Town Hall Meeting @ Maryknoll

Maryknoll Superior General, Fr. Ed Dougherty, addressed about 275 employees and Missioners at a Town Hall meeting today from 10 a.m till noon. He starting by thanking all present, especially Fathers Bob Jalbert and Leo Shea for their good work in making our Centennial celebrations last year a success.

Doc also introduced a new ethics hotline, via phone or intranet, where people can report, anonymously if they desire, incidents of harassment, fraud, corruption or misconduct in the workplace. The service is available in English and Spanish.

Fr. Ed Szendrey, internal auditor, explained the rationale for the new system. We had a "whistle blower" policy in place for many years. Anyone could come forward to report fraud, but adequate follow-up was often lacking. EthicsPoint is one of the premiere companies for non-for-profit as well as public companies to deal with improprieties. It provides a mechanism for people who might not feel comfortable going to a supervisor, or who may wish to remain anonymous.

Physical Plant has put together a replica of our computer disaster recovery room. IT will fill this room with computer equipment to allow for a quick resumption of services and functions should a man-made or natural disaster occur.

The Crises Management team meets regularly to keep our living and working environment safe. Prevention is key. Expansion of the security card system throughout the campus is planned.

Prayer card

A portrait of Fr. Price is in the front of the new prayer cards.

Cause for canonization

Last March 9, Maryknoll Fathers' & Brothers' Superior General Father Ed Dougherty, accompanied by Fr. Mike Walsh, archivist, traveled to Raleigh, North Carolina for the official opening of the cause for canonization of Maryknoll Co-Founder Fr. Thomas F. Price. (The cause for Bishop James A. Walsh was opened last November 12. See details see posts on this blog for November 12 and December 7.)

Bishop Michael F. Burbidge, bishop of Raleigh, welcomed the officers for the cause of canonization and sanctification. These included Dr. Andrea Ambrosi, Postulator; Very Rev. Dr. James Garneau, Episcopal Delegate; Rev. JaVan Saxon, Promoter of Justice; Mrs. Angela Goodwin Page, Notary.

Members of the Theological Commission included: Dr. Paul J. Griffiths, Rev. Dr. Msgr. John J. Williams, and Rev. Richard DeClue. Members of the Historical Commission include: Rev. Dr. Msgr. Robert Trisco, Rev. Thomas A. Lynch, and Rev. Michael Walsh, M.M.

Dr. Ambrosi outlined the various tasks entrusted to each group and formally installed the tribunal. Fr. Garneau will investigate all of Fr. Price's published and unpublished writings.

While Fr. Price's parish is no longer in existence, present diocesan headquarters is on land purchased by Fr. Price. Plus, the site of the new cathedral is also on land that Fr. Price bought.

In attendance for this formal opening of the cause was diocesan seminarian Philip Johnson who made a pilgrimage last year to the tomb of Fr. Price at Maryknoll, N.Y., to ask his intercession for healing of a life-threatening illness.

Fr. Walsh brought back newly printed prayer cards with Fr. Price's portrait on one side and the following prayers and information:

Heavenly Father, You so inspired Father Thomas Frederick Price with love for You and zeal for the Gospel that he dedicated his life to serve You and Your Church, first in North Carolina, his home state, and then in the foreign missions. Grant that by his example we may grow in holiness and into a deeper union with Our Lord Jesus Christ. Help us to be authentic witnesses of the Gospel and proclaim the Holy Name of Jesus throughout the Diocese of Raleigh to all the people and in all the places we are sent to love and serve.

If it be according to Your Will, glorify Your Servant, Father Thomas Frederick Price, by granting the favor we now request through his prayerful intercession. (mention your request here)

We make this prayer confidently through Jesus Christ, Our Lord. Amen.

If a favor is granted, kindly notify:

Office of the Episcopal Delegate for the Cause of Father Price
P.O. Box 1145
Mount Olive, NC 28365

Goodbye spring / Hello summer?

The crocuses, daffodils and jonquils have already come and gone. The forsythia and magnolias are in full bloom.

The winter that never quite was (here in New York) has surrendered to an early spring, which itself seems destined to yield to an ever earlier summer when the temperatures tomorrow are forecast to hit 80+ degrees.

Climate change? What climate change?

Gaelic & Garlic Get-Together

Shaymus McNamelli & Giuseppe O'Diug co-host. (Thanks to Br. Kevin Dargan for the use of his costumes!)

We folks living here at the center have long pondered how to celebrate St. Patrick's Day (a quaint, tribal festival of limited importance) on March 17 with the far greater and vastly more popular Solemnity of St. Joseph (March 19), patron of Italy and, in his spare time, also patron of the Universal Church.

