Book Review: Margaret O’Gara, The Ecumenical Gift Exchange

I remember, as an MA student, reading one of Margaret O’Gara’s essays in Grail on petrine ministry and what she called “the ecumenical gift exchange.” Drawing a comparison to the exchange of gifts in a large family at Christmas, O’Gara says that “in ecumenical dialogue, each Christian communion brings one or many gifts to the dialogue table, and each receives riches from their dialogue partners as well. But in the ecumenical gift exchange, the gift-giving enriches all of the partners, since we do not lose our gifts by sharing them with others.” Throughout my own research and the past four years of ecumenical ministry I have kept this concept close at hand.

O’Gara’s new book The Ecumenical Gift Exchange collects her own essays exploring issues of contemporary ecumenical dialogue, particularly: petrine ministry; infallibility; authority and dissent; feminism, and of utmost importance: the process of reception itself. How does one church receive the gifts of another? What level of agreement is necessary? When does the dialogue move from talking to acting? How does dialogue lead to repentance and then to reception?

She points out, “In a sense, the entire ecumenical movement rests on the recognition of the need for repentance, a willingness to ask whether we have a beam in our own eye before we concern ourselves with the mote in the eye of the other.”
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Posted: November 15, 1998 • Permanent link: ecu.net/?p=6328
Categories: Catholic Register, Opinion • In this article: books, Christian unity, dialogue, ecumenism, exchange of gifts Transmis : 15 novembre 1998 • Lien permanente : ecu.net/?p=6328
Catégorie : Catholic Register, Opinion • Dans cet article : books, Christian unity, dialogue, ecumenism, exchange of gifts

Ecumenical web site launched

By Michael Swan, The Catholic Register Canada has gained a new ecumenical web site, and the start of a centralized, on-line archive of Canadian and international ecumenical dialogue. Want to know what Catholics and Lutherans have really said about their shared understanding of justification, or what the Catholic bishops of England, Wales, Scotland and Ireland
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Posted: September 7, 2003 • Permanent link: ecu.net/?p=70
Categories: Catholic Register, Resources • In this article: Centre Canadien d’œcuménisme, Prairie Centre for Ecumenism, website Transmis : 7 septembre 2003 • Lien permanente : ecu.net/?p=70
Catégorie : Catholic Register, Resources • Dans cet article : Centre Canadien d’œcuménisme, Prairie Centre for Ecumenism, website

New missal deals blow to ecumenism, liturgist says

The outgoing president of the North American Academy of Liturgy and a leading Catholic liturgist has told The Catholic Register the most recent translation of the Roman Missal is “a step backwards” for ecumenical relations.

“It’s going to feel like the ecumenical movement has taken a hit,” Fr. Paul Turner, pastor of St. Munchin Church in Missouri and author of a half-dozen books on Catholic liturgy, said following an opening liturgy for the North American Academy of Liturgy annual meeting in Toronto Jan. 4.

New, more literal, translations from Latin of liturgical texts scheduled to hit parishes in two years are a departure from the Second Vatican Council’s movement toward common texts with Anglican, Lutheran and other churches, Turner said. Those common texts were a specific goal of council fathers in the 1960s, and non-Catholic scholars were consulted by Catholic liturgists and translators in the past.

“That same effort is not being made today,” he said.
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Posted: January 17, 2007 • Permanent link: ecu.net/?p=6973
Categories: Catholic Register • In this article: Catholic, liturgy Transmis : 17 janvier 2007 • Lien permanente : ecu.net/?p=6973
Catégorie : Catholic Register • Dans cet article : Catholic, liturgy

Unity stills beckons

When Pope Benedict XVI was elected to replace the inimitable Pope John Paul II, he promised to carry on his beloved successor’s work, particularly that related to ecumenism. As is often the case, the press of events can overtake the best laid plans and so ecumenism has often appeared to play second fiddle to other issues.

Yet it remains deeply and ineradicably imbedded in the church’s teaching, thanks to the Second Vatican Council and the post-council popes.

