr. Sandyawan Sumardi after the May riots which resulted in Suharto's overthrow as president.
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On Sunday, 6 September 1998, the archbishop of Beira, Mgr. Jaime Pedro Gonçalves, installed Fr. Severino de Freitas Castro as Parish Priest of Gorongonza, Mozambique. Fr. Severino was charged with the spiritual care and the task of continuing the work of evangelisation among the people of Gorongonza. Through the person of Fr. McGrath, Commissary Provincial of Zimbabwe, the archbishop conveyed his sincere gratitude to the Carmelite Order for sending Fr. Severino and Br. Amilton Vidotto to work among the people of Gorongonza. A very large number of faithful witnessed the installation of our Carmelite confreres in Mozambique.
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In the 1950s, there was a resurgence of the Carmelite Third Order activity in the United States. These years of reawakening are noted especially by Catholic Action among T.O.Carms., fostered through the efforts of Fr. Kilian Lynch, Provincial Director. He played a key role in the organization / dissemination of available information and literature which contributed to the growth of Lay Carmelites at the time. Among the past Provincial Directors of St. Elias Province are: Fr. Tom McGinnis, who, through his organizational activities, was instrumental in helping to establish Lay Carmels in the early 70s. His successor, Fr. Chris Byrnes, is remembered for his work in promoting pilgrimages and for conducting many rosary rallies at what is today the National Shrine of Our Lady of Mt. Carmel in Middletown, NY, thus helping in large part to bring Lay Carmels into closer communion with one another. Fr. Gus Graap, Provincial Director from 1988-1992, opened the first Lay Carmelite Office of the St. Elias Province and initiated its organizational and archival development. Fr. Gus's ground-breaking effort was essential in bringing both North American Provinces (PCM-SEL) to collaborate in the organization of Lay Carmelites. As a result, the "InterProvincial Lay Carmelite Commission" was established to guide and facilitate the process of developing mature and responsible lay leadership among Lay Carmelites. The present Provincial Director, Fr. Brocard M. Connors, continues to guide and support Lay Carmelites so that they may cherish the treasure of Carmel more deeply and be able to hand down the tradition and the charism of the Carmelite Order to new generations in the years to come. At present, the Province of St. Elias has about 45 Lay Carmels with almost 1,400 members. They are Christian men and women from all walks of life living the Carmelite charism in the world. Essentially they strive to do this by living in the footsteps of Jesus. Lay Carmelites sustain each other and the poor in fraternal communion so that they may manifest to the world that God dwells in the midst of his people. They try to express their deep love of God as they are called by their baptism to be priests, prophets and kings. As Lay Carmels, in various parishes, are formed ever more into schools of prayer, they learn to develop and encourage in themselves and in others a sense of contemplative service to God's people. Set firmly in the Church, Lay Carmelites try to follow Jesus through prayer, spiritual community and prophetic ministry in the spirit of Mary and Elijah. For further information: |
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Mr. Celeste Jones and Mr. Joseph dos Ramos, two American Lay Carmelites have recently set up a Carmelite Web Ring. A Web Ring is basically a circle of web sites, with like content, all linked together, sort of forming one large web site. Simply by clicking on a "next site" button the person can visit all the webpages in the ring. This free service offer to those searching for Carmelite topics can visit many sites easily instead of spending a lot of time in the search engines. This will also help the smaller sites to increase traffic to their web pages, being linked with the more popular ones. For further information: |
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The Carmelites of the Neapolitan Province who look after the Sanctuary dedicated to Our Lady of Campiglione in Caivano, are preparing for the Great Jubilee by undertaking building works and the restoration of works of art found there. The first work was the restoration to its original splendour of the very beautiful representation in painting of Our Lady and the Child Jesus presenting the rosary to St. Dominic, St. Catherine and St. Francis of Assisi. The Virgin is surrounded by angels. During the restructuring, taking place under the direction of the Superintendence for Artistic and Historical works of Capodimonte-Napoli, the work, attributed to the school of Luca Giordano, was clearly found to be of Jose Vitalis, dated 1683 and signed once more by its author in 1686. The painting showed clear signs that partial restoration had previously been carried out on some cracks. The deterioration was due mainly to the passage of time and to alterations of some materials. During the restoration of the painting, there came to light the rosary between the hands of the Child and the Virgin, a double cross near the figure of St. Francis and a double right ear of the same. After months of work, thanks to the contribution made to the Sanctuary by the festivities Committee "Maria SS. di Campiglione" since 1997, the painting has been put back in its place where the faithful can admire better its beauty and pray with greater fervour and faith to the Holy Virgin of the Rosary. For further information: |
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On 8 September 1998, the Centro Carmelita de Espiritualidad y Pastoral (CEPA), was inaugurated. The Centre is in the Carmelite parish in Belo Horizonte, Brazil, and is organised by a group of Lay Carmelites led by Fr. Claudio van Balen and Fr. Geraldo d'Abadia. On this occasion, Fr. Carlos Mesters gave a conference on the prophet Elijah as source of inspiration of Carmelite spirituality. Many of the faithful have shown great interest. CEPA, which is under the patronage of the Carmelite Province of Rio de Janeiro, plans to hold conferences, study and prayer groups, retreats and the publication of studies on Carmelite spirituality. For further information: |
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14 Dicember 1998 |