Well, the good people heading our Wellness Initiative: Fr. John Moran,
Br. Wayne Fitzpatrick and Dr. Claudia Kobkenz-Sulcov in hierarchical order, (but inverted order of importance) hit upon a creative, albeit grotesque solution: combine the two and celebrate both on March 15 (only detrimental if your name is Julius Caesar.)

Thus it was last Thursday at noon we celebrated the combined holidays of SS Patrick and Joseph: Gaelic and Garlic!

Yours truly co-hosted as an Italian Leprechaun (I TOLD you it was grotesque!) Giuseppe O'Diug. (That's Guido backwards). My partner in parody was none other than Shaymus McNamelli (a.k.a. Fr. Don Doherty) as a member of the Irish Mafia, don't ya know. "Never heard of the Irish Mafia??? And just how long have you been in Maryknoll?"

As the members filed in for lunch, they were greeted at the doors by above-mentioned Wellness Initiative folks who gave them party favors and raffle tickets.

As they enjoyed a delightful fusion meal of fine Italian cuisine and Irish "food" (pasta pesto, escarole and white bean soup, lamb, Irish trifle and coffee for dessert and mercifully no hint of corned beef and cabbage) prepared by the talented Sodexo staff, the men were serenaded (another fine Gaelic word) by the Maryknoll band consisting of Frs. Paul Masson, Fern Gosslin and Joe Arsenault and laymen Mssrs. John Gallagher, Larry and Dominic (whose last names I shall supply anon.)

Then Shaymus and Giuseppe took the stage and regaled the troops with such lines as: "How exactly do you make Kelly Green? (Take away his Guinness.)

"Garlic lowers blood pressure; Gaelic not so much."

"For a leprechaun, you don't have much of a brogue." (You know what they say, 'If it's not brogue, don't fix it.')

We had our share of would-be hecklers. One old man (thus protecting anonymity) asked why Italians celebrate St. Joseph since he wasn't Italian. The shorter yet better-looking and wittier of the two MCs retorted: "Yeah? Well, St. Patrick wasn't Irish, so what's your point?"

This banter was mercifully broken up with raffling off gift cards at Starbucks or Barnes & Noble etc.

Then came the sing-a-long section with the band and MCs leading the amazingly still present assembly in: When Irish Eyes Are Smiling, Santa Lucia, Wearing of the Green, O Sole Mio, Danny Boy and That's Amore.

Lastly, with each of the 13 tables forming a team, a 10 Question Trivia Quiz posed such head-scratchers as "Where was St. Patrick born?" "Who was the last king of Italy" and "Who is Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotte popularly known as?" (Britain, Umberto II and Lady Gaga).

Prizes were awarded to the two teams who tied for first place with eight correct answers and two teams who tied with seven correct answers each.

It must be noted that the answer to one question (How many counties are in the Republic of Ireland?) led to an animated exchange when the much older and less popular of the two MCs  supplied the wrong answer as 32. Other Sons or Eire quickly pointed out there are 26 in the Republic but 6 in the North. Or as one man put it "What the hell do you think the war was all about?"

All I have to say is thank goodness the Italians never fight or disagree about anything.

The gala ended at 1:10 p.m. One measure of success was that several men lingered over coffee to chat well past 1:30.

Maryknoll's secret: from diversity, amusement!

Sent from my most excellent, albeit antiquated, iPhone 4

Maryknoll votes on Bourgeois' dismissal from order

Maryknoll votes on Bourgeois' dismissal from order

Well, troops, the above article in the National Catholic Reporter (click the headline to read) certainly shattered the cyber and actual silence around Maryknoll these past few days.

U.S. Regional Superior Mike Duggan returned from an otherwise uplifting meeting with other religious superiors and Bishop Howard Hubbard of Albany only to learn his (Mike's) name was quite prominently and erroneously linked to certain quotes in the NCR article.

Long story short, ignoring that the vote was supposedly a secret ballot and who exactly voted how and that Fr. José Arámburu and not Fr. Paul Masson is our vicar general and who said what to whom and when, the fact remains: Yes, a vote was taken last December 12 (The Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe, if you're into irony) on whether or not to dismiss Fr. Roy Bourgeois from Maryknoll and the result was two votes for dismissal and three abstentions.

How does canon law regard abstentions?  If they don't count at all, do two "yes" votes constitute an "absolute majority" of those present?

