In a letter addressed to “First Nations, Métis, Inuit communities; families and citizens” the five bishops of the Catholic dioceses in Saskatchewan June 24 responded to news of the discovery of 751 unmarked graves at the site of the former Marieval Indian Residential School at Cowesses First Nation.
Dear First Nations, Metis, and Inuit communities; Families and Citizens:
With the news this morning of the location of 751 unmarked graves at the former Marieval Indian Residential School at Cowesses First Nation, the Catholic Bishops of Saskatchewan acknowledge that this experience is heartbreaking and devastating for all – and especially residential school survivors, their families and communities. We offer our condolences but we know that this is not enough and our words must move to concrete action.
We are here to listen to you as you communicate those ways we can walk with you in addressing the Calls to Action, rebuilding relations, addressing issues of justice, and working towards a more just society.
The discoveries of gravesites near former residential schools opens deep wounds and brings back terrible memories which re-traumatize. While we cannot imagine how difficult the process must be for survivors, intergenerational survivors and their communities, we honour and support the ongoing investigation of such grave-sites.
In the press conference this morning, Chief Cadmus Delorme stated, “the truth is there,” at the cemetery. We need to hear that truth. We have heard you telling us that healing and reconciliation can only come after the hard work of listening to the truth, a spirit of repentance, concrete acts of justice, and working with you to bring transformation and healing. Chief Delorme went on to say: “Everybody has to reset… Investment in healing from the core outwards has to happen. Once the truth has been given and told and accepted, then reconciliation will prevail.”
We are moved by and strongly support this vision, and commit ourselves to walk in solidarity with you, and to stand by you.
May the Creator guide us as we listen to and receive the truth, that we might together take the necessary steps.
Sincerely Yours in Christ,
Most Rev. Donald Bolen, Archbishop of Regina
Most Rev. Bryan Bayda, Ukrainian Eparchial Bishop of Saskatoon
Most Rev. Murray Chatlain, Archbishop of Keewatin-Le Pas
A teepee stood on the grounds of St. Mary Church in Saskatoon, next to the statue of St. Kateri Tekakwitha, part of a four-day memorial wake organized by Our Lady of Guadalupe Parish. St. Mary Catholic Church is where Our Lady of Guadalupe Parish celebrates Sunday Mass every week at 1 p.m. (Photo by Fr. D. Millette)
The Fiddler family drum group presented honour songs in memory of the 215 children at both the opening and closing Masses of the four-day wake. (Photo by Kiply Lukan Yaworski)
By Kiply Lukan Yaworski, Catholic Saskatoon News
Saskatoon’s Indigenous Catholic parish held a four-day memorial wake Thursday, June 3 to Sunday, June 6 for the 215 children recently found in unmarked graves at the former Kamloops residential school in British Columbia.
Our Lady of Guadalupe Parish, which serves First Nations, Métis, Indigenous and non-Indigenous parishioners in the heart of Saskatoon, organized the event in response to the heart-breaking discovery of the children’s bodies, which has caused trauma throughout their community and reopened wounds for survivors and their families.
Held on the grounds of St. Mary’s Catholic Church in Saskatoon – where a teepee was set up near the church building at the corner of Avenue O South and 20th Street West – Our Lady of Guadalupe’s memorial “Wake Honouring the Lost” opened each day with a 6 a.m. sacred pipe ceremony and a sacred drum song.
Beginning and ending with Mass celebrated by Bishop Mark Hagemoen June 3 (Vicar General Fr. Kevin McGee was also present for the opening Mass) and Sunday, June 6, the wake also included morning and evening prayers for the dead from the Liturgy of the Hours, lighting of vigil candles (one for each of the children found at Kamloops), intermittent prayer throughout each day, smudging, sacred drum and honour songs.
But most of all, the four-day event provided a prayerful presence to those struggling with the profound grief, anger and hurt of the recent discovery at a residential school run by Catholics from 1890 to 1969, when the federal government took over until the school closed in 1978.
