By: Bro. Ryan Carlsen, AA

With all the debate happening right now concerning the proper interpretation of Amoris Laetitia, I wondered: would Fr. d’Alzon, founder of the Assumptionists, take sides in this debate? For anyone wanting to learn more about the Assumptionists, I thought a brief reflection on the founder’s views might be useful since the charism of the congregation comes from the Holy Spirit through the founder. A possible answer to the question of whether he would take sides came to me after reading about Steven Spielberg’s upcoming movie The Kidnapping of Edgardo Mortara.

The Edgardo Mortara case was a big story in 19th-century Europe. Edgardo was born into a Jewish family in Bologna, Italy, the sixth of eight children. A severe illness in early childhood left him on the brink of death. At that point the family’s Catholic maid secretly baptized the boy. The Church’s teaching at that time, as it is today, was that no child could be baptized without parental consent and a commitment to raise the child as a Catholic. However, if death was near, this kind of baptism was permitted because it cleansed and saved the soul, preparing it for heaven.

At a recent Sunday “Conversations…” at the Assumptionist Center in Brighton, the topic of life as a Catholic single person as experienced by many in today’s world was addressed. The presenters were Elyse Raby, a doctoral student in Systematic Theology at Boston College, with an interest in theological anthropology and ecclesiology and Alfred Pang, a doctoral student in Theology and Education, also at Boston College and a resident at the Assumptionist Center.

In an issue of America Magazine (Jan. 2016), it was said that the “church is increasingly recognizing the vocational dimension of the single life, but that does not mean that today’s single Catholics have it easy.”

Both of our presenters presented some of the realities and challenges of this topic, as well as the gift of being a single person of faith. In addition they offered ways in which faith communities can nourish the possibilities offered by the single life in the church. It is a complex phenomenon.

ASSUMPTIONISTS ESTABLISH A NEW COMMUNITY IN MEXICO -  PDF file

Photo: Jérémie Six

On the fiftieth anniversary of the encyclical "Populorum progressio", Catholics who have been deeply affected by their experiences as volunteers speak to "La Croix".

Claire Lesegretain

Jérémie Six was in Togo from 2012 – 2014 with the Catholic Delegation for Cooperation (DCC) and the Assumptionists. In September 2106, he took his first vows as an Augustinian of the Assumption.

For a long time, I was trying to find myself, asking about the meaning of my life. Without a doubt, my two years as a volunteer in Africa helped me to discover who I am.

In Togo, a reality worlds away from France, I learned to know myself better. In retrospect, I think that the Lord was knocking at my door but I was afraid to let him in. I feel an affinity with the apostle Peter, who was a bit rough around the edges but also clear-cut and pure.