Let Us Go Forth For The Great Jubilee Mission National Home Visitation Campaign Launched On Sunday, 24th November, 2002, the Feast of Christ the King, the Archdiocese of Castries officially launched a three-year preparation programme leading up to the celebration of the Golden Jubilee of the diocese. Castries was established as a diocese on 20th February, 1956 and we want that Jubilee year 2006 to be one of the most important undertakings in the history of the people of God in Saint Lucia. The celebrations will have a three-fold objective in view: 1.A moment of profound Spiritual Renewal of the entire Church and her Mission. 2.Serious Pastoral Reform which calls for self-examination to achieve greater pastoral effectiveness by opening up new opportunities for more lay involvement in the life and mission of the Church. 3.Setting goals for each parish community and the diocese to be achieved by the year 2006. To make these happen the power of the Holy Spirit is crucial, that same power that drove the Blessed Virgin Mary to visit her cousin, Elizabeth, and which was poured out on the disciples on the first Pentecost. We as Christians and Catholics need to continue renewing our faith, and to move forward to live lives of holiness, obedience to God, and faithfulness to our calling. As St. Lucians, we need to love our country, become more patriotic and law abiding, not putting down others but rather building them up, being proud of who we are as a people, and what God intends to use us for, especially in our work with the poor, and being ready to give our very lives for the cause. The first big event in preparation for the Jubilee is the Great Mission to take place in every parish of this Archdiocese from January 4 – 13, 2005. And so we are inviting all our Catholics to turn out in large numbers, but a very special invitation goes out to the non-practising Catholics. Were you raised Catholic but do not or seldom come to Church anymore? Are you a Catholic who now feels separated from your Church? Would you like to know more about the Church as it is today? Would you like to feel at home in the Catholic Church again? No matter how long you have been away and for whatever reason, we invite you to consider renewing your relationship with the Catholic Church. Please join us for the Great Mission – January 4 – 13, 2005 in your parish community. A personal invitation will be given to you at your home. I know you will receive your parish visitor kindly during the month of November or December and we look forward to welcoming you back home for Jubilee. I ask all the faithful and particularly the sick, the elderly and shut-ins, the school children and families to pray daily the prayer for the success of the Great Mission. And now it gives me great pleasure to officially launch our Parish Home-to-Home Visitation which begins on Sunday, 7th November, 2004. + Kelvin E. Felix Archbishop of Castries

Archbishop’s Message to the Faithful

Year of the Eucharist
October 2004 - October 2005

Dear Father, Sisters and Brothers,

On the Feast of Corpus Christi (June 2 (04) Pope John Paul II announced that the Church will observe a year of study and prayer on the Eucharist. It began this month with an International Eucharistic Congress in Guadalajara, Mexico, October 10 - 17.

A meeting of the Synod of Bishops has been announced fur October 2005, which will conclude the year with discussions on the topic.

The hope for this special commemoration is that all Catbolics might grow in their faith and love for the mystery of Christ body and blood.

This has been a recurring theme in the Church in recent years. Here, in the Archdiocese of Castries, we began intensifying this devotion in 1983 by Way of the Cross followed. by Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament at Calvary in Castries, every Friday. Then we held Adoration every Thursday for the entire day.

In 1997 - 1999 we extended Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament to the entire Archdiocese, each Parish Church having one day of Adoration per month. This has continued even to this day and the schedule is published regularly in the Catholic Chronicle.

As many of us already know, we have now established the Perpetual Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament at the Cathedral Presbytery Chapel. Thanks to the dedicated and committed service of a team of very active Catholics.

In 2003 Pope John Paul II issued his latest encyclical “Ecclesia de Eucharistia” (Church of the Eucharist). Then in April 2004 the Vatican’s Congregation for Divine Worship issued its instruction on the celebration of the liturgy “Redemptionis Sacramentum” (Sacrament of Redemption). Our Clergy and Religious now have these documents in hand for study and we hope to formulate a programme of Eucharistic activities to observe this special year, as we prepare for the Great Mission and our Jubilee Year, 2006.

Let us all give thanks to God unceasingly for this great Sacrament, “the source and summit of the Christian life”, and show our appreciation and love by the reverent reception of the Eucharist and fervent adoration of the Blessed Sacrament as observed in all parishes, religious communities and the Benedictine Monastery.

In Christ,
+ Kelvin E. Felix
Archbishop of Castries

  Archbishops attend First World Congress on Justice and Peace

Archbishop Kelvin Felix greets the Pope during a Congress Audience. Standing is Cardinal Renato Martino, the Prefect of the Pontifical Council, Justice and Peace.

Representing the Antilles Episcopal Conference as President of the Justice and Peace Commission, Archbishop Kelvin Felix accompanied by a lay delegate from Trinidad and Tobago, Miss Lila Ramdsen, the Episcopal Chair for Justice and Peace in that Archdiocese, attended the first ever World Congress of Ecclesial Organisations working for Justice and Peace.

