Index of News
 
International
 Count Rossi     Domingo Sugranyes Bickel    FCAPP Chair's Message
Archbishop Celli      Malta    Slovakia

National
CST Program    CUA President O'Connell
CAPP-Milwaukee   CAPP's Future

Regional
CAPP-Fairfield County    CAPP-DC      CAPP-Newark
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International News

 
Fondazione Centesimus Annus Pro Pontifice

 
Chairman of the Board Announces Resignation
 

Count Lorenzo Rossi di Montelera has announced his resignation of the Chairmanship of Fondazione Centesimus Annus Pro Pontifice (FCAPP) effective with the board meeting on November 13, 2009.  Count Rossi has completed two terms as Chair as well as an exceptional two-year extension requested by the board and approved by the Vatican.

 
 Count Rossi is a founding member of FCAPP and has been instrumental in our own start up of CAPP in the United States. With Pope John Paul II’s support and encouragement Count Rossi’s leadership has seen the expansion of the Foundation from approximately 10 chapters in Italy to a truly international reach with chapters in the USA, Canada, Spain, Germany, Malta, Switzerland and ongoing discussions for chapters in France, UK, Poland, Slovakia, Argentina, Brazil, Philippines, Korea, Hong Kong and Japan.

 
Count Rossi has also overseen a similar internationalization of the Vatican based FCAPP board. Under his guidance this nine person group has gone from all Italian men to its current composition which includes an American, Spaniard, German, Maltese and two Italian women.  During his twelve-year tenure, FCAPP also continued the honor of meeting yearly with the Holy Father and instituted the practice, under Pope Benedict XVI, for CAPP members to address the Holy Father.

 
A true Christian gentleman, Count Rossi’s leadership was instrumental in making FCAPP an instrument of evangelization - an evangelization based on the Church’s social doctrine.

 
In recognition of Count Rossi’s service to the Church, his significant labors, support of the Holy See, and the good example he set in his community and the many countries where he represented the Foundation, Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, Secretary of State, joined Cardinal Attilio Nicora, President of A.P.S.A., in officiating in Count Rossi’s appointment to the Grand Cross of the Pontifical Equestrian Order of St. Gregory the Great.

 
Count Rossi will remain on the board through his current term.

 
I am sure you join me in congratulating and thanking him for his outstanding leadership of this, our very special organization.

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Board Elects New Chairman

Domingo Sugranyes Bickel was elected chairman of FCAPP at the November 13th board meeting.

 

Born April 29, 1945, in Fribourg, Switzerland and of Spanish nationality, Domingo is married to Cecilia Foletti Moschini and has 3 daughters and 7 grand-children.  He has been active in the International Christian Union of Business Executives serving as their General Secretary from 1974 to 1981 in Brussels, and as their president from 1997 to 2000.

Since 1981 Domingo has worked for the MAPFRE insurance group in Madrid, Spain, where he held several positions in international group development, reinsurance, credit and guarantee insurance, finance and investors relations. Since 2000 he has been Executive Vice-Chairman of CORPORACIÓN MAPFRE, the public listed holding company in the group, which became MAPFRE S.A. in 2006 when the group de-mutualised. As a member of the group Executive Committee he was mainly in charge of Finance and Management Information until his retirement from executive office at the end of 2007.

Presently Domingo is a member of the Board of FUNDACIÓN MAPFRE and of the Group Control Committee as well as the Boards of several subsidiaries (MAPFRE INTERNACIONAL, MAPFRE RE, MAPFRE FAMILIAR and THE COMMERCE GROUP  of  Webster, Massachusetts, USA) and of the Board of SOCIETÀ CATTOLICA DI ASSICURAZIONE, Verona, Italy.

Domingo had been serving as Vice-Chairman of the board of FCAPP.

We congratulate Domingo on his election and offer our prayers for the continuing success of FCAPP.

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Message from the New Chair of FCAPP

It is a great honor to succeed Lorenzo Rossi di Montelera in this service to the Church. I’ve known him for many years as a distinguished and deeply committed Christian businessman, and I couldn’t say ‘no’ when he invited me in his friendly and convincing way to join the Board of the CAPP Vatican Foundation a few years ago. He decisively started the internationalization of the Foundation, which consolidated under his leadership as a very lively presence within the institutions of the Holy See.

