Dutch Bishops Write Vatican Encouraging Brandma’s Canonization

Cardinal Adrian Simonis, the President of the Dutch Conference of Bishops, has sent a letter to Cardinal José Saraiva Martins, Prefect of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints, on behalf of the Dutch Bishops’ Conference, encouraging advancement in the cause of Titus Brandsma. A copy of the letter, dated April 2, 2007, was sent to the Prior General, Joseph Chalmers, and to Ben Wolbers, the Prior Provincial of the Dutch Province. The letter was also published on the website of the Dutch Catholic Church.

Cardinal Simonis wrote, "I place my trust in you to argue a case that deeply touches the hearts of the bishops and the entire faith community in our country. We, the members of the Dutch episcopacy, join our countrymen in the desire that what was identified in the beatification may come to fullness when the Blessed Titus is raised to the honor of the altar."

After reviewing some of the life and works of Titus, Cardinal Simonis wrote, "Blessed Titus’ ‘counter-movement’ is still relevant in our day. In Western European society the best approach is to resist egoism, resist the pronounced individualism that threatens our society, resist extreme secularization, and resist the covetousness that divides us from one another and from Christ."

Titus Brandsma was killed in the Dachau concentration camp on July 26, 1942. He was beatified by Pope John Paul II in 1985. He was arrested by the Nazis because of his opposition to them. He had attempted to communicate the Catholic point of view about the propaganda of the National Socialist Movement to the press and to the Reichskommissariat. This was seen as organizing resistance to the Nazis.

The Prior General, Joseph Chalmers, wrote a letter to the Dutch Bishops in 2006, asking them to emphasize the canonization process for Brandsma. This was the followup to a meeting the Prior General and the Councilor General for Northern Europe, William J. Harry, had with Bishop Andrianus Herman van Luyn, S.D.B., the Bishop of Rotterdam during the Dutch Provincial Chapter in 2005. Bishop van Luyn has written several articles on Brandsma.

As part of the celebrations of its 2000th anniversary as a city, the citizens of the city of Nijmegen elected Titus Brandsma as the "Greatest Citizen of Nijmegen Of All Time."

Carmelite Parish in Nkoroi, Kenya Celebrates Move to New Church Building

The parishioners of St. Charles Lwanga and Our Lady of Mt. Carmel parish gathered with Carmel in Kenya on February 4, 2007 to celebrate the solemn blessing and dedication of the new church building. The ceremony was led by Archbishop Alain Paul Lebeaupin, the Apostolic Nuncio in Kenya, and Bishop Cornelius Schilder, of the Ngong Diocese.

A large group of guests were present including Carmelites from various parts of the Order, sponsors from Germany who paid for a portion of the construction, people from around the Ngong Diocese, and members of the Catholic church of St. Bhakita (Merisho) which is an outstation of the Nkoroi parish. Also present were government officials.

The new building replaces a small church constructed with iron sheets.

"Fr. Soni (Abraham Plathottam, O. Carm., pastor of the Nkoroi parish and prior of the Carmelite community in Nkoroi) was worried that the new building would be too big. But I told him we will fill it. People are just waiting to become part of the parish," said Mr. Anthony Mararo, the Parish Council chairman.

The construction of the church building began on March 1, 2006. "The Christians dug deep into their pockets to donate generously to all the fundraisings (Harambees). There is a saying in Swahili "Kutoa ni moyo, usiseme ni utajiri" (Giving is from the heart; do not say it is richness). Many of the people volunteered to do manual labor where possible to that the church would open on time.

Mr. R.D. Vaysan, the managing director of EPCO Builders and Mr. Patrick Mugo, the architect of the building, spoke about the design of the building and the artistic expression incorporated into the structure. They also spoke about "working night and day, like bees, to bring it to completion."

During the ceremony of dedication, the Apostolic Nuncio placed the scapular of Our Lady of Mt. Carmel at the altar as a sign of her patronage and protection. Bishop Cornelius then presided at the opening Eucharistic liturgy in the national language of Kiswahili.

