book

Book Announcement: Fealty and Fidelity: the Lazarists of Bourbon France, 1660-1736.

bcicirel Vincentian Heritage, Vincentian History

Dear Colleagues

I am pleased to announce the publication of my book Fealty and Fidelity: the Lazarists of Bourbon France, 1660-1736, with Ashgate. The book provides a major critical investigation of the followers of Vincent de Paul, one of the French Catholic reform’s most decisive contributors. It uncovers rich new information on missionary activity and crown agency in France and two highly-neglected Indian Ocean French colonies during the reigns of Louis XIV and Louis XV. The book draws on a great number of unseen archival records, and both teachers and students of early modern France will enjoy it.

To read select material or order a copy please visit  http://www.ashgate.com/isbn/9781472444783.

If any of our colleagues is interested in purchasing a copy for themselves or their libraries, I would be glad to share the promotional code, which entitles the user to 50% off the price. Please don’t hesitate to email me at sean.smith@ucd.ie

Publication Announcement: “Balm of Hope: Charity Afire Impels Daughters of Charity Civil War Nurses”

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Betty Ann McNeil, D.C., ed., Balm of Hope: Charity Afire Impels Daughters of Charity Civil War Nurses, Mary Denis Maher, C.S.A., Foreword; Janet Leigh Bucklew, Introduction (Chicago: DePaul University Vincentian Studies Institute, 2015), 558 pp., annotated, 50 historic images, 6 maps and tables, appendix, glossary, and index. Paperback. Available from DePaul University Vincentian Studies Institute Collection at the Seton Heritage Shop of the National Shrine of Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton, 339 South Seton Avenue, Emmitsburg, Maryland 21727 USA. Available: September 15, 2015 Cost: $30.00 plus shipping & handling

To order Balm of Hope: Charity Afire Impels Daughters of Charity Civil War Nurses, contact the Seton Heritage Shop: On-line: http://www.setonheritage.org/shop/ Email: giftshopmanager@setonheritage.org Telephone: 301-447-7122 Sr. McNeil’s discovery of 500 pages of handwritten memoirs by Daughters of Charity Civil War nurses led her into a multi-year project to transcribe, annotate, index, and publish Balm of Hope: Charity Afire Impels Daughters of Charity Civil War Nurses. This compendium includes: 1. Notes of the Sisters’ Services in Military Hospitals; 2. Civil War Recollections and Accounts; and 3. Correspondence.

The texts invite readers to listen to courageous women reminisce in their own words about nursing amid the ravages of war. 

Dignity and the Death Penalty

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by Fadya Salem

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The Journal for Social Justice, University Ministry, and the Center for Public Interest Law had the honor and privilege of hosting Sister Helen Prejean for a roundtable discussion with students, faculty, and alumni in April.

Sister Helen, Nobel Peace Prize Finalist and New York Times bestselling author of the academy award winning movie, Dead Man Walking, is an anti-death penalty advocate who has served as a spiritual advisor to death row inmates.

As a law student, I was eager to join the discussion with Sister Helen. After having studied wrongful convictions in an undergraduate course, I came to law school with the desire to advocate for those who have wrongfully fallen victim to the criminal justice system. I learned from Sister Helen the importance of not only fighting for the people we believe are innocent, but to advocate for the rights of those who have done something wrong, because they too should still be treated with dignity.

My religion, like some others, teaches that there are certain acts that are punishable by death. I sought to participate in this discussion in hopes to reconcile my religion’s views with my moral belief that the death penalty is wrong. I was moved by Sister Helen’s discussion on Boston Marathon bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, whom she spoke on behalf of during his trial, and her insistence that, although his actions caused three people’s death, he still has human dignity.

Sister Helen began her anti-death penalty advocacy while living in the St. Thomas housing project in inner-city New Orleans.  It was there that she became aware of the harrowing connection between poverty and oppression and prison.  While in St. Thomas, she became pen pals with a Louisiana death row inmate.

The roundtable conversation began with Sister Helen describing her first experience as a spiritual advisor for a death-row inmate.  She described it as a “secret ritual” that much of the rest of the world renounces.  This experience became the subject of her first book, Dead Man Walking.  The book was published in 1993, a time when 80% of Americans supported the death penalty.

