IN THIS ISSUE

Poem

From the Desk of
Fr. Tom Singer, O.M.I.

Fr. Tom’s Mailbag

Oblate Fair Trade

Oblate Profile

Oblate Crossings

The Lives of the Saints

Healing and Hope

An Oblate Perspective

Finding God in
Ordinary Things

Why Do We...
Have Holy Days of Obligation?

Donor Highlight

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Oblates July- August 2006 Issue
 
 
Oblates July-August 2006 Issue
  
 
Oblates Crossings
Current Events in the Oblate World
Current Events in the Oblate World

On December 9, 2005, President Viktor Yushchenko of Ukraine signed an order requiring the transfer of the Church of St. Nicholas in Kiev “for the use of the St. Nicholas Parish of the Roman Catholic Church.” The decree is to be carried out no later than July 1, 2006.

The five Oblates serving the parish include Frs. Radoslaw Zmitrowicz, Arkadiusz Cicala, Sergiusz Panczenko, and Grzegorz Wawrzyniak, and Brother Tomasz Stopka. The parish is growing, with 700-1,000 faithful attending Sunday Masses. Liturgies are conducted in Ukrainian, Polish, and Spanish, representing the various segments of the population and different nationalities served at St. Nicholas.
Since its construction in the early 1900’s, the church has experienced painful moments: closure by the Communists, conversion into a storage facility, usage by the KGB, and finally the site of the State Organ and Chamber Music Hall. But after the collapse of the USSR, permission was given to celebrate Masses inside the church. As they await the official transfer, the Oblates continue their parish activities.

On February 26 in Durban, Natal, Fr. Barry Wood, O.M.I., was ordained as Auxiliary Bishop of Durban. Ten thousand people attended the celebration, delaying the ceremony for 30 minutes to provide more space for the crowds. Co-consecrators at the ordination liturgy were Oblate Archbishops Ndumbukuti Liborius Nashenda of Namibia, and Jabulani Nxumalo of Natal.

More than 30 bishops from around southern Africa concelebrated in the liturgy together with about 100 priests. Dressed in the traditional garb of the Imbongi, Fr. Mbheki Ngcobo, O.M.I., sang and danced in honor of the new bishop.

Archbishop Wood has served as a parish priest in the Archdiocese of Durban, Superior of St. Joseph’s Scholasticate in Cedara from 1986-1992, and Provincial of the Natal Province from 1992-1998.