Parish elders Irene Sharp, Sharon Genaille, Dianne Anderson, and Gayle Weenie joined Parish Life Director Debbie Ledoux, Our Lady of Guadalupe pastor Fr. Graham Hill, CSsR, Deacon Paul Labelle and St. Mary pastor Fr. Mick Fleming in praying with and listening to those who came forward to share their grief and their anger.
Sr. Carol Borreson, SGM, Elder Dianne Anderson, Elder Sharon Genaille, Elder Irene Sharp and Elder Gayle Weenie (l-r) at the opening Mass June 3 of the Wake Honouring the Lost. (Photo by Kiply Lukan Yaworski, Catholic Saskatoon News)
Elder Rod Stone, who led the pipe ceremony on three of the four days of the wake, spoke at the end of the closing Mass June 6, speaking in his own language before addressing the crowd in English.
“Stories have been told. Now we are on a healing journey, and that involves everybody,” said the Elder, recalling the devout Catholic faith of his own parents, who were residential school survivors. He also expressed disappointment that he did not hear an apology in the recent statement from Pope Francis about the discovery of the 215 children at Kamloops.
“So, I think it is up to the individual churches, if they have the will, to bring people back in a good way. What I see (in the celebration) today, in terms of what has happened – the smudge, the tobacco, the cloth, the sweet grass, the pipe – I never thought I would see that,” Elder Stone added, thinking of how proud his father would have been to experience these traditional elements in a Catholic celebration.
Elder Rod Stone led a pipe ceremony on three of the four days of the memorial wake. (Photo by Kiply Lukan Yaworski, Catholic Saskatoon News)
“I think we are starting a journey here, and I think that journey is looking to the next generation… my children, my grandchildren, my great grandchildren,” said Stone, who attended the closing Mass with three of his six great-grandchildren whom he has raised from birth.
“It is a beautiful feeling… loving a child, to watch them grow up to be happy, to play like a child, to show them the love and care because they are the next generation,” he said, recalling those who did not have that experience because of the residential school system.
“There is always the opportunity to change,” he added, pointing to traditional teachings as a way to heal such great loss and overwhelming grief. “Healing is right here — look at the pipe. When the elder is praying, he lifts it up, he brings his heart and his mind together,” he said. “It is a way to release the poisons.”
Parish Life Director Debbie Ledoux, who herself attended residential school in Saskatchewan for nine years, also spoke about the impact of the recent news about the 215 children – most especially for residential school survivors and their families.
“We all share the pain and the sorrow, the hurt, you name it,” she said at the conclusion of the closing Mass June 6. “It has been a very, very difficult week since the news of these babies, these children, being found.”
Parish Life Director Debbie Ledoux spoke at the conclusion of the four-day celebration, recalling the profound grief, anger and hurt of the residential schools. (Photo by Kiply Lukan Yaworski, Catholic Saskatoon News)
In the face of all of the grief and anger, the parish elders led the way to envisioning and holding the wake, along with pastors Graham and Fleming, and Deacon Labelle, she said.
The pain of the recent discovery of the children’s bodies is particularly deep because it was “caused by our Catholic Church, caused by supposed reverential leaders…. This is what they did to us, and they are supposed to be servants of our Creator God,” she said. “And we wonder: what happened? What happened? How can you hate someone so badly that you could do that to our babies – our kids? That is so evil. That is sin.”
She continued: “I cried and I cried and I cried when I heard the news. I thought of my own babies, of my grown sons now that have babies. It is painful. It’s painful. It’s so painful.”
For those who don’t “get” the hurt, she described the encounters with just two of those who stopped by at the teepee during the days of prayer – a 60-year-old man and a 19-year-old woman, who were both devastated by the recent news, and filled with anger and pain.