Despite the large number of death penalty supporters, Sister Helen knew the story needed to be told.  She finds that many people who support the death penalty do not know much about the process and what it entails.  She works tirelessly to resist the death penalty and educate the public as a lecturer and writer.

When asked how she chooses inmates to work with, Sister Helen said it is a decision that she can’t explain. She has been a spiritual advisor to five death-row inmates, visiting with them from throughout their time in prison and to their execution.  She also counsels the families of murder victims as the founder of “Survive,” a victim’s advocacy group in New Orleans.

A powerful point in the conversation came when Sister Helen pushed the group to think about how we treat a human with dignity.  With the firm belief that “everyone is better than the worst thing they’ve ever done,” she reminded attendees that, despite their actions, people in jail are still human, which is the same value that St. Vincent advocated in his work.

I recall a discussion in my criminal law course about different methods of executions, when a fellow student asked, “If they killed someone, why do we care how we treat them?” For many people, the death penalty is such an abstract phenomenon that may be difficult to conceptualize. Sister Helen adamantly believes that if people knew what happens at executions, there would not be as many supporters.

Sister Helen described the important role lawyers play in anti-death penalty work: Lawyers are critical in framing the story told about inmates and furthering the idea that they are better than their crimes. For death-row inmates, lawyers and advocates are often times the only human dignity they have left. It is the passion for human dignity that keeps Sister Helen moving forward in her fight against the death penalty.

Fadya Salem just completed her first year of law school at DePaul.  A Chicago native, she is an alum of the University of Illinois and hopes someday to practice law within the public interest arena.   

An earlier version of this piece was published online by the Center for Public Interest Law at DePaul University in May.

Book of the Week: “Dictionnaire Richelieu”

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From the publisher: «Premier ministre de Louis XIII » et « fondateur de l’Académie française » : tels sont les titres associés à la figure d’Armand Jean du Plessis (1585-1642), cardinal-duc de Richelieu, sur les plaques de rue qui affichent son nom au coeur de Paris. Ce ne sont que les plus connus d’un grand nombre de titres acquis ou attribués à ce célèbre homme d’État et d’Église dont la vie, l’histoire et la légende se composent de mille et une facettes. Ce Dictionnaire invite le lecteur à les découvrir ou à les redécouvrir autrement à travers cent vingt notices rédigées par cinquante-sept spécialistes du Cardinal et de son époque. Replacé dans son contexte français, européen et, parfois même, mondial, chaque sujet abordé renvoie à plusieurs autres dont la lecture – complémentaire ou indépendante de celle d’une biographie de Richelieu – permettra à tout un chacun d’aborder, selon ses besoins et envies, la réflexion et l’action de celui qui avait largement contribué à l’avènement du Grand Siècle. Publisher: Honore Champion, Paris Pages: 400 ISBN: 9782745328663 70,00 Euros

DRMA Spring Lecture 2015

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Title: Romantic Catholics: Frédéric and Amélie Ozanam, Marriage, and the Catholic Social Vocation

Speaker: Carol Harrison, Ph.D. professor of History at the University of South Carolina. Author of the book: Romantic Catholics: France’s Post-revolutionary Generation in Search of a Modern Faith.

Marriage to Amélie Soulacroix in 1841 transformed Frédéric Ozanam’s sense of his obligations to the society in which he lived. The sacrament of marriage in general and the particular marital relationship that Amélie and Frédéric developed were central to his understanding of the Catholic social vocation. The younger Ozanam valued fraternal ties among male friends above all, and the Society of Saint Vincent de Paul, founded in 1836, reflected this attachment to an egalitarian world of bachelor men. As Amélie’s husband, however, Frédéric came to see society as analogous to the family and he perceived his obligations to society as parallel those he owed his family: love, respect, and care for the weak. Ozanam carried this mature view of society into the Revolution of 1848, and it informed his confidence that French Catholics could participate in the work of the new republic by directing it toward a social mission that drew on charitable traditions infused with a modern sense of justice and democracy.

Setting Trends

bcicirel Seeds of Mission, Social Justice, Spirituality

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DePaul University Ministry staff Gets Deep with the question: “If You Were a Celebrity, What Would You Make Trendy?”