The upshot of this continued ambiguity is that the proverbial ball (or long knife, if you will) is now back in the Vatican's court, as only they have the final word.

But just for the record, as I have read all kinds of misinformation on the blogosphere:

1) Fr. Roy's excommunication has already occurred "in latae sententiae" (automatically, on performance of a forbidden act). In this case, it was his active participation in the attempted ordination of a woman to the Roman Catholic priesthood back in 2008. The two warning letters were sent to fulfill canonical mandates in order to drive home the seriousness of the action. There is no "formal declaration of excommunication."

2) Our constitutions notwithstanding, Maryknoll will not deny Fr. Roy his living allowance and health coverage. I heard this directly from our superior general himself. I blogged this and posted this on NCR's comments section after several notable people expressed shock and disappointment that Maryknoll would "cut Fr. Roy loose" after decades of dedicated service. The cynic in me would suggest that such an allegation only serves to garner sympathy and evoke outrage by casting the Society as the villain. Our constitutions state that a dismissed member has no claim on support for past services, they do not prevent the Society from acting in a compassionate way toward a former member.

3) If the dismissal is approved by Rome, and there is still some doubt given the inconclusive vote, the only thing that will actually change is the addition of the word "former" to Roy's title of Maryknoll Father.

4) The question of women's ordination will not go away or die.

(And I'll bet some of you wish I had maintained cyber silence even longer.)

Honorable mention

Last Monday I attended the winter conference for directors of religious education in the Brooklyn diocese. Meeting at the old seminary building in Douglaston, about 200 DREs heard Mr. Victor Valenzuela from the Oakland, California, speak about the New Evangelization.

He started by stating the Holy Father and bishops will be "going full bore" on this topic, now that we have seemingly gotten over the "speed bump" of the New Roman Missal. Victor admitted this "new" evangelization is simply rediscovering the emphasis for mission ad Gentes begin with Vatican II and Gaudium et Spes, Evangelium Nunziandi, and later Redemptoris Missio.

Everything he said, Maryknollers already know and practice. Victor emphasized that today, mission is no longer defined by or limited to geographic areas, but must include inner conversion. "Mission can only proceed from a personal relationship with Jesus," he said.

The challenge facing religion teachers is that few parishioners attend post Confirmation. At least the new Roman Missal encouraged many to return to church for Mass, if not enroll for a refresher course in Catholicism 101.

He then gave public acknowledgement for the overseas mission work done by Maryknoll over the tears. When I "air-pumped" my arms, he said, "And it seems we have a Maryknoller with us here!" At which point the assembled group erupted in applause. So I did my bit that evening to fly the Maryknoll flag.

The entire content of Victor's talk can be seen and read at: www.victorvalenzuela.net

Speaking of Brooklyn, we have eight relatively newish priests from Brooklyn here for two days of reflection. They do intermingle at meals, so maybe we can instill a schmeckel of the mission spirit in them before they return to their parishes.

Rome bound

In the next several days, Superior General Ed Dougherty, Father Ray Nobiletti and Mr. Christopher Reilly will join about a thousand other guests of Archbishop Timothy Dolan in Rome, where the latter will be elevated to Cardinal at the consistory on February 17.

Actually, Ray is the guest of another Cardinal-designate, Bishop John Tong Hon of Hong Kong and a close friend of Maryknoll and many Maryknollers.

Christopher, for his part, will actually be participating in several of the Masses at the various basilicas following the elevation at St. Peter's. At three of these, Christopher will cantor. At the others, he will be part of a 55-member choir also flying over from New York. Christopher, you'll recall, is our new choir director. When Archbishop Dolan received he pallium back 2008, Christopher actually had to cantor at all nine of the Masses around the Eternal City.

Soon-To-Be Cardinal Dolan, for his part, is scheduled to celebrate our Foundation Day Mass this coming June 29th here at the Knoll.

Alive and well

No, homies, I have not been silenced, censured, censored, kidnapped or otherwise banned from cyberspace.

I have been lazy.

Well, not entirely true. I have been away visiting the "missions" to the the southeastern Caribbean as is my annual wont this time of year. (Not entirely false, as San Juan, St. Martin and St. Thomas USED to be missions!) And I did celebrate Mass for about 250 passengers aboard Royal Caribbean's Explorer of the Seas. And no, I was not the official chaplain, nor was I given a free cabin, or anything for that matter, except for the satisfaction of knowing that Catholic passengers asked the cruise line if Mass would be available on the two Sundays we were at sea. RCCL replied they no longer contract chaplains, but if a priest were among the passengers, he could volunteer his services.