As we celebrate the 2007 Week of Prayer for Christian Unity (Jan. 21-28), we would do well to recall some initiatives of the last year that did not produce the kind of documents we usually associate with ecumenical dialogue, but represent progress in a way that cannot be summed up in precise theological language.
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Posted: January 27, 2007 • Permanent link: ecu.net/?p=7003
Categories: Catholic Register • In this article: ecumenism, WPCU Transmis : 27 janvier 2007 • Lien permanente : ecu.net/?p=7003
Catégorie : Catholic Register • Dans cet article : ecumenism, WPCU

Report sets stage for closer relations between Catholics, Anglicans

Church unity hasn’t happened yet, but Catholics and Anglicans have a new list of concrete suggestions for ways to bring the two churches closer. A joint commission of Catholic and Anglican bishops has produced a 42-page report which aims “to bridge the gap between the elements of faith we hold in common and the tangible expression of that shared belief in our ecclesial lives.” The result of work by theologians and bishops in North America, Europe and Australia, Growing Together in Unity and Mission summarizes the agreements reached in 40 years of Anglican-Roman Catholic dialogue, setting out common belief in the Trinity, the church as communion in mission, Scripture, Baptism, Eucharist, ministry, authority in the church, discipleship and holiness, and the Blessed Virgin Mary. It also sets out in eight boxed sections areas of disagreement. The disagreements take up 15 of the 126 numbered paragraphs in the document.
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Posted: April 13, 2007 • Permanent link: ecu.net/?p=7005
Categories: Catholic Register, Dialogue • In this article: Anglican, Catholic, Christian unity, dialogue, ecumenism, IARCCUM, mission, witness Transmis : 13 avril 2007 • Lien permanente : ecu.net/?p=7005
Catégorie : Catholic Register, Dialogue • Dans cet article : Anglican, Catholic, Christian unity, dialogue, ecumenism, IARCCUM, mission, witness

100 years in search of Christian unity

If you pray for something for 100 years you might find the prayer refines itself in the light of new realities, and then perhaps the prayer itself deepens your understanding and broadens your horizon. For 100 years Christians have been formally setting aside seven or eight days in January to pray with Christ for unity. “It’s really about being on our knees together and praying for the unity that is willed by God, in the way God wants, when God wants,” [Marianist] Father Luis Melo told The Catholic Register.

…

After 100 years of acknowledging Jesus’ last will and testament in prayer, the theme for this year’s Week of Prayer for Christian Unity is “Pray Without Ceasing.” “We’ve come to a new level of maturity in terms of ecumenical activity,” said Atonement Friar Father Damian MacPherson, ecumenical and interfaith affairs officer for the archdiocese of Toronto. “Perhaps that’s why it’s becoming more difficult.”

Glib talk of an easy and obvious unity among Christians may have been common in the first decade or more after the Second Vatican Council, but as churches make substantial progress — the 1999 Joint Declaration on the Doctrine of Justification with the Lutheran World Federation and the 1965 rescinding of the excommunications of 1054 between Orthodox and Catholic Churches — ecumenists begin to see how long the road to unity might be. “We cannot be looking for giant steps. It’s painfully slow, painfully slow,” said MacPherson. “Patience is the hallmark of the good ecumenist.”
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Posted: January 11, 2008 • Permanent link: ecu.net/?p=404
Categories: Catholic Register • In this article: WPCU Transmis : 11 janvier 2008 • Lien permanente : ecu.net/?p=404
Catégorie : Catholic Register • Dans cet article : WPCU

Green church program aims at environmental awareness

More help is being offered to churches that want to do something about climate change.

