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Archbishop Antonio Ledesma  of Cagayan de Oro, Philippines said the archdiocese has joined a multisectoral group to help in preventing and treating drug abuse. He said that the archdiocese will collaborate with the government in providing a faith-based drug rehabilitation programme. 

He said the “Coalition for a Drug-free Society” was formed with the city government of Cagayan de Oro, the Department of Health, and various civil society groups.

The prelate added that the coalition has three main advocacies composed of prevention, intervention, and community support.

“So the Church will [take part in] the community support because we do not have the facilities for scientific rehabilitation,” Ledesma told Radio Veritas Tuesday.

“But we can give community support in terms of counseling, spiritual healing, and also making available our parish halls and formation centers,” he said.

The Jesuit archbishop has earlier called on the clergy to open their churches for the government’s drug recovery programs.

He, however, decried summary executions as a way of addressing the problem.

“We cannot solve a crime by committing another crime,” stressed Ledesma in a pastoral statement dated Aug. 4. (CBCP)

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A workshop aimed at establishing a network of Small Christian Communities (SCCs) in Africa is scheduled to take place in the Democratic Republic of Congo’s capital, Kinshasa, next month.

The weeklong conference, which will run from 20 to 27 October 2016, is being organised by Missio-Aachen and the Archdiocese of Kinshasa, under the patronage of Laurent Cardinal Monsengwo, the Archbishop of Kinshasa.

According to a message sent to the Nairobi-based CANAA about the workshop, the network of SCCs to be established will provide a forum for sharing ideas, experiences, knowledge, and a wealth of relevant competencies around the reality of SCCs across Africa and in the diaspora.

Creating and hosting a website to facilitate the sharing of information is one of the immediate objectives of the planned workshop, a forum that makes possible the networking of the different SCCs stakeholders.

It is hoped that when the SCC network is created, members will gain access to other networks within the Church thus making known realities of local Churches and communicating new ways of being Church.

The October Kinshasa Conference is a follow-up of two previous meetings, held in 2014 in Ghana’s capital, Accra, and another in 2015 in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso.

The Kinshasa workshop will focus on four thematic areas:

The Small Christian Community as place of individual and collective witness (martyria).

The Small Christian Community as place of celebration of the actions of God in history (leiturgia).

The Small Christian Community as place or a tool to support the challenges of society (diakonia).

The Small Christian Community as place of living service and the various ministries (oidokome).

(Father Don Bosco Onyalla, CANAA in Nairobi)

Email: engafrica@vatiradio.va

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(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis met with members of the World Jewish Congress on Monday evening.

An article published on Tuesday by the Vatican newspaper, the 'Osservatore Romano', highlighted how the Holy Father spoke about a series of issues pertaining to inter faith relations and the current migration crisis on the European continent.

“Europe often forgets that it has been enriched by migrants,” – Pope Francis said – “Europe is closing itself up. Europe is lacking creativity. Europe has a falling birth rate, and problems of high unemployment.”

Pope Francis also spoke about migrants integrating into their new surroundings, which he called “important.”

“The people who committed the terrorist attacks in Belgium were not properly integrated,” he said.

Pope Francis also reiterated  a good Christian could not be an anti-Semite, and said Christians and Jews must speak out against brutality in the world.

“We need more friendliness and kindness, and we should not be afraid to speak out against brutality,” – the Holy Father said – “We should go on a joint journey together to make the world more secure. We need to speak out for peace.”

The World Jewish Congress includes the heads of  Jewish communities in Europe and the Americas, and in light of the upcoming Rosh Hashana holiday, Pope Francis wished the Jewish world a happy new year.

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Vatican City, Sep 27, 2016 / 07:45 am (CNA/EWTN News).- The Vatican announced Tuesday that Pope Francis has named Msgr. Robert Milner Coerver, a parish priest from the Diocese of Dallas, as the new bishop-elect for Lubbock, Texas.

Msgr. Coerver, pastor of St. Rita Parish in Dallas, will be taking over for Bishop Plácido Rodríguez, who has been leading the diocese since 1994, but who will now retire after having reached the age limit of 75.

Born June 6, 1954, in Dallas, Msgr. Coerver grew up as part of St. Thomas Aquinas Parish before beginning his studies in philosophy at Dallas’ Holy Trinity Seminary.

He was then sent to the Pontifical North American College in Rome to study theology, where he was also enrolled in courses at the Pontifical University of St Thomas Aquinas and the Pontifical Gregorian University.

The bishop-elect was ordained a priest June 27, 1980, for the diocese of Dallas, and in 1981 received a Licentiate in Spiritual Theology from the Gregorian University.

Later, in 1990, he obtained a Masters’ degree in Counseling and Guidance from Texas A & M University – Commerce, formerly known as East Texas State University.

After his ordination, Msgr. Coerver served as assistant pastor at St. Elizabeth of Hungary Parish in Dallas as well as St. Elizabeth Seton Parish in Plano until 1985.

