Fr. David Szatkowski, SCJ, Fr. Joseph Thien Dinh, SCJ and Br. Andy Gancarczyk, SCJ, represented the US Province at the March 9-13 Dehonian Jubilee celebrations in Quito, Ecuador. The Dehonian Jubilee is an international four-year commemoration of the centenary of the death of Fr. Leo John Dehon (August 12, 2025) and 150th anniversary of the congregation (June 28, 2028).
Reflecting on why this year’s celebration was held in a place that was once considered a “failed” mission, Fr. Dave writes that although SCJ missionaries were forced to leave Ecuador in 1896 – only eight years after they arrived – the impact of that first mission was pivotal for the Congregation.
“Of the 18 Dehonians who initially went to the Ecuador, eight would leave the Congregation. But from those ten SCJs who remained, two missions were founded in Brazil and Fr. Gabriel Grison would go to Congo in 1897 to bring the Dehonian presence there. Also, in the short term, the mission experience in Ecuador allowed the Congregation to become more than an institute of diocesan rite. Fr. Dehon and the Congregation gained legitimacy with the Holy See because of the willingness to send religious into the missions.
“After the mission to Ecuador, Fr. Dehon began to write and teach about the Reign of the Sacred Heart in Souls and Societies in a very practical way. He saw the community as being formators of societies and people at all levels. This moved the devotion of the Sacred Heart from being one of internal, personal piety to a way of seeing reparation as social, public, and transformative in the ways society is structured – with justice becoming a form of reparation.
“We are called by our charism to teach, form, lead, and promote a society based on the principles of the Church’s social teaching. In this way, all of us are formators. We are formators for our parishes, our cities, and our world. Whether we do this by preaching in a parish, organizing communities to address difficult issues, or helping to promote good environmental stewardship practices, we are promoting a better society, and so we promote the Reign on the Sacred Heart in Souls and Societies.
“Although the door to a mission in Ecuador was closed for 100 years [the congregation returned to Ecuador in 1997], God used that closed door to open many others.”
Click here to read Fr. Dave’s full reflection on the province website.
Much of Fr. Dave’s information came from presentations given during the week. English translations of two of them:
“Father Dehon’s Social Catechism and his concept of family” by Fr. Emerson M. Ruiz, SCJ
“Adveniat Regnum Tuum in Father Dehon: Kingdom, reparation, and oblation” by Fr. Victor de Oliveira Barbosa, SCJ
Other links:
GENERAL WEBSITE: Coverage of March 9-13 celebration on dehoniani.org
YOUTUBE: Various videos from the week, including presentations and the Jubilee Mass.
FACEBOOK: The DehoniansWorldwide Facebook page has videos and photos from the week.
