ON THE WAY TO THE PRIESTHOOD

On Saturday, December 7, Michael Wolfe, a member of the Community of Saint Paul, was instituted to the ministry of acolyte together with his three classmates at Saint Francis de Sales Seminary in Milwaukee (Wisconsin, USA).  This is the second of the two formal ministries to which seminarians are instituted during their formation towards the priesthood, preceded by that of lector.  The mass and ceremony was presided by Bishop Donald Hying, auxiliary bishop of the Archdiocese of Milwaukee, with several priests concelebrating (including three from the Community of Saint Paul). Michael and his classmates are on track to be ordained as priests in May 2016.  Let us keep these vocations in our prayers.

AN UNJUST AND ABSURD DECISION 

For several weeks now various different civil organizations and some sectors of the Catholic Church in the Dominican Republic have raised their voices in defense of the fundamental rights of all those wronged by decision 168-13 of the Dominican Constitutional Tribunal.  The international community has also begun to denounce the flagrant injustice of this decision, which threatens to leave close to 200,000 persons without a national identity.  Of course, each country is sovereign with regard to establishing its immigration laws and deciding to whom it grants nationality or not; but what cannot be agreed with is that by means of this decision the Constitutional Tribunal take away the nationality of Dominican citizens while also violating the Dominican constitution in place since 2010.

This conflict began in 2012 by the appeal for a constitutional review presented by Ms. Juliana Dequis Pierre, a woman of Haitian parents but who was born and has lived in the Dominican Republic all of her life. She made the appeal because the Central Electoral Board (Junta Central Electoral) refused to give her an original birth certificate to process her identification of citizenship. She was refused because she had Haitian surnames.  As a result of this process the Constitutional Tribunal ruled on September 23, 2013, in favor of the Central Electoral Board and Ms. Juliana was denied the right to a birth certificate, and with it, her nationality.  In the same decision the Court opened the doors to de-nationalize more than four generations of Dominicans that are in the same legal situation as Ms. Juliana Dequis Pierre. In it, it seems that the only crime that they have committed is being from Haitian ancestry.

In summary: this sentence snatches away their nationality from all those persons who during eight decades (since 1929) were registered as Dominicans but whose parents were “irregular migrants.”  It directly and above all affects thousands of persons of Haitian ancestry that until now were under the protection of the Constitution and of the laws in place at the moment of their birth and ratified in article 18.2 of the current Constitution of 2010.  It’s calculated that close to 200,000 Dominicans of Haitian origin will be affected by this law.  In the case that is be applied, they will lose their nationality and will thus become country-less, most of them retroactively for the supposed crime of their parents or grandparents who arrived and came to the country in an “irregular” way.

Furthermore, this controversial sentence has chosen to ignore something obvious: that the Haitian immigration in the Dominican Republic is, as in the case of all the migratory phenomena, a complex process caused by economic reasons in which both parties (the country that sends and the country that receives) obtain benefits. The immigrants look to escape poverty, and those that received them obtain a low cost labor force for its national economy.  To penalize the children and grandchildren of irregular Haitian immigrants, denying them the nationality after their parents and grandparents were brought through bilateral contracts between the two governments, and they established themselves and worked in the Dominican Republic under extremely difficult conditions is, in a few words, an exercise in effrontery and dishonesty.  

On the other hand, the decision debilitates the country’s state of law, and with it, increases the vulnerability of the poor, by violating the principles of favorability and of no retroactivity of the law, as established in the Dominican Constitution of 2010 in articles 74.4 and 110, respectively.  Those affected by the decision are men, women and children that consider the Dominican Republic to be their only country, as they do not know any other country or culture or language – they are 100% Dominican and yet, they are now being denied their nationality.

The decision is not only detrimental to thousands of Dominicans but it also feeds the anti-Haitianism in the rest of the population that has deep and complex historical and social roots.  It has always been inherent, but has now been made explicit, creating therefore more social unease and conflict.  Sectors that call themselves “nationalists” have taken the streets to back the Constitutional Tribunal’s decision and to deny the injustice that it presumes. If they were truly nationalists they would defend the right to the nationality of all those Dominicans affected by the decision.  Once more we see that in the background of the question is the resentment towards the Haitian people and their descendents in the Dominican Republic.