“I would invite random people out on tea dates and ask them to order a tea that best described them – then explain why…”
Siobhan O’Donoghue, Director of the Vincentian Community Service Office

“To bring attention to how poor people are so often blamed for being poor as a moral failing or for being lazy or unwilling to participate in getting themselves out of poverty as a way to avoid looking at systemic injustices that make escaping poverty so incredibly difficult.  The trick would be to do this in a way that doesn’t “otherize,” doesn’t deny that there are times people can rise above incredibly difficult situations (but that this is not the norm so what happened that can be replicated/supported), and that positively attends to the tremendous assets within impoverished communities and people — rather than coming off like Gwyneth Paltrow around the food stamps budget. It might take a consistent employing of facts, featuring people’s stories, being in solidarity with others in an authentic way.  I don’t know. But I hope it happens.”
Katie Brick, Director of the Office of Religious Diversity

“A profound love for humanity!”
Guillermo Campuzano, CM, Chaplain in Catholic Campus Ministry

“If I were a pop culture icon, I’d make smiling trendy. I’d max out social media to get people excited about being aware of their demeanor and get them to smile at themselves, at the world, at one another. It’s amazing how simply donning a smile can make life lighter…and the world around you brighter…even when—perhaps especially when–life sucks!”
Diane Dardon, Protestant Chaplain in the Office of Religious Diversity

“Conservation of resources.”
Karl Nass, Assistant Director of the Vincentian Community Service Office

“I would make wearing meat trendy.  What?  Lady Gaga already did this?!  Ok, then I would make serving, striving for justice and a deep sense of gratitude to our Creator trendy.”
Thomas Judge, Chaplain, CTI and Law School in the Office of Religious Diversity

“Make shaking off apathy and despair trendy through random acts of kindness.”
Ruben Alvarez, Coordinator, Vincentian Community Service in the Vincentian Community Service Office

“If I were a pop culture icon, I would make the bartering/’no buy’ movement trendy. Why spend money and add to a broken supply chain when you can share with neighbors and build community?!”
Emily LaHood, Coordinator, Service Immersions in the Vincentian Community Service Office

Responses compiled by Quang Luu, Residence Hall Chaplain with DePaul University Ministry.

Justice Killing?

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blind justice

by Katie Brick

I was inspired when I read about Denise and Bill Richard, parents of an 8-year boy killed in the Boston Marathon bombing, who asked Federal prosecutors to take the death penalty off the table. I was challenged – would I do the same if my kids were killed that way? Theoretically: yes. But I would never ever want to test that theory, nor am I in an omniscient position to judge how grief impacts people or what they think will bring them solace.*

So I am one of the growing number of people who want the death penalty to be taken out of the equation in the U.S. Don’t give it as an option to prosecutors, to bereaved loved ones, to the criminal justice system.

When the time from sentencing-to-death can be decades, there is a pragmatic reason for ending the death penalty. Each new appeal and delay brings the tragedy back up in the minds and hearts of survivors. In a Boston Globe piece titled, “To End the Anguish, Drop the Death Penalty,” the Richards wrote, “The defendant murdered our eight-year-old son, maimed our seven-year-old daughter and stole part of our soul. We know that the government has its reasons for seeking the death penalty, but the continued pursuit of that punishment could bring years of appeals and prolong reliving the most painful day of our lives.”   They continued, “As long as the defendant is in the spotlight, we have no choice but to live a story told on his terms, not ours. The minute the defendant fades from our newspapers and TV screens is the minute we begin the process of rebuilding our lives and our family.”

In my opinion, religious principles are another reason to end the death penalty.   My religious denomination, among many others, opposes the death penalty on religious and spiritual grounds. Thank you Catholic Church for offering some clear reasoning about themes of the dignity of the human person and protecting life vis a vis the death penalty, which can be seen in an April statement opposing the death penalty from the Massachusetts Catholic Bishops.

With DePaul University’s mission and geography, the issue of the death penalty is particularly relevant to those of us who attend and work here. DePaul is grounded in a Catholic tradition that opposes the death penalty. Our Vincentian character calls us to attend to the dignity inherent in each human person and particularly to serve those who are on the margins of society – people who disproportionately are sentenced to death. For example, while African Americans comprise about 14% of the U.S. population, they make up 42% of people currently awaiting execution.

