News

The National Day of Prayer in Solidarity with Indigenous Peoples is celebrated annually by the Church in Canada on December 12, the feast day of Our Lady of Guadalupe, patroness of the Americas. The Canadian Catholic Aboriginal Council celebrates this day of prayer, solidarity and reconciliation by issuing an annual message. The members of the Canadian Catholic Aboriginal Council have chosen as the theme of this year's message "Young People, the Faith and Vocational Discernment", which was also the theme of the 15th Ordinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops held in Rome in October.

It is with great sadness that the Diocese mourns the death of Father Don Leonard.  Father Leonard died Tuesday, December 4, 2018, at the Health Sciences Centre in St. John’s at the age of 70.

In 2004, following the death of his wife, Mary, in 2003, Father Leonard began his theological studies at Holy Apostles College and Seminary in Cromwell, Connecticut, and was ordained to the priesthood by Most Reverend Bishop Douglas Crosby at Sacred Heart Parish, Curling, on June 28, 2006.

Father Don served as Chaplain for the Corner Brook area hospitals and nursing homes from 2006-2012.  In 2014, he became Administrator of Sacred Heart Parish in Curling and in May of 2016 he also became Administrator of Our Lady Star of the Sea Parish in Benoit’s Cove. Due to failing health Father Leonard retired from full time ministry August 1, 2017.

Funeral Arrangements for Father Leonard are as follows:

Our sympathy is extended to his children, Donna, Jim, Bernard, Karen, Don Jr., Alice, and their families, his sisters, Patricia and Rosemarie, his brother Reginald  and their families.  May his soul and the souls of the faithfully departed rest in peace. Amen.

The Diocese of Corner Brook and Labrador

Pastoral Planning Process

“…the hope to which we are called…”

Advent 2018 Pastoral Letter to the People of the Diocese

 

 

Dear People of the Diocese:

The first Sunday of Advent begins the new liturgical year.  Again this year, I am using it as the occasion to give an update on our Diocesan Pastoral Planning initiative.

During the past year, the Diocesan Pastoral Planning Advisory Committee has visited nine parishes to meet with their Pastoral Council, their Finance Councils and representatives from their parish missions.  The Committee met with representatives from 21 of the 51 Catholic Communities of our diocese.  These parish meetings; as well as, comments and suggestions from the annual surveys, have led the Advisory Committee to make arrangements for a Diocesan Pastoral Planning Conference to take place in Corner Brook from Friday June 7^th to Sunday June 9^th 2019.

Sympathy is extended to Father Terry Boland and his family on the death of their mother Bernice Woodrow.    Mrs. Woodrow died on Friday, November 23, 2018 at the age of 92.   She was predeceased by her first husband, Leo Boland in 1961 and her second husband Luke Woodrow in 2000.

Please join in praying for the repose of her soul and in praying for the grace of God’s consolation for Father Boland and his family.

We are pleased to welcome to our diocese Father Vanathuraj Rayappan, H.G.N., a member of Mary Queen of the Apostles Province of the Heralds of the Good News who arrived in the diocese on Friday, November 16^th. Please join in welcoming Father to the diocese and praying for God’s blessing upon his ministry.

On Sunday, November 18, Roman Catholics will celebrate the second annual World Day of the Poor. This new world day of prayer was announced by Pope Francis in a letter dated June 13, 2017 and is to be observed annually on the 33^rd Sunday in Ordinary Time. The theme this year is “This poor man cried, and the Lord heard him” (Ps 34:6). In his message for World Day of the Poor, Pope Francis challenges us to use this occasion to make an examination of conscience and consider whether we truly do hear the cry of the poor. The celebration of this day is an excellent opportunity for us to support our local St. Vincent de Paul and/or local Food Bank.

On Sunday, November 11, we celebrate Remembrance Day, a time to remember those who died in the First and Second World Wars and the Korean War as well as in military operations and peacekeeping missions around the world. This year is the 100^th anniversary of the end of World War I, commonly called the “Great War” or the “war to end all wars”. We observe Remembrance Day on November 11^th because it was on November 11, 1918, at 11:00 a.m. that the peace treaty ending World War I came into effect. As we remember  let us pray for all those – military and civilian – who have suffered the horrors of war.

World Mission Sunday is celebrated on the next-to-last Sunday in October, which this year is October 21. The theme this year is Together with young people, let us bring the Gospel to all. On this day we are called to offer our prayers and generous financial support, through the Society for the Propagation of the Faith, for the worldwide mission of Jesus. Your prayers and donations will help support churches, hospitals, schools and vocations in countries where the Church is beginning, where it is new. We would encourage you to be as generous as possible in the special collection taken up in support of the Church’s missionary work.

Continue to next page to read the letter from Bishop Vincent H. Nguyen, auxiliary Bishop of Toronto and Ponens, Society for the Propagation of the Faith for Canada, English Sector

Click here to read the message of Pope Francis.

On Sunday, October 14, 2018, at Mass celebrated in St. Peter’s Square in Rome, Pope Francis I canonized Blessed Paul VI and Blessed Oscar Romero. The Most Reverend Lionel Gendron, P.S.S., Bishop of Saint-Jean-Longueuil and President of the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops has issued a statement to mark the event.

On October 4, 2018, , the CCCB released its updated and expanded national guidelines for the protection of minors in Canada entitled Protecting Minors from Sexual Abuse: A Call to the Catholic Faithful in Canada for Healing, Reconciliation, and Transformation.

With this document, Canada’s Bishops reaffirm their commitment to continue improving practices in their dioceses/eparchies with an emphasis on long-term prevention and pre-emptive action. The document brings the CCCB’s existing guidelines (From Pain to Hope, 1992; Orientations, 2007) up to date with the latest laws in Canada and the most recent norms of the Holy See.

Click here to read the complete document and/or to view the Introduction to the document by CCCB President, the Most Rev. Lionel Gendron, P.S.S.