Site-Seeing:

• One parish in Los Angeles county is run by a nun http://www.acfnewsource.org/religion/sister_quinn.html but as Julie Rafferty points out, the decline in the number of priests since the 1960s is almost totally offset by the number of permanent deacons according to a Georgetown University study at http://cara.georgetown.edu/bulletin/index.htm. Founded in 1964, CARA is the Center for Applied Research, a national, non-profit, Georgetown University affiliated research center that conducts social scientific studies about the Catholic Church. It is another site worth a regular visit.

• The National Pastoral Life Center at www.nplc.org posts upcoming conferences, talks and other opportunities (such as November’s Annual Parish Life Convention in Ohio) to continue the Common Ground legacy of Cardinal Bernardin. Their September quarterly newsletter Initiative Report is now available as is a copy of the full text of the Sixth Annual Lecture delivered in June by John Allen, “Common Ground in a Global Key.”

• If you can access the September 10, 2004 issue of Commonweal magazine, associate editor Maurice Timothy Reidy’s essay on “Closing Catholic Parishes – A painful process that could be done better” is worthy reading. www.commonwealmagazine.org

• Boston College, The Institute of Religious Education and Pastoral Ministry at www.bc.edu/irepm is bursting with opportunities including an on-line program for credit! And be sure to check regularly the Church in the 21st Century program at www.bc.edu/church21

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