The Montreal-based Canadian Centre for Ecumenism has launched the Green Church program to advise churches on ways to reduce their carbon footprint and lower heating bills. Joined with Toronto-based Greening Sacred Spaces, Green Church will offer certification to churches that achieve a high level of environmental awareness and act on it starting in April 2011.
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Posted: November 25, 2010 • Permanent link: ecu.net/?p=1780
Categories: Catholic Register • In this article: creation, environment Transmis : 25 novembre 2010 • Lien permanente : ecu.net/?p=1780
Catégorie : Catholic Register • Dans cet article : creation, environment

Christian theological schools opening their doors to Jews, Muslims

The next generation of Canadian rabbis will be able to point to the Catholic roots of their training – or at least of their school. The Canadian Yeshiva and Rabbinical School will begin offering classes this fall in a classroom at the University of St. Michael’s College Faculty of Theology, part of the Toronto School of Theology (TST).

Canada’s future imams will have a similar story. A master’s program in Muslim studies is taking shape at the United Church of Canada‘s seminary, Emmanuel College [also at TST].
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Posted: April 20, 2011 • Permanent link: ecu.net/?p=1826
Categories: Catholic Register • In this article: Islam, Judaism Transmis : 20 avril 2011 • Lien permanente : ecu.net/?p=1826
Catégorie : Catholic Register • Dans cet article : Islam, Judaism

A Church divided is not whole in God – Rev. Tveit

There’s nothing more Catholic than ecumenism, nothing more Christian than unity, nothing more urgent than the need to heal divisions in the body of Christ, but none of it will happen based on resentments, fears and identity politics, the head of the World Council of Churches told a couple hundred people in Toronto March 14.

On his first official visit to Canada, Rev. Dr. Olav Fykse Tveit laid out challenges to ecumenism which he said oppose the Christian mandate to fulfill the Lord’s Prayer — “Thy will be done, on Earth as it is in heaven.”

“We are forced to ask whether we are seeking a consensus for the sake of our own institution, for our tradition, for our own group,” said Tveit. “Or if we are seeking a consensus that is giving space for the other, for the wholeness of God’s Church and God’s creation.”
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Posted: March 21, 2012 • Permanent link: ecu.net/?p=6978
Categories: Catholic Register • In this article: Olav Fykse Tveit, WCC Transmis : 21 mars 2012 • Lien permanente : ecu.net/?p=6978
Catégorie : Catholic Register • Dans cet article : Olav Fykse Tveit, WCC

Canadian influence unmistakable at Vatican II

Rome on Oct. 11, 1962, but the drama started in Canada Aug. 17 that year.

For a year and a half Cardinal Paul-Emile Leger, archbishop of Montreal, had been one of a handful of cardinals on the central preparatory commission of the council. It had met seven times between June 1961 and the feast of Pentecost, 1962. And then Leger received his book of draft documents assembled by curial officials in Rome.

Leger was not pleased with what he saw. On Aug. 17 he launched a “supplique” — a letter of petition — addressed directly to Pope John XXIII. Leger told the Pope in no uncertain terms the documents prepared in Rome were unworkable, impractical and simply wrong. They were wrong in their tone, their language and their limited vision. The council must present the traditional faith of the Church pastorally. For Leger, it was imperative the council find new modes of expression. Leger’s “supplique” eventu­ally gathered the signatures of a number of heavyweights in the College of Cardinals.
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Posted: October 6, 2012 • Permanent link: ecu.net/?p=7024
Categories: Catholic Register • In this article: CCCB, Second Vatican Council Transmis : 6 octobre 2012 • Lien permanente : ecu.net/?p=7024
Catégorie : Catholic Register • Dans cet article : CCCB, Second Vatican Council

The movers and shakers behind the Second Vatican Council

The Second Vatican Council was the biggest stage in the history of the Church. There were more bishops present than at any the 20 previous councils stretching from the First Council of Nicaea in 325 to the First Vatican Council of 1870. And the bishops present came from more countries, more cultures, more languages than the Church had ever experienced.

While all the bishops were equal, some were a little more equal. Then there were the theological experts that pre-eminent cardinals and bishops brought with them (peritii in Latin, the official language of the council). They played a significant role.
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Posted: October 7, 2012 • Permanent link: ecu.net/?p=7028
Categories: Catholic Register • In this article: Second Vatican Council Transmis : 7 octobre 2012 • Lien permanente : ecu.net/?p=7028
Catégorie : Catholic Register • Dans cet article : Second Vatican Council

Anglican Catholic deanery approved for Canada

The Holy See has approved a new deanery in Canada that will minister to Anglican Use Catholics and their clergy.