Granted I am of Italian extraction and should be impervious to pangs of guilt (the notorious captain of the ill-fated Costa Concordia being most recent proof of this), I nonetheless buckled and added my fully stocked Mass kit to my other luggage. The Catholics were most grateful. I mentioned Maryknoll and one man said he was a cousin of a Maryknoller but I can't recall who. Sorry!

While at sea I had no access to Wi-Fi or cellular, so was incommunicado, as it were. Once we docked in San Juan (a U.S. territory), I could check my Facebook page (OK, I confess, that's were I spend my time online these days. That, and Words With Friends). Mr. Roger Clark, former lay missioner to Korea and former artist on our magazine staff, had posted on my page. That was when I was shocked and saddened to learn of the sudden and unexpected death of Mr. Rodney Swanger at the age of 55, of a heart attack.

Rodney had been a Maryknoll seminarian back in the 1980s and did OTP in Japan. He left the program, but later also worked in our Walsh building in the Social Communications Department and did a masterful job cataloguing and digitalizing our massive photo library. He was the first (and last) curator of the Maryknoll Visitor Center Museum and kept the exhibits fresh and current until his departure about five years ago.

The other reason I have failed in my duties to keep you all abreast of developments here at Mother Knoll is that there haven't been any.

Well, Physical Plant did finally get ATT to remove the two dormant phone booths from our building. What with everyone having a cell phone nowadays, superman will just have to change elsewhere.

The Wellness Committee will host a combined St. Patrick's and St. Joseph's Day celebration, combining Italian and Irish food (such as it is) and Italian and Irish music (such as it is) on March 15. The Ides of March. Could be interesting.

Entitled "Gaelic & Garlic", the evening meal will be followed by group singing and bantering from Fr. Don Doherty, representing the escapees from the Emerald Isle and Yours Truly, making him an offer he can't refuse.

Stereotypes will be flying fast and furious.

Lunar New Year

Thank goodness the 35 Korean Sunday School Teachers had a wonderful retreat here last weekend and were long gone before culturally sensitive Missioners celebrated Lunar (Chinese) New Year this evening.

It was a noble effort by our Sodexo staff on very short notice. Fr. Ed Szendrey reminded me only last Wednesday and I, as a member of the All-(Self)-Important Food Committee, brought it to the attention of Sodexo Manager Ms. Margaret Ellcott-Sheehan, pictured here in a traditional Korean "Han Bok".

The kitchen prepared sesame chicken, jaozhe (dumplings to gringos, mandu to Koreans), sautéed beef, rice, Bok Choy, soup and even Kimchi, which was surprisingly well received.

The tables and walls were festooned in red banners and various Chinese characters for "Gung Hey Fat Choy."

Chief chef Mike McLoughlin whipped together a wonderful confection of fried bananas & apples or mangoes with chocolate sauce.

A great time was had by most.

Eyesore and hazard

Nature has a way of telling us when it's time to let go. The banner was taken down this week.

Retreat photo

Seminarians studying at Douglaston after their closing Mass in the St. Joseph Chapel.

Talk on Identity Theft

Yesterday at 3 p.m. in the Asia Room, Mr. Gary Brown, assistant Attorney General-in-Charge at the Westchester Regional Office of the NYS Attorney General (Phew!) spoke to about 43 residents on identity theft and financial exploitation of the elderly. Ms. Laurie Johnson from Health Services and Mr. Mark Willmer from I.T. were also present.

Brown stressed the need to password protect all online accounts. The password should include numbers and upper and lowercase letters and should not be a form of your user name or an easily guessed word like "Maryknoll". (I can't tell you the number of Maryknoll sites that use 1911 as a password. I can't tell you because I don't know. But I know at least three places use it!)

Email scams, sometimes called "phishing", are on the rise. They look like emails from legitimate banks or credit card companies and ask you to click on a link (Don't do it!) and give sensitive and personal information, like your Social Security Number or Bank Account. (Don't do that either!)

Case in point: two months ago I got an official-looking email purportedly from Capital One bank informing me of "an errors" that caused my account to be suspended but if I clicked the link all would be well. Yeah, right. It also misspelled "receive". So I phoned Capital One and they said it was a scam. I forwarded the bogus email to them to help them track down and arrest the perpetrators and sent the following reply to the senders:

"Dear Illiterate Idiot, Clearly you are either a high school dropout or not a native English speaker, or both. I have taken the liberty of forwarding your clearly bogus email to the authorities. On a positive note, perhaps you can use your time in jail to study spelling and proper English grammar."

