Archives Notes
- On April 19, 2007, Father Rob visited the archives of the Passionist Nuns, Clarks Summit, Pennsylvania; examined Passionist sources in the archives of the diocese of Scranton; had a meeting and conversation with John Dziak of the Greater Pittston Historical Society of Pennsylvania on the topic of the Pittston walkers to the St. Ann’s Novena.
- On April 20, 2007, Father Rob presented a paper on Passionist sources in Scranton at the Mid-Atlantic Regional Archives Conference, Scranton, Pennsylvania.
- In May Father Rob and Father John O’Brien, C.P. traveled to St. Paul of the Cross Parish, Atlanta, Georgia. There they spent several days on-site examining the personal library and papers of Father Joseph A. Fahy, C.P., who died on January 22, 2007.
- During the past year Passionist Fathers Malcolm Cornwall, Timothy Fitzgerald, Donald Ware and Paul Zilonka have generously given a large portion of their published articles, preaching material and personal papers and memorabilia to the archives for processing.
- On May 18 Father Rob preached the homily at the Mass of Christian Burial for Mr. L. Denis de Cazotte at St. Paul of the Cross Monastery, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. He died in Pittsburgh after a long illness. He was the great grandson of noted Passionist Father Fidelis Kent Stone.
- Father Rob will have an article published in the 75th birthday festschrift to honor Father Jeroom Heyndrickx, CICM. It will be presented in early September during the proceedings of the Ninth Symposium of the Verbiest Institute, Leuven, Belgium. The title of the published article is “Journalist and Priest: Father Cormac Shanahan, C.P. and the 1944 Press Party to Yan’an, China, His Experience with Communist Leaders and Ministry to Yan’an Catholics.”
- Father Rob attended the summer meeting of the Friends of Maryland’s Olmsted Parks & Landscapes, Inc., Baltimore, Maryland.
- Earlier this year Father Rob wrote Healing the Contemporary Five Wounds of St. Joseph’s Monastery Parish, Irvington, Maryland: A Parish in the Passionist Tradition. A copy of this booklet was received by the Maryland Historical Society, Baltimore, Maryland as well as the Enoch Pratt Library, Maryland Room, Baltimore, Maryland.
- Passionist Father Theodore Foley has been declared a “servant of God.” It is a first step towards an inquiry into the possibility of his canonization in the Catholic Church. In conjunction with this, the Passionists seek anyone with memories or documents related to his life, ministry and holiness. You can learn more about him by reading the presentation by Father Rob given at the October 2006 symposium in Jamaica, New York.
- On July 18 Father Rob interviewed Ms. Loretta Diehl in Pittsburgh on her personal recollections of Father Theodore Foley.
- On July 8 Father Rob was the celebrant for The Sunday Mass. It is a T.V. show broadcast each week under the auspices the Passionist Communications based in Pelham, New York.
- On July 18 Father Rob went to Pittsburgh to give an historical perspective on Passionist history as part of the orientation for the Passionist Volunteers International and the Passionist Domestic Volunteers, 2007-2008. The former group has members that are going to Jamaica, West Indies and Honduras while the latter group has members assigned to Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn, New York.
- On July 19 Father Rob interviewed Mr. Rusty Wilcox. In charge of maintenance in Pittsburgh, he told how someone called the monastery to report that they had found the original monastery tombstones of deceased Passionists. The artifacts had been moved from a landfill site to his home.
- During July Fr. Rob transferred the original late 19th and early 20th century Pittsburgh archival documents to The Passionist Historical Archives for safety and preservation.