“I just had a 60-year-old man standing at the fence, I was talking to him, a residential school survivor. He told me that he could not stop crying when he heard the news. He said: ‘All those things that happened to me at the residential school came back. ‘They came back and it hurts,’ he said. ‘I don’t know what to do….I am sorry,’ he said, ‘if I hurt you, but it was the Church. Weren’t they supposed to love us?'” she said, describing her own deep hurt and conflict as an Indigenous person who works for the Church and tries to bring her people back to the Church. “What do I say? What do I say?”
She also tearfully recounted the encounter with a hurting, angry young woman of 19, whom she listened to and encouraged to pray in her own language.
“Then I had to explain to her why I was still here. And why am I here? Because I am here to serve Creator God, and without Him in my life, I would not be able to try and help my people. That’s the reason I am here.”
Ledoux asked for prayer and solidarity from non-Indigenous people. “It is very painful, there’s a lot of anger out there. We need to help each other. Don’t say ‘I’ll pray for you’, say ‘I will pray with you’. Walk with us. Be with us.”
Candles represented the 215 children discovered in unmarked graves at the former Kamloops residential school. (Photo by Kiply Lukan Yaworski, Catholic Saskatoon News)
During the closing Mass, expired candles that burned throughout the four-day vigil were placed near the altar around the statue of St. Kateri Tekakwitha (an Indigenous woman canonized as a saint of the Catholic Church in 2012).
“They represent the 215 young lives whose graves we are holding this wake for,” explained Fr. Graham Hill after the prayers of the faithful during the closing Mass held on the Solemnity of the Body and Blood of Christ.
“On the beginning of this journey together we asked the bishop to bless a fire from which we kept the light burning,” said Hill, before inviting the bishop to share the same light, by lighting a single candle in front of a rock placed in front of the altar, with the word “hope” written in both forms of the Cree alphabet.
During the closing Mass June 6, Bishop Mark Hagemoen lights a candle to place in front of a rock with the word “hope” inscribed in both Cree alphabets, as Deacon Paul Labelle and Elder Irene Sharp look on. (Photo by Kiply Lukan Yaworski, Catholic Saskatoon News)
At the conclusion of Mass, Hill invited those present to take a candle with them: “take it home and pray for one child – not as a statistic but as a person, a life, and to keep that memory alive.”
Later Fr. Hill also shared words from the residential school survivor who created the star blanket that decorated the altar.
“As I put this star blanket together, I felt all the areas of the medicine wheel: emotional, physical, mental spiritual,” she wrote. “When I was eight I went to the residential school By making this blanket, I was able to heal and release my past, the hurt. With every stitch I said prayers for our people, that everyone who looks at it or walks past it will feel God’s peace and God’s love and joy.”
Bishop Mark Hagemoen presided at the closing celebration for the four-day prayer vigil. The event concluded with Our Lady of Guadalupe’s Sunday Mass at St. Mary Church on the Feast of Corpus Christi – the Body and Blood of Christ. (Photo by Kiply Lukan Yaworski, Catholic Saskatoon News)
Bishop Mark Hagemoen presided at Mass for both the opening (outdoors on June 3) and the closing (inside the church building on June 6) of the memorial days of prayer.
“I am very grateful for the teepee – the tent – that is beside the church,” he said in his June 6 homily, before pointing to the scriptural story of the tent that carried the Covenant, the Word of God, on the journey of the people of Israel, until the temple was built to contain it.
“Let the tent teach the temple, and may the temple be able to hold the journey to an uncertain future,” he said, admitting he does not know what the future holds. Even so, he affirmed trust in the abounding love, mercy and presence of God as tent and temple, teepee and church, move forward together.
“On this day that we celebrate Corpus Christi, we pray that God’s real presence will continue to bring blessing, bring strength to those who mourn, and to be able to take us on a new journey together,” Hagemoen said.
After some two years of discernment, prayer and planning, a new Youth and Young Adult Ministry Office has been launched in the Roman Catholic Diocese of Saskatoon, with a renewed focus on discipleship and accompaniment.
