New York City, N.Y., Oct 25, 2014 / 12:09 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- The Church is mourning the death of Monsignor Lorenzo Albacete, who died early Friday following a lengthy illness; he was deeply involved in the ecclesial movement Communion and Liberation, and was a good friend of Cardinal Sean O'Malley of Boston.
He served as the responsible for Communion and Liberation in the U.S. and Canada, and was chairman of board of advisors for Crossroads Cultural Center, a project which hosts events exploring the relationship between religion and culture.
The priest was a co-founder of the John Paul II Institute for Studies on Marriage and Family in Washington, D.C., and taught at St. Joseph Seminary in New York. He was rector of the Pontifical Catholic University of Puerto Rico from 1996-1997. He was also for a time an advisor to the U.S. bishops' conference on Hispanic affairs.
For the complete article, click here: http://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/church-mourns-death-of-msgr-lorenzo-albacete-priest-and-scientist-44731/
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I have included this for two reasons:
- He was the co-founder of the JPII Institute for Studies on Marriage and Family.
- There are a number of people in this Archdiocese who are affiliated with Communion and Liberation (CL).
Washington D.C., Oct 22, 2014 / 04:49 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- Hundreds of pilgrims and faithful from all states of life flocked to Washington, D.C.'s St. John Paul II Shrine on Wednesday to celebrate the late Pope and recently canonized saint’s first universal feast day.
“To be able to celebrate in the presence of a saint on their first feast day, I think is just a point of great grace for the local Church and all the pilgrims that come here,” said Fr. Jonathan Kalisch, O.P, chaplain of the Saint John Paul II National Shrine, to CNA Oct. 22.
For the complete story, go here: http://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/hundreds-flock-to-us-shrine-to-celebrate-first-feast-of-st-john-paul-ii-11643/
The procession had an ancient vibe: Dozens of priests in white robes, leading hundreds more Catholics in a solemn procession through Northeast Washington. People chanted and sang prayers from the 3rd century, asking saints through Christianity’s history for help.
Hovering over it all was a drone.
The Archdiocese of Washington debuted its new, hubcap-sized flying device on Mother’s Day, using it to videotape crowds participating in a procession marking the canonizations of popes John Paul II and John the 23rd (now called St. John Paul II and St. John the 23rd). The video images captured by the drone-mounted camera were used in a YouTube mashup the archdiocese made, mixing soaring classical music and scenes from an earlier indoor Mass.
Click here to read the entire article: http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/washington-archdiocese-tries-out-its-new-drone-to-film-sainthood-procession/2014/05/19/c25b0876-dd41-11e3-bda1-9b46b2066796_story.html
Over two years ago, I wrote about the John Paul Center. To be honest, I was highly critical of this purchase and still am.
Here is an update from Catholic News Service.
To be honest, I am not certain how much different this is, than the original intent.
The August 4th edition of the Catholic Standard has the center pages focusing on the latest with the John Paul II Cultural Center. The Center was opened in April 2001 and for most of this calendar year, was only opened by appointment.
As readers of this and other blogs know, the JPII Center has not attracted the numbers and events hoped for since it was established.
Now, this is not to say that the facility and the exhibits (at least when I visited them a couple of years ago) we terrible. In fact, they were very nice. However, it was not easily accessible by metro or even vehicle. I mean, I had a bit of a difficult time finding it by car and if it wasn't due to the fact that the person with me knew the area very well, I would have never found it.
As you know, in the Fall of 2010, it was reported that the Dominican Sisters of Mary, Mother of the Eucharist, were looking into the possibility of purchasing this property for use as a house of study. However, this did not work out.
So the question then comes up: What do we do with this? We cannot just let it sit there and rot. We have spent all of this money and countless hours.
The answer: Let's make it a Shrine and have the Knights of Columbus "foot the bill."
The Standard reported that the Knights will repay the Diocese of Detroit the money spent to establish and operate the Center. (The Diocese of Detroit has taken quite a bit of heat over the cost of this.) In addition, proceeds from the sale will also go to Catholic University of America (CUA), which has a secured interest in the property. Further, the JPII Center will will be declared as an Archiocesan Shrine.
Let's be honest about this.
One, how much pressure was put upon the Knights to fund this effort. Personally, I bet a fair amount. I don't think that they would have jumped at it on their own.
Two, do you really think that by simply declaring it a shrine, people will naturally flock to it? Nope. Oh yes, we will see an increase in attendance but because they will ensure that when Church groups come, they must include a visit to it. But will this be enough to make it viable? I doubt it.
Three, how much of this was about "saving face" and "taping into someone else's coffers." As mentioned earlier, Detroit needs the money, the center is just sitting there and is in probably need or some repairs and the Archidocese of Washington is looking bad.
I really hate to say it but this is really throwing good money down the drain.
I received a letter (dated March 2), via email last night, from the Dominican Sisters of Mary. Here is part of the letter regarding the John Paul II Cultural Center: As you may know, the Dominican Sisters of Mary signed a purchase agreement with the Archdiocese of Detroit this past August to determine if the building located at 3900 Harewood Road in Washington, D.C., also known as the John Paul II Cultural Center, could be renovated for a House of Studies. While architectural renderings of the facility determined that the building could be renovated, the Sisters discerned that to pursue this endeavor was not a prudent use of our limited resources. Additionally, the level of financial support to undertake the project was lacking. As a result, the Sisters have withdrawn the offer to purchase the building.
Capping years of drama over the future of Washington's Pope John Paul II Cultural Center, late tonight the Michigan-based Dominican Sisters of Mary, Mother of the Eucharist, announced that they had inked an agreement to buy the property for use as a house of studies.For more, read Whispers in the Loggia for the full story.Update (Nov. 10, 2010): Altough there is an agreement to sell the property to the Dominican Sisters of Mary, Mother of the Eucharist, this sale is pending the outcome of the inspection process. It is my understanding that the process should be completed sometime in December. I hope that this clarifies the current situation and apologize if it has mislead anyone. PS: I have not forgotten about VOTF at St. Rose of Lima...see the story below.
