Community Views

Vancouver Island

   Three members of the Journal editorial board met last Friday (Chris Diamond, François Brassard, and Art Menu) for our usual meeting in preparation for the next issue of The Journal. Also as usual we talked about Corpus Canada. We found we were in agreement about two things we would like to bring to the attention of the National Coordinating Team and Corpus members.

1. We think Corpus Canada should have a national conference in 2003. If we go too long without a national conference we lose our enthusiasm for Corpus and the bonds of feeling and friendship that keep us united in heart as well as mind. We felt that if no other region in Canada was willing to host a national conference, we in the southern Vancouver Island region could organize one. If we were to organize a conference, we would make it an extended annual general meeting. We felt that in the past our AGMs have been too short to give proper consideration to all the matters that people raise or want to raise at the AGM. We would keep costs down by not inviting guest speakers. If we wanted people to speak to certain themes or issues, we would ask people from among our own membership.
If any other region wished to hold the conference, we would gladly defer, and recommend that they consider the concept of an extended AGM.

2. Those of you who get the Prairie Messenger may have seen the small ads that Emil Kutarna (at his own expense) has placed in that paper. It reads:

MARRIED PRIESTS
(2,000 of us in Canada)
www.corpuscanada.org
Free newsletter
Write to: The Journal
9710 First Street
Sidney, BC V8L 3C9

This little ad (about 1" x 1.5") has already produced two for sure and probably three requests to receive The Journal. We think that Corpus Canada should place ads like this in Catholic newspapers across the country. They are small enough that they would not cost a whole lot. We might even put some in secular papers depending on the cost. This is something François is prepared to do as Corpus Canada media spokesperson, if the Team approves. What do you think?