Maryknoll Affiliates Matt Rousso and Jim Huck (New Orleans) did a workshop at this Conference. Maryknoll Affiliate Rachel Tomas Morgan (South Bend) and I were also there.
Over 200 missioners from the United States gather in New Orleans for National US Catholic Mission Association Conference. The 2009 Mission Conference: Behold I Create a New Heaven and New Earth: Seeing Mission with New Eyes was attended by over 200 participants from all over the US! All who gathered in New Orleans were able to celebrate the life of mission and their own commitment to support their missionaries and to recall their own life in mission.
The Conference was sponsored by the US Catholic Mission Association located in Washington DC. The US Catholic Mission Association has convened the Annual Mission conference since 1980. Members of the association and people interested in exploring the on-going trends of mission in the world and the US are invited and encouraged to attend. This year’s conference had a very distinctive flavor due in large part to the warmth and hospitality of our site and Mission Office partners in New Orleans, LA.
Four points marked the success of the conference:
- Passing of the three Association Resolutions
- “The US Catholic Mission Association applauds the early accomplishments of Solidarity with Southern Sudan and encourages religious congregational leadership to continue both Financial and human resource support of this noble effort.”
- “In light of the urgency of immigration reform and building on the merits of the 2005 US Catholic Mission Association resolution, “On Behalf of the Stranger,” we the members of the US Catholic Mission Association resolve to continue promoting among our constituencies an ongoing consciousness raising of the issue. We call on our membership to urge our House and Senate representative to enact a just and comprehensive immigration reform.”
- “As a people of faith we foster the appreciation and interconnectedness of all creation. To build on the strength of our 2006 resolution and previous actions, we, the members of the US Catholic Mission Association, join the Leadership Conference of Women Religious to take measureable steps to reduce our congregational, community, and personal carbon footprint.”
- The associate re-elected Sr. Mayon Sylvain, RSM and Sr. Flotilda Lape, ICM to their second term as Board Members.
Sr. Mayon has been living and serving in the US since 1987. She has over 26 years of international experience in health care services and administration, eight years in congregational leadership as a Sister of Mercy, and is presently pursuing a PH.D in public health.
Sr. Flotilda has extensive cross-cultural and mission experience. She has been in mission to the US since 1994. She has worked in different parts of Texas along the border of the Rio Grande. Her personal vision has been geared towards empowering women and families to create a culture of respect and co-responsibility as family and community.
- The Mission Award for 2009 was presented to the Rebuild Center in New Orleans, LA for promoting creative partnership in responding to mission. In January 2006, a group of dreamers, Sr. Vera Butler, PBVM, Fr. Perry Henry, CM, and Fr. Ray Boudreaux, SJ, decided to establish a one-stop center to serve the needs of those made poor, homeless and the many laborers who came to help with the clean up. The dream developed and became a reality with the help, expertise and assistance of many people. The Rebuild Center at St. Joseph Church opened its door to provide services on September 11, 2007.
The Rebuild Center is a collaborative umbrella which allows different agencies to operate in concert to provide a variety of services. Services include showers for guests, laundry, phones, mail, snacks, lunch, TB testing, medical assistance, prescription assistance, legal assistance, emergency groceries, financial assistance, assistance with obtaining proper documentation- ID and immigration papers, translation and referrals to other agencies to meet their immediate needs.
- The national launch of Mission Reflection in anticipation of Mission Congress 2010 in October 28-31, in Albuquerque, New Mexico. In order to continue to prepare US missioners for the National Mission Congress, “God’s Mission, Many Faces A Portrait of US Catholics in Mission” the Mission Reflection invites women and men in the US to begin to think about concrete ways the Spirit is moving in our lives, where and how we see that take place. There is also a call to action, in which reflectors are asked to see how they will commit themselves to action in mission. The purpose of the Mission Congress is: to Discern the movement of the Spirit within the US Church in mission; to Discover the varied colors and brushstrokes of US Catholics in mission; to Invigorate mission identity and leadership in the US Church; and to Celebrate the faces and creativity of Us Catholics in mission.
For more information about 2009 Mission Conference and the upcoming 2010 Mission Congress or other events please email Associate Director of Operations,
Genevieve Mougey at gmougey@uscatholicmission.org or call 202-832-3112.