At this time the country is divided between those that applaud the decision, and those that deny its validity.  The polls show that more or less half of the Dominicans support the decision and the other half reject it.  There are also those who agree with the decision but not with its retroactive character, looking back to 1929.  This division, apart from generating social ordeal, also damages the relationship between the two countries and negatively affects the bi-national economy.  Those affected by the 168-13 decision will lack the legal documentation to study, to work, to register their children or to have access to any basic public service.  It’s a critical situation to which a democratic state in the 21^st century should know how to find solutions that respect the human rights of all those that live and work in its territory.  The way ahead for those affected by the decision is to strive so that their fundamental rights are respected, making their cry of anguish heard by the international community, hoping that the world is in solidarity with them.  And for those of us who work with them, the way ahead is to accompany them in their struggle out of respect for their fundamental rights and to help them to be heard.

Juan Manuel Camacho

CASA SAN JOSÉ IN THE “EXPOIGLESIA” IN COCHABAMBA (BOLIVIA)

“ExpoIglesia” (“Church-Expo”) took place on October 18, a wonderful fair in which the Archdiocese of Cochabamba informs the attendants of the different social works and projects that the Church does in service of the people of Cochabamba. Casa San José participated and showed the work that it carries out, taking in boys and adolescents in as well as the process of reinserting them into their families.

The boys, adolescents and the staff of Casa San José had the opportunity to offer the story book “Pequeñas Historias Fascinantes” (“Little Fascinating Stories”) and the pine trees and mushrooms produced in the mountainous area of Totorapampa. 

FINAL VATICAN II TALK

On Monday, October 28, Fr. Pere Cané, president of the Community of Saint Paul, gave the fourth and final Vatican II talk co-hosted by the Community of Saint Paul and Sacred Heart Parish in Racine.  The talk titled “The Church We Believe In: Understanding our Profession of Faith in the light of the Second Vatican Council” included a background of the Council and the documents it produced in order to then delve into the ways that the Council has invited us to better understand the four marks of the Church (one, holy, catholic and apostolic) that we profess.  The talk sparked much discussion amongst the 70 people that attended. Thank you to the speakers and the volunteers from Sacred Heart parish that made these four talks possible throughout the year, as well as to all who were able to attend them!

DANIEL’S STORY

In Casa San José, in Cochabamba, there are always stories to be told. Each boy that is welcomed in this home from living on the streets has a long story of suffering and sadness, but also of resilience and strength.

Daniel is 13 years old and has been in Casa San José for six months.  His stepfather abused him physically since he was very young, and abused Daniel’s mom too. The stepfather tricked him to go off on his own to the city of La Paz. Once there Daniel got lost and eventually was welcomed in a center for boys where he is spent some time.  The authorities then sent him to our center in Cochabamba, knowing that his mother and siblings were also in another center in the same city.  His mother was receiving psychological and emotional help to be able to move forward together with her children. Currently, his mother has move out of the center and lives with her youngest children. She is trying to find a job that will allow her to solicit Daniel’s reinsertion into the family.  She has not been able to do so yet, but everyone hopes that it will happen soon, once the family has an economic and social stability.

One of the family’s last visits to the center was for Daniel’s birthday.  The party with the family and Daniel’s companions in the Casa was moving. Daniel, his mother and his siblings are an example that sometimes it is possible to get out of the cycle of abuse within the family, and with much effort and love is possible to rebuild it again. We at the Casa hope that soon they will be back together again. 

