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FROM NORTH OF THE BORDER (WAY NORTH!!!)

August 20, 2017

Reflections from Fr. Barry Bercier, who recently began ministry to an Inuit Catholic community in Igloolik, north of the Arctic Circle in Nunavut, Canada (and its two mission). Having previously spent some time in Greenland, he begins by making a few comparisons:

“…. Nunavut is not like Greenland much at all, even though geographically they are close neighbors. Just today after Mass I had a conversation with one of the locals who sometimes works on fishing boats that pull into Nuuk (Greenland) we ended up comparing the two places. Nuuk is, by arctic standards, a big city. It has water pipes and sewers, paved roads, tall buildings, a hospital, a big active port and a heavy dose of Danish influence—things tend to be orderly, smooth functioning and fairly prosperous. Though it has serious social problems, they seem fairly well-managed.

Igloolik, overview

Last Updated on Wednesday, 30 August 2017 08:58

The Rev. Dennis Gallagher A.A. was recently appointed provincial of North America for the Assumptionist order.
[Photo/Michelle Sheppard]

By Amanda Roberge, Correspondent

Aug 18, 2017

WORCESTER — Having attended Assumption College as an undergraduate student in the 1960s, the Rev. Dennis Gallagher returned as a priest in 1976 and for the better part of the decades since, he has lived in the Community House on the Worcester campus and served the school in a number of capacities, in both the spiritual and academic realms.

But having recently been named the provincial of the Assumptionist order for the North America region, Rev. Gallagher will soon leave the school with his sights on Brighton, where he will be closer to the administrative headquarters for the Augustinians of the Assumption, long known simply as Assumptionists. The order consists of a congregation of Catholic brothers.

“Once you are named provincial, you can no longer hold employment at the college,” he said, adding that his involvement will be limited to his new role on the school’s board of trustees. “It is something that will take some getting used to.”

The Assumptionist community is one that exists worldwide, he said, with North America being a relatively small constituency. The region over which he will preside includes several communities in the Northeast, several in Mexico and one, the Center for Faith and Culture, in Quebec, Canada. The international order has a presence in almost 30 countries.

Last Updated on Wednesday, 30 August 2017 08:57

Something not too many people know about us, though we have never tried to hide it, is that we met online through Match.com. Allison likes to point out that Brian was on the site for several months before he found Allison, while Allison was only on the site for one week! We met in Cambridge for coffee, which turned into lunch and a three-hour date. We were married a year-and-a-half later by Assumptionist Fr. Claude Grenache and now are expecting our first child this spring. None of that would have happened had Brian not spotted a certain lovely lady’s online profile and sent her a message!