Monday, January 30, 2006

Adult Faith Formation Blog

The Diocese of Des Moines has established a web log (blog) for those engaged in Adult Faith Formation ministries in the Diocese of Des Moines. Visit the web log here.

Deus Caritas Est #2

For those of you who may not have easy access to ORIGINS, the letter is available in PDF format on the USCCB website.

Deus Caritas Est

The February 2, 2006 issue of Origins contains two articles of note for Religious Educators. This issues has the text of Pope Benedict XVI's "Deus Caritas Est: Encyclical." It also contains a homily Pope Benedict XVI gave when he baptized 10 infants January 8 in the Sistine Chapel. The homily is titled, "What Happens in Baptism."
Don

Saturday, January 28, 2006

Pope Coming To Baltimore in '07

Incase you missed the announcement. Pope Benedict XVI will be making a trip to the United States in 2007. William Cardinal Keeler, Archbishop of Baltimore, was told that a Papal trip to the United States was being planned for 2007and Baltimore would be part of the program. Find the story here.

Friday, January 27, 2006

Catechism Update

The Catechism Update (Winter 2005), published by the Ad Hoc Committee to Oversee the Use of the Catechism, USCCB reports that the United States Catholic Catechism for Adults is set for publication.
With a decree dated November 22, 2005 and signed by Dario Cardinal Castrillon Hoyos, the Prefect of the Congregation for the Clergy, and Archbishop Csaba Ternyak, the Secretary of the same Congregation, the bishops of this country were notified that the United States Catholic Catechism for Adults had been given the recognitio necessary for its publication. The projected publication date is March 3 I , 2006.

Symposium follow-up

During the symposium with Dr. Richard Gaillardetz titled, Forming Catholic Identity in a Postmodern Context, held in Chicago December 8 to 11, 2005 we said that the power points used by Dr Gaillardetz would be available. Due to some technical difficulties we've been unable to post the Power Points. However, If you would like a copy of the power points used by Dr Gaillardetz send an email to DDREForum@gmail.com and I will email the power points to you.

One of the books Gaillardetz recommended during the symposium was his book, A Daring Promise: A Spirituality of Christian Marriage (Crossroads; 2002). Dennis Beeman, says "I'm rereading this book for the third or fourth time!" Click here for information on the book from Amazon.

Catholic Identity in a Postmodern Context

A Report on the symposium with Dr. Richard Gaillardetz titled, Forming Catholic Identity in a Postmodern Context, held in Chicago December 8 to 11, 2005 was published on the NCCL web site here. The article was written by Dr. Kathy Kleinlein, Diocese of Venice and Dr. Anne Roat, Diocese of Lafayette, Indiana. In part they say:
"Gailardetz also addressed the demise of the Catholic subculture that helped form millions of baby boomer and older Catholics. This loss poses challenges, he said, for forming Catholic identity in an ecumenically sensitive manner. While catechetical leaders must be sensitive to other faiths, they must insure that Catholic teaching is presented with integrity. He concluded with an examination of the levels of authority in Catholic doctrine and discussed how understanding those differences helps constructive dialogue among the Church’s varied ideological populations."
Read the whole article here.

Friday, January 13, 2006

Bishops Urge U.S. to Transition Out of Iraq

The latimes.com is reporting, Bishops urge U.S. to transition out of Iraq.
Declaring that the United States was at a crossroads in Iraq, the nation's Roman Catholic bishops said Thursday the time had come to withdraw U.S. troops as fast as responsibly possible and to hand control of the country to Iraqis.

"Our nation's military forces should remain in Iraq only as long as it takes for a responsible transition, leaving sooner than later," said Bishop Thomas G. Wenski of Orlando, Fla., speaking for the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops.
Read the article here.

Statement available online at the USCCB site here.

Thursday, January 12, 2006

Discussion of end times

I'm following several discussions flowing from the comments of a TV preacher after the stroke suffered by Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon. I thought one comment made by David Whidden on his blog Baconboy's blog was relevant for our ministry. He said:
"In fact, there are many Methodists, Episcopalians, and Catholics who now believe that there will be a rapture and Israel will still be here. These (primarily) lay people don't believe this because they are taught it in their churches, as the mainline denominations don't hold any dispensational ideas. Rather they believe this because the mainline denominations have abandoned discussions of the end times completely, and in that theological void many lay people are getting their ideas from the Left Behind series, which is clearly dispensational."
Read Whidden's whole column here.

Don