REFLECTION

The Art of Attuning Our Emotions

Part of the many challenges of human coexistence is sometimes the difficulty to attune our emotions and moods with one another. Sometimes a great event, and others a chain of a few, very simple, uneventful circumstances can make our day bright. And that day we somehow fail to understand why it is that the person next to us seems unappreciative and unable to produce a smile. That can be highly irritating. Of course, the opposite can also happen. Those times when nothing seems to go right and it’s incomprehensible how people around us seem to be rejoicing in ignorance and smiling for the stupidest thing. That’s irritating too. The truth is that is hard to become attuned to other people’s moods. First, because we are deeply convinced, and rightly so, that our mood, the way I feel at this moment is so uniquely and intrinsically my own prerogative that no one has the right to make me feel otherwise. And second, because moods are very real, and it’s not as easy to change or modify them at will. It’s difficult but not impossible. 

Perhaps one of the attitudes that we all should try to master is empathy. As hard as it is, we all do have the capacity to adapt to the mood of others. We are endowed with the ability to go beyond our own states of mind. Empathy is an attitude by which we let others become, albeit temporarily, our own reference point. Through empathy we allow them to take our emotional space for their own comfort, consolation or rejoicing. Let’s not be mistaken, it’s harder that we can imagine. Imagine that someone is grieving the loss of a loved one. We would do this person no favor if, with the pretext of being empathetic, we started to explain our own experiences of loss. The same would apply, on a more positive note, to somebody that comes to us excited to share the adventures of a recent trip. Of course we want to be part of the conversation in a meaningful way, but we would show no empathy if we start showing off our own travel experiences, perhaps to more exotic countries and riskier adventures. Empathy is letting ourselves be emotionally conquered by the other. And yes, it has to be temporary. It’s not only hard but also very tiring, very consuming. We all need others who are empathetic towards us. We all need to occupy other persons’ spaces; that’s how and why we feel loved and cared for. In a group of people where all give up their spaces to empathy, our own individual and crucial need for understanding, compassion, a friendly voice and a comforting shoulder, is over-abundantly met. It is a very difficult task, the world of human relationships is extremely complex. But the more we work towards this sharing and giving of spaces, this network of empathy, the more we will be living in the Kingdom of Heaven.

A final note. As it happens with crying or laughing, moods are often contagious. The following saying is unfairly dramatic but brings the point right across: “One rotten apple spoils the whole bunch.” It is up to us to turn this uninviting image inside out. Perhaps we could say: “One ready smile, one warm heart, one gentle look, one kind word, an empathetic gesture, may spread and multiply in surprising, unexpected and remarkable ways.”   

Esteban Redolad

VICAR GENERAL OF THE ARCHDIOCESE OF MILWAUKEE’S VISIT TO SABANA YEGUA, DOMINICAN REPUBLIC

Fr. Pat Heppe, Vicar for Clergy and Vicar General of the Archdiocese of Milwaukee, visited La Sagrada Familia Parish in Sabana Yegua from September 17 to September 24.  His visit was a good occasion to strengthen the bonds between the parish and the Archdiocese of Milwaukee, which has had La Sagrada Familia as its sister parish for more than 30 years.  This relationship, begun in 1981, has become more solidified over time, and as Fr. Heppe reminded us, has been a source of blessings for both parties.

It was an intense week in which he participated in the pastoral activity of the parish, including several liturgical celebrations. He could also see some of the human promotion projects that we carry out in the region and that link many people of Milwaukee with Sabana Yegua.

We wish to extend our sincere gratitude to Fr. Heppe for his visit. With his customary down-to-earth way and joyfulness, and with his words of support, he encouraged the whole parish team to continue forward in its work.  

TALK ON NUTRTION FOR THE WOMEN RUNNING THE “POPULAR PHARMACIES” OF LA SAGRADA FAMILIA PARISH (DOMINICAN REPUBLIC)

The “popular pharmacies” program, which is dependent on the La Sagrada Familia Health Center, offers medicines at low cost to several rural communities, many of which are far from any health center. The women in charge of these small pharmacies carry out this work as volunteers for the benefit of their community. They regularly broaden their training regarding medicines and their use.  To this effect, we recently took advantage of Dr. Mireria Morera’s visit, a physician from Spain specializing in nutrition. Dr. Morera gave a talk to these women so that they in turn would be able to teach what they have learned in their communities. The training given by Dr. Morera was very beneficial since the communities have numerous problems and deficiencies with regard to nutrition.  

