PASSAIC —” Clergy from the city’s various churches gathered Sunday afternoon to celebrate unity in a city rich in diversity.
The annual Ecumenical Thanksgiving Service on Sunday at Saints Peter & Paul Polish National Catholic Church, Passaic.The 28th Annual Ecumenical Thanksgiving Service was held at Saints Peter & Paul Polish National Catholic Church, where leaders from Catholic, Presbyterian, Lutheran and Methodist churches gave thanks and cautioned against indifference to the needy.
Seventeen churches participated in the service, organized by the Passaic Ecumenical Committee.
“We also gather to offer thanks to God for the privilege of being citizens of this great country of ours,” said the Rev. Stanley Skrzypek, of the host church, in welcoming the congregation.
The message from the pulpit four days before Thanksgiving was to remember those who need help.
In a city where politicians have long debated, but never acted, on building a homeless shelter, members of the clergy urged the congregation to help clothe and feed those on the street.
“Today’s society is a society where it seems to have put faith aside and replaced it by indifference,” said Jody Baran, associate pastor of St. Michael Byzantine Catholic Cathedral. “That, my friends, is the greatest sin.”…
This is local ecumenism that works, Christians joining together to witness to Christ, not to belabor what divides us. Fr. Senior Stanley Skrzypek is one of the foremost ecumenists in the PNCC. He knows what works.
Similarly, I was at the North Colonie Ministerial’s 40th (or 41st, depends who you believe – and Fr. Skrzypek was there when it started) annual Thanksgiving prayer service and gathering. It was wonderful and did real good for the Capital City Rescue Mission. With the current economic crisis they are taxed to the limit.
Bishop Thaddeus Peplowski, bishop of Buffalo/Pittsburgh Diocese of the Polish National Catholic Church marked a sign of the cross on the door as part of the blessing ceremony at the new Holy Trinity Church in Woodlawn. The bishop then handed the parish documents and keys to Edward Puchalski, the chairman of the parish committee, and to Fr. Gary Spencer, pastor of the parish. Bishop Peplowski also blessed and anointed the walls of the church, the altar and tabernacle with holy chrism, holy water and incense…
On November 19th, Agencies, organizations, and individuals will join together in taking action to fight Wage Theft. Some will join in delegations to unethical employers, while others will participate in demonstrations and other actions to raise awareness and support for those who have had wages stolen.
If interested in joining in the National Day of Action or more information on the National Day of Action, please contact Cara Gold or call her at (773) 728-8400 x 34.
The National Conference on Volunteering and Service, convened by Points of Light Institute and the Corporation for National and Community Service and locally convened by NYC Service and New Yorkers Volunteer, provides you with an opportunity to:
Learn best practices, trends and news
Connect with change agents and experts from across the country
Be inspired to shape the future of volunteering and service
Visit the 2010 National Conference on Volunteering and Service Web site more information about the 2010 conference. You can also become a fan of the National Conference on Volunteering and Service on Facebook, follow on Twitter or request to join the mailing list to receive the latest updates on the conference.
Request for Proposals
The 2010 National Conference on Volunteering and Service is now accepting proposals for presenters for immersion learning sessions, workshops and forums at the 2010 National Conference on Volunteering and Service. The deadline to submit proposals is December 11, 2009.
The issue of the Roman Church’s handling of PR issues has been discussed on and off over the past few years (see here, here, and here for examples of discussions on the issue).
The group of issues covered in this article (see below) could have been handled in a much better, much more professional way. As it is, this looks terrible — as in cover up and silencing of witnesses terrible. It may or may not be, and that’s just the problem. Nothing said by the Buffalo Diocese gives any sense of confidence.
