Assumption College Students in Rome

By Brianna DiPanni '18

Another semester has begun at the Assumption College campus in Worcester and in Rome, where an at-capacity group of students have begun to explore one of the world’s oldest cities as it serves as a living classroom. Lauren Salerno ’20, an organizational communications major from Peabody, is already enjoying her short time in the Eternal City.

"When I first got to Rome I was completely taken aback,” she said. “It took a few days to sink in that I was actually going to call this place my home for the next four months.”

Salerno said that arriving in Rome was like “stepping into the pages of my former history textbook.” One of the benefits that attracted her to Assumption when looking at colleges was the Rome Campus. “I loved the idea of being at Assumption while still getting to experience a completely different way of life,” she said of the College’s unique program.

Fr. Benoit Bigard (former novice-master and incoming provincial) and a recently professed brother in Togo

6 new brothers in Togo

On Saturday, August 19, in Sokode, Togo, the outgoing novice-master and incoming provincial of the Province of Europe, Fr. Benoit Bigard, received the first vows of six new members: Augustin Yamba, Christian Aziamale, Dominic Mbaeze, Noël Tomfeï, Pascal Gabiam et Rodrigue Ouedraogo, in the Assumptionist parish of Our Lady of the Assumption in the Komah district.

6 new brothers in Vietnam

Three days later, on August 22, six Vietnamese brothers make their first vows in the presence of Br. Didier Rémiot, assistant general and·general treasurer at the novitiate in Bà Ria: Antoine Trịnh Tiền Giang, Paul Trịnh Ngọc Lâm, Paul Hoàng Kim Khoa, Pierre Trần Văn Thành, Pierre Nguyễn Đình Thống and Jean-Baptiste Trần Văn Việt.

brothers in Vietnam making first vows

Our thoughts and prayers all the people of Corpus Christi, Galveston, Houston, and other areas of South Texas in the path of the Hurricane Harvey and the ensuing tropical storm. The damage wrought by the storm, which has not yet abated, is immeasurable, yet the collective response of caring and compassionate people across the country can make a profound difference for those in need.

Bayard, Inc. is committed to providing assistance through financial and material contributions. Bayard invites all members of its community to join in supporting relief efforts through financial contributions and, where possible, in-kind donations. Following is a list of organizations, with links, that you may wish to contribute to.

Catholic Charities USA

Catholic Charities USA is seeking donations to help those who have been affected by Harvey, and has established a website devoted to Harvey relief. Catholic Charities explains that in addition to providing immediate assistance, “long term recovery” is part of the organization’s approach to disasters like this one.

Donate: https://app.mobilecause.com/vf/CCUSADISASTER or text CCUSADISASTER to 71777

Salvation Army

The Salvation Army has already begun collecting funds to help those affected by the storm. Salvation Army spokesperson Alvin Migues, said that because physical donations can be a challenge to manage during a disaster, the organization is asking people to make monetary contributions instead.

Donate:  disaster.salvationarmyusa.org or by phone at 1-800-725-2769

Red Cross

The Red Cross is mobilizing disaster relief workers to support this response effort, and has shelters ready to open and support thousands of people if needed.

Donate: Visit redcross.org, call 1-800-RED CROSS or text the word REDCROSS to 90999 to make a $10 donation.

From August 4-14,·2017, Assumptionist Fr. Jean-Paul SAGADOU led 70 young people to Ghana to discuss the challenges facing Africa with regard to sociopolitical, economic, and cultural integration and interreligious dialogue. This event took place within the framework of the ongoing “African Integration Trips,” a flagship activity of the Réseau de Jeunes pour l’Intégration Africaine (RJIA), or Network of Youth for African Integration, an organization founded in 2012 and officially recognized by the government of Burkina Faso in 2015.

A continent comprised of 70% who are young

For the seventh time, beginning in 2009, Fr. Sagadou with his Assumptionist brothers present in West Africa, took center stage with this huge undertaking. From Burkina Faso to Togo, Ghana, Niger, and Ivory Coast, youth came to participate, youth who make up 70% of the continent’s population, considered either as a time bomb ready to explode or as an opportunity to be seized. These youth share similar concerns: unity on the continent and the need to accelerate development at every level, whether in regard to democratic structures, education, or health…

Laboring under deadly ideologies of want

Many young people look on Africa, wrongly, as « a negative place », without a future, without hope. So, how are we to banish this deep-seated sense of a continent without a future, plagued with the inseparable demons of political instability and economic decline --- a picture supported by a certain kind of literature, colonial and neo-colonial, that always describes Africa as having gotten off to a bad start, enigmatic, and poor.

The Assumptionist presence: the origins of an ambitious project

Unable to stand idly by with its arms crossed in the face of these challenges, the Assumptionists present in Burkina Faso and Togo are attempting to give young people the opportunity to express themselves and together to find appropriate solutions to the continent’s problems. And if this effort can provide political leaders with helpful ideas for the continent, all the better. In any case this is the modest objective of the RJIA.

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

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.

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!

Brian and Allison Bialas, Lay Assumptionists

NOTE: Since this original posting, Allison and Brian have welcomed Andrew Brian into their family.

MATCHED -  PDF file

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