Students who volunteer or do academic work throughout Chicago as part of our Urban mission tenet become aware of the disproportionate incarceration rates of people of color and many students are from communities where the justice system has often proved itself to be unjust and worth questioning. Our College of Law has been a leader around justice in capital cases, and I have been to some incredibly moving DePaul educational events on the topic.

In fact, anti-death penalty activist Sr. Helen Prejean felt such a kinship between her work and the DePaul mission that she donated her archives to the University, and each spring we now have Sr. Helen Prejean Week, which she anchors. During her most recent visit, the DePaulia reports that Sr. Helen said, “It boils down to this: That no human being can ever be identified completely with the worst act of their life…Life is fluid. There’s a transcendence in us. We can change.” This is another reason I do not believe in the death penalty – I have heard incredible stories about death row inmates that involve wisdom, repentance, faith, and human connection. What human can decide to end a life? Is that not up to God?

In a talk at DePaul, I heard Sr. Helen say that she believes most people who are in favor of the death penalty are simply undereducated. They don’t understand the lack of justice with much of the process around who gets sentenced to death, they mistakenly believe it will bring healing and resolution to victims’ loved ones and communities, and they are not aware of other just alternatives that will protect communities and hold people accountable for their actions.

It seems as if Massachusetts, whose last state execution was in 1947, may have gotten the education Sr. Helen is talking about. A recent Boston Globe poll showed that just 19 percent of Massachusetts residents wanted the Boston Marathon bomber to get the death penalty. So whose needs are being met with achieving the verdict of death? Why does killing someone to punish them for being a killer seem righteous to a majority of Americans – albeit a shrinking one as attitudes continue to change? What is the meaning in sentencing Dzhokhar Tsarnaev to death when those who might have opposed such a sentencing were excluded from the jury pool and the Federal government had to spend so much time and money not to prove him guilty – that was never in doubt – but to convince a jury to sentence him to death?

As a person of faith, I hope this high profile case continues to raise these sorts of questions. I hope it causes more of us – including me – to continue our education around capital punishment and what must be done. I hope for more healing now that the trial is over (is it over?) and will keep all those impacted by the Marathon bombing in my thoughts and prayers, for that is one thing I can do here and now.

 *I suggest reading the novel “The Sweet Hereafter” by Russell Banks for some perspective on how the legal system can delay the healing of individuals and rip communities apart. This book still haunts me when I scan the news or hear about families like the Richards, and indeed, sometimes art or literature moves me more than religious dictates around ethical issues.

Katie Brick is the Director of the Office of Religious Diversity at DePaul University.

Book of the Week: “Le Premier Concile Plenier Chinois Shanghai 1924.”

bcicirel Vincentian History
In 1924, in Shanghai, the first Plenary Council for China took place in communion with Rome. The canonical institution of the Roman Catholic Church, even then, foresaw the possibility of uniting bishops at a plenary council, i.e. on a national scale. But to hold such an assembly was, and remains, an exceptional initiative. This non-permanent collegiate instance can help adapt pastoral work and Catholic activities to the richness and the difficulties of a local context, and the Plenary Council of Shanghai succeeded in adapting canonical missionary law to the specificity of China at the beginning of the 20th century. The evangelization of the Middle Kingdom, which had begun long before, then required appraisal, consecration and a relaunch. For centuries, the direction of the Church in China had been obliged to rely essentially on many foreign congregational missionaries, and to deal with foreign political powers who took great interest in the evangelization of China. More than his predecessors, the Pope at that time – Pius XI – was capable of summoning such a council: his vision was to recommend that Chinese Catholics should participate in the canonical decisions and gain access to greater ecclesial responsibilities. So the Council of Shanghai marked an important and unique development in the history of this country and the establishment of the local Church, by putting an end to the famous quarrel of Chinese rites that had lasted since the 16th century. It also contributed to adapting the canonical missionary law of the entire Roman Catholic Church. To situate this event, analysed in detail from the viewpoint of its juridical originality, the author paints a vast fresco of China’s very long religious evolution, with its renowned and subtle encounter between Confucianism and the various Christian presences that had been in China for centuries.
  • Dimensions : 135x215x30
  • ISBN : 9782204092050
  • Poids : 540 grammes