 
I hope to continue internationalizing the Foundation by creating new chapters and increasing committed membership in various countries.  I would like also to see the links between members in different countries and the Vatican Secretariat materializing more frequently; for that purpose we hope to distribute several times a year some new ‘food for thought’ around the meaning and the practical consequences of the Social Doctrine of the Church, in addition to the annual conference at the Vatican.  We’ll also try to improve the Foundation’s website for the direct use of members.

 
Of course, the Foundation also has to perform its duty of raising funds for the Holy Father’s charity.  We have set ourselves ambitious goals in that direction and hope to be able to give more and more generously each year to the Holy Father or to the institutions he will indicate to us. The help of CAPP-USA and all other chapters will be essential to reach those goals.

 
November 14, 2009       (back to top)

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Archbishop Celli Visits Cuba

Archbishop Claudio Maria Celli, President of the Pontifical Council for Social Communications, International Assistant of FCAPP, and a great friend and supporter of CAPP-USA, began a four-day visit to Cuba on November 4th.   Archbishop Celli met with Cuban bishops and delivered a talk on the theme of  "the church, media and online culture."  His arrival in Cuba coincided with the presentation of the new papal nuncio, Archbishop Giovanni Becciu.

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CAPP-Malta
                            

Malta Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi, opposition leader Joseph Muscat and Archbishop of Malta Paul Cremona met on November 20th at a forum organized by CAPP-Malta to examine the relevance of Pope Benedict XVI's recent encyclical letter, Caritas in Veritate, to the current economic and social reality.

 
Organized by CAPP chapter president Joseph F.X. Zahra, the forum preceded the introduction of the official Maltese translation of the encyclical and was organized in collaboration with the Malta Justice and Peace Commission, the Faith and Justice Center and the Theological Commission.

Congratulations to Joseph Zahra for both organizing this event and for his masterful job in representing the Church, the encyclical and CAPP in the attached copy of the Malta Sunday Times.
Review Malta Sunday Times article here

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Slovakia

 

On October 21, 2010, Archbishop Giordana, Nuncio to Slovakia, Bishop Zvolensky, Bishop of Bratislava and president of the Bishops' Conference of Slovakia, and Archbishop Rusnak, the Bishop responsible for social teaching within the Slovakia Bishops’ Conference, joined with Slovakia’s Minister of Labor, Social Affairs and Family, Ms. Tomanova, the mayor of Bratislava, Mr. Durkovsky, and the former President of the Slovak Republic, Mr. Kovac, together with over a hundred members of the board and entrepreneurs of local banks and companies to examine the relevance of  Pope Benedict XVI's  recent encyclical letter, Caritas in Veritate, to the current economic situation and social environment.

 
The forum, held in collaboration with a local group of catholic youth associated with the Central European Business and Social Initiative, was organized by FCAPP member, Luca Zucconi. (Some of you may remember that Luca is a great friend of CAPP-USA:   he attended  the 2008 fifth anniversary celebrations in Washington, DC  and has arranged several “Sunday outings” for CAPP-USA members attending the annual Rome conferences).

 
The opportunity was taken to present Fondazione Centesimus Annus Pro-Pontifice (FCAPP) to the participants by FCAPP General Secretary, Massimo Gattamelata,

 
This very successful event closed with a reception; followed later by a dinner for invited participants to further explore the encyclical and FCAPP.  (back to top)

 

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National News

Catholic Social Teaching (CST) Program

The fourth annual Certificate Program in Catholic Social Teaching, jointly sponsored by The Catholic University of America and CAPP-USA, was held the week of September 20-26, 2009 at the Pope John Paul II Cultural Center in Washington, DC.

This week-long, graduate level investigation of the Church’s deep patrimony of social teaching provides an in-depth understanding of the Church’s social teachings from noted scholars, theologians, and professionals and is open to diocesan administrators/department directors and their staff in Catholic Charities, Catholic Conferences, Social Justice, and other ministries. 

