Category: Church

The Catholic Church in Cambodia.

AUSCP Conference

Wednesday-Thursday

[There were Internet problems in St. Louis on Thursday and also in Louisville that night so I was not able to post. Sorry about that!]

Prayer and reflection were a big part of this conference.
Wednesday evening there was a final banquet in which four priests and bishops were honored for their really outstanding pronouncements and actions to promote the church envisioned by Vatican II.
After the banquet, the six of us from Louisville got together to discussion how we could continue advancing ideas that came from this conference.
Thursday morning was given to two colloquium sessions in which a topic or issue was presented and discussed. In my first session Fr. Joe Graffis (L) gave an overview of Pope Leo’s encyclical Magnifica Humanitas which has an important message for our times. My second colloquium was with Ms. Anna Robertson, my first cousin twice-removed, who presented on the diaconate and ministry for women.

AUSCP Conference

Tuesday

This was the first full working day of this conference and the focus was on immigration. In the morning tge speaker was Fr. Dan Groody, CSC, a vice president and professor of immigration theology at Notre Dame. He has worked with the United Nations, the US Catholic Bishops conference, the Vatican, and the US.Congress. He gave a lot for the table groups to discuss.
On one of my elevator trips when I was alone, I tried capturing the effect of mirrors on the elevator walls.
In the evening we had a panel on immigration activity in St. Louis. While we were waiting to begin, we had a special visitor who stopped by.
The panel of four was composed of an immigration attorney, a representative of five parishes working together on immigration, a member of a rapid response team, and a minister for another church group. All are part of the Catholic Church’s immigration activity in St. Louis.

AUSCP Conference

Monday
Dr. Damian Zynda, a trainer of spiritual directors, had led prayers and a contemplative process each day. Really excellent!
The men who are at this conference are active priests who take issues of social justice seriously and have strong opinions.
Even in the breaks there is a lot of discussion and planning taking place.
The liturgies have been interesting and engaging, probably because of the activist personalities of the priests here.
The meals here have been excellent also!

AUSCP Conference

Sunday

The Association of U.S. Catholic Priests is an organization founded fifteen years ago to create a bond and unity among U.S. priests and to support the implementation of the documents from the Second Vatican Council sixty years ago. This year the conference is in St. Louis and six priests from Louisville are attending.

Here Frs. Joe Graffis (L), Ben Brown, and Jim Graf register for the conference after the 4+ hour drive from Louisville.
We arrived after dinner time so a first priority was to eat at the hotel restaurant. (L-R): Frs. Graf, Graffis, Brown, and Terry Bradshaw.

A change in ministers

Today the Archdiocese of Louisville had a gathering to recognize three people finishing up their terms as leaders in the diocese. Two priests, the vicars of clergy and of vocations, are moving to new positions, and Annette Turner (above) is stepping down as the director of the Office of Multi-Cultural Ministries. I knew Annette 40+ years ago when our Catholic Deaf Office was located in the old school building at St. Augustine Church, her parish, and it was good to see her again after so many years of her service.

World Day of the Poor

Today Pope Leo revealed the theme for the 10th World Day of the Poor to be observed November 15, 2026. He started with the opening line of Psalm 14: “The Lord is the refuge of the poor,” noting that those words were written in a dramatic period of Israel’s history when the Temple in Jerusalem was destroyed. They “felt deprived of God’s presence and experienced unprecedented material and moral misery.” Pope Leo then suggested the poor in our time experience the same feelings.

St. Augustine Church

Today I biked to St. Augustine Church in downtown Louisville to check out the parking area to find a place where I can lock up my e-bike. Next Sunday I will have mass here, filling in for the pastor who will be away filling in for another priest.
I had mass at St. Augustine before but it was fifty-plus years ago when our Catholic Deaf Office used a classroom in this St. Augustine School for our ministry office after the school had been closed.

Modern Poverty

Fratelli Tutti #21

21. Some economic rules have proved effective for growth, but not for integral human development. Wealth has increased, but together with inequality, with the result that “new forms of poverty are emerging”. The claim that the modern world has reduced poverty is made by measuring poverty with criteria from the past that do not correspond to present-day realities. In other times, for example, lack of access to electric energy was not considered a sign of poverty, nor was it a source of hardship. Poverty must always be understood and gauged in the context of the actual opportunities available in each concrete historical period. ~ Pope Francis

St. Meinrad Assembly

Thursday

Today was an abbreviated day: a session with the archbishop, a closing liturgy, and then lunch and departure.

The Monte Casino chapel about a mile from the archabbey. It’s used for seasonal celebrations and for events with visiting church groups.
At each gathering with the priests, Archbishop Shelton always has an open session in which anyone can ask anything or comment on current issues. The archbishop is a good listener and promises an answer soon if he can’t provide one off the top of his head.
Karen Shadle is head of the Office of Worship for the archdiocese and she attended the assembly to provide really wonderful music each day, in addition to liturgical materials prepared in advance. For each of the liturgies she was assisted by a choir of seminarians.
On flat land near the highway, the archabbey has created a solar farm more than an acre in size.