So grammar and spelling errors are also two things to look for. And do not hesitate to call the company yourself (Don't use the number given in the suspect email) when in doubt.

Other cautions: do not give a caller your PIN or the security code on the back of your credit cards. (Of course, this only applies if someone contacts you. If you called the bank or the merchant, it should be safe to give that information.)

Check all your monthly statements and report any unfamiliar charges. Many credit card companies will call you if they suspect unauthorized activity.

Some years ago I was doing Christmas shopping in the area and when I got home realized I didn't have my credit card with me. I had only gone to one store so went back immediately but they said they didn't have it. I called the credit card company and said "I think my credit card has been lost or stolen." The agent said, "Yes, we know. We already put a stop on it." Apparently whoever got hold of my card tried to make a huge purchase of a flat-screen TV. When the merchant asked for further ID, the person couldn't produce it. By the time he tried that stunt at another store the card was already cancelled and labelled "stolen."

Sometimes it pays to have Big Brother watching!

If you receive any questions about suspicious email or financial activity, contact Maryknoll I.T. and your superior.

Seminarians @ Maryknoll

A seminary once again

Well, at least for this week. Thirty six seminarians, mostly from the Brooklyn diocese, but also from New York, Syracuse and from even as far away as Nigeria, Mexico, Colombia and Vietnam, are on retreat here this week.

They are fourth-year and pre-theologate students at Dunwoodie Seminary in Yonkers. Huntington, Douglaston and Dunwoodie consolidated their students last semester.

Besides bringing down the average age here at the Knoll considerably, the seminarians certainly bring energy, enthusiasm and renewed devotions to our hallowed halls. In addition to their talks and daily Mass in the Africa Room and St. Joseph Chapel, respectively, every evening at 7:30 they gather in Our Lady Chapel for Eucharistic adoration and benediction. I was certainly impressed to learn they didn't need prayer cards because they knew the hymns and prayers by heart. Daily devotion is the norm at Dunwoodie.

At meals, the seminarians mingle with the missioners, intrigued with our stories of evangelizing overseas. Our men, for their part, seem to come alive to have these guys around.

In another sense, the seminarians really lucked out coming here this week, since yesterday was our annual community Christmas/Epiphany party with solemn Mass (presided over by Yours Truly) and yet another wonderful meal by Sodexo, featuring prime rib, red and white wine, and special desserts: cannoli and bread pudding.

The men I spoke with seemed genuinely interested in our formation program that included overseas training, as well as our having an associate program for priests and brothers to serve overseas for a few years.

If these men return to Dunwoodie with a better sense of mission, then we all have benefitted from this week.

Cardinal-designate Timothy M. Dolan opens Maryknoll Sisters' Centennial

His voice hoarse and nearly gone from countless interviews, speeches and phone calls from well-wishers following the announcement he would be elevated to Cardinal next month in Rome, Archbishop Timothy Dolan nevertheless gamely presided and preached at yesterday's official opening of the Maryknoll Sisters' Centennial.

Congregation President Sister Janice McLaughlin carried in the first Theresian Book in which are inscribed all the names of the women who joined the Maryknoll Sisters. This was placed in front of the main altar in the chapel at the Sisters Center. Then, different Sisters carried in fabric from the different regions where they work, accompanied by music of that area.

Cardinal-designate Dolan acknowledged several VIPs among the people filling the packed chapel, including Ms. Caroline Woo, newly installed president and CEO of Catholic Relief Services (CRS), as well as Fr. Andrew Small, OMI, national director for the Pontifical Mission Societies (PMS).

In his seven-minute talk, Dolan expressed his love and admiration for the Maryknoll Sisters and the courage of those first six women who formed the earliest community.

Godspeed, Marie!

Fr. Ed Szendrey gives his best wishes to Ms. Marie Dennis at the despidida for her yesterday in the MOGC office at the Sisters' Center.

Sabotaging my diet

Sodexo Food Service bakers made a wonderful assortment of pastries to help us give our thanks and farewell to Ms. Marie Dennis for her many years of service to Maryknoll as head of our Office of Global Concerns headquartered in Washington, DC.

Contents of 1953 Time Capsule

Thanks to Fr. Carl Costa from Korea for alerting me to the fact I had neglected to mention the original contents of the Time Capsule opened last month.

I hope your computer screens allow you to enlarge this picture.

Maryknollers can read about this (I think!) on the Knollnews2.0 blog in the internal Maryknoll.net site.

Back to the future 2.0

Fr. Dougherty prepares to replace a
new time capsule to be opened in 50 years.