Council of Religious
Minutes of May 12th Meeting
A. Opening Prayer …. Discipleship … Sr. Carol
B. Attendance:
Present: Srs. Mary Ann, Janet, Carol, Theresine, Maxine, Ruth, Renee, Angie, Mary Jean
Excused: Msgr. Sherba, Srs. Chris, Maureen, and Echo
C. Sharing with Bishop Burbidge … undated us on the topics of…
a. His media presentation on HB2; and media coverage of the new Cathedral
b. Ordination of two priests; Philip Johnson delayed until January
c. Msgr. Jerry
d. Changes in the NC Catholics staffing
e. Hiring of a new Youth Minister
f. Blessed Sacrament Sisters of Nigeria to set up headquarters in Diocese and live at the St. Alphonsus Center in Wilson
g. We asked the Bishop to suggest a “question” for sharing at our September 17th gathering.
h. Bishop said that at his last meeting as Chair for the NCCB Commission on Consecrated Life he will make a plea to keep the Religious Retirement Collection in place. It is due to expire this year.
D. We raised the question of how the over 88 Congregations of Sisters who have served in the Diocese over the past 100+ years would be recognized in the new Cathedral. We gave a few suggestions. The question has now been given to Greg(the Cathedral Gifts person). He will: a) check on how this has been done in other Diocese; b) look for possible donors; c) get back to the Council for input. The Religious Men of the diocese are paying for a statue of their Founder to be placed in the Cathedral. The Diocesan priests have asked for a statue of Sr. John Vianney to be in the Cathedral. In the near future, the Diocesan Staff will take a tour inside the present building and hold a prayer service with the workers.
E. Mike D’Ercole from the Diocesan Finance Office, gave a summary presentation on the 2016-17 budget. We raised questions of: Equal pay for men and women? Who determines the stipend for Sisters? Why the Council is not consulted about the stipend? We learned that, at present, the stipend is determined by the Administration after comparison with Diocese of similar size; and the increase is approved by the Priests’ Council.
F. In the absence of Ms. Echo, Sr. Mary Jean gave the Treasurer’s Report and a comparison of our expenses for the this and last fiscal year. Our expenses this year were higher but we were still under our budget limit.
G. We began plans for the Sisters’ overnight…. Sept. 16-17
a. Sr. Mary Ann will be the contact with Comfort Suites
b. Sr. Renee and Janet will handle the liturgy on Saturday at OLL which includes the installation of officers and new members
c. Srs. Maxine and Theresine will arrange sharing groups for Friday
d. At the August meeting, each member of the Council will bring her suggestion for: sharing of the Sisters on Friday and sharing with the Bishop on Saturday.
H. Sisters leaving the Diocese are:
Sr. Maureen Donati, IHM Principal of OLL…change of assignment
Sr. Ruth Perl, SND Receptionist at OLL… retiring
Gifts and thank you notes will be sent by Sr. Mary Ann
I. Sisters leaving service on the Council are:
Sr. Chris Gellings, IHM
Sr. Maureen Donati, IHM
Sr. Ruth Perl, SND
J. Sisters joining the Council in August are:
Sr. Connie Gilder, SSJ
Sr. Evelyn Craig, IHM
K. Other gifts in the name of all the Sisters:
$250 in memory of Sr. Marion for the Spanish Ministry at St. Mary’s Wilmington
Birthday gift for Msgr. Sherba … June 6
L. Due to lack of time the Report from Sr. Anne Heath is being held for the August meeting
M. Next meeting of the Council … Wednesday, August 17, 12-3 at Backyard Bistro