The June 8 launch included the introduction of “Project Timothy” a leadership development program led by diocesan Evangelization and Mission Leader John Hickey and Sr. Marta Piano of the Verbum Dei Missionary Fraternity. The two leaders will recruit, mentor and accompany young adults who have a desire to share their faith and reach out to other youth and young adults.
Other priorities for diocesan Youth and Young Adult Ministry have also been established: providing support and trainingfor youth ministry in parishes across the diocese, and offering diocesan events “as a place of encounter” for youth and young adults.
“The focus is less on programming and more on discipleship and accompaniment,” describes Bishop Mark Hagemoen.
“The focus of Project Timothy is calling and supporting youth as ‘disciples’ through what Pope Francis calls ‘the art of accompaniment,’” the bishop writes in aJune 8 letter to the dioceseabout the new direction for Youth and Young Adult Ministry in the diocese. “
“It has been a slow process, but we are excited to announce this shift in the way will be delivering Youth and Young Adult Ministry in the diocese of Saskatoon,” says Marilyn Jackson, diocesan Director of Pastoral Services. “We sure did not anticipate it would take two years.”
COVID-19 caused delays, she says, but adds that these delays “did not stop the Holy Spirit from moving gently through our time of discernment.… God revealed his plan, one piece at a time.”
The two-year discernment process started with the establishment of a task force to identify features and gaps in youth ministry. “It was a group of adults, young adults, single, married, teachers, ministry leaders and clergy. The data we collected was then shared with a consultant, who presented us with a model of making missionary disciples,” says Jackson.
“Our diocese has been ready to launch our youth ministry strategy for awhile,” notes Bishop Mark Hagemoen in a video released June 8 (above).
A message from the Catholic Bishops of Saskatchewan for Catholic Education Week:Download the PDF.
Catholic Schools throughout Saskatchewan will celebrate Catholic Education Week and the significant contribution of Catholic Education in our province during Catholic Education Week May 9-16.
The theme for this year’s Catholic Education Week is “Catholic Education: Nurturing Hope/L’éducation catholique: Cultiver l’espérance”.
This is a special week in our schools as we celebrate the joy and hope of Catholic Education.
There are five sub-themes, one for each day of Catholic Education Week, aimed at helping staff and students to reflect more fully on what Nurturing Hope means to them. The five sub-themes are:
Day 1: Preparing the Earth / Préparer la terre
Day 2: Sowing Seeds of Gratitude / Semer la gratitude
Day 3: Cultivating Relationships / Cultiver nos relations
Day 4: Harvesting New Fruit / Récolter de nouveaux fruits
Day 5: Marvelling in Wonder / S’émerveiller
Catholic Education Week is marked by special activities such as prayer celebrations and service activities.
On Ascension Thursday, May 13, 2021, which is World Catholic Education Day, a live-stream liturgy with Bishop Mark Hagemoen will begin at 10:00 a.m. for all the faithful of Saskatchewan posted at https://saskatoonmass.comand on the diocesan YouTube channel:LINK
During COVID-19, the annual collection for Priests’ Pension & Retirement Fund relies on mail and online promotion
A video featuring vocation reflections by two retirement-age priests in the Roman Catholic Diocese of Saskatoon was launched April 16 as part of this year’s annual collection for a priests’ pension fund.
Because of COVID-19 restrictions on the number that can gather for worship, the Diocese of Saskatoon Catholic Foundation is relying on mail and electronic distribution — including the video — to raise awareness about the annual collection, and the need to support the Priests’ Pension & Retirement Fund.
View the video:
The video is currently being shared by the Catholic Foundation, by parishes in the diocese, through social media, and online – including at the end of the live-streaming of Sunday Mass April 18 celebrated by Bishop Mark Hagemoen at the Cathedral of the Holy Family.
Fr. Emile April and Fr. Denis Phaneuf were interviewed for the video. Both of these diocesan priests continue to serve the diocese during their retirement years, with April currently serving as pastor of the Trinité/Trinity pastoral region that includes Vonda, Prud’homme and St. Denis, and Phaneuf assisting at St. Paul Co-Cathedral in Saskatoon — even during the current COVID-19 pandemic.
