In the Midst of Summer...
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Pope Francis denounced the "globalization of indifference" that greets migrants who risk their lives trying to reach Europe, when he traveled to the tiny island of Lampedusa off the coast of Sicily to draw attention to their plight and to mourn those who died trying to make better lives for themselves and their families. God's love reaches across human-made borders and boundaries. In the midst of our summer festivities and fireworks, let's all remember that we are "citizens of the world" not in isolation but as brothers and sisters called to reach out to, and care for each other.
Fr. Carl Chudy sx Fr. John Convery sx
Xaverian Missionaries USA Xaverian Missionaries UK
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Francis could organise peace meeting between Christians, Jews and Muslims
 | | Pope Francis with Shimon Peres |
JERUSALEM:
Israeli government sources claim [Pope] Francis is thinking of calling a meeting between leaders and faithful of the world's three biggest monotheistic religions, in Rome, to launch a message of peace, countering violence and the use of God's name to justify hatred and terrorist acts. The sources say the Pope announced his intention to call a meeting, during an Audience last April. President Peres "told the Pope that there are people who use God's name to justify terrorism" and religious leaders should "say out loud that God did not give anyone permission to kill their neighbour." According to the information contained in a summary of the Audience received by the Israeli government, Francis told Peres he "whole-heartedly supported" his appeal against violence and that "he wanted to promote a meeting between religious leaders and faithful of the three major religions" founded by Abraham. The aim would be to "make people see" that the religions "oppose violence and terrorism." Discover more.
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Student Leadrship
 The staff at The Conforti Institute have just completed their annual Servant Leadership programme. For the past four years Catholic Secondary schools throughout Scotland have used the programme as an integral part of their leadership programmes for final year students. The programme looks at Christian leadership and allows students the opportunity to consider how their skills and values can enhance the communities of faith in which they are now leaders.
For details on this and other courses offered by the Education Team at The Conforti Institute go to: http://www.confortiinstitute.org/courses-2.html
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Countdown to World Youth Day
World Youth Day 2013 will be held in July in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Young people from around the world will gather with Pope Francis in solidarity and uphold human dignity through experiences of prayer, catechesis and service. Download a prayer and backgrounder from Education for Justice.
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XVI General Chapter
The Xaverian Missionaries held their General Chapter this month. Representatives from 20 countries worldwide gathered in Tavernerio, Italy to forge a new path for the next six years. Check out some of the pictures on Flickr.
We have a new General Direction, elected at the XVI General Chapter. They are from left to right:
Fr. Mario Mula - Superior of the Region of Spain and now Vicar
Fr. Gigi Menegazzo - Superior General
Fr. Antonio Lopez Villasenor - Working in Chad, Africa
Fr. Eugene Pulcini - Working in the Philippines
Fr. Xavier Peguero - Superior of the Region of Mexico
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Health And Wealth Conference
 Conforti Institute has been asked by a number of partner organisations to facilitate and organise a national schools conference on health and wealth Inequality in Scotland. The event will take place on the 4th of November with representative groups of students and teachers from across Scotland. The vision of the conference is to have an annual event tied to the national curriculum that supports learning in global citizenship and enables an ongoing national conversation on poverty issues both locally and globally. In addition we seek to enable the voice of young people to inform the political process through dialogue with Scotland's Political leaders and specialists in this area.
The Gospel values that underpin the social teaching of the Church demands a clear commitment to stand beside those who are most impacted upon by the policies of austerity. As Scotland moves towards a referendum on whether it should remain a part of the United Kingdom or become an Independent country, it is imperative that the Church remains a powerful voice in those conversations that challenge the whole of Scottish society. The question that needs to be asked from both sides of the political argument on Independence is - What kind of Scotland do we want to live in? The Conference in November has been organized to help answer that question. Download more information here.
Those interested in how the themes of the conference connect with the wider curriculum in Scotland can explore this further by looking at the Modernity Scotland website, one of the consulting organisations for this national event.
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Challenging Our Culture of Waste:
A Call from Pope Francis and St. Francis
 In his recent World Environment Day address, Pope Francis blamed our culture of waste for our failure to care for creation. His challenge echoes the spirit of St. Francis of Assisi. Download a Discussion Guide.
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Prison Chaplaincy Support
 The Xaverian Community at Conforti Institute, was recently invited by the Scottish Prison Service to begin conversations around chaplaincy provision in Scottish prisons. Each of these prisons already has a Catholic chaplain and they are looking for ways to enhance and work on the spiritual nourishment of the prisoners. After a number of meetings with the chaplains we were invited into a number of the prisons to share and participate in some of the activities already in place, eg. meditation, celebration of the Eucharist and discussion groups.
Conforti Institute has been seeking ways to enter into this kind of work for a number of years and after having spent some time listening to the needs of those involved we are encouraged that we can be of service in providing what we believe to be a missionary presence to the most marginalised of our societies. Hugh Foy, Michael Canning and John Convery have begun a listening excercise in three of the prisons closer to the Institute and hopefully by early 2014 we can begin to concretize what spiritual support we can give to the good work already being done by the chaplains.
John Convery sx
If you wish to be kept informed about this initiative, contact us.
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 Spiritual Exercise from theGYM:
A User's Guide on the Ways to Pray
 WE NEED TO PRAY; we want to pray. The Catechism of the Catholic Church emphasizes this need by saying that "prayer and Christian life are inseparable" and that "prayer is a vital necessity."...Catholic tradition and contemporary sources are rich in forms of prayer to make our own. You will see many of these prayer forms presented in the chart on the pdf from VISION.
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Who Is Jesus for You?
A Scripture Reflection by Fr. Ken Lasch
 ... [W]e also look for images of the youthful Jesus who did not disdain play or pleasure. I have a portrait of Jesus, which we used for Antioch youth retreat weekends. I call it the "California Jesus." It depicts a vibrant Jesus with disheveled hair as if he had just come off a surfboard. I'm not sure Jesus was a surfer but surely he must have enjoyed some downtime with his family and friends. Read more.
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Now that School is out...
 | | Catholics on student loans |
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Calling all artists:
 Has Pope Francis inspired you to pull out your drawing supplies? Enter the RNS contest for prizes and publication on their website. Deadline is August 2nd.
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New MOBILE APP
The Xaverian Missionaries have a new Mobile App. Now you can take us with you wherever you go. Remember: We are ALWAYS here for you!
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Church Teaching on World Mission
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ACrossBorders
Passion for Christ
Passion for Humanity
is a collaborative media project of the Xaverian Missionaries of the USA and the United Kingdom.
XAVERIAN MISSIONARIES 12 Helene Court Wayne, New Jersey 07470 |
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XMN
The May 2013 edition of the Xaverian Mission Newsletter is available online. Read about Protecting All God's Children, the 20th Anniversary of a Philippine parish, Americans and Pope Francis and lots more....
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Founder of the
Xaverian Missionaries
Saint Guido Maria Conforti
Our "missionary to the world" became a saint on World Mission Sunday, October 23, 2011.
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Saint Guido Conforti: The Bishop Who Loved the Whole World
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Check out our latest video on YouTube
 | | All God's Children |
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Join us In the Global Mission of the Church!
Thank you for sharing in our mission.
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