The Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops (CCCB) will participate in an inter-American meeting of bishops to be held in Cuba during February of next year, marking the first anniversary of Pope John Paul II’s first pastoral visit to this Caribbean island. The meeting will involve the Latin American episcopal council CELAM, together with the National Episcopal Conferences of Canada and the United States. About 30 bishops and four General Secretaries are expected for the meeting, to be held February 14-17, 1999.

The National Episcopal Conferences that are members of CELAM had accepted the invitation by Cardinal Jaime Ortega, Archbishop of Havana, to celebrate the first anniversary of the papal visit to Cuba. Originally Canada was to have been the host of the next inter-American meeting, which in principle each year alternates between Latin America and North America.

CCCB General Secretaries Msgr. Peter Schonenbach and Sulpician Father Émilius Goulet are to fly to Havana this week to assist in preparations for the 1999 meeting.

Ottawa – (CCCB) — The Most Rev. Henri Goudrerault, O.M.I., Archbishop of Grouard-McLennan, died suddenly this morning while visiting the Grey Nuns’ Regional Centre in Edmonton.

Archbishop Goudreault, a member of the Oblates of Mary Immaculate, had been Archbishop of Grouard-McLennan since July 16, 1996. Prior to his appointment there, he was Bishop of Labrador City-Schefferville since 1987.

He was also a member of the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Executive Committee, serving as Co-treasurer. He was Chairman of the Episcopal Commission for Theology, a member of the CCCB Permanent Council, and the Programmes and Priorities Committee.

Archbishop Goudreault played an important role promoting the rights of Canada`s aboriginal peoples. He was the architect of a pastoral statement by the Quebec Assembly of Bishops on the situation of aboriginal peoples in Quebec; he was one of the CCCB representatives who addressed the Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples; and he played an important role in the establishment of the Council for Reconciliation, Solidarity and Communion by the CCCB.

Born in 1928 in Belle-Vallée, Ontario, Archbishop Goudreault was ordained to the priesthood in 1956. He was named President of the Canadian Oblate Conference in 1987 just prior to his appointment as Bishop of Labrador City- Schefferville.

He had a long association with Saint Paul University in Ottawa, first as director of the university`s Institute for Mission Studies, director of its Centre for Anthropological Research, then Vice-Rector and finally Rector from 1977 to 1985.

The funeral will take place at 2 pm on Tuesday, July 28 at the Cathedral in McLennan, Alberta.

OTTAWA — (CCCB) His Holiness Pope John Paul II today named Rev. Sleiman Hajjar, b.s., as Archeparch for the Greek-Melkites in Canada. He replaces Most Rev. Michel Hakim whose resignation was accepted by the Pontiff.

The new Archeparch was born in Lebanon on May 13, 1950. He joined the Basilian Salvatorian Order in 1977 and was ordained to the priesthood on August 4, 1979. At the time of his appointment, Archeparch-elect Hajjar was Associate Pastor at Saints Peter and Paul Parish in Ottawa where he had served since 1995. Archeparch-elect Hajjar holds a licence in management, a Masters in Philosophy and Theology, and a licence in Liturgy from the Pontifical University of Holy Spirit in Kaslik, Lebanon

He was the Director of Studies at Holy Saviour Minor Seminary in Lebanon, and became its rector in 1986. The new Archeparch was also responsible for pastoral activity at the Foyer de la Providence in Lebanon in 1983 and was named its Director in 1989. He was named Fourth Assistant of the Basilian Salvatorian Order in 1989.

The Archeparchy for Greek-Melkites in Canada has a Catholic population of 38,000 in 10 parishes and missions and is served by 11 priests.

This document is only available in French.

(Ottawa – CCCB) — His Holiness Pope John Paul II today declared the Ukrainian Eparchy of Toronto vacant and named His Excellency the Most Rev. Cornelius John Pasichny, OSBM, as its new Eparch. He was appointed Bishop in the Ukrainian Eparchy of Saskatoon in November, 1995.

His Excellency Most Rev. Roman Danylak, who has been Apostolic Administrator of the Toronto Eparchy, has been given new responsibilities in Rome. Bishop Pasichny’s predecessor as Eparch of Toronto, His Excellency Most Rev. Isidore Borecky, D.D., was appointed in 1948 by His Holiness Pope Pius XII.

