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Miscellaneous & Prayer Requests
Summer 2005


Writers Wanted!

Saint Anthony Messenger Press is seeking contributions from friars for a prayer book to be published in 2007.� The publication of the prayer book will coincide with the celebration of the 800th anniversary of the founding of the Franciscan Order They are seeking personal, original compositions such as reflections, poetry, meditations, or prayers inspired by Saints Francis and Clare or other Franciscans that reflect Franciscan charisms.� Word length should be limited to 500 words or less. The prayer book will focus on particular events/episodes in the lives of Saints Francis and Clare and places associated with their occurrence.� Each event/episode will be called a �station.�� The proposed themes for these stations will be based on steps along the spiritual journey of any individual:� self-identity; beginning �to do penance�; discerning God�s call; surrender of attachments; confronting one�s shadow; individual and collective mission and discipleship; the manner of living one�s Christian vocation or chosen way of life; taking up the cross; experiences of trust, hope and love; union and communion with God; and prayers of adoration, praise and thanksgiving.

Submissions are due by December 1, 2005.�

For more information contact David Liedl.


Let�s Put One of Our Friaries on Television!

(The following information is reprinted from the on-line newsletter published by the National Religious Vocations Council.�� We are not making this up.)

Five men, ranging from an atheist in the pornography trade to a former paramilitary member, spend 40 days in an English monastery in a British reality TV show that aired in May.� The British Broadcasting System show was designed to test whether the 1500-year-old monastic tradition still has relevance to the modern world.� Each participant was required to live in community and fully participate in its timetable of prayer, work, and worship.� (Members did not vote each other off, like in �Big Brother.�)� Each newcomer is assigned an individual monk as a guide.

By the end, the atheist� becomes a believer and gives up his job producing trailers for a sex chat-line after having what he described as a �religious experience.� A former convict and former member of the Ulster Defense Association begins to overcome his inner demons. A retired teacher regains the faith he had rejected in his youth.� A Cambridge undergraduate edges closer to becoming an Anglican priest.� And a man who works for a London legal publishing company starts to come to terms with his childhood traumas.

For more on the show see these Websites:

www.bbc.co.uk/pressoffice/pressreleases/stories/2005/04_april/22/monastery.shtml

www.catholicnewsagency.com/new.php?n=3793


Vatican Reports an Increase in Diocesan Priests and a Decrease in Religious Priests

VATICAN CITY, MAY 17, 2005 (Zenit.org)
Analyzing the data published by the Statistical Yearbook of the Church 2003, the semi-official Vatican newspaper reported last week that overall the number of priests has decreased over the past 25 years from 421,000 to 405,000, but since 1988 there has been a "very slight" tendency to recovery.

Looking at the data continent by continent, the numbers show that Africa and Asia have had the greatest rate of increase in the number of priests -- 79 percent and 69 percent, respectively.� The situation is stationery in America, while Oceania has had a decrease of 12 percent and Europe of 19 percent.� Diocesan priests reached their lowest figure over the past 25 years in 1988, when they numbered 257,000. In 1978, they were 262,000, while in 2003 they increased to 268,000.
"Therefore, there is a slight but significant recovery," underlines the Vatican newspaper in its report.� In 1978 religious priests (those who make vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience, and belong to a religious order or congregation), numbered 158,000, while in 2003 they decreased to 137,000.� "The slight improvement in the global number of diocesan priests is due exclusively to the strong increase registered in Africa (where their number more than tripled between 1978 and 2003), in Asia (where they have doubled) and in America."�� "On the contrary, Oceania, and even more so Europe, have experienced a clear decrease" in the number of diocesan priests, added the Vatican newspaper.

Today there are 2,700 Catholics per priest, while in 1978 there were 1,800.


USCCB 2004 Report on the Newly Ordained

The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops has published a report on the men who were ordained in 2004.� There were three changes noted in the ordinands since the research began in 1988:

�1)���� The average age at ordination rose from 34.8 to������ 37.0 years.

�2)���� The level of education prior to entering seminary rose.� Whereas in 1998, 30 percent had less than a B.A. or B.S. degree, in the 2004 sample it was only 22 percent.� Correspondingly, the percentage who had received a Masters Degree or professional degree beyond the B.A. rose from 13 to 28 percent.� This is a notable change in six years.

�3)���� The percentage born outside the United States rose from 24 to 31 percent.� The four principal countries of birth today are Vietnam, Mexico, Philippines, and Poland.

To read the entire eleven page report, please visit www.usccb.org/vocations/Hoge_Report.PDF


Religious Brothers Conference

The 34th Annual Convention of the Religious Brothers Conference will be held in Denver, August 5 - 8, 2005.� The theme of the convention is:� �Brothers as Spiritual Mentors.�� Bro. James Zullo, FSC will be the keynote speaker of the Convention.� For more information contact the RBC website at:�

�������������������� www.brothersonline.org.

* Don�t miss the following informative resource available from the National Federation of Catholic Youth Ministry (www.nfcym.org):� National Study of Youth and Religion: Analysis of the Population of Catholic Teenagers and Their Parents.� Summaries are available on line.� The text is available for $12.95.


Pray for One� Another

♦� Please remember Bernard Dougherty in your prayers.�� He is undergoing radiation treatment for prostate cancer.� May God, the Divine Healer, bring him back to full health.

♦� Good news and bad news:� the good news is that Didacus Wilson is� no longer scheduled to have his kidneys removed this summer.� The bad news is that they have decided to wait to do this radical surgery until the point where he experiences kidney failure.� As you� know,� Didacus� passion is teaching.� Since kidney failure could happen at any time, he is concerned that surgery will interrupt the school term.� Please pray that whatever happens, Didacus will have the opportunity to continue to do what he loves most.

♦�� Continued prayers are requested for Columba Enright.�� On-going health issues necessitated more extensive examinations at� the Mayo Clinic in Jacksonville, FL.� He has been diagnosed with Parkinson�s Disease.�

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