For the next 11 years he served as a spiritual director at Holy Trinity Seminary on the campus of the University of Dallas. In 1996 he moved fulltime into diocesan ministry, serving as a spirituality consultant for various programs in the diocese.

In July 1997 he was appointed Director of the Office of Sacramental Life for the Diocese, and in 2003 was named Director of Priestly Life and Ministry. He was given the title “Chaplain to His Holiness” by St. John Paul II in 2004, allowing him to be addressed as “Monsignor,” rather than “Father.”

On March 16, 2005, Msgr. Coerver was named as pastoral administrator of Our Lady of the Lake Church in Rockwall, Texas. One year later he was named pastor of the parish, where he served until 2010, when he was appointed to his current position as pastor of St. Rita Parish in Dallas

Since 2008, Msgr. Coerver has also served as a member and Chairman of the Presbyteral Council of the Diocese of Dallas.

Details on the day and time of his episcopal ordination have yet to be announced.

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IMAGE: CNS photo/Hans Deryk, Reuters

By Mark Pattison

WASHINGTON (CNS) -- Benedictine Archabbot Douglas R. Nowicki of St. Vincent's Archabbey in Latrobe, Pennsylvania, was with Arnold Palmer when the golfing great died Sept. 25 in Pittsburgh.

It wasn't the first time Archabbot Nowicki had visited Palmer that day. Palmer, 87, was in a hospital awaiting a heart operation scheduled for Sept. 26. "I went to say a prayer and give him a blessing. About an hour after I'd departed, I got a call" that Palmer's health was failing rapidly, the archabbot told Catholic News Service in a Sept. 26 telephone interview.

Even though Palmer was a lifelong Presbyterian, he'd had a relationship with St. Vincent's spanning more than 50 years, when Archabbot Nowicki himself was in the high school at the archabbey.

Palmer did not let denominational differences deter him. "Arnie sort of appealed to everyone. There were no barriers, race, color, creed -- those were things that never entered into" his mind, Archabbot Nowicki said. "He was welcoming to everybody and treated everyone with tremendous warmth and respect." Palmer came with his wife on occasion to the archabbey's 7:30 a.m. Sunday Mass.

"I remember him coming here on one occasion after winning several of the golf tournaments early in his career. He was hitting golf balls for the students. By then he had a fairly good reputation," Archabbot Nowicki recalled. "He would give a little demonstration. I remember when he was doing it they put a little trash pail out in the middle, about 150 yards out, and he was hitting balls out and he got about five in the tanker," he chuckled.

"The first time he invited me over, I told him I didn't know how to play, so I sent my prior, Father Albert. But this was after he retired professionally. But he still played golf, every day at Latrobe Country Club." When the archabbot saw Palmer again, he said Palmer told him, "The next time you send someone, send someone who is as good as your prior. This guy cost me 20 bucks."

"Arnie, as you know, was competitive and enjoyed playing with good golfers," Archabbot Nowicki said.

"Fred Rogers (of 'Mister Rogers' Neighborhood' fame) and Arnie Palmer went to the same school together. I think they were one year apart. They were very good friends during his lifetime," the archabbot told CNS. "Arnie's father taught Mr. Rogers how to play golf. ... (Rogers) "said that his father taught Arnie better than he taught him."

In retirement, Palmer lived five months of the year in his native Latrobe. Not only did he and his first wife, Winnie, who died in 1999, lend their name and their presence to various archabbey events, Winnie Palmer was "very helpful at keeping Wal-Mart out of our backyard," Archabbot Nowicki said. Arnold Palmer also served on the St. Vincent's College board of directors. In 1996 the college gave Palmer an honorary degree.

Archabbot Nowicki took up Palmer's invitation to join him when the golfing legend received the Congressional Gold Medal in 2012. Jack Nicklaus was there and he paid tribute to Arnie at the service," the archabbot recalled. "I know Jack had always been a wonderful friend of Arnie's, and the two enjoyed each other's company."

The archabbot remembered visiting Palmer at his Bay Hill Golf Club near Orlando, Florida. "He had given one of our commencement addresses. He talked about the importance of decorum. He said, 'That means when you enter a room that you take your hat off.'" At the club, a man "came into the dining room and had his hat on. Arnie said very gently to him, 'Will you please take off your hat?' He had that respect for people."

Palmer learned golf from his father, who was the greenskeeper at the Latrobe Country Club. He attended what was then Wake Forest College on a golf scholarship. He left school and enlisted in the U.S. Coast Guard, serving for three years. In 1954, he won the U.S. Amateur golf tournament; a year later he won the Canadian Open, and his golf career was launched.

Palmer won 95 professional championships, including 62 on the PGA Tour, and seven major tournaments. He earned $1.6 million in prize money, and another $50 million in golf-related business off the course. He also was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2004.

The archabbey will hold a memorial service for Palmer Oct. 4 at the basilica on the archabbey grounds.

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Follow Pattison on Twitter: @MeMarkPattison.

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