Following the mass, Fr. Mwangi, the parish priest of Ongata Rongai, under which Nkoroi was a sub-parish, along with his parish council, handed over the official record books of the Sacraments to Fr. Soni and the parish council. The bishop then declared that St. Charles Lwanga and Our Lady of Mt. Carmel is a self-governing parish. Upon hearing this, the church was filled with deafening shouts and cries of joy. A new page in the history of Carmel in Nairobi is being written.

For more information about the Nairobi Mission, see the series of articles beginning on page 12. Also additional pictures and information about the Carmelites in Kenya can be found on the Bustani ya Karmeli (Garden of Carmel) web blog: bustaniyakarmeli. blogspot.com/

Following a series of violent explosions at an army ammunition storage facility in Maputo, Mozambique on March 22, 2007, a bomb was projected through the air and landed in the garden of the Carmelite residence there. Fortunately the bomb did not explode. However, at least 76 people were reported dead and hundreds more were said to be injured from the blasts. A family of 13 was killed when an explosion destroyed the home they were sheltering in.

The explosions and falling munitions sent the Carmelites and thousands of others fleeing from their homes as they began around 4 PM and grew in intensity for nearly six hours. Blasts are reported to have continued through the night. The shockwaves shattered windows in buildings as far as 25 km away.

The total amount of weaponry and explosives stored in what was the country’s largest depot is not known but estimated to be in the thousands of tonnes.

According to Francisco de Sales, Prior Provincial of the Pernambuco Province, the Brazilian Embassy in Mozambique called him to let him know that the Carmelites were safe. They were moved from the house so that the army could deactivate the bomb. The Carmelites in Mozambique are a mission from the Pernambuco Province.

The leadership of the Northern European Region of the Order decided to move towards a common novitiate in the region. This discussion of the issue took place at the annual meeting of the Northern European leadership on April 23-24, 2007. The meeting took place in Mainz, Germany.

Their decision followed their study of a taskforce report established at a meeting of all the European leaders in September 2006. That taskforce was established to "examine the foundation of a North-European international novitiate, to begin in September 2008."

Following consultations with each province, the taskforce proposed "the establishing of a joint novitiate within Northern Europe made up at least of those provinces who expressed their readiness for such a project in openness for the others to join in at a later stage or to share some of the modules of the joint program." The taskforce timeline called for the joint program to begin in September 2010.

Each province had an opportunity to make known its concerns. Several issues were raised and the members felt a committee should be established to deal with those issues. The members also asked the committee to contact other groups who have gone through this process to learn from their experiences.

A report on the discussions at this meeting will go to the meeting of the formators of the Northern European Region when they meet in Kostelni Vydri June 25-29, 2007.

The next meeting of the European leadership will take place in Aylesford, England on Sunday, April 20 – 24, 2008.

Participants in the 2007 meeting of the Northern European Leadership stand in the garden of the Carmelite monastery in Boppart, Germany, one of the oldest monasteries in Germany. (Left to Right) Christian Körner (GerS), Antony Lester (Brit), Vojtech Kodet (BM), William J. Harry (Curia), Wilfried Wanjek (GerI), Ben Wolbers (Neer), Fintan Burke (Hib).

First Male Members of the Famille Missionnaire Donum Dei Professed in Lisieux

On Sunday, April 15, 2007, the first male members of the Donum Dei Missionary Family, Teófilo Paredes Moreno (Perú) y Marie-Debrice Dongmo Tiomela (Camerún), made their temporary profesión in the Third Order. The same day, Theobald Nyabyenda and Landouard Ntibayitegaka (both from Rwanda), received the scapular at the beginning of their formation.

The Donun Dei Family affiliated to the Carmelite Order on February 22, 1987.