This year’s program hosted twenty lay, religious and clergy members from sixteen dioceses from Maine to Hawaii.  The program also has many elements of a retreat including Liturgy of the Hours, Daily Mass, a decade of the Rosary a day, time for reflection on the application of learning to one’s life/career, and a tour of the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception.

Student comments were overwhelmingly positive and, to date, we have received three inquiries regarding starting a CAPP Chapter and one call to speak to a gathering of a diocese’s staff. Congratulations to the Program Director, Dr. Karen Shields Wright (CAPP-USA), for coordinating an outstanding program.

To read the introduction/overview of the program, please click here.

 
The 2010 program will begin on September 26th.  For more information contact Dr. Karen Shields Wright at drkaren@optonline.net

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 The Catholic University of America

CUA President Announces Resignation

              

Very Reverend David M. O’Connell, C.M., President of The Catholic University of America, announced his resignation to the US bishops at their fall meeting.

 
Fr. O’Connell’s twelve-year tenure was marked by the returning of CUA to its Catholic identity.  He was instrumental for, as he put it, the "clear, public and unapologetic expression resulting in the re-engagement of the bishops in the life and work of their university."

We offer Fr. O’Connell our thanks for his outstanding support in creating and conducting the jointly sponsored The Catholic University of America – Centesimus Annus Pro Pontifice Certificate Program in Catholic Social Teaching.  He was instrumental from day one (back in 2002) for the success of this endeavor.

 
His tangible and intangible support was especially important in the early days. There was no model for the CUA - CAPP cooperation and he both ‘allowed’ and supported us as we worked with the Vice Provost, Dean of Graduate Studies and Theology Department in creating our, now, very successful offering for the bishops of the United States.

 
We wish Fr. O’Connell every success in his future endeavors.     (back to top)

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CAPP-Milwaukee

CAPP-USA board member and Corporation Secretary, Jim Rice and CAPP-USA President, Bob Nalewajek, traveled to Milwaukee and joined with Mike Stivoric and Tom VanHimbergen and the leaders of a local Catholic University on November 16-17 to finalize planning for the CAPP-Milwaukee steering committee, which looks to launch a CAPP chapter in the Archdiocese of Milwaukee in 2010.   Building on former Archbishop of Milwaukee Timothy Dolan’s strong support, the group discussed the outline for possible collaboration.
                                                                                                      

                                        

          

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Please add in your prayers the efforts of all those in Milwaukee as they discern their formation.
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CAPP’s Future

Pope John Paul II urged us to “spare no efforts” in our mission to implement Catholic social teaching (CST) through lay, Catholic leaders in business, the professions and academia.

Building on over five years of success and experience we believe that now, more than ever, is our moment.  It is time for us as lay Catholics to assert ourselves as right and appropriate leaders in what Pope Benedict has called the “struggle of our times” against the evils of radical secularism and relativism.

Having attained the approval of the CAPP-USA board, our National Ecclesiastical Counselors and the FCAPP board at the Vatican, we have formed a steering committee to assist in case statement development as we create a comprehensive plan to initiate the 15 projects which have been identified to implement our mission.

We ask your prayers for our founder’s intercession and God’s blessing on our efforts -which will be fully communicated in 2010 at the completion of the steering committee and cabinet recruitment process.

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Regional News

 
Sunday, November 8, 2009, was a big day for Fairfield and Washington as both chapters hosted communion breakfasts.

 
CAPP-Fairfield County  (Diocese of Bridgeport, Connecticut)

On Sunday November 8th, 2009, a gathering of over 200 men and woman attended the Fourth Annual Communion Breakfast for Business Leaders at Fairfield University.  Mass was celebrated by Bishop William E. Lori in the Egan Chapel.   Carl Anderson, Supreme Knight of the Knights of Columbus, was the keynote speaker.  As a leader of one of the most successful and highly rated insurance companies, Carl indicated that "Greed is the single cause of the economic crisis in the U.S. - the transfer of risk left others holding the bag."