Paul Wang Jiyou, Chinois catholique, est un canoniste. Né au Liaoning, l’ancienne province de Mandchourie, en 1965, soit un an avant la révolution culturelle, il a été ordonné prêtre catholique romain latin en Chine en 1990. Après un temps comme curé de paroisse, l’archevêque de Shenyang l’a envoyé à Paris, où il devint en 2009 docteur en droit canonique et docteur de l’université française en histoire du droit. Il est spécialiste de la médiation de la canonicité missionnaire en matière d’inculturation et d’acculturation. Il est secrétaire général adjoint du département “Asie du Consortium international” Droit canonique et culture de la faculté de Droit canonique de l’Institut catholique de Paris.

Newsnote: Book Purchase of the Week: 1744 Rule for a Confraternity of Charity , Monaciglione, Italy

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This very rare Italian volume is the rule for a parish-based Confraternity of Charity modeled after those established by Vincent de Paul in France. The parish was at Monaciglione a small town 31 kilometres northeast of Campobasso, Italy. This volume was purchased for the Vincentian collection in the Special Collections of DePaul University’s Richardson Library.

Macon Memories

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by Katie Sullivan

This past week, from December 2-9, residents of DePaul’s Vincent and Louise House (V&L) spent their winter break service immersion trip at Daybreak, a project of DePaul USA, in Macon, Georgia.  Daybreak is a day/resource center that provides the homeless population of Macon with critical services in one location.  Daybreak believes that “everyone should have a place to call home and a stake in their community.”

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The students from V&L got to know guests and helped with the daily tasks that needed to be done, from serving breakfast to helping with laundry and showers to assisting guests with resumes and job searches in the technology room.  It was a week filled with connections and memories and gratitude.  Being welcomed into the Daybreak community was like being welcomed into someone’s family!

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Olivia Johnson, a junior living in the V&L House, is excited to help guests in the technology room at Daybreak.
Liam Kemmy, a sophomore V&Ler, pets a puppy one of the Daybreak guests brought with him.
Sophomore Erica Dix sits with Caleb, one of the guests from Daybreak.
Morgan Spears, a senior living in the V&L House, plays checkers with Eric, a guest at Daybreak.
Juniors Katie Wallace and Nicolette Prociuk sit in the great room at Daybreak. Nicolette made beaded bracelets for many of the guests and Katie kept her company.

Daybreak provides much needed services to those in need in the Macon community, and it also provides volunteers, such as the students from the V&L House, the opportunity to simply be present with the guests and get to know them and hear their stories.  Sr. Elizabeth Greim, DC, the program director, encouraged the V&Lers to participate in the “ministry of presence” during their time at Daybreak, which for some involved sitting with a guest and talking.  For others, it involved playing a game with a guest or two and getting into the competitive spirit with them. The ministry of presence looked different for everyone in the group, but all were embodying the spirits of St. Vincent and St. Louise as they used their time intentionally to get to know guests.

The V&L House residents pose with a statue of Otis Redding, who was from Macon, in a park close to Daybreak. Front Row (L to R): Olivia Johnson, Nicolette Prociuk, Liam Kemmy, Morgan Spears, Katie Wallace. Back Row (L to R): Erica Dix, Beth Pedraza, Nick Cuba, Alli Grecco
Vincent and Louise House residents outside Daybreak. Front row (L to R): Beth Pedraza, Morgan Spears, Olivia Johnson, Alli Grecco, Nicolette Prociuk. Back row (L to R): Erica Dix, Liam Kemmy, Nick Cuba, Katie Wallace

Interested in learning more about the Vincent and Louise House and the work they do throughout the year?  Think you might want to apply to live in the house next year?  Follow the V&L House on Facebook for updates about what’s going on in the house and information about the application process, which takes place during Winter Quarter.

Katie Sullivan is the University Minister for Catholic Social Concerns in DePaul’s Catholic Campus Ministry office and coordinates the Vincent and Louise House.