Msgr. Jeffrey Steenson and Cardinal Thomas Collins announced Dec. 7 that the new deanery will minister to Anglicans in Canada who have come into full communion with the Catholic Church through the Ordinariate of the Chair of St. Peter.

Steenson is the head of the Ordinariate based in Houston, Texas, and Collins, archbishop of Toronto, is ecclesiastical delegate for the Ordinariate in Canada. Collins and Steenson petitioned the Holy See to create the deanery. They received the full support of the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops at the bishops plenary assembly in September.
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Posted: December 11, 2012 • Permanent link: ecu.net/?p=2281
Categories: Catholic Register • In this article: Anglican, Catholic, ordinariate Transmis : 11 décembre 2012 • Lien permanente : ecu.net/?p=2281
Catégorie : Catholic Register • Dans cet article : Anglican, Catholic, ordinariate

Catholics, United Church find common ground on marriage

While the Catholic Church and the United Church aren’t about to agree about same-sex marriage (Catholic against, United in favour), the official Roman Catholic-United Church of Canada Dialogue has found significant common ground in their theologies, liturgies and pastoral approaches. “In the end it is good news that we were able to say something together on marriage,” said Michael Attridge, a University of St. Michael’s College theology professor who was one of the Catholic representatives on the dialogue. “A very important topic — something that’s very important to both our Churches.” The 23-page final report on marriage makes no change in either Church’s teaching on marriage and does not try to paper over significant differences on same-sex marriage, divorce and marriage as a sacrament. However, by analysing the Catholic and United Church marriage ceremonies and official Church documents, the dialogue found common ground. Both believe marriage must be the free choice of the spouses, is intended to be a lifelong commitment, is “a commitment to self-transcendence” which serves not just the couple but children and the whole community, is a vocation to holiness, and pastorally marriage preparation is important. The Churches decided to tackle marriage in their official dialogue after the United Church and Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops found themselves submitting opposing factums to the Supreme Court in 2004, before the court ruled on the constitutionality of same-sex marriage.
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Posted: January 25, 2013 • Permanent link: ecu.net/?p=7606
Categories: Catholic Register • In this article: Catholic, dialogue, marriage, United Church of Canada Transmis : 25 janvier 2013 • Lien permanente : ecu.net/?p=7606
Catégorie : Catholic Register • Dans cet article : Catholic, dialogue, marriage, United Church of Canada

To Benedict, the Church came first

Clarity and charity, the Gospel proclaimed and Jesus at the heart of the Church will always be the legacy of the great teaching Pope who led off the 21st century.

Pope Benedict XVI may have surprised the world by announcing his withdrawal from the See of Peter, but his courageous decision to put the Church and the office of the Pope before any other consideration was absolutely consistent with his character.

“As a Pope he was humble, conscientious, diligent,” wrote theologian Gregory Baum in an e-mail to The Catholic Register. “(He) derived no pleasure from being seen and celebrated.”
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Posted: February 13, 2013 • Permanent link: ecu.net/?p=7022
Categories: Catholic Register • In this article: Benedict XVI, pope Transmis : 13 février 2013 • Lien permanente : ecu.net/?p=7022
Catégorie : Catholic Register • Dans cet article : Benedict XVI, pope

Canadian prayers for unity

The world will pray with Canada this January, and in a special way with native Canadians. For the second time in the 106-year history of the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity, Canadians have written the biblical reflections, prayer services and educational materials to be used worldwide.

Celebrated Jan. 18-25, the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity is prepared each year in a different country under the direction of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity in Rome and the Geneva-based World Council of Churches’ Faith and Order Commission. Since the two major ecumenical organizations took over the annual event in 1968, Canada is just the second country to be asked twice to prepare the worship and study material.

