Daughters of Isabella (corrected info) QUESTION from Elaine Leger May 13, 1999 In all fairness to the organization, Daughters of Isabella, as a member of the Executive Board, I wish to correct some misconceptions printed about the organization in your response to Joanne Perez on Feb 15, 1999.
First of all, in regard to Church women United, the Daughters of Isabella has no connections at all to this organization or any other group like it. Our causes and views are consistent with the Church's teachings, just as the Knights of Columbus who founded our organization over 100 years ago.
Your comment about our website led us to realize that we indeed were remiss in not showing our Mission Statement which clearly shows that we uphold the Church's teachings- we have now added it to our site (please check it out). Thank you.
And lastly, your reference to a Mass concelebration with an Episcopal priest was a misinterpretation of what was printed in our Current News and Information Section about our Convention. We referred to our Convention masses which were Concelebrated by Liaison Bishop Louis Gelineau (from U.S) and Episcopal Advisor, Bishop Paul Marchand (from Canada) The dictionary defines the word episcopal, first, as referring to a Bishop - we use the term as a bishop advisor. We were not breaking any church laws - the Mass was concelebrated by two Bishops - one from the U.S. and one from Canada (because our organization is made up of members from both countries).
I would appreciate if you would put something on the board that would correct the information printed. We do not want to leave anyone with a wrong impression about our organization when looking for information.
Thank you. If you have any questions, please contact me.
Elaine Leger, Daughters of Isabella EMLeger@aol.com
ANSWER by John-Paul Ignatius on May 13, 1999 Dear Miss Leger:
Thanks for clearing that up.
Sorry to take so long to get your letter posted.
Miss Legar first contacted my in early April 6th and then again on May 5th. My illness and being backlogged from here to eternity got her letter lost in the cracks. I apologize for not getting this published sooner. Our Website is about telling the truth, and whenever any mistake is made, it should be corrected as quickly as possible.
On the Episcopal misinterpreation, yes, I did interpret that to mean the Episcopal denomination, and others apparently interpreted it that way too. In the past your meaning would have likely been clear, but unfortunately in today's world with the lack of loyalty to the Church and outright rebellion, including on illicit concelebrations and the like, it is not unusual I think to jump to such a conclusion when seeing that wording. A sign of the times, I guess.
I think what stimulated my misinterpretation was using episcopal as a proper noun -- in capitals, as Episcopal. That sparks an image of the proper name of the denomination. If the phrase had been written, episcopal Advisor the misinterpretation probably would not have happened. But I understand in looking at your literature that Episcopal Advisor is an official designation without your organization for a Bishop advisor, if I am understanding that correctly.
Because of these dynamics the organization might consider rephrasing that maybe, but in any event, it is useful to be aware that such a misinterpretation is possible.
Again, sorry for the confusion on this and the delay in getting your explanation published.
God Bless, John-Paul Ignatius
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