Back to my school days. The preeminent public relations victories come from clear, honest, and straightforward dealings with the public and the media. The Tylenol poisoning case is often cited as a best practice. From Effective Crises Management (emphasis mine):
The reason Tylenol reacted so quickly and in such a positive manner to the crisis stems from the company’s mission statement. (Lazare Chicago Sun-Times 2002). On the company’s credo written in the mid-1940’s by Robert Wood Johnson, he stated that the company’s responsibilities were to the consumers and medical professionals using its products, employees, the communities where its people work and live, and its stockholders. Therefore, it was essential to maintain the safety of its publics to maintain the company alive. Johnson & Johnson’s responsibility to its publics first proved to be its most efficient public relations tool. It was the key to the brand’s survival.
Every story is not a crises, but effective management (of your actions and message) in line with your mission statement is essential. Otherwise you leave followers, seekers, and everyone else wondering.
Pastoral assistant was critical of finances
Another whistle-blowing employee who complained to the Catholic Diocese of Buffalo about financial irregularities at St. Teresa of Avila Church in South Buffalo is being removed from her post.
Karen M. Krajewski, pastoral assistant at St. Teresa, confirmed that she was asked to leave by the current pastor, the Rev. James B. Cunningham.
Her dismissal follows the removals in August of the temporary administrator, Monsignor Fred R. Voorhes, and the business manager, Marc J. Pasquale.
Voorhes and Pasquale had urged the diocese to examine financial irregularities and questionable bookkeeping practices at the parish, and after Pasquale took his concerns to the Erie County District Attorney’s Office in August, both men were removed.
District Attorney Frank A. Sedita III has since launched an investigation into parish finances but has declined to comment on the probe.
Krajewski, who concurred with Voorhes and Pasquale, initially was retained on staff as the parish operated under a temporary priest administrator, Monsignor W. Jerome Sullivan. In September, though, she sent a letter critical of the diocese’s actions to Archbishop Pietro Sambi, the pope’s representative in the United States, and to Archbishop Timothy M. Dolan of the Archdiocese of New York.
“I knew it was coming. It’s a new pastor, and he has a new way of doing things and it doesn’t include me,” Krajewski said.
Cunningham, appointed by Bishop Edward U. Kmiec last weekend, told Krajewski he planned to hire a deacon instead. Krajewski was not critical of the new pastor.
“You’ve got to give Father Cunningham some time and some space to figure out what he’s doing,” she said. “He’s an extremely fine man. He’s going to be easy to work with. Many of the people at St. Teresa’s know him. I think he’s going to be good for the parish.”
But when asked if the diocese had a role in her dismissal, Krajewski responded that she didn’t know if the move was Cunningham’s “choice and only his choice.”
Cunningham did not return telephone calls seeking comment.
A diocesan spokesman said he didn’t think there was any connection between Krajewski’s dismissal and the earlier moves by the diocese.
Officials from the chancery weren’t involved in the most recent personnel change, said the spokesman, Kevin A. Keenan.
“We weren’t aware of the decision by the pastor,” Keenan said. “Pastors come in and they oftentimes evaluate their personnel needs and they act accordingly.”
Krajewski, a retired school teacher, is scheduled to work at St. Teresa parish through Wednesday.
In her letter dated Sept. 21, she criticized Kmiec’s decision to dismiss Voorhes and Pasquale, saying the pair had worked tirelessly to turn a difficult merger between St. Teresa and St. John the Evangelist into a success.
“Parishioners ask daily for Msgr. Voorhes (sic) return —” they are hurt, stunned and disgusted with this situation,” Krajewski wrote.
Diocesan officials have maintained that the removals of Voorhes and Pasquale had nothing to do with the complaint to the diocese or the district attorney, although they’ve declined to elaborate, citing personnel issues.
Voorhes also has declined to comment, while Pasquale contends that he was fired for sticking up for parishioners and their pocketbooks.
Voorhes was appointed temporary administrator in the fall of 2008, after the previous pastor, the Rev. James T. Bartnik, suffered a stroke during a meeting in Kmiec’s office.
Bartnik also had asked diocesan officials to examine whether there had been financial irregularities at the Seneca Street parish when it was overseen by a different priest and bookkeeper, the Rev. Robert M. Mock and Dawn M. Lustan.
