MADISON — “We Are Women of Faith, Women of Hope, Women of Action” is the theme of the 55th annual Madison Diocesan Council of Catholic Women (MDCCW) convention to be held June 16 to 17 at the Bishop O’Connor Center here.
Registration is from 7:15 to 8:45 a.m. on Wednesday, June 17, Convention Day. A continental breakfast will be served at that time. The annual meeting will be convened at 9 a.m.
Catholics are attacking our apostles and priests. Bishops, priests, and faithful lay people are challenging colleges, universities, hospitals, and other Catholic institutions to be just that — Catholic.
The Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith is formally assessing the Leadership Conference of Women Religious, on very important issues. Bishops have defined that Catholic institutions cannot perform new-age-energy-healing rituals.
And bishops, priests, and lay faithful are increasingly challenging prominent Catholic politicians, like the vice president, the speaker of the house, numerous governors and officials, at every level throughout the country, to be Catholic.
This is the second in a series of articles that answers questions about Catholic schools.
The primary mission of Catholic schools is to teach the faith through proclaiming, living, and witnessing the Gospel message. In this way they participate in the evangelical mission of the Church. A secondary mission of Catholic schools is to help parents fulfill the promise that all parents make when their children are baptized — to educate and raise their children in the faith.
These are the two main reasons that we have Catholic schools. Catholic schools are important to the life of the Church because they teach children about their faith and assist in the education of the next generation of Catholics.
Well, it’s been a little over a year and a half since the bishop started Trusting in the Spirit with the publication of his directives to clusters.
Trusting in the Spirit is a program created to increase collaboration and connectedness among and between parishes and the Diocese of Madison. It’s based on the planning done in Guided by the Spirit as one response to the declining number of priests in our diocese.
An important moment when planning, and we should always be planning, is our look back in time to measure how we did in comparison to our original plan. Consequently, it’s the annual time for parishes and clusters to evaluate their ministry progress (reports due May 15th!) so everyone can see how we’re doing to build up the Church in the Diocese of Madison.
Last fall, I mentioned that the principle of solidarity is one theme of Catholic social teaching that has special relevance in tough economic times.
Solidarity is the recognition that all human life is social and that we are connected to each other. Solidarity reminds us, as Pope John Paul II once wrote, “all are responsible for all.”
Just as people are connected, so too are the issues and public policies that reflect our way of life. A number of issues currently being discussed at the State Capitol drive this reality home.
Queridos amigos:
Mi gran afecto por la Universidad de Notre Dame, que fue creciendo durante los años que estuve allí; así como mi gran aprecio por su Presidente, el Padre Jenkins, han hecho que no me haya referido antes, por escrito, al asunto del Presidente Obama y su discurso en esta casa de estudios en donde además recibirá una distinción honoraria al iniciarse el año lectivo. Sin embargo, ha llegado el momento en que tengo que hacerlo.
En primer lugar, permítanme decir que si yo fuera el Presidente de la Universidad de Notre Dame, nunca hubiera invitado al Presidente Obama para que hable al inicio del año y mucho menos que sea distinguido con el Doctorado Honoris Causa. Simplemente nunca lo hubiera hecho y cualquiera que me conoce lo sabría.
MADISON — Bishop Robert C. Morlino has announced that Pope Benedict XVI has recognized the gifts of the priests and people of the Diocese of Madison by conferring papal honors on two Madison diocesan priests.
Msgr. Delbert L. Schmelzer, diocesan director of the Society for the Propagation of the Faith of the Diocese of Madison, has been named a Protonotary Apostolic (Supranumerary), and Msgr. Wilfred Schuster has been named a Prelate of Honor of His Holiness.
“These appointments bring honor on our whole presbyterate and I renew my deep gratitude for all the good that our priests do each day,” Bishop Morlino said.