This Congress was organised by the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace and was held in Rome, October 27th – 30th 2004. Over 300 people including lay Catholics, religious men, women and a significant number of clergy, from 92 countries and 23 organisations around the world, attended this historic meeting.

They came together, called by the Church, to find the best and most effective ways to renew the pastoral action of the Church in the world to confirm our Christian, spiritual and ecclesial identity, and to confirm the Gospel option for the poor and marginalised, through the proclamation of the Gospel of Justice and Peace.

The Congress was a sign of hope, that in spite of the seemingly endless list of social ills that confront us in the world today, there are many who work tirelessly to make our world a better place.

It was clear from all our discussions, that we have all the resources in our world to address the social ills of our society, “what is lacking is the political willingness to attend the issues of poverty, marginalisation, exclusion and so on” said Cardinal Renato Martino, the President of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace.

Among other things, the Congress focussed on: the inviolability of the human person; the sanctity and dignity of human life; the centrality of Justice and Peace in Catholic Social Teaching; the Church’s commitment to peace; the importance of dialogue including ecumenical and interfaith dialogue; globalisation; respect for international agreements; the persistent nature of human rights violation around the world; finding ways of resolving disputes without recourse to violence; consumerism; relieving developing countries of the burden of debt; developing new forms of collaboration and solidarity both within our own countries and internationally; evangelisation; and the need to build a strong self-critical/self evaluative faculty in order to identity strengths and weaknesses in justice and peace processes within our Church.

Everyone agreed that we must not underestimate the positive impact of the quiet diplomacy of the Catholic Church working behind the scenes in many areas of the world where there is conflict. However, concern was expressed that the Social Doctrine of the Church is still not viewed by many within the Church as being integral to the Mission of the Church, and as an essential instrument of Evangelisation.

The work and programme of CARITAS SAINT LUCIA and the frequent seminars given by Fr. Leslie Lett are meant to help our people realise our obligation to “Justice and Peace in the Caribbean”.

Vox Clara Committee

The Vox Clara Committee met for the sixth time in Rome in the offices of the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments from November 9th – 11th 2004. This Committee of senior Bishops from around the English speaking world was established in July 19, 2001, to give advice to the Congregation regarding matters of liturgical translations of Latin liturgical texts into the English language, and to strengthen effective cooperation with the Conferences of Bishops in this regard.

The Committee which comprises twelve Cardinals and Bishops is chaired by Cardinal George Pell of Sydney, Australia and is augmented by five Specialists, three staff members with Msgr. James Moroney (U.S.A.) as Secretary. Archbishop Kelvin Felix represents the Antilles Episcopal Conference.

In the course of the meeting, the Committee received a progress report by teleconference from Cardinal Francis George O.M.I. from Chicago, on the development of an English language vernacular edition of the new Roman Missal (editio typica tertia) by the International Commission on English in the Liturgy (ICEL).

The Vox Clara Committee was provided with a copy of the latest version of ICEL’s translation of the <Order of Mass> recently revised in the light of comments from Bishops throughout the English speaking world. The Committee was impressed by the significant progress made by the mixed commission in this revision, and feel that they have remained faithful to the mandate given to them by Pope John Paul II in his message of April 20th, 2002 of making available to the faithful, as quickly as possible, the vernacular translation of the “Third Edition of the Roman Missal”.

His Eminence Cardinal Francis Arinze, Prefect of the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments addressed the Committee on November 10th 2004, and expressed his hope that the recently successful efforts of ICEL would result in a timely completion of the Roman Missal. He also thanked the members and advisors of the Vox Clara Committee for helping to encourage the realisation of “the very best translation that can be provided for the English speaking world”.

The next meeting of the Vox Clara Committee is scheduled for March 2005.

ECCLESIA IN AMERICA
(The Church in America)

On October 12th 1992, the very day marking the 500th anniversary of the first evangelisation of America, Pope John Paul II, speaking at the opening of the Fourth General Assembly of the Latin American Bishops in Santo Domingo, called for a synodal meeting. Its aim was to broaden the Church’s perspectives and to give impetus to a new evangelisation.

That Synod was held in the Vatican from November 16th to December 12th, 1997 with the Theme: “Encounter with the Living Jesus Christ: The Way to Conversion, Communion and Solidarity in America”.

In order to monitor the progress and encourage the implementation of the Synod Revolutions, a team of 15 Cardinals and Bishops were elected. At the end of the Synod in 1997 These have been meeting yearly at the Vatican to report to the Pope.

In the picture above: Bishops from the American Continent with the Holy Father after their Sixth Annual Meeting, November 5th 2004. Archbishop Kelvin Felix represents the Antilles, whilst Archbishop Gayot represents the Haitian Conference of Bishops.

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