Spiritual writings of Canada’s first bishop available in English
QUEBEC CITY (CNS) — It took three centuries, but the writings of Canada’s first bishop are now available in English. The book, “The Spiritual Writings of Francois de Laval,” responds to an Anglophone demand that now exceeds French demand for writings by the man who was canonized by Pope Francis in 2014. Jean Duval, director of the Francois-de-Laval Animation Center, has observed this increasing interest for a number of years, based on the requests he receives and the written prayers left at the Notre-Dame Cathedral Basilica in Quebec City, where the center is located. “It’s a tourist request, because more Anglophones come to the cathedral, including many Americans,” he said. When the Diocese of Quebec was erected in 1674, Francois de Laval became its first bishop. The diocese included every French and unexplored territory in North America, with the exception of the English and Spanish colonies. The center already had a biography of Bishop de Laval in English, but Jean Duval also wanted to give people the opportunity to get in touch with the saint’s thought and his time. With the Quebec Seminary, he developed the project to translate Msgr. Hermann Giguere’s 2011 book about St. Francois de Laval’s spiritual writings. It offers a selection 39 texts that illustrate the spiritual experience of the first Canadian bishop.
Military archdiocese completes phase in cause for Vietnam-era chaplain
WASHINGTON (CNS) — A tribunal of the U.S. Archdiocese for the Military Services has wrapped up its nearly four-year inquiry into whether the life of Father Vincent R. Capodanno, a Vietnam War hero and U.S. Navy chaplain, merits consideration for sainthood. Archbishop Timothy P. Broglio, who heads the Washington-based military archdiocese, announced May 21 that the archdiocesan phase in the Maryknoll priest’s cause has concluded. His announcement came at the end of the 23rd annual memorial Mass celebrated to honor U.S. military members, living and dead, at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington. The decision clears the way for the tribunal’s findings to go to the Vatican’s Congregation for Saints’ Causes for its review and a possible decision on whether to advance the priest’s cause to the next stage in the sainthood process. Archbishop Broglio has called Father Capodanno, who died in Vietnam Sept. 4,1967, one of the “great priest chaplains.”
Mission means never saying, ‘It’s always been done this way,’ pope says
VATICAN CITY (CNS) — Catholics, especially members of religious orders, are called to be bold, creative and consoling “missionaries without borders,” Pope Francis said. Meeting May 26 with members of the general chapter of the Don Orione Sisters, the pope said focusing on the call to reach out to others and share the Gospel with them is what helps Christians stop being preoccupied with their own worries and concerns. “Mission and service to the poor put you in the position of going out and help you overcome the risks of being self-referential, of limiting your concerns to survival and of defensive rigidity,” the pope told the sisters. Those engaged in mission and evangelization, at home or abroad, must be “bold and creative,” the pope said. “The comfortable criteria of ‘it’s always been done this way’ won’t work. It won’t work.” Modern societies and new forms of poverty pose new challenges, particularly for religious orders with a specific mission of evangelization and care for the poor, he said. “We are living in a time when it’s necessary to rethink everything in light of what the Spirit is asking us.”