PASTORES D ABO V OBIS THE NEWSLETTER OF THE NATIONAL BLACK CATHOLIC SEMINARIANS ASSOCIATION
MAR/APR 2012 Vol. 3 No. 2
Third Annual
NATIONAL DAY OF PRAYER
FOR
VOCATIONS IN THE BLACK CATHOLIC COMMUNITY
The National Black Catholic Seminarians Association continues to call the Catholic community in the United States to pray for Black vocations to priesthood on or near Father Augustus Tolton’s ordination anniversary. This year, the National Day of Prayer anticipates Good Shepherd Sunday, the World Day of Prayer for Vocations. The third annual National Day of Prayer for Vocations in the Black Catholic Community will occur on Tuesday, April 24, 2012 – the 126th anniversary of the priestly ordination of Father Augustus Tolton, the first recognized Black priest in the United States.
Praying for and Promoting Vocations to Priesthood PARISHES are invited to incorporate the National Day of Prayer into their regularly scheduled liturgies and community devotions. Consider a special Mass intention, including prayers for vocations in the general intercessions, a community rosary, holy hour, a bulletin article, or special catechesis for youth and young adults. CATHOLIC SCHOOLS are encouraged to highlight the ordination anniversary of Father Augustus Tolton, the first recognized Black priest in the United States. The National Day of Prayer for Vocations in the Black Catholic Community serves as an opportunity to prepare young people for Good Shepherd Sunday, which is designated as the World Day of Prayer for Vocations (Sunday, April 29).
(Continued on last page)
Jeremiah 3:15
NEWMAN CENTERS continue to supply dioceses and religious orders with vocations to priesthood and religious life. The National Day of Prayer is an opportunity for Catholic students in colleges and universities to prayerfully engage Church history and national history, with an emphasis on racial justice, Christian witness, and leadership in the Church.
“I will give you shepherds…”
Tuesday | April 24, 2012
-ΑPASTORES DABO VOBIS The Newsletter of the National Black Catholic Seminarians Association PRESIDENT Dwayne Davis Diocese of Brooklyn
VICE PRESIDENT Robert Boxie, III Archdiocese of Washington
SECRETARY Michael Trail Archdiocese of Chicago
TREASURER Doug Hunter Archdiocese of Indianapolis
PASTORES DABO VOBIS is published bimonthly and is available to subscribers, free of charge, by electronic mail. ISSN 2159-1806 EDITOR Desmond Drummer Archdiocese of Atlanta To receive a subscription or to offer comments and story ideas, send an email to the National Black Catholic Seminarians Association.
NATIONAL BLACK CATHOLIC SEMINARIANS ASSOCIATION The NBCSA is an affiliate of the National Black Catholic Clergy Caucus
CONTACT THE NBCSA Dwayne Davis Seminary of the Immaculate Conception 440 West Neck Road Huntington, NY 11743
nbcseminarians@gmail.com
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NOTES: ATLANTIC REGIONAL GATHERING
NEW YORK APRIL 20-22, 2012 (FRIDAY-SUNDAY) NBCSA President Dwayne Davis invites seminarians to gather in New York City for a weekend of celebration, fellowship and prayer to mark the National Day of Prayer for Vocations in the Black Catholic Community. The schedule of activities is as follows:
FRIDAY—APRIL 20 Seminarians will gather beginning on Friday evening at the Seminary of the Immaculate Conception in Huntington.
SATURDAY—APRIL 21 Business meetings will be held in the morning, followed by a New York City tour in the afternoon. Seminarians will join the Black Catholic community in the Diocese of Brooklyn for the Vicariate of Black Catholic Concerns Ambassador Gala in the evening.