Coming back to Canada, the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity wanted to make sure the material is fresh and reflects a different perspective. In 1989 Canada’s offering was prepared by the Canadian Council of Churches. This time, preparations were led by the Canadian Centre for Ecumenism in Montreal and the Prairie Centre for Ecumenism in Saskatoon.
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Posted: July 28, 2013 • Permanent link: ecu.net/?p=6800
Categories: Catholic Register • In this article: Canada, Centre Canadien d’œcuménisme, Prairie Centre for Ecumenism, WPCU Transmis : 28 juillet 2013 • Lien permanente : ecu.net/?p=6800
Catégorie : Catholic Register • Dans cet article : Canada, Centre Canadien d’œcuménisme, Prairie Centre for Ecumenism, WPCU

Papal primacy key to Eastern, Western Church unity

The only route to reuniting Eastern and Western Christianity is to strengthen the primacy of the pope, according to Orthodox theologians.

And in Pope Francis they detect signs that a window to unity may be opening.

For Catholics used to Orthodox objections to the pomp and presumptions of the Catholic papacy, talk of beefing up Roman primacy — the doctrine that gives the Successor of St. Peter authority over the entire Church — may come as a surprise. But that’s exactly what Orthodox theologians will be discussing with their Catholic counterparts when the North American Catholic-Orthodox Theological Consultation meets Oct. 24 to 26 in Mississauga, Ont.

“Both the North American and the international dialogues have been dealing with issues of primacy and synodality. They are two sides of the same coin,” said Paul Meyendorff, Orthodox delegate to the North American dialogue. “From the Orthodox perspective, synodality is absolutely essential for a proper primacy to function.”
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Posted: October 18, 2013 • Permanent link: ecu.net/?p=7040
Categories: Catholic Register • In this article: Catholic, dialogue, Orthodox Transmis : 18 octobre 2013 • Lien permanente : ecu.net/?p=7040
Catégorie : Catholic Register • Dans cet article : Catholic, dialogue, Orthodox

Has Christ Been Divided? The Week of Prayer for Christian Unity in 2014

The world will pray with Canada this January, and in a special way with native Canadians. For the second time in the 106-year history of the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity, Canadians have written the biblical reflections, prayer services and educational materials to be used worldwide.

Celebrated Jan. 18-25, the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity is prepared each year in a different country under the direction of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity in Rome and the Geneva-based World Council of Churches’ Faith and Order Commission. Since the two major ecumenical organizations took over the annual event in 1968, Canada is just the second country to be asked twice to prepare the worship and study material.

Coming back to Canada, the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity wanted to make sure the material is fresh and reflects a different perspective. In 1989 Canada’s offering was prepared by the Canadian Council of Churches. This time, preparations were led by the Canadian Centre for Ecumenism in Montreal and the Prairie Centre for Ecumenism in Saskatoon.

Having Canada’s independent ecumenical centres take over was the initiative of Saskatoon Bishop Donald Bolen, who for years worked on the Week of Prayer as an official for the Pontifical Council in Rome. Though the CCC did not lead the 2014 effort, general secretary Rev. Dr. Karen Hamilton played an important role helping to review the material, said Nicholas Jesson, ecumenical officer for the diocese of Saskatoon and part of the 2014 writing committee.
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Posted: January 2, 2014 • Permanent link: ecu.net/?p=7054
Categories: Catholic Register, Resources • In this article: Canada, Centre Canadien d’œcuménisme, Prairie Centre for Ecumenism, spiritual ecumenism, WPCU Transmis : 2 janvier 2014 • Lien permanente : ecu.net/?p=7054
Catégorie : Catholic Register, Resources • Dans cet article : Canada, Centre Canadien d’œcuménisme, Prairie Centre for Ecumenism, spiritual ecumenism, WPCU

One bishop’s guide to ecumenism

Bishop Don Bolen of Saskatoon is Canada’s most ecumenically minded bishop.

