| December 26, 2011 | Volume 87, Number 4 | |
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Priest from Uganda shares some differencesIt is very fascinating reading your articles on International Born Priests in Richmond (Nov. 28 issue). I am sharing some parts with your readers about my own experience. I arrived in Richmond Diocese on August 10, 2011 together with my brother priest Fr. Francis Xavier Musolooza who is now in St. Anne, Bristol. Personally, I am in the Cluster Parishes of Good Shepherd (South Hill), St. Catherine(Clarksville) and St. Paschal Baylon (South Boston). My first days in America were not all the best. I can’t say that they were horrible, but everything was new to me. Before my stopping in Richmond I was the most excited person but after my arrival things changed. I faced reality. Almost everything was new. I felt that I was helpless because I felt that I had lost all I had. I felt that I had lost the skills of communication, skills of interacting with people (I could not pick all the words and vice versa for them). I had lost my freedom and friends, too. But now I feel that I am regaining all that seemed to be lost in the first days. This is because of the support of the Diocese and the people of the parishes where I was appointed. BRAVO to you all! Many things are done differently in this country. Here in America one can’t fix or repair a door when it has simple problem. In my country we live by repairing and fixing. We do not have the culture of throwing away things. A good example is when you are given a gift, you make sure that you unwrap it carefully so you can reuse the wrapping paper. When I had just come I was asked “ How many pounds do you have?” I answered that “I did not move with any pounds.” My country had the British model as her Colonial Masters and their currency is a pound. In terms of weight, we use Kilograms, litres, etc. In my country we do not have strict proof of residence, but when I went to the DMV (Division of Motor Vehicles), I was asked “proof of my physical address” and I had no written document. I told them that I trust my head and said, “Let me give it to you from my head.” People then laughed. That is not considered proof. But all in all, that is a story of getting settled and knowing the culture and how people do things here. I am grateful once again to the Diocese and the people we work with for helping us getting settled.
(Editor: Donna Seale, office manager of St. Catherine Parish as well as St. Paschal Baylon and Good Shepherd, replies: “The people are so fortunate here to have these international priests. We’ve gotten some wonderful priests and they seem very happy here. We feel so blessed.”)
LARCUM Bishops seek to help childrenI was encouraged after reading in the December 12 edition of the Catholic Virginian that leaders of four Christian faith traditions of the LARCUM Conference have agreed to work together to prevent child trafficking in Virginia. As Bishop Di Lorenzo stated, the challenge of unifying is essential for Christianity. I have always believed that ecumenism is absolutely essential for promoting unity among different religions through greater cooperation with one another and as a result, improved understanding. My experience as a former Leader of Stephen Ministry at St. Bede’s in Williamsburg was a grand example of working together with nine other churches of different denominations to provide one to caring. As Bishop Johnson (Episcopal Diocese of Virginia) stated, “trafficking is closer to home than many Americans think. It’s right here. It’s not just over in Sudan.” He is correct and as a former member of the FBI, I think preventing the trafficking of children is a commendable and a huge undertaking and much needed initiative in Virginia. Virginia ranked among the bottom of states in how it deals with child trafficking in the first-ever state-by-state rankings by the nonprofit Shared Hope International.
This year the General Assembly approved legislation, which the governor signed into law, requiring the Department of Social Services to develop a plan to provide services to victims of human-trafficking. Legislation was also passed that makes soliciting, transporting or detaining a person younger than 16 and aiding in those activities both felonies. Sex-traffickers target children because of their vulnerability and gullibility, as well as the market demand for young victims. Those who recruit minors into prostitution violate federal anti-trafficking laws, even if there is no coercion or movement across state lines. Traffickers have been reported targeting their minor victims through telephone chat-lines, clubs, on the street, through friends, and at malls, as well as using girls to recruit other girls at school and after-school programs. Again I wish to commend Bishop DiLorenzo and the other good Bishops for undertaking this noble effort.
New Missal translation ‘a grand success?’Ten years …… An International Commission …. Eleven bishops ….. Thousands of linguists, liturgists, translators and biblical scholars …. Millions of man-hours …. Multiple evaluations …. Revisions …. Approvals …. Publications …. Workshops for clergy …. Training of congregations…. All fueled by the untold millions and millions of dollars, pounds and other currencies provided through the labors of the faithful within the English speaking world. Church spokesmen pronounce the effort a grand success! And what, exactly, has been achieved? The wordsmiths have managed to change “happy” to “glad” and “thee” to “thou,” to add an occasional “O” and then, perhaps to confirm the gravitas of the effort, we are introduced to “consubstantial.” To what end? Consider the good that might have been achieved had we instead dedicated these resources — human and financial — to addressing the immense and very real problems faced by our Church and the larger world.
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