The questionable practices included missing invoices, shredded documents, missing computer records and unexplained charges on a parish credit card, according to Pasquale and other sources. Mock, who now is an associate dean at Trocaire College, and Lustan, who works for the diocese, referred questions to Keenan.
“Something is amiss,” said Krajewski, who was hired by Voorhes. “I said that when I came in last October. Within a week, I said something’s wrong.”
Krajewski said she notified the diocese’s director of internal audit, Bruce Evert.
“Records just don’t go missing,” she said.
Cunningham informed Krajewski of her dismissal on the same day she completed a two-hour interview with forensic accountant Timothy McPoland, who was hired by the DA’s office to determine if any embezzlement occurred at St. Teresa.
McPoland also interviewed Evert at the parish, Krajewski said.
The appointment of Cunningham has eased tensions at St. Teresa, said Kathy Frawley, a member of the parish council.
On Nov. 1, Cunningham and Voorhes concelebrated at a Mass, which was followed by a reception for Voorhes.
Nonetheless, some parishioners remain concerned about the issues raised by Voorhes, Pasquale and others —” and the diocese’s reaction.
“Really nothing has been resolved. It’s all being investigated and people still have questions,” Frawley said. “(For) a lot of people there’s still that cloud. They feel bad about what happened to Father Voorhes and Marc.”
…but the price of the sin being committed is death (Romans 6:23, Deuteronomy 24:14-15). From IWJ:
What’s a dollar worth to you?
Three candy bars, 10 text messages, a third of a venti latte? It seems a dollar can’t get you much these days. Well, it depends on whom you ask.
To families of low-wage workers underpaid a dollar for every hour he or she works, that one dollar could mean the difference between a roof over their heads or homelessness.
The illegal underpayment or non-payment of workers’ wages affects millions of workers each year. Too many unscrupulous employers are getting away with wage theft and too many families are hurting because of it. Together we can end this crime against workers!
November 19th is Interfaith Worker Justice’s National Day of Action to Stop Wage Theft. IWJ, its affiliated groups, and various communities of faith will be holding prayer vigils, rallies and press events in different parts of the country drawing attention to this egregious crime and how it disrupts the lives of working families.
She was known as Sister Andy, a tiny former cloistered nun with a big heart for helping others
GUILDERLAND– Sister Ludwika Sofja Andrzejewska was so tiny, her feet never touched the ground when she sat in a pew and prayed.
It was her heart that reached to heaven.
Sister Andy, as she was known, who died Sunday at the age of 101, was remembered as a towering force for prayer and goodness who touched the hearts of many on both sides of the Atlantic.
A sister in the Society of the Sacred Heart religious order for 70 years, she spent three decades as a cloistered nun, walled off from society, until her order relaxed its rules in 1970.
She was for 25 years at Kenwood, where a community of Sacred Heart nuns lived on the grounds of Doane Stuart School’s former site. She worked in the infirmary caring for ailing sisters. On Tuesday, she was buried in a cemetery at Kenwood.
“She was a happy, little woman, a fairy godmother to so many,” recalled Sister Joan Gannon, who lives with 30 other Sisters of the Sacred Heart at Teresian House. As their group at Kenwood died off and grew infirm, they moved to the nursing home. Of the 50 who relocated since 2006, about 30 are still living. Roughly one-third are in their 90s.
After a funeral service for Sister Andy in the Infant of Prague Chapel at Teresian House, most of the 20 nuns who swapped stories about their friend used wheelchairs or walkers.
Sister Andy, who stood 4-feet-8, relished her role as imp.
She took yoga classes while in her 90s and liked to raise her walker overhead in jubilation. “She could reach her knees to her chin,” a nun said, to general laughter. It was a short lift.
Her room at Kenwood resembled a warehouse with stacks of boxes. She was constantly gathering clothing and other items to ship to her relatives in her native Poland. The clicking of knitting needles echoed down the hall as she knitted and crocheted acres of baby booties and clothing for great-grandnieces in the old country.