SCRIPTURE STUDIES PROGRAMS IN RACINE

This fall, two members of the Community of Saint Paul are holding Scripture Study sessions in their respective parishes in Racine.

Fr. Ricardo Martín is leading sessions on the Acts of the Apostles as part of a continuous reading program that began last year with the Gospel of Luke.  There has been a very good turnout of over 50 people attending.  The group meets twice a month on Fridays.  

José Mario Nieto is leading sessions as part of the Bible Study Series at St. Richard Parish, which is his teaching parish as part of his formation at the seminary.  This semester’s sessions fall under the title of “Prophets of Israel: from Moses to John the Baptist and Jesus.”  These too have had good turnouts with over 30 adults attending.  José is leading a total 11 Monday night sessions through late October.   

REFLECTION

“Come and See”

The invitation that Jesus makes to those who, intrigued, ask him where he lives to “come and see” (John 1:38-39), firstly indicates that the Gospel cannot be explained as if it were a theory – one has to experience it, to see it. Now this invitation has another aspect that deserves some reflection: if we invite someone to come and to see, we must have something to show. Otherwise, someone who does decide to come may arrive and find a soulless house, a joyless community, an empty wrapper with nothing inside, a Church without spirit.

We Christians cannot complain that our churches are empty without at the same time asking ourselves a self-critical question: those who from time to time decide to stop by our communities, those who in a word “come,” do they then “see” something attractive, something that touches them?

We do not have much of a right to complain about the indifference that many have towards the faith if when they venture to visit, they do not discover in us anything that speaks to their heart.  Once again: if we invite someone to come and see, we should have something to show. 

INVITATION TO THE FOURTH AND FINAL VATICAN II ANNIVERSARY TALK

On Monday, October 28th, the Community of Saint Paul will co-host with Sacred Heart Parish in Racine the final of the four-talk series in honor of the 50th Anniversary of the beginning of the Second Vatican Council.  The talk The Church We Believe In: Understanding our Profession of Faith in the light of the Second Vatican Council  will be given by Fr. Pere Cané, with refreshments to follow.  We hope to see you there - and remember, it's open to the public, so bring some friends!

READING IS FUN! STORYTELLING IN THE LIBRARIES AROUND SABANA YEGUA (DOMINICAN REPUBLIC)

We have now launched three libraries in the La Sagrada Familia Parish territory around Sabana Yegua.  To promote reading with the children, this past month of August a sort of storytelling show was organized in the different libraries with the help of two volunteer youth from Barcelona.  In each library a story was told in a fun way with the help of drawings, and then was discussed together with the  children. Shortly after many of them who were not yet members hurried to sign up and get their library card in order to take one of the stories that they had heard home to read.  Thank you to Clara and Mar for their help!

CONSTRUCTION OF THREE EARTH-DAMS IN THE ALTIPLANO OF COCHABAMBA, BOLIVIA

The Community of Saint Paul has begun a new project in the Ayopaya Province in the department of Cochabamba, in Bolivia.  The project entails the construction of three earth-dams, each with a capacity of 300 cubic meters (79,251 gallons).  The water will be channeled through a distribution network ending in a sprinkler irrigation system that will cover an area of 70 hectares (173 acres) of cultivable lands.  40 families in the community of Totorani will benefit from the project.  The families are very eager and ready to work during the two months that are programmed to construct the necessary infrastructures.  Once the construction is finalized, they will be able to grow alternative products like vegetables, fruits and grains that will help to generate food stuffs and economic resources and thus lower their level of poverty, which is principally due the low productivity of their lands. 

DONATION OF BOOKS FOR THE "MINI-LIBRARIES" IN THE AREA OF AZUA (Dominican Republic)

The project to have "mini-libraries" in La Sagrada Familia Parish in Sabana Yegua keeps growing. There are currently two small libraries, one with 500 members and the other with 75.  In 2013, five more mini-libraries will be established in different rural communities in the region in order to promote reading among the children through the lending of books.  We thank FUNDEBIDO, Editorial Santillana and Editorial SM for their recent donations of books to promote reading in this part of the Dominican Republic. 

