A Ministry of Reconciliation from the Paulist Fathers Home ||| About ||| Contact ||| Paulists Contact Joan Horn - Phone: 979-690-7953 E-mail: joanlandings@aol.com James Moran, CSP - phone: 718-291-5995 EMail: Jmorancsp@aol.com

Paulist Father Mike Kerrigan reports from St. Peter parish in Toronto:

The Catholic Church is getting favorable coverage for World Youth Day. The Paulist Ministry Center and Landings was featured on an evening segment of the Canadian Broadcasting Corp. National News with the following:

The Catholic Church in Canada
Reporter: Ioanna Roumeliotis
Producer: Corinne Seminoff
Editor: Maria Nunes
July 16, 2002

WELCOMING PEOPLE BACK TO THE CHURCH

In the quiet of a weekday morning, in the church she attended as a child, Angela Vitacco rediscovers her faith.

"Honestly, I get inner peace a sense of calmness," she says. "There is almost like no drug that can replace that feeling when I come to church."

Angela Vitacco
It had been a long separation. Vittaco was raised a Catholic, but lost touch with the Church soon after her confirmation. Now, 25 years later, she's one of thousands who've returned to the fold... with a little help from the Church.

Father Michael Kerrigan of St. Peter's Church started the Landings Program in Toronto three years ago. Dozens of parishes across Canada are using it to reach out to former Catholics.

"They've been drifting for a while, looking for a community to come home to," says Kerrigan, "and even the word 'landings' almost implies that there's a sudden sense of coming home."

Vitacco came back when she was depressed and hit a low point. In classes, she reacquaints herself with the religion of her childhood.

"It's amazing because it just gives them a whole new meaning and purpose to life," says Rev Philip Hart of The Paulist Fathers. . .

The Catholic Church has a bright future in Canada."

Vitacco isn't blind to contradictions. She looks beyond them."I don't know what's going to happen but at least when I get there I want to be at peace and I want to be happy," she says. She calls that faith.