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The Ecumenical Health Care Network of the Canadian Council of Churches invites every congregation and community across the country to join in a time of celebration and renewal of Canada's commitment to ensuring the preservation and strengthening of its universal public health care system, better known as Medicare. To this end, we have named the week of November 18th "Celebrate Medicare Week."
In the past, Canada's churches have played an invaluable role in defending access to care based on need not on ability to pay, and as a living statement of how we care for one another in Canadian society. In the words of a former vice-president of the Canadian Council of Churches, Karen MacKay-Llewellyn, "Defending public health care in a system that promises accessibility to all Canadians at the same level of quality, is a matter at the heart of our Christian confession, and this must rest at the heart of our public witness."
The 23rd annual Festival of Faith will be held on Sunday, October 28th at 2 p.m. This year's theme is "Side by Side in Faith." The Congregation Agudus Israel (715 McKinnon Ave.) will again host the religious community of Saskatoon for this important festival.
Come join in Saskatoon's multi-faith expression of its spiritual traditions expressed through speech, music, and dance - a celebration for all ages brought together from the four corners of the earth! Free admission. Refreshments served.
The Roman Catholic Diocese of Saskatoon will be holding a Diocesan Eucharistic Congress from October 26-28, 2007. A Eucharistic Congress is not a common event in any diocese, so it will be as unfamiliar to Catholics as it is to other Christians. Essentially, the Congress is a period of intense study and reflection about the many dimensions of the eucharistic mystery. As Bishop Albert LeGatt describes it, "A Eucharistic Congress... is an occasion to gather all the baptized, the Body of Christ, for the purpose of giving praise to Christ for the gift of the Eucharist."
The general theme of the Diocesan Eucharistic Congress is "Bread of Love, Life for All." There will be three keynote speakers: Bishop Raymond Lahey of the Diocese of Antigonish, Nova Scotia; Fr. Edward Foley OFMCap, of the Catholic Theological Union in Chicago; and Sr. Theresa Koernke, IHM, of the Washington Theological Union in Washington, D.C. In addition there will be a full day liturgical music workshop with Bob Hurd, a youth program, and a series of 22 special interest sessions on various aspects of the theme.
A complete list of the times, titles, and locations is available on the diocesan website. Some of the highlights of interest to ecumenists will be:
Friday, October 26
Bob Hurd, Liturgical Music Workshop, at St. Thomas More College Chapel, at 10 a.m. Parking available in the Stadium Parkade on College Drive. Please bring a bag lunch. The STM cafeteria will also be open.
Saturday, October 27, 2007
Fr. Bernard de Margerie, "Ecumenism: Christian Reconciliation and the Eucharist", at Sts. Martyrs-Canadiens hall, 1628-9th Ave. N. from 10:30 a.m. to noon.
L'abbé Bernard de Margerie, "Réconciliation chrétienne et eucharistie", à Saints-Martyrs-Canadiens, 1011 rue Windsor, à 15:30h.
Brooke & Blake Sittler, "Eucharist and Marriage", at St. John Bosco Parish, 1202 Ave. O South from 3:30 to 5 p.m.
Harry Lafond, "Spirituality in a Cree / Catholic World", at St. Mary Parish Hall, 20th St. and Ave. O South from 3:30 to 5 p.m.
Fr. Lawrence DeMong, OSB, "Eucharist and Ecological Spirituality", at St. Peter the Apostle Parish, 8 Moore Place from 3:30 to 5 p.m.
All events for the Diocesan Eucharistic Congress will be free of charge. There will be an opportunity to make a free-will offering at some venues.
The recent agreed statement between the two churches represents the first practical results of the Mississauga meeting in 2000 that charged the new commission with the task "to oversee the preparation of a Joint Declaration of Agreement, and promote and monitor the reception of ARCIC agreements, as well as facilitate the development of strategies for translating the degree of spiritual communion that has been achieved into visible and practical outcomes." (#12) In Reardon's response, she assesses the new statement in light of the mandate issued to IARCCUM by the bishops meeting in Mississauga.
As Reardon points out, the Mississauga mandate specifically highlighted the pastoral care of interchurch families, and asked IARCCUM "to examine the range of possible ways, within current canon law provisions, to deal generously and pastorally with situations of interchurch marriages involving Anglicans and Roman Catholics." (IARCCUM mandate) Specifically, the bishops asserted that eucharistic life presents a particular difficulty for interchurch families. (#7)
Seven years later, the IARCCUM statement addresses the pastoral care of interchurch families in these terms: "Of particular concern in the area of ministry is the need to develop programmes of joint pastoral care for interchurch families (including marriage preparation) and to find ways to minister to their concerns." (#116) Reardon asks "what has become of Mississauga's specific reference to eucharistic life?" From the experience of IFIN, sacramental life is frequently a neuralgic issue for many couples and their children. Greater attention to this matter might have been expected. It is to be hoped that IARCCUM will return to this issue in their future deliberations.
In concluding her reflections, Reardon highlights a recommendation made by Bishop Bernard Longley in his commentary issued together with the IARCCUM statement. In reference to the joint pastoral care of interchurch families called for by IARCCUM in para. 116, Longley recommends: "Such pastoral care and marriage preparation would need to be attentive to the principles set forth in the Ecumenical Directory (143-160). It would help to highlight both the needs of interchurch families, and that much may be learnt from their experiences and insights, if the ecclesial significance of interchurch families could be further explored within our two Communions." (part III.3)
Attention to the ecclesial significance of interchurch families might address the ecumenical contribution that these families make through their witness to the unity of the church in their own lives. One promising possibility would be an ecumenical reflection on the theological significance of the family as "domestic church." This study is already underway in the IFIN Theological Working Group, however the theme must be addressed by the ecumenical dialogues and by the highest authorities of the churches themselves.