   
  Carl Anderson, keynote speaker, at CAPP-FC Nov. 8 event

Referring to the encyclicals of several Popes, Carl said the Church provided a blueprint for how spiritual values play an important part in the economy and how "the Catholic Church has saved capitalism from its excesses in the late 19th and 20th centuries" with the Church becoming a "clear voice for an economic system that takes all into consideration with dignity."  The event was co-sponsored by CAPP-FC and the Fairfield University Center for Faith & Public Life. 

 
   Bishop Lori, Fr. Ryscavage with Leaders of  the World Youth Assoc.

On November 9, 2009, an Introduction to Catholic Social Teaching was held at St. Mary’s Parish, Ridgefield.  Groups interested in sponsoring a presentation at their parish or organization should contact CAPP member, Lorraine Carrano, for information at 203-445-9954.

A Seminar on Pope Benedict's new encyclical, Caritas in Veritate, was held at Fairfield University, on November 19, facilitated by Rev. Richard Ryscavage, S.J., Director of the Center for Faith and Public Life and CAPP-Fairfield County Diocesan Ecclesiastical Counselor.

Father Ryscavage outlined three "themes" of the letter:  1. Love is at the heart of Catholic social teaching.  Here Pope Benedict continues his theme, begun in Deus Caritas Est, that human development is a vocation requiring a spiritual component.  "Truth requires faith and reason; 2. The key is "integral" human development, which requires belief in, and acceptance and integration of God in all facets of life, and; 3. We need ethics (and, therefore, personal conversion) for the success of the global economy.  Regulation is no substitute!  Without trust, the market cannot function.  
The presentation was followed by a very lively 30-minute question and answer session. 

Upcoming Events

On Thursday, January 21, 2010, Lorraine Carrano (CAPP-FC) and Bob Nalewajek (CAPP-USA President) will present an "Introduction to Catholic Social Teaching" to the principles and administrators of the Diocese of Bridgeport as a first step in collaborating in ways to introduce CST to educators and students in the classroom.

CAPP-Fairfield County's annual retreat for members and friends will be held on Saturday, January 30, 2010, at Sacred Heart University.  The retreat will be directed by Rev. Joseph Koterski, S.J. (former Chairman of Fordham University's Philosophy Department -- and an engaging presenter) applying the theme, "Sharing Our Faith in Christ."  The event will begin with lunch and conclude with mass in the new Chapel of the Holy Spirit.

The second annual Communion Breakfast for Educators will be held in the Chapel of the Holy Spirit at Sacred Heart University on Sunday, March 7.  The 9 a.m. mass will be celebrated by Bishop William E. Lori, followed by breakfast with a keynote speaker.  The event is co-sponsored by CAPP-Fairfield County and the Isabelle Farrington School of Education, Sacred Heart University.

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CAPP-DC (Archdiocese of Washington, D.C.)
               

The fifth anniversary of CAPP-DC was celebrated with Mass in the Immaculate Heart of Mary Chapel at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception  on Sunday, November 8, 2009.  In his homily, Monsignor Michael Fisher, Diocesan Ecclesiastical Counselor to CAPP-DC, drew on the tenets of Catholic Social Teaching as proclaimed in the readings from the Old Testament and the Gospel.  We learned that even those with little, give much – their all - as both women did in the readings.  In the first reading (1Kgs 17:10-16), a woman of great peace, who accepted what she thought was imminent death of herself and son, gave in faith the last that she had to Elijah .  Neither her jar nor jug went empty.  And the woman in the Gospel of Mark (Mk12:41-44) gave her last coins in faith and trust.  Although these women may have been considered the least, they were treated and honored in the Scriptures – the respect for the human person and their dignity – a tenet of Catholic Social Teaching.  These are images of how we should live our lives: in trust, faith, hope, and love; respectful of ourselves and others; committing ourselves to the common good; and engaging in community.

 

John Carr, Executive Director, Department of Justice, Peace and Human Development, United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, was the breakfast speaker, presenting the social teaching of Pope Benedict XVI.  Mr. Carr expressed that our mission starts with Jesus' Mission as stated in the Gospel of St. Luke (Luke 4:18-19), “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me.  The Lord has anointed me to bring Good News to the poor, liberty to captives, new sight to the blind, to set the downtrodden free.”  This is the mission of CAPP.  Taking up Jesus’ mission allows us to be salt and light in society.  We look for God in Jesus; we look for Jesus in others; therefore we love our neighbors and God; and serve others because we see Christ in others.


