Among Friends, a weekly half hour program from the Catholic Communication Campaign, debuts October 1, 10:30 a.m. on the Odyssey Network. The premiere includes interviews with Cardinal William Keeler, Archbishop of Baltimore, and Rabbi Mordecai Waxman, President of the National Council of Synagogues, discussing Catholic-Jewish relations on the eve of a new millennium. Subsequent programs include William F. Baker, Ph.D., President and CEO of WNET-TV in New York City and co-author of Down the Tube, an inside account of the failure of U.S. television; Mary Cunningham Agee, head of the Nurturing Network, which she founded to aid women facing crisis pregnancies; and former New York Giants tight end Mark Bavaro, who now devotes much time to the pro-life movement. Among Friends is a production of the U.S. Catholic Conference's CCC in association with TeLIcare, of the Diocese of Rockville Centre, New York. The program provides a forum where prominent people discuss their relationship with God. For more information, contact Pat Ryan Garcia at 202-541-3204.

Inter-Church Committee on Northern Ireland will meet Oct. 1-2 in Belfast to discuss the new developments in the peace process there. Formed in 1990, the Committee consists of representatives of the Catholic bishops and Presbyterian Church in the United States and Northern Ireland. Participants include Bishop Raymond Boland of Kansas City-St. Joseph, Missouri, and U.S. Catholic Conference staff John Carr and Jesuit Father Jack Cullinan.

The United Methodist-Roman Catholic Dialogue will be in Washington, October 1-3, and include discussion on materials for parish use. Contact person is Brother Jeffrey Gros, FSC, 202-541-0320.

Pope John Paul II visits Croatia October 2-4.

The Latin American Youth Congress in Punta de Tralca, Chile will be October 3-10, 1998. The United States will send a delegation of observers, including Bishop Roger Schwietz of Duluth, Minnesota, two adults working in youth/young adult ministry and two young people. For more information, contact Michelle Miller at 202-541-3044.

Feast of St. Francis of Assisi, who was designated by Pope John Paul II as the patron of the environmental movement, is October 4. Liturgical and homily suggestions are included in the U.S. Catholic Conference's Environmental Justice Program parish resource kit, which also includes a St. Francis Prayer Card featuring the Canticle of the Sun. The kits and prayer card are available through the USCC Office of Printing Services at (800) 235-8722. Order number: 032-X, cost: $7.95 plus shipping and handling.

Respect Life Sunday is October 4. Virtually all Catholic dioceses will kick off their annual pro-life program in October with prayer services, educational events, public advocacy efforts, and fundraising for pastoral care services for women in need (whether pregnant, with young children, or grieving from an abortion). Over 50,000 Respect Life packets have been distributed, mainly to parishes, with articles presenting Catholic teaching on current life issues. Packets also contain prayers, liturgical materials, descriptions of model program and resources. For materials, contact the Secretariat for Pro-Life Activities, 202-541-3070.

The Supreme Court reconvenes October 5, the first Monday in October. One case to watch is the Wisconsin school voucher case.

IV World Congress for the Pastoral Care of Migrants and Refugees will be October 5-10 in Rome. Theme: Migrations at the Threshold of the Third Millennium.

Continental Youth Gathering will take place in Santiago, Chile, October 6-11. Two young people from the United States -- Jenny Rivera of Los Angeles and Nathaniel Earl Bean of Juneau, Alaska -- will be confirmed at the closing Mass. For more information, contact Michelle Miller at 202-541-3044.

October 12 is Columbus Day.

Cardinal Edward Cassidy, head of the Pontifical Council for Christian Unity, will speak in the Archdiocese of Hartford about the state of the ecumenical movement, October 13.

A Brazilian Conference for priests working with the Brazilian communities in the United States will take place October 13-14, in the Newark Archdiocesan Youth Center, Kearney, New Jersey. The meeting will focus on the development and future organization of the Brazilian Apostolate in the United States.

The Catholic Press Association will meet October 14-16 in Houston.

The Faith and Order Commission of the National Council of Churches will meet in New Orleans, Oct 15-18. The center piece of the meeting will be a public Southern Baptist- Roman Catholic Dialogue, probably at Loyola University, New Orleans, on Christian Initiation. There also will be studies on the nature of the Church, on Christian Mission, on Christian Identity Formation and a conference on the proposals for Full Communion before the U.S. churches. Contact person is Brother Jeffrey Gros, FSC, 202-541-3020.

October 16 marks the 20th anniversary of the election of Pope John Paul II to the papacy.

World Mission Sunday is October 18.

An invitation-only Conference on the Moral Dimension of the External Debt of Poor Countries will be sponsored by the U.S. Catholic Conference, Seton Hall University, and the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace at Seton Hall University, South Orange, New Jersey, October 22-23. Participants include Church officials, ethicists, and senior government officials from the United States, the Vatican, Africa and Latin America, as well as representatives from the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund, the Inter-American Development Bank, private banks, universities, and non-government organizations. Its purpose is to explore the relationship between debt and poverty, consider the effectiveness of current debt relief programs, and examine the ethical implications of the debt crisis.

U.S. Observance of World Youth Day is October 25.

Halloween is October 31.

October is Domestic Violence Month. Various dioceses have worked to address this problem which is estimated to affect 50 percent of all families. For example, the Diocese of Cleveland has published easy-to-read pamphlets on "Talking About Domestic Violence with Engaged Couples," "Talking About Domestic Violence During Baptism Preparation," and "Five Things Parish Leaders Can Do to Address Domestic Violence." The Archdiocese of Cincinnati has produced a domestic violence handbook for parishes. The handbook was distributed to priests, pastoral associates, and directors of religious education at two archdiocesan-sponsored domestic violence workshops.

