Each year since 1997, on February 2, the liturgical feast of the Presentation of the Lord, the Church invites us to celebrate the World Day for Consecrated Life. The purpose of the day is to help the entire Church to esteem ever more greatly the witness of those persons who have chosen to follow Christ by means of the practice of the evangelical counsels.  The World Day for Consecrated Life was established by the Blessed John Paul II. In his Apostolic Exhortation Vita Consecrata, he referred to the consecrated life as constituting “‘a closer imitation and an abiding re-enactment in the Church’ of the way of life which Jesus, the supreme Consecrated One and missionary of the Father for the sake of his Kingdom, embraced and proposed to his disciples” (no. 22).

CCCB Forum with Catholic Movements and Associations
November 25-27, 2011
Queen of Apostles Renewal Centre, Mississauga, ON

The CCCB Standing Committee for Relations with Catholic Movements and Associations hosted a forum November 25-27, 2011 for movements and associations within the Catholic Church in Canada to discuss how they might grow in communion in service of the wider Church.  The theme of the forum was “Witness of Communion.”  The weekend spent together was, according to many who attended, itself an expression of the theme of the meeting: a deep sharing of experiences, knowledge, vulnerabilities, and visions.

Today, January 27, 2012, Archbishop Zygmunt Zimowski, President of the Pontifical Council for Health Care Workers, made public his message for the 59th World Leprosy Day, which falls on Sunday, January 29. The message is entitled "In the Fight against Hansen's Disease: The Commitment of All Men of Good Will is Required".

Link to the Message

On January 24, 2012, the Feast of Saint Francis de Sales, patron of journalists, the Holy See made public the Holy Father's Message for the 46^th World Day of Social Communications, which will be celebrated on May 20.  The Message is entitled "Silence and Word: Path of Evangelization". 

Link to the Message

The French Sector National Liturgy Office (NLO) has recently added to its website a PDF version of the French-language confirmation ritual which is no longer available in print.  Also, the NLO now offers a new service on its website for those involved in liturgical music.  Entitled “Sélections de chants”, it proposes a selection of French-language liturgical hymns for various periods of the liturgical year.   Originally offering selections for the Sundays of Advent of Year B, it now also includes a selection of hymns for the Lenten season of Year B.   Eventually, selections will be available for the entirety of all three liturgical years and will be updated regularly. 

On January 21, 2012, the staff of the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops (CCCB), together with a number of former employees, gathered at the CCCB offices for a Memorial Mass for the late Ms. Simonne Carr, who died December 31, 2011, after a brief illness.  She had worked for 36 years with the CCCB National Office of Religious Education, and for many of those years was its Executive Secretary. The principal celebrant for the Mass was CCCB General Secretary Msgr. Patrick Powers, P.H., with Fathers Peter Sanders, S.C.J., and Bill Burke concelebrating. Father Sanders had been the Director of NORE when Simonne was first hired. Father Burke is the Director of the CCCB English Sector National Liturgy Office.

(CCCB – Ottawa)… The Most Rev. Colin Campbell, Bishop Emeritus of Antigonish, died on Tuesday evening, January 17, 2012, at the age of 80.

Bishop Campbell was born on July 12, 1931 in Antigonish, NS. He was ordained a priest of the Archdiocese of Halifax on May 26, 1956; appointed Bishop of the Diocese of Antigonish by Pope John Paul II on December 12, 1986; and ordained Bishop on March 19, 1987 in St. Ninian Cathedral, Antigonish. His resignation as Bishop of Antigonish was accepted by the Holy Father on October 26, 2002, for reasons of health.

In 2012, the World Day of Migrants and Refugees is celebrated on January 15.  Pope Benedict XVI’s Message for the event is on “Migration and the New Evangelization”.

Link to the Message

From December 14 to 21, 2011, the President of the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops, Archbishop Richard Smith of Edmonton, and the CCCB Vice President, Archbishop Paul-André Durocher of Gatineau, were part of a Solidarity Mission to Haiti.  Following this recent visit, the CCCB President sent a letter to the Bishops of Canada together with a complete report titled CHALLENGES AND OPPORTUNITIES IN THE RECONSTRUCTION OF HAITI: SUMMARY OF OBSERVATIONS. Among the observations are a number of positive reflections on the work in Haiti by the Canadian Catholic Organization for Development and Peace. For example, under Section 5, the report states:: "No Haitian Bishop or representative of a Haitian Church agency during the December 2011 solidarity visit raised any question or doubt about the partners and programs in which Development and Peace is involved."

(CCCB – Ottawa)… On the occasion of the feast of Saint Marguerite Bourgeoys, who dedicated herself to the education and care of Indigenous children and the children of the first French colonies in the country, the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops has added a new section to its webpage dedicated to the Catholic Church and Indigenous Peoples in Canada.  This new webpage is to serve as a reference tool to recall the common history and enduring traditions shared by the Church and Indigenous Peoples, and to highlight what is currently being done on a pastoral level among Indigenous Peoples in each of the four major pastoral regions of Canada.

From January 7 to 12, 2012, the President of the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops (CCCB), the Most Reverend Richard Smith, Archbishop of Edmonton, participated in the annual meeting of the International Coordination of Episcopal Conferences in Support of the Church in the Holy Land. It involves representatives from Conferences of Bishops in Europe and North America who meet with the Assembly of Catholic Ordinaries of the Holy Land (AOCTS).  Archbishop Smith was accompanied by Mr. Carl Hétu, National Secretary of CNEWA-Canada. At the end of their gathering, the Bishops released an official statement that is available on the website of the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem. 

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