The video includes reflections on the impact of long-serving priests by Fr. Geoffrey Young, a young priest who serves as pastor at Our Lady of Lourdes in Saskatoon, as well as a message from Bishop Mark Hagemoen.
“The priests of the diocese of Saskatoon depend on one key support source when they retire – and that is our Priest Pension & Retirement Fund which support the St. Joseph’s Mutual Aid Society for our clergy,” he explains. “In addition to this pension fund, our clergy also receive Old Age Pension and Canada Pension Plan amounts. This amount is reduced given that their regular income through their working years is far below the level that most laity earn.”
The bishop adds: “Priests are also encouraged to try to save for their retirement through RSP’s, but this will only be a small amount. By far the most significant contribution to their retirement support comes from the Priest Pension & Retirement Fund.”
In conclusion, the bishop expresses thanks for support and generosity for the 2021 collection for the pension fund. “I also ask you to join with me in prayer for support and healing, as many of our senior clergy – along with many of the elders throughout our province – have been very much affected by the circumstances and isolation caused by the COVID 19 pandemic.”
In a letter sent to Catholic parishioners across the diocese about the pension fund collection, Don Gorsalitz, Executive Director of the Diocese of Saskatoon Catholic Foundation notes: “The examples of people reaching out to support each other and to help our most vulnerable brothers and sisters in need during this challenging time have been profound and heartwarming. Despite the risk, our retired priests too continue to respond to various needs and serve among us, giving themselves generously with dedication and love as they continue to answer the calling of their hearts and life service.”
Gifts can be made online at dscf.ca/priest-pension-fund. Gifts of cheques can be sent to the following address: Priests’ Pension & Retirement Fund, 123 Nelson Road, Saskatoon SK S7S 1H1.
A message from the Diocese of Saskatoon Catholic Foundation:
Our retired priests have given their lives to us, the people of the Diocese of Saskatoon. They have faithfully led their parish communities, sharing God’s loving and sustaining word and celebrating the sacraments. We are blessed to have these dedicated and holy priests, and these blessings continue to this day. During the COVID-19 pandemic, our senior priests may be among the most vulnerable of all. By now parishioners should have received a letter regarding the 2021 Priests’ Pension & Retirement Fund. We ask that you prayerfully consider making a gift to the Priests’ Pension & Retirement Fund.
For those who prefer to make their gift online using their credit card, please go to dscf.ca/priest-pension-fund/
Gifts of cheques should be sent to the following address: Priests’ Pension & Retirement Fund, 123 Nelson Road, Saskatoon SK, S7S 1H1.
By making a gift online you help us lower administrative costs, and you will receive your charitable tax receipt immediately via a confirmation email. Simply click on the ‘eReceipt’ link embedded in the confirmation email to open your receipt. Please remember to print and save your receipt on your electronic device for your 2021 tax return.
Thank you for your support of our retired priests!
A number of Easter celebrations have been live-streamed at https://saskatoonmass.com since attendance is restricted because of COVID-19 public health orders.
Day of Prayer for Reverence for Life: Sunday, January 31, 2021
Dear Clergy, Religious, and Lay Faithful of the Diocese of Saskatoon:
The day of prayer for Reverence for Life will be celebrated in the Roman Catholic Diocese of Saskatoon on Sunday, January 31, 2021, providing our faith communities with an opportunity for prayers, reflection and discussion about the value of the precious gift of human life.
Most of the year 2020 was marked by dealing with the terrible scourge of the COVID-19 pandemic – a health crisis that we are still dealing with, although there seems to be a light at the end of the tunnel. In reference to the pandemic, Pope Francis stated recently in Fratelli Tutti,
“ …the pandemic unexpectedly erupted, exposing our false securities. …for all our hyper-connectivity, we witnessed a fragmentation that made it more difficult to resolve problems that affect us all. Anyone who thinks that the only lesson to be learned was the need to improve what we were already doing, or to refine existing systems and regulations, is denying reality.”
