Around the Provinces: Confrere News and Updates

Fr. Art Trapp, CM		Fr. Martin Culligan, CM		Fr. Hank Grodecki, CM		Fr. Dennis Holtschneider, CM		Fr. Mike Joyce, CM

MIDWEST PROVINCE:

St. Louis:

Father Art Trapp, CM, came in from Kenya in November. He visited around town on his way to Perryville to visit the confreres and see his doctors.

Father Martin Culligan, CM, received recognition from the Staff of Northwestern University Medical Center in Chicago for his participation in their “Leg Study Program” which he has been involved in for the past seven years.

St. Mary’s of the Barrens:

Father Walter Reisinger, CM, celebrated his 50th anniversary in Dixon, Missouri where he has been stationed for the past 18 years. The house was well represented by Brothers Richard Hermann, John Mangogna, Harvey Goertz, Rich Zoellner, CMs, along with Fathers Al Hoernig, Jerry Fortenberry, and John Gagnepain, CMs. Fr. Wally had a special Mass and great reception.

Congratulations to Father Hank Grodecki, CM, on his appointment to the International Coordinating Committee of the Association of the Miraculous Medal.

DePaul University:

The DePaul Reads Together program, a year-long book club of faculty and staff at DePaul University, sponsored a panel discussion on November 9, 2005. Along with Thomas Fuechtman, Ph.D., former Executive Director of Community and Government Relations for DePaul University, Fathers J. Patrick Murphy, Dennis Holtschneider and John Rybolt, CMs, commented on their contributions to the recent edition of the Vincentian Heritage.

The Vincentian Heritage, Volume 25, Number 2 and Volume 26, Number 1, 2005: Conference Papers presented to The William and Mary Pat Gannon Hay Vincent de Paul Leadership Project is a gift from the Congregation of the Mission at DePaul University to all full-time faculty and staff. The book serves as the main text for a year-long book discussion group exploring Vincentian leadership principles and their application to the contemporary work environment at DePaul University.

Colorado Mountain Region:

Father Bill Rhinehart, CM, pastor of St. Rose of Lima Church, recently celebrated the parish’s 125th anniversary. The mountain parish in Buena Vista held an outdoor Mass followed by a picnic with activities for the children. The church was established in 1880, one year after the town of Buena Vista was founded, although the first Mass in the area had been celebrated nearly 15 years earlier. The parish attracted farmers, ranchers and miners and grew with the town. Buena Vista was the Chaffee County seat from 1880 until 1928, when it was moved to Salida.

Honor:

At the October 2005 meeting of the Canon Law Society of America, Father Mike Joyce, CM, was elected as one of the new consultors to the Board of Governors, despite having been forced to be absent from the convention due to the death of his goddaughter’s child. (In fact, he received the most votes of the three candidates elected to this office!)

SOUTHERN PROVINCE:

Comments from Provincial Father Dan Borlik, CM:

The Provincial Council Visits New Orleans:

My first post-Katrina visit to New Orleans was in mid-November and I’ve been back twice since then. As we might expect with such massive and wide-spread damage to buildings and infrastructure, recovery – especially repairs and a return to any kind of “normalcy” – is slow and tedious. Still, there is certain progress and much to be thankful for. Our men, Fathers Perry Henry, George Weber, Mark Ford, Joseph Thottamkara (CM Northern Indian Province) and Bob Lamy, CMs, and Brother Jim Steinbach, CM, continue to live together at St. Stephen’s rectory and are in good spirits. They keep busy and are caring, cooking and cleaning for each other. On December 19-20, the Provincial Council met with John Morton (architect) for a progress report on damages and repairs particularly, at St. Stephen’s and St. Joseph’s churches. (DePaul Residence suffered little damage.) Mr. Morton has been invaluable in using his local contacts to establish construction teams. However, we’ve run into many roadblocks due to an overwhelmed (and reluctant) insurance industry and a crisis of qualified, available workers. On the pastoral side, Fr. Henry and I have met with Archbishop Hughes and two inner city Deanery Religious pastors with their Provincials. Our purpose has been to explore ways to work together with other pastors while downsizing the number of churches fully operative with so few people having returned. We can expect a public announcement of an Archdiocesan Plan soon from Archbishop Hughes and a city-wide plan from the New Orleans (recovery) Planning Commission about what’s in store for us for the next two to three years. In addition, we Vincentians will soon make a public announcement concerning how we will re-focus our own presence in the archdiocese.

Collaboration with other CM Provinces:

The “Under Sixty Gathering:” Recent meetings with Father Andy Bellisario, CM, Provincial of the Province of the West, and our respective Councils have moved us to create opportunities for greater interaction among the younger men in our two provinces. We recently traveled to Dickinson, Texas for a two-day gathering of over 30 confreres. Organized by Fathers Tom Stehlik and Jeff Harvey, CMs, and assisted by Brother Jim Steinbach, CM, and others, the two days provided time to pray together, listen to one another and dream about a future together.