Dear Brothers:
Foundation of the Philippines
Tomorrow Bro. Dennis Schmitz and I will travel to Davao City in the Philippines to bring official closure to the Marianist Foundation and to thank those who have partnered with us. Along with Fr. Pablo Rambaud, we will visit the current
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Fr. Rambaud |
archbishop and the retired archbishop. We also will visit Balay Pasilungan and express our gratitude to the leaders and staff members with whom we have collaborated. This will be a sad visit, ending a project that began with such promise. We have concluded the sale of the property in the Philippines to the Marist Fathers. They needed a novitiate facility in the country, and ours suited their needs.
Fr. Manuel Cortes has designated Dec. 31 as the official date for the closing of the foundation, although the brothers there might depart sooner because all transactions have been completed. Fr. Pablo will return to the Province of Spain, Bro. Timothy Phillips will return to the Region of Eastern Africa and Bros. Oscar Kerketta and Raimond Toppo will return to the District of India. We are indebted to these Marianists for their generosity and service.
Fr. Pablo celebrates his silver jubilee as a Marianist on July 30. We will thank him on behalf of the Province for his dedication, religious spirit and generosity of service
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Bros. Kerketta, Phillips and Toppo |
Region of Korea
On our return, we will visit the Marianists in the Region of Korea. After consulting with our Province formation personnel, we will discuss with the Korean leadership the possibility of their novices doing novitiate formation in our Province. With the closure of the Davao novitiate, the desire for an English-speaking novitiate, and the urging of the recent General Chapter for a more global sense of the Society of Mary, sharing our formation resources might be appropriate and helpful for a region that has historic ties to our Province. I ask your prayers for this intention.
While there, we will express our deep gratitude for the care and fraternal kindness the Korean Marianists showed during the illness and death of Fr. Joseph Lackner.
Comings and Goings
Fr. David Fleming has accepted an invitation from the District of India to serve as novice director in Ranchi for the next two years as Fr. Joseph Barla prepares to assume this responsibility. Joseph will follow the formation course at the Institute of Religious Formation in Chicago. He will arrive in the Province on Aug. 8 and stay at the novitiate in Dayton until his program begins Aug. 22. We are grateful to these men for their willingness to serve this important part of our mission in India.
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Bro. Ormond |
Bro. Mark Ormond, with the approval of the Meribah Provincial Council, will return to the District of India to assist at the Deepahalli Educational Center in Bangalore. Mark, who can teach just about anything, is a great asset for the UD program in Bangalore and the formation of our Indian brothers in the scholasticate.
Bro. Saju Chittadiyil will arrive in Dayton in early August and will begin a degree in educational leadership at the University of Dayton. He has been the director of St. Mary's Multipurpose Training Institute in Barh, Bihar State. He will become a member of the new Chambers Street community.
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Bro. Maricky |
Bro. Joseph Maricky, manager of Our Lady of Nazareth Primary School in Nairobi, has been attending a special course at Chaminade University of Honolulu and will visit St. Louis and Dayton in the next two weeks before his return to Kenya.
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Bro. Kimeu |
Bro. Charles Kimeu, manager of Chaminade Secondary School in Karonga, Malawi, will attend the "Ministry to Ministers" program at the Oblate School of Theology in San Antonio from August until December. He will arrive in San Antonio on July 30.
Bros. Steve Grazulis and Tim Phillips have been in the United States for home visits and will return to their respective missions in the coming week. Bro. Bob Jones has been assisting with pastoral ministry at Our Lady of the Pillar parish in St. Louis for the past month and will visit other areas of the Province, and his family, before returning to Rome to begin the second year of his seminary formation. Welcome, Bob, and thanks for your desire to serve the Province now and in the future.
Please reach out to these Marianists from the larger Marianist world and share our hospitality and fraternal support for the ministries and studies that advance the Marianist mission around the globe.
With my prayers and best wishes to the members of the Province, and with gratitude for all that you do to help our Province mission.
Fraternally,