Born in the farming village of Katy on July 13, 1908, she came from hearty peasant stock. She has sisters in their 90s who are still living. She emigrated to the U.S. in 1934 and taught at Sacred Heart schools in Nebraska, Illinois and Missouri.
“Her heart was always rooted in Poland,” said Mira Lechowicz, who met Sister Andy in 1995 when she taught yoga at Kenwood. They spoke Polish. “What a beautiful spirit she was. She was pure love.”
In recent weeks as Lechowicz as she came to visit, Sister Andy told Lechowicz she was going home to Jesus. She spoke low and in Polish: “Jezu ufam Tobie,” (“Jesus, I trust in you.”)
On Saturday, the day before she died, Sister Andy told Sister Gannon she was ready. Sister Andy took to her bed and declined a nightgown. She crossed her arms over her bare chest beneath the bed covers and showed no fear. She indicated she wanted to leave the world in the state in which she entered it as an infant, Sister Gannon said.
She recounted that Sister Andy lifted her arms and said, in English: “Here I am, Jesus, come take me.”
To You, O Lord, we commend the soul of Your handmaid, Ludwika; open the gates of paradise to her and help us who remain to comfort one another with the assurance of our faith. We ask this through Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen.
Wieczne odpoczynek racz jej dać Panie, a światłość wiekuista niechaj jej świeci.
Niech odpoczywają w pokoju, Amen.
Sister Ludwika Sofja Andrzejewska, religious of the Sacred Heart, died peacefully at Teresian House on Sunday evening, October 25, 2009. Born in 1908, in Katy, Poland, “Sister Andy” was the daughter of Walenty Andrzejewska and Franciszka Majchrsak. She had four sisters and four brothers as well as five half-sisters and brothers. She entered the Society of the Sacred Heart on November 1, 1931 in Zbilitowska Gora and after making her first vows there, came to the United States as a missionary. She made her final vows at Barat College of the Sacred Heart in Lake Forest, Ill. on February 2, 1940. During her many years of ministry, Sister Andy was a homemaker for her religious of the Sacred Heart sisters and the children in Sacred Heart schools in Omaha, Neb., Lake Forest, Ill., St. Joseph, Mo. and Chicago, Ill. She was known for her sewing and her knitting, and kept the little shops both at Duchesne Academy in Omaha and at Kenwood in Albany full of delightful home made articles. Sister Andy came to Albany in 1982 and was an aid in the infirmary for as long as she was able. In 2007 she joined the community at Teresian House where she was an active participant until very recently. Her tiny four foot, eight inch frame was packed with energy and determination. She was fun loving and beloved by all who knew her including, most recently, the staff and residents of Carmel Gardens at Teresian House. During her active years she worked earnestly to get donations of goods and money to send to her beloved family and friends in Poland, particularly after World War II. Sister Andy remained close to her family in spite of the geographical separation and after 1970, when cloister was lifted for the religious of the Sacred Heart, she went a few times to visit them. Some of them, in turn, were able to visit her. She is survived by a sister and by many nieces and nephews, grand and great-grandnieces and nephews and her religious family who will sorely miss her.
For instance on some of the posts listed at WDTPRS (here and here for example, but there’s a lot more out there). While its all great to be happy for those who have been given the option to enter the Catholic faith, it is uncharitable to grunt with glee over the Archbishop of Canturbury’s embarrassment, the reclaiming of properties, etc. You can be right about something and maintain charity as well.
What do I hear? We were right all along, you’re stupid (as were your ancestors), have nothing to offer us really, and give us the dang buildings back. Nice…
It’s a huge turn off for anyone who would even think of discussing next steps. PNCC and Orthodox folks take note.
On November 19th, Agencies, organizations, and individuals will join together in taking action to fight Wage Theft. Some will join in delegations to unethical employers, while others will participate in demonstrations and other actions to raise awareness and support for those who have had wages stolen.
