Third Sunday of Easter

April 14, 2024

Lord let your face shine on us.

(Psalm 4:7a)

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Announcement – Something New! AUSCP has a gift for all diocesan and religious order priests being ordained this year. Please send the names, contact information, and date of ordination of those from your area to auscpexdir@gmail.com. Thanks. ________________________________________________________________________

Mutual Support: When the Church Tears Down Its Own Statues On 16th of July 2020, the ‘Vademecum’ on certain points of procedure in treating cases of sexual abuse of minors committed by clerics was published. The objective of the document was to give an “instruction manual” to correct conduct causes that concern deacons, presbyters and bishops accused of abusing minors. This document is for Bishops, Ordinaries, Superiors of Institutes for Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life, as well as for those working by right helping them in dealing with these cases. Civil and Rotal lawyer Mauro Visigalli wrote a letter with reference to the Vademecum. In it he wrote, “I found the closing words of the text to be highly significant about the intentions and the worries of its writers … and was punctually confirmed to me, right at that moment when I was complaining about this with a remote Diocesan Court in North America. Read the complete letter HERE. Deadline Nearing for AUSCP Leadership Team Nominations! Please consider your gifts and see if they match what is needed to serve on the Leadership Team. We welcome diversity in all areas – age, race, ethnicity, diocese, etc. Nomination forms are available from: office@auscp.org. Please consider self-nominating or encouraging someone you think would be a good addition to the Leadership Team. We are at an exciting time in the AUSCP as we support the agenda of Pope Francis! Please give serious consideration to how you can use your gifts to further the work of AUSCP. Deadline for nominations is April 30, 2024. Nominees must be current in their AUSCP membership and be present at the 2024 Assembly in Lexington! ************ Call for Assembly Colloquia Any AUSCP working group or Assembly exhibitor who wishes to conduct a small group session at the Assembly on Thursday morning, June 27, needs to submit their title, brief description, and name of facilitator(s) by May 10, 2024. Send to: office@auscp.org

Your Conscience, Your Vote: Voting as a Discerning Catholic in 2024

As election day draws closer, the AUSCP offers a collection of news, opinions, and resources to help you in discernment:

https://auscp.org/catholic-voting-2024/

In Memoriam   AUSCP member Bishop Thomas Gumbleton, (age 94), Archdiocese of Detroit, died on April 4, 2024.. Bishop Gumbleton was a founding member of Pax Christi USA and the Michigan Coalition for Human Rights. He was a highly regarded human rights activist, author and speaker. He was known for his quiet, kind demeanor and his willingness to challenge church leadership. He spoke out against sexually abusive priests and in support of LGBTQ Catholics. As a passionate peace and social justice activist, he took part in many demonstrations and was arrested outside the White House during an anti-war protest. For decades he served those in need at St. Leo’s in Detroit, where he slept on a simple bed on the floor of his office, showing his preference for people over personal possessions. ************   AUSCP member Msgr. John Rowan, (age 88), Diocese of Rockville Centre, died on April 1, 2024. Msgr. Rowan’s service to the church started as the founding Principal at Holy Family High School; now St. Anthony’s. He served as Pastor at St. Lawrence the Martyr R.C. Church in Sayville, and coordinated Masses at Fire Island Pines, for more than 25 years. More recently, he spent his time serving the people of St. Frances de Chantal Church in Wantagh. Msgr. Rowan used his doctorate degrees in canon law, civil law, and education, in service of the communities’ needs. He was a founding member of Mercy Haven and served on many boards.   Fr. Bob Bonnot and the late Fr. Clarence Williams, CPPS, present Bishop Gumbleton with the John XXIII Award at the 2016 Annual AUSCP Assembly in Chicago. Bishop John Stowe commented: “I pray for more shepherds like Tom Gumbleton who lived the spirituality of nonviolence in all contexts. It is kind of fitting that he shares the anniversary of death of Dr Martin Luther King, Jr.” May Bishop Tom rest in God’s eternal love! ************   May Msgr. John rest in God’s eternal love! _____________________________________________________________________________

Dignitas Infinita

On April 8th, the Vatican’s Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith released “Dignitas Infinita: on Human Dignity,” According to Christopher White in his NCR article of April 8, 2024, sex change operations, gender theory and surrogate motherhood pose grave threats to human dignity. He said that while the document “offers a broadside against the creation of new rights motivated by sex and gender, it is largely a reiteration of long-held Catholic teaching on a number of social and moral concerns.” He also said: “The new document, however, seeks to elevate a number of social themes emphasized by Pope Francis during his decadelong papacy — such as poverty, migration and human trafficking — as being equally a part of the full panoply of potential threats to human dignity as bioethical concerns, such as abortion and euthanasia.” You can access the full article HERE.

Register NOW for the 2024 AUSCP Annual Assembly!

Registration is available online, or by check.

Send checks to: AUSCP, PO Box 676, Tiffin, OH 44883

Access Online Assembly Registration Form HERE.

https://www.hyatt.com/en-US/group-booking/LEXRL/G-ACPX

Did you renew your AUSCP Membership for 2024?

If you are one of the 399 who have already renewed, thank you! You can ignore this message.

The yearly membership fee is $60 for priest members. We encourage Friends to support our work, but there is no set fee for Friends. We appreciate your membership! Please stay with us by renewing at this link at your earliest convenience, if you have not already renewed for 2024:

https://forms.donorsnap.com/form?id=0b651aaf-6788-40a2-a830-e7cae4ee926e

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ANNUAL APPEAL Make a donation to AUSCP as your Lenten Almsgiving! Be an Angel and support our work! Click on the Angel to donate. Thank YOU! We have a matching grant of $2,500 until the end of April. ***********************************

Other Webinars and Activities that might be of interest:

YOU are invited!

AUSCP Joins With Discerning Deacons and Others

MONDAY, APRIL 29 AT 4 PM ET / 1 PM PT

“Deacons are ordained for the ministry of serving the People of God in the diakonia of the Word, in the liturgy, but above all in the exercise of charity.” (Lumen Gentium, P 29)

All are invited to a focused synodal encounter with a listening presence from voting synod delegates. This will include a conversation in the Spirit to expand and deepen the discernment. Simultaneous interpretation from English to Spanish will be available.

Please register here to reserve your seat!

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Join New Ways Ministry for:

“What Dignitas Infinita Ignored: Perspectives on LGBTQ+ Dignity“

A panel conversation about the Vatican’s new declaration on human dignity that made

headlines for its sections condemning “gender theory” and “sex change.”

This webinar will explore what is in the new declaration, its impact now, and how LGBTQ+ Catholics and allies proceed from here, including in view of the Synod on Synodality.

The conversation will feature theologians M. Therese Lysaught and Craig Ford, and transgender Catholic writer Maxwell Kuzma. The panel will be moderated by Brian Flanagan, Senior Fellow at New Ways Ministry.

Wednesday, April 24, 2024 at 7:30 p.m. Eastern U.S. Time.

Register HERE by April 23, 2024.

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How to Become a Synodal Parish: Level 100 Context and Practices

Facilitated by Bernadette Rudolph, MA, MS,

Online, May 4-5, 2024

If you are part of a Catholic leadership or ministry team in a parish, you and your team could become equipped to bring synodality to life for the people you serve.

Discover what God is dreaming of for the Church!

Here is a link to the program description and registration:

https://cranaleith.secure.retreat.guru/program/how-to-become-a-synodal-parish-level-100-may-4-5-online/