Indeed, many things should not go back to the way they were – and one of the things that calls out for change is protection for the unborn and most vulnerable!
Canada continues to deal with the tragic repercussions of the removal of abortion from the Criminal Code. We now mark the 33rd anniversary of the Supreme Court of Canada decision in the Morgentaler case on January 28, 1988, which removed all remaining restrictions on abortion in Canada. Incredibly applauded by many in our society, these moments in our nation’s history hold within them the tragic reality of millions of lost lives.
Victims of abortion include the unborn children who are killed, but also the mothers, fathers and families left wounded after an abortion. The community is also weakened and damaged as the weakest and most vulnerable among us are not valued and protected.
As the Canadian government now moves along Bill C7 which seeks to expand access to doctor-assisted suicide, also known as “MAiD” – the words of the Holy Father only a few years ago ring prophetic:
“The victims of this [throwaway] culture are precisely the weakest and most fragile human beings – the unborn, the poorest, the sick and elderly, the seriously handicapped, etc. – who are in danger of being ‘thrown away’, expelled from a system that must be efficient at all costs.”
In this statement, Pope Francis went on to call forth all people of good will to continue the steady work to turn our culture from one of convenience and short-sightedness, to a cultural movement that seeks – through good will and honest reflection – the realization of a truly human culture. As he states:
“It is necessary to raise awareness and form the lay faithful, in whatever state, especially those engaged in the field of politics, so that they may think in accord with the Gospel and the social doctrine of the church and act consistently by dialoguing and collaborating with those who, in sincerity and intellectual honesty, share – if not the faith – at least a similar vision of mankind and society and its ethical consequences.” (P. Francis’s speech to Dignitatis Humanae Institute Dec. 7, 2013)
Indeed, this effort is at the service of every person on the planet! If we do not engage in calling each other to a greater and fuller humanity, we should then not be surprised at the larger deterioration of a culture of human care and respect.
Today we are more aware than ever of the fragility of environment, and the inter- relationship of all people and all creation. In Laudato Si (June 2015), Pope Francis reminds us that reverence for all human life – especially the most vulnerable and unprotected – cannot be separated from concern and care of creation. As the pope states, “Since everything is interrelated, concern for the protection of nature is also incompatible with the justification of abortion. How can we genuinely teach the importance of concern for other vulnerable beings, however troublesome or inconvenient they may be, if we fail to protect a human embryo, even when its presence is uncomfortable and creates difficulties?” (Laudato Si, #120)
The Holy Father reminds us that inconsistency about care of the human person will affect our stewardship of creation. “When we fail to acknowledge as part of reality the worth of a person, a human embryo, a person with disabilities – to offer just a few examples – it becomes difficult to hear the cry of nature itself; everything is connected.” (LS #117)
As I stated in my letter of last year, current advances in science, genetics and embryology clearly show the distinct humanity of each unborn child, which comes into existence at conception. Each new, distinct human person shares the fundamental human right to life that we as Canadians celebrate and support on so many other fronts. Failing to recognize that right has left our country damaged – not only in the missing and lost lives of millions of unborn children – but in removing ‘the heart’ from our society. Devaluing human life at any age or stage has inexorably led to the legalization and growing acceptance in our country of euthanasia as “Medical Aid in Death”: our lives seem to cease to have meaning and value as we face the fear of not being ‘useful’, or that we are a ‘problem’ to those on whom we rely for care. This loss of ‘heart’ is also the root cause of so many other evils in our midst: poverty, hunger, discrimination, injustice, racism, and violence.
Sisters and brothers, let us respond to loss of heart by holding steady to the hope of the Gospel of Jesus Christ: the Sacred Heart for our world. Let us join together in our common prayer for Reverence for Life on January 31, and throughout this year.
In this Year of St. Joseph, let us also appeal to the earthly father who faithfully and diligently cared for the young Saviour, and who inspires us in the way of always doing the good that should be done in caring for all God’s people entrusted to our care and service.