The World Day for Consecrated Life, which is officially marked on February 2, will be celebrated in the United States, Sunday, January 31. The Vatican-initiated event is coordinated in the United States by the Commission on Religious Life and Ministry, which includes members of the Bishops' Committee on Consecrated life, the Conference of Major Superiors of Men, the Council of Major Superiors of Women Religious and the Leadership Conference of Women Religious. Materials will be distributed in the Fall.

Extra copies of Celebrate, a kit of articles and photos to help dioceses highlight preparation for the Millennium, are available free of charge upon request. Copies were distributed to diocesan newspapers in the Spring. People seeking extra copies can call the USCC Department of Communications, 202-541-3200.

Pope John Paul II is slated to visit St. Louis, January 26-27, 1999. The Archdiocese of St. Louis wishes to make available to diocesan directors via E-mail copies of papal visit updates sent to news media. The updates are released as new information becomes known -- so far usually every 10-14 days. To receive updates send an E-mail message to Steve Mamanella, Community Relations Director for the Archdiocese of St. Louis, at stevem@archstl.org. Your name will be added to the distribution list. Include your full E-mail address in the message section of your E-mail. A toll-free number, 1-800-916-9630, also is available for people seeking information about the visit.

A Workshop on the General Directory for Catechesis will be held Saturday, November 14, from 1:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. at the Hyatt Regency Capitol Hill, Washington. Speakers include Cardinal Dario Castrillon Hoyos, Prefect for the Congregation for the Clergy, and Bishop Donald Wuerl of Pittsburgh. The meeting will be open to bishops and staff who need to know about the GDC, including those engaged in catechesis, schools, RCIA, liturgy and evangelization.

The 1999 Media Training Seminars will be in Houston, February 9; San Diego, Feb. 25; Chicago, April; 26, and Boston, October 21. Registration forms for those seminars were mailed in August. Anyone who needs additional copies can call 202-541-3200.

The National Catholic Gathering on Jubilee Justice will be held July 15-18, 1999, at the University of California Los Angeles (UCLA). The gathering will convene people nationwide for prayer and worship, inspiration and information, and skills and strategies around the challenge of putting justice at the center of jubilee. Honorary chairman: Cardinal Roger Mahony of Los Angeles. Co-Chairs: Father Robert Vitillo, Executive Director of the Catholic Campaign for Human Development, and Annette Kane, Executive Director, National Council of Catholic Women.

The following dioceses can be reached by E-mail: ALASKA: Fairbanks, Juneau. ARIZONA: Phoenix, Tucson. CALIFORNIA: Monterey, Oakland, Orange, Sacramento, San Bernardino, San Diego, San Francisco, San Jose. COLORADO: Colorado Springs, Denver. CONNECTICUT: Hartford, Bridgeport. DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA: Washington. FLORIDA: Miami, Orlando, Palm Beach, St. Augustine, St. Petersburg, Venice. GEORGIA: Savannah. HAWAII: Honolulu. IDAHO: Boise. ILLINOIS: Chicago, Joliet, Peoria, Rockford, Springfield. INDIANA: Evansville, Forth Wayne-South Bend, Indianapolis, Lafayette. IOWA: Davenport, Des Moines, Dubuque. KANSAS: Kansas City in Kansas. KENTUCKY: Louisville, Lexington, Owensboro. LOUISIANA: Alexandria, Baton Rouge, Houma-Thibodaux, Lafayette, Lake Charles, New Orleans, Shreveport. MAINE: Portland. MARYLAND: Baltimore. MASSACHUSETTS: Boston, Melkite Diocese of Newton. MICHIGAN: Detroit, Gaylord, Grand Rapids, Lansing, Marquette. MINNESOTA: Crookston, New Ulm, St. Cloud, St. Paul and Minneapolis, Winona. MARYLAND: Baltimore. MISSISSIPPI: Jackson. MISSOURI: Jefferson City, Kansas City-St. Joseph, St. Louis, Springfield-Cape Girardeau. MONTANA: Great Falls-Billings, Helena. NEBRASKA: Omaha. NEVADA: Las Vegas. NEW HAMPSHIRE: Manchester. NEW JERSEY: Camden, Newark, Passaic, Paterson, Trenton. NEW MEXICO: Las Cruces. NEW YORK: Brooklyn, Buffalo, New York, Ogdensburg. Rochester, Rockville Centre; Syracuse. NORTH CAROLINA: Charlotte, Raleigh. NORTH DAKOTA: Bismarck, Fargo. OHIO: Cincinnati, Cleveland, Columbus, Toledo. OKLAHOMA: Oklahoma City, Tulsa. OREGON: Baker, Portland. PENNSYLVANIA: Altoona-Johnstown, Erie, Greensburg, Harrisburg, Pittsburgh, Scranton. RHODE ISLAND: Providence. SOUTH CAROLINA: Charleston. SOUTH DAKOTA: Rapid City, Sioux Falls. TENNESSEE: Memphis. TEXAS: Amarillo, Austin, Brownsville, Corpus Christi, Dallas, El Paso, Ft. Worth, Lubbock, San Angelo, Victoria. VERMONT: Burlington. VIRGINIA: Richmond. WASHINGTON: Seattle, Spokane, Yakima. WEST VIRGINIA: Wheeling-Charleston. WISCONSIN: Green Bay, Madison, Milwaukee, La Crosse. WYOMING: Cheyenne.

If any communications director wants to be added to the list, please e-mail me at mwalsh@nccbuscc.org.

For media inquiries, e-mail us at commdept@usccb.org
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