[Gocamino] USA Confraternity

[HMe347 at aol.com]

In a message dated 10/1/2007 10:57:40 A.M. Eastern Daylight Time,  
blaroli at aol.com writes:

To  become a Confraternity an association must apply for recognition by the  
Archconfraternity in Santiago; such recognition requires adherence to the  
rules established many years ago which include?counselar support by a priest  and 
recognition by a Bishop?in the area where the Confraternity would be  
established. Once recognized, (the process may take years), a Confraternity  becomes 
a member of the universal family of confraternities centered at the  
Archconfraternity in Santiago. Their activities, facilities, communication  means and 
voice in the shaping of Camino actual maintenance and future plans  are far too 
numerous to be cited here.... but, I think, they are wonderful.? I  have 
never, ever, heard of a Confraternity that has not felt that the  requirements of 
becoming one have not been worth  it.



Thank you Rosina for explaining this to us.  After due consideration,  I do 
not think it would be worth the effort to deal with the Church  hierarchy and 
its rules to obtain the benefits that an "American"  Confraternity would 
confer. 

 
True, we have many Catholics in the U.S., including, as you pointed out, in  
Congress and on the Supreme Court, but I miss the relevance to your point that 
 there should be an American (U.S.?) Confraternity for those reasons.  Same  
for your observation that the Catholic population of the U.S. is larger than 
the  entire population of Italy.  
 
If you feel so strongly about it, you can apply yourself.  Surely you  can 
find some other Catholics to join you in your quest for recognition by a  
Bishop.  You can ask Listserve members to contact you privately if they are  
interested.
 
Howard Mendes NYC



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