And may our every action always lovingly affirm the deep and sacred value of every human person. Sisters and brothers, we again pray that as a nation we may re-discover our heart!
Yours in Christ,
Most Reverend Mark A. Hagemoen
Diocesan Prayer – Reverence for Life
Almighty God, giver of all that is good,
we thank you for the precious gift of human life:
For life in the womb, coming from your creative power,
For the life of children, making us glad with their freshness and promise,
For the life of young people, hoping for a better world,
For the life of people who are disabled, teaching us that every life has value,
For the life of the elderly, witnessing to the ageless values of patience and wisdom.
Like Blessed Mary, may we always say “yes” to Your gift.
Help us to realize the sacredness of human life and to respect and cherish it from conception to its natural end.
And bring us at last, O Father, to the fullness of eternal life in Jesus Christ our Lord. AMEN
Diocèse de Saskatoon – Révérence pour la vie
Dieu Tout-Puissant, donateur de tout ce qui est bon, nous te remercions pour le don précieux de la vie humaine:
Pour la vie dans le sein maternel, provenant de ton pouvoir créatif,
Pour la vie des enfants, nous rendant heureux de leur fraîcheur et de leur promesse,
Pour la vie des jeunes, espérant pour un monde formidable,
Pour la vie des personnes qui sont handicapées, nous apprenant que toute vie a de la valeur,
Pour la vie des personnes âgées, témoignant des valeurs intemporelles de patience et de sagesse.
Comme la bienheureuse Marie, puissions-nous toujours dire “oui” à Ton don.
Aide-nous à réaliser le caractère sacré de la vie humaine, à la respecter et à la chérir de la conception à sa fin naturelle.
Et amène-nous enfin, ô Père, à la plénitude de la vie éternelle en Jésus-Christ notre Seigneur. AMEN
The Roman Catholic Diocese of Saskatoon has launched a video series to assist in reflection about Pope Francis’ latest papal encyclical Fratelli Tuttion human fraternity and social friendship.
The second in this video series features a panel discussion led by Bishop Mark Hagemoen, in conversation with Greater Saskatoon Catholic Schools teacher Celine Cyrenne, Sr. Marta Piano of the Verbum Dei missionary society, and Fr. Stefano Penna, rector of St. Paul Co-Cathedral in Saskatoon.
Find more information and resources about Fratelli Tutti on the diocesan website at: rcdos.ca/fratelli-tutti
The Roman Catholic Diocese of Saskatoon has launched a video series to assist in reflection about Pope Francis’ latest papal encyclical Fratelli Tuttion human fraternity and social friendship.
The first in this video series is a timely conversation about Chapter 5 of Fratelli Tutti“A better kind of politics,” which calls for a social and political order based on “social charity” and “political love.”
In conversation are: Myron Rogal, coordinator of Justice and Peace for the Roman Catholic Diocese of Saskatoon; Dr. Brett Salkeld, Theologian for the Archdiocese of Regina; Matthew Marquardt, President and Founder of Catholic Conscience; and Brendan Steven, Executive Director of Catholic Conscience.
With Saskatchewan in the midst of a campaign for an Oct. 26 provincial election as well as for Nov. 9 civic/ municipal elections, the discussion is particularly timely.
Bishop Mark Hagemoen has written a letter to the faithful announcing a change of the normative age for Confirmation to Grade 6 (age 11) in our diocese, beginning in 2021.
The present practice in the Roman Catholic Diocese of Saskatoon is to celebrate confirmation immediately before First Holy Communion at a combined celebration in Grade 2 (age 7).
“I hope that this shift will not only present new and ongoing opportunities for effective faith formation of youth and their families in preparing for all of the Sacraments but may also be the opportunity to foster new initiatives and creativity regarding ongoing faith-formation and youth activities for the young people and their families of the parishes of our diocese.” – Bishop Mark Hagemooen
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