He worked seven years for the Pontifical Commission for Promoting Christian Unity in Rome where he co-ordinated Vatican participation in the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity and watched and encouraged official dialogues between the Catholic Church and Anglicans and Methodists. Though now leading one of Western Canada’s most important dioceses, he remains a member of the Vatican’s ecumenical commission, co-chairs the Anglican-Roman Catholic Commission on Unity and Mission, is a member of the Methodist-Roman Catholic International Commission, sits on the Anglican-Roman Catholic Dialogue of Canada and is a member of the Evangelical-Roman Catholic International Consultation.
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Posted: January 24, 2014 • Permanent link: ecu.net/?p=7223
Categories: Catholic Register • In this article: bishops, Catholic, Christian unity, Donald Bolen, ecumenism, Saskatoon Transmis : 24 janvier 2014 • Lien permanente : ecu.net/?p=7223
Catégorie : Catholic Register • Dans cet article : bishops, Catholic, Christian unity, Donald Bolen, ecumenism, Saskatoon

Saskatoon’s Bolen makes history preaching to Evangelicals

Preaching to Evangelicals at the beginning of the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity didn’t phase Saskatoon Bishop Don Bolen — much.

“I’m always a bit nervous. I’m very mindful of my own shortcomings and inadequacies whenever I preach anywhere,” Bolen told The Catholic Register a few days after his Jan. 19 appearance at Saskatoon’s Circle Drive Alliance Church. “I did prepare more because they told me I had 30 minutes. Sweet, but it did require more preparation.”

Bolen preached on the story of the woman caught in adultery and Jesus’ ruling under the law that the one who has no sin should cast the first stone.

“He chose a beautiful text,” said Circle Drive Pastor Eldon Boldt. “Jesus showed grace and it was mercy upon mercy upon mercy. One girl wrote me (after the service) and said, ‘I don’t know why, but I found myself choking back tears as the bishop spoke.’ Well, that’s just the Holy Spirit.”

A Catholic bishop preaching in an Evangelical church is a rarity. As a member of the Evangelical-Roman Catholic International Consultation, Bolen hasn’t heard of other bishops preaching to Evangelicals. He plans to bring it up when the official international dialogue meets in March.
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Posted: January 24, 2014 • Permanent link: ecu.net/?p=7221
Categories: Catholic Register, Evangelical-Roman Catholic Dialogue • In this article: Catholic, Donald Bolen, ecumenism, Evangelicals, WPCU Transmis : 24 janvier 2014 • Lien permanente : ecu.net/?p=7221
Catégorie : Catholic Register, Evangelical-Roman Catholic Dialogue • Dans cet article : Catholic, Donald Bolen, ecumenism, Evangelicals, WPCU

Still work to do in Jewish relations

Continuing to strengthen relationships with the Jewish community is essential for Catholics, Sr. Lucy Thorson believes.

“For us as Catholics it is really not a luxury, it is a necessity for us to be familiar with Judaism,” said the Sister of Sion. “It is the roots of our Christian faith. So many of our Christian practices are rooted in the Jewish tradition.”

Despite this connection which is grounded in “the Jewishness of Jesus,” a significant degree of tension has existed between the two faiths in the past.

“Our history has been very painful with our relationship with the Jewish people.”

Thorson blamed misunderstandings during the interpretation process of the New Testament resulting in negative portrayals of the Jews as one of the leading causes of this tension.

But things have been improving since Vatican II, she noted. During an evening lecture at Scarboro Missions on Feb. 5, Thorson reinforced this by highlighting some of the major milestones in Catholic-Jewish relations starting with the council.

The event, which was part of World Interfaith Harmony Week, drew about 35 people despite a winter storm blanketing much of the city earlier that day.
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Posted: February 11, 2014 • Permanent link: ecu.net/?p=7347
Categories: Catholic Register • In this article: Catholic, Jewish-Christian relations Transmis : 11 février 2014 • Lien permanente : ecu.net/?p=7347
Catégorie : Catholic Register • Dans cet article : Catholic, Jewish-Christian relations