Speaking at St. John's University in Queens Jan. 25, Father Massingale said the United States was undergoing a demographic change that would soon make non-Latino whites a minority group. The United States will cease to be a microcosm of Europe and will become a microcosm of the world, he said. Fifteen Catholics in the Archdiocese of St. Paul-Minneapolis are engaged in a process that could change their lives and have a ripple effect beyond their own community. They are among more than 50 Midwesterners who are Ignatian Associates. Each meeting is led by a Jesuit priest as the group's chaplain.
Meetings begin and end with prayer.
Participants gather for retreats and reflection days, sometimes with associates from Milwaukee and Omaha, Neb., the other cities where Ignatian Associates gather. Sudanese bishops voiced disappointment at a statement in which Comboni Missionaries working in Sudan said churches were prolonging the country's civil war by providing relief aid. Bishop Macram Max Gassis of El Obeid told Catholic News Service at the Jan. 26 close of the Sudan Catholic Bishops' Regional Conference in Nairobi. The conference represents the bishops of southern Sudan, who also belong to the bishops' conference for all of Sudan. Bishop Gassis said that the Combonis should have collaborated with the bishops before releasing their statement.