Parish roundup: Women put plans into action; second site for Gubbio

One-on-one help for Central American immigrants, coalescing young adult Catholics involved in military ministry, and website exchanges for Catholic women of all ages are among the "action plans" put into effect following a weeklong gathering of 300 young women a year ago at the Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C. Sponsored by the Council of Major Superiors of Women Religious, the GIVEN Forum drew participants from every state.

Based at San Francisco's St. Boniface Parish, the Gubbio Project has drawn wide acclaim for its work with the homeless, addicted and abandoned. In a recent note to NCR's Field Hospital, Gubbio Project Executive Director Laura Slattery called attention to what she called "a powerful ecumenical partnership" with St. John the Evangelist Episcopal Church in San Francisco's Mission District, where a second site for Gubbio has been operating for more than a year. Like St. Boniface, St. John Episcopal opens its doors for "sacred sleep" from 6 a.m. to noon in addition to providing meals, clothing, counseling, medical care, and toiletries.

In late March, St. Thomas More Catholic Community in St. Paul, Minnesota, declared itself a "sanctuary parish" for undocumented immigrants. It was the second Jesuit-administered U.S. parish to do so, reports the Ignatian Solidarity Network. The other is St. Agnes Parish in San Francisco.

Four people a day died of drug overdoses in British Columbia during March, according to Christopher De Bono, vice president of mission, ethics and spirituality at Vancouver, British Columbia-based Providence Health Care. Providence and the Vancouver Archdiocese were among Catholic sponsors of a May 18 prayer vigil held at Christ Church Anglican Cathedral in Vancouver for those impacted by the global opioid epidemic.

Sharon Lasselle, a member of St. Michael Parish in Palmer, Alaska, shares advance reflections on her "listen, learn and observe" journey to Ethiopia that began May 13.

Do not just show up. You need an invitation to attend the "Convocation of Catholic Leaders: The Joy of the Gospel in America" July 1-4 in Orlando, Florida. Sponsored by the U.S. bishops, the convocation will focus on church unity.

More than a dozen Catholic leaders were among 150 signers of a recent interreligious ad in the Chicago Tribune denouncing the "bigotry, intimidation and violence that the 2016 national elections have unleashed within the body politic."

[Dan Morris-Young is NCR's West Coast correspondent. His email is dmyoung@ncronline.org.]

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