SCHOOL OF THEOLOGY IN AZUA: "FOR A LAITY WITH ADULT FAITH"

On Saturday, August 10, theology classes for laity began in the Buen Pastor School in Azua.  Members of the Community of Saint Paul embarked in the initiative, which is new in the Diocese of San Juan de la Maguana, in collaboration with the Dominican Episcopal Conference.  They were able to coordinate the beginning of studies towards a Diploma in Theology for laity in the area of Azua (an ecclesiastic district made up of 14 parishes).  The diploma consists of 22 modules in total. The day began with two modules, and the response from various parishes was very good: there are 59 students with a desire to deepen in their faith through study.  Instructors and students have begun together a learning process that will fortify their faith and at the same time will give fruit to a group of formed and dedicated laymen and laywomen that will be able to accompany their parishes and ecclesial base communities.

COURSE END IN THE SAN JOSÉ CENTER IN JARDINES DE SAN JUAN, EL AJUSCO (MEXICO D.F.)

The San José Center closed the year’s course with a graduation ceremony for the children.  Each year, when a group’s time in the center has come to an end in order to be able to continue onto primary school, we realize that those children have overcome a challenge, they’ve reached a new step. And in the San José Center, the teachers are left with the sensation of “mission completed.”  They see generations of these little ones pass by, but that won’t be forgotten.  Generations of boys and girls full of joy, innocence and much imagination.  Some day they will think back on their childhood and on the San José Center, which we hope they will remember as a time full of joy and care on the part of their teachers.  As the Spanish psychiatrist and author Enrique Rojas says, “Almost all of that which is human is in the childhood.  When this stage has been happy, healthy, full of affection and well focused, one comes out strong for everything.” 

WALK AGAINST CHILD ABUSE IN THE DOMINICAN REPUBLIC

Recently, the teachers and students of the San Agustín Nutritional Center in the San Francisco neighborhood of Sabana Yegua, took to the streets to protest against child abuse. It was a touching effort to call attention to this grave problem.  The children made the placards with which they walked thoughout the entire neighborhood, inviting especially their mothers and fathers to teaching them without violence. 

VATICAN II TALKS - No. 3

WOMEN IN THE CHURCH AFTER VATICAN II

The third talk in the Vatican II Talk Series in honor of the 50th Anniversary of the Council, co-hosted by the Community of Saint Paul and Sacred Heart Parish in Racine took place on Friday, July 12, with over 70 people attending.  The talk titled Fifty Years Later: How Have the Promises of Vatican II to Women Made a Difference In our World and Church?” was given by Sister Frances Cunningham, OSF, the former Director of World Mission Ministries in the Archdiocese of Milwaukee, who also served on the international leadership team of the School Sisters of St. Francis for twelve years.   In conversation with those present, Sister Cunningham discussed what steps had been taken in  Vatican II with regard to the advancementof women’s participation in the Church, and the promises that accompanied these changes.  She  analyzed how these promises changed Church, while also exploring how they were or were not kept.  To close, she provided some food for thought and encouragement as to how to these promises can be taken up at the level of the parish and local church.

VISIT OF YOUTH TO THE AGRICULTURAL CENTER IN COCHABAMBA

In the municipality of Vacas in Cochabamba, Bolivia, youth continue to be supported in their education in the Totorampampa Multifunctional Center. At the end of last month, 20 youth participating in the center participated in a trip to the city center in Cochabamba – a first for many of them.  They also visited the Agroforestal Combuyo Center where there is an ongoing investigation to create a sustainable agri-forestal system.  The youth enjoyed it very much, because they see these sort of efforts as something possible to implement in their own villages. Also, many of them are already participating in forestation work, thus they were fascinated to see spaces full of a variety of different trees.

