Author: Charles Dittmeier

Theme for Day of Peace

January 1st each year is celebrated as an international day for peace. Today Pope Leo announced the theme for this year’s celebration.

The theme for the January 1, 2026 Day of Peace is:“Peace be with you all: Towards an ‘unarmed and disarming’ peace.” The theme “invites humanity to reject the logic of violence and war, and to embrace an authentic peace based on love and justice.”

It was interesting that at the 50th anniversary of the Maryknoll Lay Missioners last weekend, Marie Dennis announced a new peace initiative from Pax Christi.  Marie was previously the director of the Maryknoll peace and justice office, and then was national head of Pax Christi, and the international head of Pax Christi.  She now directs the international Pax Christi’s Catholic Non-violence Initiative.  It is an attempt to put non-violence at the center of Catholic theology.  They are meeting with Vatican officials about that in October.

The pope has also written a book on peace, with the title “And let there be peace.”

Bicycle Surprise

Today I got the surprise of my life! Because of macular degeneration in my eyes, I am not going to drive any more and was looking for an e-bike to get me around Louisville. I had borrowed my cousin Julie’s bike and today she asked if I could bring it back. I rode it over to her house and when I got there she announced that my cousins had collaborated to buy me a new e-bike! I was stunned–and most appreciative of their caring and generosity!

Nazareth Home Clifton

Office/Living Room
At Nazareth Home Clifton, this is my office and living room. I posted an earlier photo and it looked much neater but that was because I hadn’t unpacked anything. Now a lot of things, especially papers, are waiting to be sorted and a place found for them. One addition in this picture is the large monitor connected to my laptop. Previously I used two monitors but this one is wide enough to accommodate two pages side by side so I can still copy and paste.
This is a view from the window toward the door that leads to the hallway. The white folding doors on the left are a large walk-in closet. There is a similar closet in my bedroom so I have plenty of hanging space and some shelves in them.

Nazareth Home Clifton

Kitchen
This is a little common kitchen for the twelve priest rooms on the first floor of Nazareth Home Clifton. We eat meals in a larger dining room for those of us in the independent living section but this kitchen gets used for breakfasts and pick-up food.
It’s a quite small room but is perfect for us. I always eat breakfast here–we eat breakfast at different times–and occasionally grab a peanut butter and jelly sandwich or a Coke Zero.

Now, tasks at home….

Now that I am at Nazareth Home Clifton, my permanent home, i am starting on my list of things to do. One immediate task was to provide some transportation for myself and I borrowed my cousin’s e-bike to get around the neighborhood. Fr. Roy Stiles rides a bike almost every day. That’s his bike in the rear.
My borrowed e-bike is an assisted e-bike, i.e., the motor only kicks in if your are pedaling. That is great because I can still get some exercise while I am also able to increase the distance I travel and lessen the travel time. Roy and I keep our bikes inside our residence, in an unoccupied room.

MKLM Anniversary / Tuesday

Sorry I missed posting on Monday. I had plans to go visit some priests I know at the seminary building but there was a Covid scare and I had to forego that endeavor. Someone who attended the anniversary tested positive for Covid when they returned home, and I could not go to the seminary and was restricted to my room at the Sisters Center, even with a negative test for me. With so many elderly sisters and priests, they take no chances.

This is the courtyard of the Sisters Center, taken at breakfast time before we learned of the Covid testing.
Still before the Covid report, I walked over to the seminary to get my toothbrush I left in my room there.
Some workmen were doing something to the direction sign at the Society campus entrance. They were adding lights or something.
Then finally when the Covid scare was less, I had lunch with the sisters I knew and worked with in Cambodia and Thailand, and then it was time to go.

Sr. Luise drove me to the White Plains airport, and as I was waiting at the gate for my departure to Atlanta, Air Traffic Control suspended all flights to and through Atlanta because of a big thunderstorm that halted all ground operations there for 2+ hours.

When we finally left, I had missed my Atlanta connection and was rebooked–twice–on later flights to Louisville. I finally got there at 1:00 AM.

MKLM Anniversary/Monday

Actually this was the day after the anniversary weekend. I had planned two days post-anniversary to visit friends at Maryknoll but things didn’t work out that way.

At breakfast I felt a little soreness in my throat and wondered if I was coming down with something, and then learned that one of the people at the weekend’s anniversary festivities had tested positive for Covid on returning home and called back to New York to tell us.

I canceled my plans to visit the elderly guys at the seminary building and basically stayed in my room all day except for visiting some offices after breakfast before the Covid scare. But by lunch time my throat soreness was gone and with the negative test, I’m declaring myself virus free and getting on with life till I leave after lunch tomorrow.

This is the front of the main building at the Sisters Center. I had the room circled, a VIP visitor suite.

Srs. Ann Sherman and Regina Pellicore, in the back of the kitchen, as we were heading up to the treasury department.

Srs. Luise Ahrens and Regina, both former Cambodia Maryknollers. Luise now oversees the education of all the sisters, especially making sure that sisters from less developed countries are able to get university degrees in the US.
Finally we got up to the treasury department where Renato Abella works. An old friend, he was formerly with the Maryknoll Lay Missioners but moved to the Maryknoll Sisters when the lay missioners reorganized.
This is the main chapel of the sisters, with monastic-style seating.

Tonight I had dinner with another old friend, also a former Maryknoller in Cambodia, Adel O Regan. It was good to catch up on all the people we have both known.

MKLM Anniversary/Sunday

One of the best parts of this anniversary weekend was reconnecting with old Maryknoll friends like Joe Loney and Juan Zuniga.
Elivira Ramirez, Executive Director of Maryknoll Lay Missioners, gave a report to begin the morning.
Then Mike Wrob, chairman of the Board of Directors, gave a report on the board’s activities and plans.
Bob Short gave an update on the activities of the Maryknoll Associates.
After all the reports were finished, the program ended with a final lunch. In the afternoon, I went to the Mariandale center in Ossining to meet with Dominican Sister Janet Marchesani. We worked together with Catholic deaf people 45 years ago. Now her Dominican Sisters of Hope have been donating money to assist the Deaf Development Programme in Cambodia.

Returning to Maryknoll, I moved from the center of the Maryknoll priests and brothers to the center of the Maryknoll Sisters to meet with sisters I have known from Hong Kong and Cambodia. Sr. Regina Pellicore welcomed me.

MKLM Anniversary/Saturday

Today’s morning prayer was presented online by Julie Lawler (L) and Sophy who were in Cambodia.
Part of the prayer service involved an appeal from Narith, a deaf staff member of DDP, for more Maryknoll Lay Missioners to come to Cambodia.
Ella a young woman from a family that supports the Maryknoll Lay Missioners spoke about how to engage her generation in mission.
Then the MKLM staff working at the Maryknoll center were recognized.
Next all the participants were asked to gather in the courtyard for a group photo.
Then Bishop John Stowe, OFM, gave the keynote address–very well received–for this anniversary program.
Following the bishop’s presentation, he and Fr. Lance Nadeau, Maryknoll Superior General, presided at the jubilee mass.
Every meal was delightful, being with old friends and meeting previously unknown Maryknollers. And the food was delicious!
Then in the evening there was a reception, another occasion to engage others of the Maryknoll family.