The ceremony took place in the Cathedral of St. Peter in Lisieux, France, the same place where St. Thérèse of the Child Jesus and of the Holy Face attended Mass with her father. The ceremony was celebrated by Bishop Pierre Pican, ordinary of the Diocese of Lisieux, assisted by an auxillary bishop and by Rafael Leiva Sánchez, O. Carm., General Councilor for the Mediterranean Region, who received the professions in the name of the Prior General. Many diocesan priests, including Bernars Lagoutte, Rector of the Basilica of St. Thérèse of Lisieux and Terrence Cyr, member of the General Delegation of the Order in France were present. Fr. Cyr also gave the homily.

Among the numerous religious and faithful present was Clementine Paré, the Responsable Générale of the Missionary Family Donum Dei. The liturgy planning and the songs were led by members of the Donum Dei.

The members of the Donum Dei have been present in Lisieux since 1995 with responsibility for two diocesan centers for pilgrims: Foyer Louis et Zélie Martin and the Ermitage Sainte Thérèse.

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Up Date: Postulator General

Madre Candalaria An Ordinary Synod of the Cardinals, held on March 6th, 2007, voted on the presumed miracle attributed to the intercession of Venerable Servant of God Candalaria de San José, foundress of the Congregation of the Hermanas Carmelitas de Madre Candelaria. The vote was unanimous. We are now waiting for Pope Benedict to sign the decree and establish the date of the beatification ceremony. We congratulate the sisters of the Congregation and hope that they will be able to venerate their foundress as Blessed Candelaria de San José very shortly. All of Carmel will celebrate with you when the day another Carmelite will be proclaimed blessed arrives.

Catalonian Martyrs The martyrs of the Catalonian Province were brought forth in the first group to be considered. The Catalonian Carmelites includes Angel Maria Prat i Hostench and his 15 companions and an enclosed nun of the community of Vic. The martyrdom of Prat and his companions was recognized by the decree promulgated on June 26, 2006 by Pope Benedict XVI. They are one group within a group of 499 martyrs of the Spanish religious persecution in 1935-1939. We are now waiting for the date of the beatification to be published.

Angelo Paoli A presumed miracle occurred in 1927 and the process for Angelo Paoli began in 1932. Regretfully, the cause remained inactive although the examination of the miracle by medical specialists had been completed. A cure that is spontaneous and lasting is considered to be a miracle. In this case, the experts concluded that there was no scientific explanation. At this time, the cause is in the hands of the "revisor" of the Congregation in order to be given to the medical panel. We hope that we will receive good news regarding this cause soon.

Nuno Alvares Perira The other cause that is nearing canonization is that of Blessed Nuno Alvarez Perira, Carmelite brother and Great Defender of Portugal. At this time, the Positio on his virtue is being worked on. In 1918 it was permitted that devotion to him could continue as it had been long established and he was recognized as a "Blessed called Saint." While he enjoys a reputation for great holiness in Portugal and other parts of the world, the investigation into his virtue is being done. There is also a proposed miracle that needs to be investigated.

Martyrs of the Baetica Province Another case that should not have difficulties is that of the martyrs of the Betica Province. The Positio is at the top of the list for the theologians to study within the second group of the causes of the martyrs of religious persecution in Spain in 1936-1939. These Carmelites are grouped under Fr. Carmelo Moyano Linares.

Liberata Ferrarons Vives The Positio for Servant of God Liberata Ferrarons Vives, Third Order Carmelite of Olot, Spain, recently went to the Theological Commission so that her virtue could be studied. In this particular case, it should be noted that a favorable vote from the theologians regarding her heroic virtues will mean nothing if a presumed miracle is not put forward also. On April 20, 2007, a new biography of Liberata Ferrarons was presented.

Elisea Oliver Molina The cause of the foundress of the Hermanas de la Virgen Maria del Monte Carmelo, Servant of God Elisea Oliver Molina, is awaiting a presumed miracle. The Positio was handed over to the Congregation in July 2001.

As Postulator General, I wish to remind all those who are devoted to the numerous Carmelites in the process of being raised to the Altar of Saints that you should present your needs to the Lord through the intercessions of these Carmelites. If you receive a grace from one of our holy ones, please inform the Office of the Postulator General as soon as possible. Felip Mª Amenós, O. Carm. Postulator General postulazione@pcn.net