“The Self-destruction of the Church” Saint Paul VI[1] G. K. Chesterton once said: “Progress should mean that we are always changing the world to fit the vision, instead we are always changing the vision.” By this he meant that unless we have a fixed concept of what progress really is, we will never really […]
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“It is your providence, O Father, that steers our course” Wisdom 14:3 After having increased the number of seminarians from 42 to 147 in eight years; and of minor seminarians from 200 to 500 in four seminaries; after providing ongoing formation to priests in six dioceses of the Metropolitan Church of Hue; after developing
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When ‘the Church’ Lets Us Down Every now and then, people find counterfeit money, yet no one would ever say that the American dollar isn’t worth anything. Astronomers have discovered spots on the sun; nevertheless, we have never heard anyone deny that the sun is the light that illumines the world. And yet, we know
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The “Absolutely” and “Totally” “Essentials” Cf. Constitutions, 17, 95, 174 and 210; Directory of Spirituality, 37 Upon reading our proper law, especially the Constitutions and Directory of Spirituality, which are our principal documents, you notice that the term essential is used five times.* On two of these occasions, our proper law adds the adverbs “absolutely”[1]
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Directory of Misiones Ad Gentes Rome, Italy, October 1, 2018. Saint Therese of the Child Jesus, Doctor of the Church and Patron of the missions Dearest Fathers, Brothers, Seminarians and Novices, The Venerable Archbishop Fulton Sheen wrote, “The most difficult thing to encounter in today’s world is controversy. This is because there are few who
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Rome, Italy, July 1, 2018. “We should assume the responsibility of teaching catechism to children and adults” Constitutions, 181 Dear Fathers, Brothers, Seminarians, and Novices, Our beloved Saint John Paul the Great often affirmed: “fidelity to the priestly mission is fidelity to love of the proclamation of the Gospel.” In our case, fidelity has concrete
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![“The Word of God […] is precisely our Institute’s true strength”](https://ourcharism.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/09/2017-10-1.jpg)
Directory of Spirituality, 238 DirecMemorial of Saint Jerome, Priest and Doctor of the Church Rome, Italy September 30, 2017 Dear Priests, Brothers, Seminarians, and Novices, Today we celebrate the memory of the august doctor of the Church, St. Jerome, one whose doctrine richly nourishes our proper law and gives shape to various specific aspects of
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Directory of Consecrated Life, 2 Rome, Italy, September 1, 2017 Dear Fathers, Brothers, Seminarians, and Novices, The Sacred Congregation for Religious and for Secular Institutes (current CIVCSVA), in its document “Essential Elements of the Church’s Teaching on Religious Life,” teaches that “religious consecration is lived within a given institute according to constitutions which the Church,
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Rome, Italy June 1, 2017 Month dedicated to the Sacred Heart of Jesus Dear Priests, Seminarians, Brothers, and Novices, “If the Church wants good ministers—said John of Avila—she must provide a proper education for them.” For this reason it has been and continues to be our deep aspiration “to form priests for the Catholic Church
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January 1, 2017 Dear Fathers, Brothers, and Seminarians, The Congregation for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life in its document Directives on Formation in Religious Institutes upholds that “the personal life of a religious must not become dichotomized between the generic end of religious life and the specific end of the institute;
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