The social teaching of Pope Benedict XVI began with his first encyclical, Deus Caritas Est, the formation of the heart; continues with the importance of Christian faith-hope in the modern age in Spe Salvi; and in Caritas in Veritate, Pope Benedict’s third encyclical, we are called to see the relationship between human and environmental ecologies and to link charity and truth in the pursuit of justice, the common good, and authentic human development.

Upcoming Events

CAPP-DC in partnership with the World Bank Group/IMF Staff Catholic Association will host a “brown bag” lunch panel discussion on Caritas
in Veritate entitled, "Introducing the Teaching of the Catholic Church about Human Development on Wednesday, January 20, 2010, at the International Finance
Corporation (IFC*)Auditorium, 2121 Pennsylvania Ave., NW,  from 12:00 p.m. until 2:00 p.m.  (*IFC is a member of the World Bank Group.)

Panelists will be Professor Andrew Abela, Chairman of the Business and Ethics Department, The Catholic University of America, and
Dr. Maurizio Ragazzi, Senior Counsel at the World Bank. 

Professor Abela’s topic will cover – “Introduction to the Church's teaching about development since the encyclical, Populorum Progressio, in 1967 and what the latest and third development encyclical, Caritas in Veritate, has to offer.”  Dr. Ragazzi’s topic will cover: “Perspective as a member of an international organization and from his own work experience in international public law when reflecting on the encyclical in his work context.” 

Please note:  attendees are required to register by January 18 at cappdc_3@msn.com - (please note underscore, cappdc_3) and arrive at IFC site no later than 11:30 a.m. (security check-in required).
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CAPP-Newark  (Archdiocese of Newark, New Jersey)

The CAPP-Newark 2009-2010 season kicked off with a general session on Saturday, October 3,  in the Archdiocesan Center in Newark where members applied the principles of the encyclical, Centesimus Annus to the issue of  the health care system.

 
Diocesan Ecclesiastical Counselor Msgr. Slinger gave a short discourse on the need to apply CAPP principles to current-day society, followed by Don Readlinger, Tom Ludlum and Fred Fakharzadeh reviewing the principles of Catholic Social Teaching and outlining how these principles could be applied to the current health care reform. 

The members broke into groups and the rest of the meeting was devoted to gaining an understanding of the principles of the encyclical using the joint pastoral statement from the Archdioceses of Kansas City, Kansas, and Kansas City-St. Joseph, Mo., entitled,  "Principles of Catholic Social Teaching and Health Care Reform" as the framework.  The groups addressed the letter’s three principles: Subsidiarity; Solidarity and the Common Good; Life and the Dignity of the Human Person with the latter further broken down  into four categories –  the “Exclusion of Abortion and Protection of Conscience Rights,” “End of Life Counseling,” the “Right to Acquisition of Health Care” and the “Right to Make Health Care Decisions for Self and Family." >>><<<

Two seminars were co-sponsored with The Micah Institute for Business and Economics and the Center for Catholica Studies, Seton Hall University, and held at the SHU campus.  On October 27^th Margaret Benefiel, Ph.D. presented “The Soul of a Leader in Tough Economic Times."  Dr. Benefiel teaches at the Andover Theological School in Boston and the Milltown Institute in Dublin, Ireland.

The second, on November 12, entitled, “Making a Life, Not Just a Living – Business is a Human Science” was presented by Gene Ahner.  Mr. Ahner is a corporate director of human resources and an adjunct professor at the Catholic Theological Union in Chicago.   (For additional details about Dr. Benefiel, Mr. Ahner and Msgr. Liddy, please click on their names.)                  

Msgr. Richard Liddy, Dr. Benefiel and Don Readlinger (President of CAPP-Newark)
Msgr. Liddy is the Director of the Center for Catholic Studies at SHU.

 

 

                        Mr. Gene Ahner

 

 

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