Fr. Bob's Corner

Bishop Attacked: Bishop David Munroe of Kamloops, B.C. attacked by  a man who broke into the Cathedral Rectory. He has been released from intensive care, but is still in serious condition: Link

Next Synod of Bishops will be held in 2012. The topic will be a “New Evangelization.”  Link

Conservative Catholics have taken to the web to make the church more catholic, reports Rachel Zoll of Associated Press: “A new breed of theological conservatives has taken to blogs and YouTube to say the church isn’t Catholic enough.”  Link

The Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops (CCCB) will hold its annual Plenary Assembly October 25-29, 2010, at the Nav Canada Centre, Cornwall, Ontario. About 90 Bishops from across the country will gather to review pastoral activities of the past year and share their experiences and insights on the life of the Church and the major events that shape our society. Link

A fourth century painting of the Apostle John was revealed this week on the walls of the Santa Tecla Catacombs. The catacomb is located beneath an office building in the city of Rome. Using laser burning techniques the restorers burnt inches of calcium carbonate which accumulated on the very humid walls of the catacomb chambers over the last 16 centuries. They also uncovered other 4^th century pictures of Jesus, St. Paul, and the apostles. These paintings are believed to be the earliest artist renditions of these New Testament figures discovered to date.

For more pictures and information: National Geographic

See previous posts for initial information. Update- 3:08pm, Saturday, June 12, 2010: I just had a call from a gentlemen in my parish who was speaking to two of his sisters who were on the bus crash in Switzerland. Both his sisters, Connie and Leona, are at a hotel and are OK. Fr. Tom Villeneuve and his sister are in the hospital, but are reported to be be doing well, and not too seriously injured. As I get further information, I will update to this post. 4:00 pm – Just received world that Carl R. (St. Raphael’s Parish)  and Gail W. (St. Andrew’s Parish) are OK. 6:00pm – Update on two more that are OK: Yvonne. B. (St. Anthony’s) and Claire M. (St. Andrew’s). Let us continue to pray for all survivors and victims of this terrible tragedy.

7:00pm Fr. Tom’s sister (Adele Major) speaks to Globe and Mail:

“But it appears the passengers were travelling with the Jolly Tours and Travel company from Cornwall, Ont.

Adele Major’s sister and brother — retired Rev. Thomas Villeneuve — were both in the crash.

She said they’d taken the company’s Grand Alpine Tour, which featured a performance of ‘The Passion Play’ in Upper Bavaria and took the tourists through Switzerland, Austria, Germany and Liechtenstein.

“They’re both in hospital, they’re in for a few days with minor injuries,” Major said from her home in Cornwall.

“They were shaken. My brother didn’t seem to remember too much, maybe he was knocked out — I’m not sure. He seems to be OK.”

Major said she spent most of the day scrambling to gather details on the state of her siblings.

“It’s hard when you don’t know and you can’t reach anybody,” she said, her voice breaking.” Full Globe Article

BuzzNet Tags: bus,crash,Switzerland,Survivors,victims

Update- 3:08pm, Saturday, June 12, 2010: I just had a call from a gentlemen in my parish who was speaking to two of his sisters who were on the bus crash in Switzerland. Both his sisters, Connie and Leona, are at a hotel and are OK. Fr. Tom Villeneuve and his sister are in the hospital, but are reported to be be doing well, and not too seriously injured. As I get further information, I will update to this post. 4:00 pm – Just received world that Carl R. (St. Raphael’s Parish)  and Gail W. (St. Andrew’s Parish) are OK. 6:00pm – Update on two more that are OK: Yvonne. B. (St. Anthony’s) and Claire M. (St. Andrew’s).

7:00pm Fr. Tom’s sister (Adele Major) speaks to Globe and Mail:

“But it appears the passengers were travelling with the Jolly Tours and Travel company from Cornwall, Ont.

Adele Major’s sister and brother — retired Rev. Thomas Villeneuve — were both in the crash.

She said they’d taken the company’s Grand Alpine Tour, which featured a performance of ‘The Passion Play’ in Upper Bavaria and took the tourists through Switzerland, Austria, Germany and Liechtenstein.

“They’re both in hospital, they’re in for a few days with minor injuries,” Major said from her home in Cornwall.

“They were shaken. My brother didn’t seem to remember too much, maybe he was knocked out — I’m not sure. He seems to be OK.”

Major said she spent most of the day scrambling to gather details on the state of her siblings.

“It’s hard when you don’t know and you can’t reach anybody,” she said, her voice breaking.” Full Globe Article

Our Local paper says it has confirmed that Fr. Tom Villeneuve was on the tour bus. He is the former pastor of St. Mary’s Parish in Williamstown, and St. William’s Parish in Martintown.

Two dead after bus with local tour group flips in Switzerland – The Cornwall Standard Freeholder – Ontario, CA

Let us pray for all on a tour bus, especially, the dead and injured. It appears that some of the people might have been from our area.

Canadians killed in Swiss bus crash: report – The Globe and Mail