SUNDAY—APRIL 22 Bishop Guy Sansaricq will celebrate Mass at Sacred Heart Parish in Cambria Heights, Queens (10:00am). The Mass will be followed by a brunch at the parish. Registration Deadline: March 31. Seminarians planning to attend should register by contacting NBCSA Vice President Robert Boxie at nbcseminarians@gmail.com. Ω
SECRETARIAT OF CULTURAL DIVERSITY U.S. CONFERENCE OF CATHOLIC BISHOPS
The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops recently named María del Mar Muñoz-Visoso as the executive director of the Secretariat of Cultural Diversity in the Church. She succeeds Jesuit Father Allan Deck, who accepted a post as the Charles Casassa Chair of Social Values and professor of Catholic and Latino studies at Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles. Since 2007, Muñoz-Visoso has served the USCCB as the assistant director of media relations. She has extensive experience in pastoral communications, Hispanic ministry, and advocacy at both the diocesan and national levels. She has a bachelor’s degree in communications from Centro Escuela Universitaria San Pablo in Valencia, Spain. In 2005, Muñoz-Visoso completed a master’s degree in theological studies at Madonna University in Livonia, Michigan. She is a native of Spain. Ω
REMEMBRANCE AND RECONCILIATION The Significance of Father Tolton’s Cause for Canonization Desmond Drummer | Archdiocese of Atlanta
EMBRACING THE STORY OF FATHER AUGUSTUS TOLTON is at once an action of remembrance and an occasion for reconciliation. Anyone who encounters Father Tolton must also confront the brutal context in which he lived and how Christian people and Christian institutions were complicit. Inasmuch as Father Tolton is recognized as having overcome obstacles in both society and the Catholic Church, a certain inconsistency in Catholic Christian witness is made apparent. Within a social arrangement that refused to acknowledge the dignity of Black people, the Catholic Church as an institution failed to challenge that disordered system and aligned with patterns of social sin. As the Catholic Church in the United States comes to better appreciate who Father August Tolton was, it must also come to terms with its own story with respect to the experience of generations of Black people in this country. It is an opportunity for somber remembrance and an assessment of present-day circumstances and practices. Confronting the troubling past through the lens of Father Augustus Tolton, the Catholic community in the United States is given an example of what it can become. Father Tolton and those who supported him give us hope that our collective witness, despite the odds, can stand in blessed relief against overt and subtle forms of strife based on race, culture, class, nationality, and immigration status. If Catholic Christians in the United States remember Father Augustus Tolton together, we might be well on our way toward the reconciliation and resulting witness envisioned by Jesus Christ (John 13:34-35): I give you a new commandment: love one another. As I have loved you, so you also should love one another. This is how all will know you are my disciples, if you have love for one another. Let us pray that in remembering Father Augustus Tolton we might be encouraged to take seriously the radical unity to which we are called. Let us pray that, through his intercession on our behalf, we might become more open to God’s love and peace—the gift of reconciliation. Ω
SEMINARIAN SAVINGS FOR CONGRESS XI! The National Black Catholic Congress has generously waived the registration fee for seminarians who desire to attend Congress XI (July 19-21) in Indianapolis. Individual adult registration costs $225, not including travel, lodging, and other expenses. To take advantage of the seminarian waiver for registration fees, seminarians must contact the NBCSA by April 13. Contact Michael Trail, secretary: nbcseminarians@gmail.com.
National Day of Prayer (continued from first page) DIOCESAN OFFICES FOR BLACK CATHOLICS are encouraged to invite parishes, schools, and other Catholic communities to observe the National Day of Prayer. This occasion is also a wonderful opportunity to inform (or remind) parishioners across the diocese about the Father Augustus Tolton Cause for Canonization. Consider writing an article about Father Tolton and other Black priests in the diocesan newspaper. Some offices may also find it helpful to incorporate information about the Tolton Cause and vocations on the their webpage.
“...after my own heart.”
VOCATIONS DIRECTORS and their staff can support the National Day of Prayer by disseminating information about cultural diversity in the Catholic Church in the United State and the need for vocations from every race, nation, and tongue. Vocations websites can be updated to include information about Father Augustus Tolton as well as other priests in the United States whose causes for sainthood have been opened. INDIVIDUALS can participate in the National Day of Prayer by praying for vocations, inviting a young man to consider the priesthood, and learning more about Father Augustus Tolton and his cause for canonization. Consider writing a letter of prayerful encouragement to a seminarian of African descent to remind him of the fidelity of Father Augustus Tolton. In Support of Evangelization Promoting vocations to priesthood in the Black Catholic community is a particular application of the universal mandate to pray for and support vocations in the Church. The National Black Catholic Seminarians Association prays for a fruitful 2012 National Day of Prayer. Through prayer, awareness, and renewed commitment, this prayerful effort can contribute to the building up of the Catholic Church in the diverse Black community in the United States. Ω
The NBCSA encourages seminarians to begin planning NOW for the summer of 2012!
INDIANAPOLIS THE SUMMER OF 2012 IN Faith Engaged: Empower Equip Evangelize
JOINT CONFERENCE
CONGRESS XI
Black Catholic Clergy, Religious, & Seminarians
National Black Catholic Congress
July 16-18
July 19-21