REFLECTION

Dialogue: danger and benefit

Sincerely dialoguing with another person is an experience full of possibilities and risks. A dialogue that is really a dialogue (and not a monologue) always has the potential of changing the perspectives of those involved. Dialoguing transforms us. The moment that someone strikes up a conversation with the sincere intention of exchanging ideas and opinions, that person has implicitly declared that he or she is open to modifying his or her convictions.  For this reason, all those who hold dialogue in suspect, do not trust in it and avoid it, perhaps do so because they, without recognizing it, hide within themselves doubts and insecurities with regard to their beliefs and options.  These persons at most say they dialogue, but in reality they lecture and preach.  There are persons, in fact, who prepare their conversations as if it were a combat, with well thought out tactics and strategies, because for them the encounter consists in exactly that – something that has to be won.  They have convinced themselves beforehand that they precisely know what works, what is of value and what is not, and they have the duty of showing others what is the right path. That is not a dialogue. Only those who are aware of their own fragility truly dialogue, accepting the possibility of being wrong.

With this notion of dialogue we can understand the rejections of many in the Church of the proposal of the Council, which is essentially one of a willingness to dialogue. Those who then mistrusted this attitude are the same who later rejected and continue to reject today (more or less openly) the Conciliar documents or some of their aspects.  They sensed then and continue to sense now that the call to enter into dialogue with modern culture has the potential of changing the Church, and their rejection is based upon the fear that it would indeed happen. Naturally, what does happen then is that without dialogue there is no advancement: we end up with a repetition of the same concepts, that soon become incomprehensible to the ears of those with whom we did not want to enter into dialogue.  The Church, like other institutions and persons, has before it two options: it can close within itself, fortified in its positions, refusing to dialogue, and become paralyzed; or it can sit down without fears to converse with modern and postmodern culture, with non-believers and with dissenting believers, and with everyone it can, knowing that in this dialogue it may lose securities but gain depth. Knowing that this dialogue will change it.  The key is precisely in assuming that this transformation, instead of a disgrace, is a benefit.  When we let ourselves, as persons and institutions, be enriched by the perspectives and criticisms of others, we end up winning.

                                                                   Martí Colom

END OF COURSES AT THE NAZARET LABOR TRAINING CENTER, LA SAGRADA FAMILIA PARISH, SABANA YEGUA

The Nazaret Labor Training Center offers courses in beauty and hair-styling, computer skills and sewing for persons of low income living in Sabana Yegua, as well as sewing courses in four more rural communities: Ganadero, Proyecto 4, El Rosario and Los Toros. These courses are coordinated by the Parish and run from August to June.  This past June brought the end to yet another year of the Center's classes and on June 21 there was a festive graduation ceremony for the participants who had finished the different courses. 

25 HAITIAN CHILDREN RECEIVE BIRTH CERTIFICATE

None of us worry much about existing legally in our country.  At our birth, our parents had us registered and we immediately had an identity as citizens - the government knows we exist and what family we come from.  But this is not the case for the children of undocumented Haitians born in the Dominican Republic.  Dominican laws do not extend Dominican nationality to them.  While some countries maintain the right to citizenship based on soil (territory), other do not.  The Dominican Republic falls into the second. The regretable consequence of this is that day by day the majority of children born in the DR to undocumented Haitians parents have no country that recognizes them, as their parents do not go to the Haitian consulates for fear of being deported.  Thus, legally, these children do not exist.

From within La Sagrada Familia Parish, we are now collaborating the the Haitian Consulate closest to Sabana Yegua (Barahona), in order to register children under the age of three.  This collaboration is the fruit of two years of negotiations and relationship building with the consulate, and organizing within the Haitian community in the parish. 

At the end of June 2013 we were able to obtain the first 25 birth certificates emitted by the Republic of Haiti.  This means that 25 children who did not exist to any country now have documentation... this is a big first step.  Hopefully, some day there will be more flexibility in the Dominican inmigration laws and they will be able to obtain recognition from not only the country where their parents were born, but also from the one where they were born, grew up, and will work. But there is a long way to go. 

REFLECTION: The Subtle Persistence of God

We could say that God  is “subtly persistent.”  In his delicate dealings with us, God is never coarse, rude or even obvious. He is subtle. His presence is that soft breeze of the prophet that could easily blow right past unnoticed , so that one must have a special sensitivity to detect it. God, respectful of the autonomy that he has given us, doesn´t  violently invade our lives. Yet he is stubbornly persistent. Subtle, no doubt, but persistent in his constant presence, in his support, in his love. Discovering the subtle persistence of God is an adventure full of blessing.

                                                                                                             Martí Colom

FIFTH ANNIVERSARY OF THE HAITIAN MINISTRY IN LA SAGRADA FAMILIA PARISH IN SABANA YEGUA

On Saturday, June 15th, the Haitian Ministry program in La Sagrada Familia Parish celebrated its fifth anniversary.  As you may know, the Dominican Republic has a great flux of Haitian immigrants.  There lives about 5000 Haitian immigrants in the parish territory, most of which are undocumented and work as agricultural and construction laborers. The Haitians in the Domican Republic suffer many abuses when they try to get a step ahead in the neighboring country. Due to cultural differences including language and complicated historical and socio-economic differences, the fact is there exists a strong distrust towards Haitians in the Dominican society, resulting in discrimination in many different ways.  In La Sagrada Familia Parish we give priority to the pastoral and social work in the local Haitian population and their integration into the country, respecting their culture and traditions.  We are proud that the parish, and thus Church, is a place where they can encounter security, dignity and support, and is also a setting for intercultural dialogue.  This is why the celebration is a significant event for the entire parish community. 

VATICAN II TALKS - No. 2

GAUDIUM ET SPES AND SOCIAL JUSTICE

The second talk in the Vatican II Talk Series in honor of the 50th Anniversay of the Council, co-hosted by the Community of Saint Paul and Sacred Heart Parish in Racine took place on Friday, May 17.  The talk titled "Gaudium et Spes and Social Justice" was given by Fr. Bryan Massingale, professor of Moral Theology at Marquette University in Milwaukee.  

In the presentation, Fr. Massingale went into depth in the Pastoral Constitution on the Church in the World, and gave proposals with regard to a fruitful relationship between the Church and civil society. 

About 100 people attended the talk, which ended with an animated debate between the audience and Fr. Massingale as to how to mold the live of the Church as proposed in Gaudium et Spes. 

"DÍA DEL NIÑO" IN THE SAN JOSÉ COMMUNITY CENTER, MEXICO CITY.

April 30 was the celebration of the Día del Niño (literally "Day of the Child") in the San José Community Center. In Mexico, the Día del Niño commemorates the Declaration of Children's Rights in 1959. 

Every day, 70 children come to this center located in El Ajusco, in the outskirts of Mexico City.  The center provides them with pre-school education, breakfast, lunch and medical care. 

In the Center there are also periodic talks with the fathers and mothers regarding reinforcing their children's education.  One topic that commonly emerges is domestic violence.  

On this occasion, the Center wanted to throw a nice party to commemorate the right of the children to have a happy childhood.  For this, the teachers dressed as clowns and organized a fair with different booths.  One was dedicated to makeup, where the children painted themselves as gatas, mice and Spider Man.  Another had a balloon game where they could win prizes.  And there was a dace floor.  

Later, the organizers hung up a large piñata full of candy.  After several falled attempts (as it should be!), finally the children were able to break it and all of them quickly filled their pockets.  For the gran finale, the cook had prepared an exceptional menu: pizza, natural fruit juice and horchata (a rice drink). 

It was a beautiful way to celebrate and highlight the rights of the smallest ones among us. 

ORDENATION TO THE DIACONATE OF JOSÉ MARIO NIETO

April 20 marked a time of celebration for the Community of Saint Paul, as one of its members, José Mario Nieto Restrepo, was ordained to the transitional diaconate. Bishop Donald Hying, Auxiliary Bishop of Milwaukee, presided over the ordination of José Mario together with three of his classmates for the Archdiocese of Milwaukee. José Mario is finishing his studies and formation towards his priestly ordination which, God willing, will be in May of next year.  Congratulations José Mario!