Bishop Pasichny was born on March 27, 1927 in innipeg, Manitoba. He entered the Basilian Order of St. Josaphat in 1942, made his solemn profession in 1948 and was ordained a priest in Rome on July 5, 1953. He received a licence in Theology from the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome in 1954, and a Master’s degree from the University of Ottawa in 1956. He has completed the course requirements for a Ph.D degree.

He served as pastor of St. Nicolas Church in Winnipeg, Man., Provincial Consultor and Econome of the Basilian Order of St. Josaphat , Superior of St. Josaphat Monastery in Ottawa, Ont., Pastor at St. John the Baptist Church in Borshchiw, Alberta, Pastor of the Protection of the Blessed Virgin Mary Church in Krakow, Alberta, and Associate Pastor at St. John the Baptist Church in Ottawa, Ont.

He is a former teacher of Humanities and Philosophy at the Basilian House of Studies in Mundare, Alberta, an assistant professor at the University of Ottawa, former editor of the bi-monthly periodical “Beacon” and former Spiritual Director at the Ukrainian Holy Spirit Seminary in Ottawa.

The Ukrainian Eparchy of Toronto has 41,010 Ukrainian-rite Catholics with 75 parishes and missions served by 96 priests and 31 religious brothers and sisters. It comprises all of Ontario, Quebec and the Atlantic provinces.

(Ottawa – CCCB) — His Holiness Pope John Paul II today named Most Rev. Terrence Prendergast, SJ, as Archbishop of Halifax. He had been Auxiliary Bishop of the Archdiocese of Toronto since February 1995. He replaces Most Rev. Austin E. Burke, who retired earlier this year.

Archbishop-elect Prendergast was born in Montreal in 1944, joined the Society of Jesus in 1961, and was ordained to the priesthood in 1972. He is a noted Scripture scholar who holds a Bachelor of Arts from Fordham University, New York, a master’s and licentiate in theology, and a doctorate in Scripture from Regis College at the University of Toronto. In addition, he taught at Regis College from 1981 until he was named Bishop, and served for three years as the Dean of Regis College.

Archbishop Prendergast lectured in New Testament studies at the Atlantic School of Theology in Halifax where he also served as Director of Priestly Formation from 1975 to 1981. The new Archbishop has also been guest lecturer at many theological institutes, both nationally and internationally and was a visiting professor at the École Biblique et Archéologique Française in Jerusalem.

At the national level, Archbishop-elect Prendergast is the current Chairman of the CCCB Episcopal Commission for Relations with Clergy, Consecrated Life and Laity. Prior to his episcopal ordination, he was a member of one of the working groups of the CCCB’s Ad Hoc Committee on Sexual Abuse, and also served as executive secretary to the Vatican-mandated Apostolic Visitation of English-speaking Canadian Seminaries. The new Archbishop has also been active in ecumenical and inter-faith activities including the Christian-Jewish dialogue of Toronto and the national Anglican-Roman Catholic dialogue.

The Archdiocese of Halifax has a Catholic population of 152,515 with 53 parishes and missions served by 85 priests, 26 permanent deacons and 334 religious sisters and brothers.

Canada’s Catholic bishops, at their October 1997 Annual Plenary Assembly voted to establish an initiative for reconciliation, solidarity and communion. This was, in part, the result of earlier collaboration with native peoples through Project North and the Aboriginal Rights Coalition, and also partly to fulfill a promise made to the Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples.

In its September 1993 brief to the Royal Commission, the CCCB had committed itself to addressing a number of factors which continue to marginalise aboriginal people in Canada. The goal of the initiative is to promote a deep understanding and commitment for establishing a new covenant between aboriginal and non- aboriginal people in Canada. The initiative is to reflect the respect and care for persons and cultures which the Gospel demands. It will do this through a threefold program of awareness, healing and communion.

A Council for Reconciliation, Solidarity and Communion is being set up to carry out this initiative and to provide advice and guidance to the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops and other agencies and organizations on aboriginal issues, especially for concerns affecting reconciliation, solidarity and communion. The Council will also direct a fund that is being established to assist community-based projects with the same or similar objectives.

The Council will be made up of representatives from the CCCB as well as members of aboriginal communities from across Canada who have expertise in the areas of education, healing, cross-cultural therapy and restorative justice. Appointments to the Council will be completed by the end of June 1998, and its composition made public at that time. The co-ordinator for this initiative is Mr. Gerry Kelly, who has also served with the National Catholic Working Group on Residential Schools.