The deplorable conditions at the Saskatoon Correctional Centre have led to a joint letter from the Anglican, Lutheran, and Roman Catholic bishops to the editor of the StarPhoenix that was published on Friday, October 19. The bishops call for urgent attention and action to resolve the over-crowding in the jail. They also highlight the impact that overcrowding has had upon the programs of the SCC, and on the escalating fear, violence, and mental hardship of the inmates.
Together with the inter-church committee on restorative justice, the bishops invite the general public to join them for a candlelight vigil outside the Saskatoon Correctional Centre on Sunday, October 21st, at 7 p.m.
[Please note that the original StarPhoenix report included the incorrect date. The vigil will indeed be on Sunday, October 21st.]
Rt. Rev. Rodney Andrews, Rev. Cynthia Halmarson and Most. Rev. Albert LeGatt. Special to The StarPhoenix, Friday, October 19, 2007
Following is the viewpoint of Andrews, Bishop of the Anglican Diocese of Saskatoon, Halmarson, Bishop of the Saskatchewan Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada, and LeGatt, Bishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Saskatoon.
We address this to our faith communities and to all persons of goodwill, confident that the concerns raised will resonate with your desire to create a society where human dignity is respected and public safety is ensured.
We are conscious that advocacy on behalf of the voiceless can quickly become a platform for those who wish to gain a political advantage. So it's vitally important to state that we approached this issue in humility and resisted every attempt to lay blame.
While we recognize that all the correctional centres in Saskatchewan suffer from the same kind of challenges, we are most conscious of the conditions at the Saskatoon Correctional Centre (SCC) from where we draw the following examples.
We especially appreciate the hard work of correctional workers, the administrators in our correctional centres, personnel in the Justice Department and the volunteers with whom we work. In raising our concerns, we want to draw public attention to support all of their efforts to see our correctional centres better serve the public good.
Chief among the concerns that we share with our public servants are the living conditions in the correctional centres. In the past months, as many as 38 men have been housed in a gymnasium and are sleeping on mats on the floor at the SCC. Indeed, these accommodations are so inadequate that it sometimes has been necessary for these men to urinate in a container because they cannot access the washroom. We can only imagine the distress this causes for aging inmates who must use the washroom often.
We are further concerned about incarcerated people with serious mental illnesses. It is deeply disturbing to know that a man who is tormented by voices is locked up for 22 hours a day in an eight-foot by 10-foot cell. Our dismay turns to indignation when we learn that he has been held in this cell for the past six months because the SCC has no other way to ensure his safety.
The dire conditions to which we refer have been escalating for several years, as is evident from the 2002 Ombudsman's report, Locked Out. This compressive study of our correctional centres recommended that steps be taken "to eliminate the need for double bunking and dormitories."
This brings us to a second concern: effective programming for the inmates. It is profoundly disturbing that space once used for programming at SCC has been transformed into dormitories and that this has ended what little programming that had been offered. The past decade has witnessed a steady decline in the programming for inmates, to the point where the SCC offers virtually no rehabilitative options to the men incarcerated there.
The Ombudsman's report highlighted the strategic plan articulated in 1998 by Saskatchewan Corrections, which was to revitalize programming for those in trouble with the law. While the need for improvements for programming and accommodations has been documented, the situation continues to worsen.
These realities require urgent attention and action.
It's obvious that the conditions we describe are a violation of human dignity, but they also pose serious concerns for public safety.
Individuals motivated by sexual deviance, addictions, mental illness and rage need treatment. To incarcerate men in the conditions we describe and provide them with little or no rehabilitative programs simply intensifies their problems, with potentially devastating consequences for our communities.
Clearly, many issues have led to this dismal situation. While one might point to the consequences of increased gangs and drugs in our cities, it seems clear that the inability of the courts to manage the number of men placed in remand at correctional centres is of greater significance.
It is common for more than half of the population of the SCC to consist of men awaiting trial. Many never serve a day of sentenced time, either because they are not guilty or because they will have served their time in remand.
Surely, we need to determine more efficiently if these men are guilty and then implement a strategy to curb their destructive behavior. Reforms in this area may be more urgently needed than a new dorm to house all the men awaiting court.
We ask the public, especially the faithful of our communities, and all those who are directly charged with addressing these issues, to prayerfully consider how human dignity and public safety can be better served. This situation can be improved with public support and a vision toward the good of all those we serve.
A candlelight prayer vigil is planned for [Sunday, October 21st] at 7 p.m. in front of the SCC to ask for the much-needed improvements at our correctional centres. All are welcome.
The "Friends of Sophia" invite you to join them for the first gathering of the fall semester. On Wednesday, October 3 at 7:30 p.m., Gladys Neufeld will lead a liturgy intertwining stories, music, and food. The liturgy will be held in the Chelsea Commons, room 231, St. Thomas More College. Please bring a donation for the Food Bank.
The Friends of Sophia is an interdenominational group of women, based at the University of Saskatchewan, dedicated to nurturing Christian feminist spirituality through educational opportunities, shared experience, and liturgical celebration. For further information: www.usask.ca/uscm/friendsofsophia.
A new response to the International Anglican-Roman Catholic Commission on Unity and Mission (IARCCUM) report entitled "Growing Together in Unity and Mission: Building on 40 years of Anglican-Roman Catholic Dialogue" has been published by Ruth Reardon from the Interchurch Families International Network (IFIN). Reardon's response is published in the October issue of the IFIN newsletter, "Issues and Reflections."
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Ecclesiology and Ethics: Ecumenical Ethical Engagement, Moral Formation and the Nature of the Church
