The St. Paul you never Knew

Recently the priests of the Archdiocese gathered for the Spring study days. Since this is the Year of St. Paul, the sessions were given by Fr. Scottt M. Lewis, SJ who is a member of the faculty at Regis College at the Toronto School of Theology, where he is an assodiate professor of New Testament and director of the Manresa Retreat Centre in Pickering, Ontario. I have fond memories of the Manresa Retreat Centre from my two years as Auxiliary Bishop in Toronto. The priests in my region would gather there twice a year for reflection and prayer. We were always given a warm reception and good guidance in our days there by the Jesuit Fathers.

Fr. Lewis was well qualified to lead us in this reflection on the writings of St. Paul. He received his SSL from the Pontifical Biblical Institute in Rome and his STD in New Testament Theology from the Gregorian University in Rome.

There was a very good turn out of our priests for these sessions. I continue to be impressed by the dedication of our priests here in the Archdiocese of Regina and their dedication to improving their knowledge and deepening the fraternity of the Presbyterium.

Many will recognize Fr. John Mock in the front with Fr. Lorne Crozon behind him on the right and Fr. Adam Sebastian, OFM on the other side.

The Eucharist which is the source and summit of our life of faith is at the heart of the vocation of the ordained priest.

Fr. Thomas Nguyen, Fr. Danilo Rafael and Fr. Antony Bruno are enjoying a break in the intense listening.

Here are some of our Philippino priests, Fr. Felipe Faustino, Fr. Juanito Vargas, Fr. Hector Seville, Fr. Leonardo Tamayo, Fr. Eusebio Tubale and Fr. Aguinaldo Fermo.

And Fr. Joel Rama along with Fr. Gary Kuntz. In addition to the two sessions of study days, the priests of the Archdiocese come together for the Annual Priests' Retreat at the beginning of May and the Clergy Assembly for five days in October.

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Catholic Young Adults in Regina

I had a great evening recently with the Young Catholic Adults in Regina who came together in Campion College on the Campus of the University of Regina to celebrate the Eucharist with their Bishop and to gather afterwards for some discussion and some questions and answers.

I am very pleased that we have this group of young adults in our diocese who support each other in living their Catholic Faith.

They had some great questions and some very interesting discussion during the evening.

It was also nice to have Fr. Ben Fiore, SJ the president of Campion seen here in the middle and Robert Twa, the Archdiocesan Youth Director to Fr. Ben's left.

These young people are a great asset to the Church here in the Archdiocese, the witness of the joy of faith that they give to their peers and to us older adults is of great value. I look forward to these opportunities of spending time with them.

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The Nash Memorial Lecture

I had the pleasure recently to attend the Nash Memorial Lecture given this year by Fr. Donald Bolen at Campion College. Fr. Don spoke on "Reconciling Paths: Ecumenical Learning, Conversing and Deepening Fundamental Human Experience."

Fr. Don is a priest of the Archdiocese. He has returned this year to Regina after serving at the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity in Rome. He was the Vatican's officer for relations with the Anglican communion and the World Methodist Council. He was installed as an Ecumenical Canon of Norwich Cathedral (Anglican) in England, given the honour and title of Monsignor (Roman Catholic) and was recently awarded the Cross of St. Augustine by the Archbishop of Canterbury.

The Cross of St Augustine was founded byMichael Ramsey, Archbishop of Canterbury and was first awarded in February 1965. The Cross is presented to a small number of clergy and lay people each year who have given long and exceptionally distinguished service to the Church of England or the Anglican Communion or, occasionally, other Christian denominations. We are very pleased for Fr. Don in being given this special recognition for his work.

We are also very happy to have him back in our midst. His expertise will enhance our already active ecumenical work in the Archdiocese of Regina.

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Friends on the Outside

Friends On the Outside was founded eight years ago with the purpose of giving help to inmates coming out of prison as they reintegrated into society. It is reported that Saskatchewan has the highest level of incarcerations in Canada with between 60 - 80 percent of the inmate population being comprised of Aboriginal people.

Serge LeClerc, second from the left, was the guest speaker at a dinner held to raise funds to support FOTO. His is a remarkable story of perserverance, faith and triumph. Next to Serge is Matthew Livingston, SJ and next to me on the right is Sr. ReAnne Letourneau, pm and Fr. John John Matheson, SJ, all of whom are actively involved in this very special and important work. It is nice to know that the fundraiser was a success.

Here we can see a few of the many people who attended and supported this event.

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