His All Holiness Bartholomew I
Patriarch of Constantinople

Your All Holiness:

On behalf of the Eastern and Latin Rite Catholic Bishops of Canada, I offer you fraternal greetings on the happy occasion of your visit to our country. We pray that this visit, indeed your whole ministry, will be blessed by God and be for all a renewal of the outpouring of the gifts of the Holy Spirit.

Together with His Holiness, John Paul II, Bishop of Rome, we eagerly look forward to that day when the Churches of the East and West will be fully united in the faith and love of Our Lord Jesus Christ. We also profit from the occasion of your visit to Canada to recommit ourselves to the ongoing cooperation and dialogue that are already under way in our country, between Catholics and Orthodox locally, and by means of the North American Orthodox / Roman Catholic Theological Consultation.

Because of previous commitments, I unfortunately cannot assist at the ecumenical meeting that is planned during your visit to Toronto on May 30. However, His Eminence Aloysius Cardinal Ambrozic, Archbishop of Toronto, and Right Reverend Msgr. Peter Schonenbach, PH, General Secretary of the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops, plan on being present. The Apostolic Nuncio to Canada, Most Reverend Carlo Curis, and the Archbishop of Ottawa, Most Reverend Marcel Gervais, who is a former President of our Episcopal Conference, together with Sister Donna Geernaert, SC, Director of Ecumenical and Interfaith Relations for this Conference, had the honour of assisting at the banquet that was held in your honour in Ottawa on May 25; Sister Donna was able to be present as well for the Doxology earlier the same day that also marked your visit.

Assuring you of the prayers of the Catholic faithful in our land that Mary the blessed Theotokos intercede for the unity of all Christians, and in conveying the best wishes of my brother bishops, Your All Holiness, I also extend my own personal and fraternal regards.

Sincerely in Our Lord,

+ Jean-Claude Cardinal Turcotte
Archbishop of Montreal
President of the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops

The Honourable Lloyd Axworthy
Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Trade
125 Sussex Drive
Ottawa, ON
Fax: 996-3443

Dear Mr. Axworthy:

We recently learned via a dispatch from the Most Reverend Chairman of the Episcopal Conference of Colombia that Colombian security forces raided the offices of the Inter-Congregational Commission for Justice and Peace of Colombia in the late afternoon on May 13, 1998.

According to our information, the forces occupied the building which houses the Commission’s offices and detained and filmed members of its staff. The target of the raid was the “Nunca Más” project, which is administered by the Commission. This project is a cooperative initiative involving approximately a dozen human rights organizations in Colombia. Its aim is to gather testimony on human rights violations that have been committed in the country over the past 30 years.

The Commission for Justice and Peace is one of the main human rights organizations in Colombia. It has earned recognition internationally and in Canada for its work in defending and promoting human rights. Its staff carry out their duties in conditions that are both difficult and dangerous. In the past year alone, twenty-one (21) human rights workers have been killed in Colombia. You can thus appreciate our grave concern.

We urge you to protest this incident in the strongest possible terms to the Colombian authorities and to demand a guarantee of the physical and psychological safety of human rights workers. We also urge you to set up an emergency program to enable the members and staff of the Commission as well as witnesses in the “Nunca Más” project to leave the country quickly, should this be necessary.

Thank you for your attention to this matter.

Yours sincerely,

† François Thibodeau, CJM
Bishop of Edmundston
Chairman
Episcopal Commission for Social Affairs
Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops

Sr. Alfonso Gómez Méndez
Fiscalia General
Bogota, Colombia
Fax: 011-571-320-3783

Sr. Gómez Méndez:

We strongly condemn the raid of the office of the Inter-Congregational Justice and Peace Commission by the special counter-insurgency troops from the 13th Brigade of the Armed Forces on May 13th. We strongly protest this attack against this internationally respected human rights organization.

Well known among Canadians, the work of this Commission has been recognized by the International Center for Human Rights and Democratic Development based in Montreal, Canada. The Commission received the John Humphrey Award in 1997. It is also a partner of the Inter- Church Committee on Human Rights in Latin America and of the Canadian Catholic Organization for Development and Peace.

We urge you to issue a press release acknowledging that the Inter-Congregational justice and Peace Commission does not have any association with guerillera activities. We also urge you to guarantee the physical and psychological safety of the Inter-Congregational Justice and Peace Commission staff and members and those individuals who provided testamony to the “Nunca Más” report.

+François Thibodeau, c.j.m.
Chairman
Human Rights Committee
Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops