November 1 is All Saints Day as well as Reformation Sunday in Protestant churches. This may be of particular interest given the development of the Joint Declaration on Justification by Faith approved by the Lutheran World Federation and the Holy See. Some Catholic leaders, including Archbishop Alexander Brunett of Seattle, Washington, are being invited to preach in Lutheran churches.

All Souls Day will be celebrated November 2.

Election Day is November 3.

Feast of St. Andrew Dung-Lac and his martyred companions is November 24. These 18th and 19th century martyrs of Vietnam were canonized in 1988. There are an estimated 200,000 Vietnamese Catholics in the United States.

The annual Catholic Campaign for Human Development will be taken up in parishes nationwide the weekend of November 21-22.

Thanksgiving Day is November 26. It's a time to give special thanks to God for the harvest from the earth. An appropriate prayer, Blessing on Thanksgiving for the Harvest, can be found on pages 431-436 in the Book of Blessings and Catholic Household Blessings and Prayers. Additional prayers for nature can be found in the Parish Resource Kits developed by the U.S. Bishops' Environmental Justice Program. All resource materials can be ordered through USCC Publishing Services at 800-235-8722.

At Home in the Web of Life: An Appalachian Tour will take place November 8-12, in Berea, Kentucky. The Catholic Press Association and other ecumenical groups are co-sponsoring a tour in Appalachia for journalists from the Catholic press and other faith-based publications. The theme of the tour is Islands of Hope: Appalachia as a Window into American Culture. Participants will be immersed into the cultural, economic, and social and environmental issues of the Appalachian region. The immersion will highlight issues set forth in the Appalachian bishops' 1996 document, At Home in the Web of Life. For more information contact Father John Rausch of Appalachian Ministries Educational Resources Center, at 606-986-1230.

November 11 is Veterans' Day.

The National Association of Treasurers of Religious Institutes will hold its annual convention in San Diego, November 11-14.

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 annual Fall Meeting of the U.S. Bishops is Nov. 16-19 in Washington.

The Synod of Bishops for Oceania will meet in Rome, November 22-December 12..

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 reach diocesan bishops and vicars for religious in early November.

Extra copies of Celebrate and Reconcile, kits 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 and Fall. People seeking extra copies may 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.

The 1999 Media Training Seminars will be in Houston, February 9; San Diego, February 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, Sioux City. 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 Sr. Mary Ann Walsh at mwalsh@nccbuscc.org.

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