Chaplain

           

CHAPLAINCY LEADER

 

The term Chaplain refers to a clergyperson or layperson who has been commissioned by a faith group or an organization to provide pastoral services in an institution, organization or government entity. Chaplaincy refers to the general activity performed by a chaplain, which may include crisis ministry, counseling, sacraments, worship, education, help in ethical decision-making, staff support, clergy contact and community or church coordination.

In these settings the chaplain is generally recognized as a member of the institutional team functioning with specialized skills. Many chaplains, however, also consider it important to keep non-specialized care and concern for all persons related to the organization as the principal feature of their identity and work even when they also provide more specialized counseling.   The Roman Catholic Church, for instance, has not required hospital/School chaplains to be ordained since 1980, which opened this ministry to women. Since the 1920s, many chaplains have been clinically trained to function in their particular type of facility or ministry.

 

What is the role of chaplaincy?

The chaplain's role is supportive, serving as a counsellor and guide to the psycho-spiritual needs of the staff, students and families. The chaplain's ministry to the staff & Students is a prime responsibility but often, chaplains will also encounter the student’s family and be able to respond to their needs as required.

 

What is the meaning of chaplaincy services?

Simply stated, chaplains offer spiritual care in the place setting. "Spiritual care" has to do with issues of meaning, hope, and transcendence that are often more pronounced during illness, injury, birth and death. Spiritual care helps people address questions such as: Why is this happening?

 

What is chaplaincy ministry?

Chaplaincy is a very specialized ministry where the minister serves not in a church nor "para-church" ministry, but in an institutional setting. The chaplain ministers not to a congregation, but to the public at-large.

 

What Does a Chaplain Do?

Simply stated, chaplains offer spiritual care in the clinical setting. "Spiritual care" has to do with issues of meaning, hope, and transcendence that are often more pronounced during illness, injury, birth and death.

 

Spiritual care helps people address questions such as:

• Why is this happening?
• What does this mean?
• How do I make sense of this?
• Where will this take me?
• What gives me the ability to cope?
• What gives me comfort? What next?

 

For some, spiritual care also includes religious support. For others, it means providing a non-anxious, caring presence in the midst of an anxious time or experience.

 

How Are Chaplains Involved in Student Care?

• Chaplains are involved in student & staff care in many ways. This can include:
• Offering reflective listening and non-judgmental emotional/spiritual comfort
• Attending student & staff meetings, being involved in ethics consults.
• Responding to emergencies
• Providing bereavement support at end-of-life care
• Helping with crisis support and treatment decisions
• Communicating information and providing education
• Being there to hear and celebrate good news
• Religious Support Provided by Our Chaplains
• Chaplains also are the "go to" people for providing religious support and materials in the schools. The types of religious support offered by our chaplains include:
• Praying Providing sacred writings and devotional material
• Providing holy water &r Providing blessed rosary beads

Helping to make connection with a patient's personal clergy and/or community of faith or providing specific religious clergy and/or ritual support during hospitalization (e.g., sacrament of the sick, communion, baptism).

 

OUR CHAPLAINCY TEAM

Our chaplaincy program supports and facilitates daily prayer, school community worship of the various liturgical seasons, retreats, charitable, and social justice projects and events, restorative practices and activities, the needs of those who have loss or are grieving and offers faith resources for curriculum and social justice projects.

 

The Chaplaincy Leader program also seeks to bring a faith and spiritual dimension to contemporary issues, activities, and events within our school community. We are here to help provide opportunities for fellowship, spiritual growth, and individual pastoral support.

 

Mrs. Delia Pardo Herrera is our Chaplaincy Leader at Regina Mundi Catholic College, offering a ministry of presence to staff, students, and their families.

 

 

She is available to listen, provide spiritual direction, and support in times of trouble, loss, and grief. If you have questions about faith, spirituality, or are simply looking for a friendly and compassionate ear to discuss whatever’s concerning you, Ms. Delia is there to help in room 100 on the First Floor, beside the chapel. Ms. Delia also acts as a liaison with local parish communities, members of the clergy, and the Diocese of London.

 

 

Father Ivica Majstorovic is an Associate Pastor of London South Catholic Family of Parishes, and he is the priest who attends our spiritual needs here at RMC. Fr. Ivica led our school's liturgical celebrations and is also available by request to offer spiritual support and direction, fulfil sacramental needs, and meet with individual students or classes.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

THE CHAPEL

 

The Chapel at Regina Mundi Catholic College is a beautiful and quiet space apart; a sacred space where students, staff, families and visitors can step outside their regular routines for silence, prayer, meditation, reflection, or music. It is used for Mass celebrations and other liturgical celebrations, private prayer, and gatherings by students and staff. Individual students and classes use the Chapel as a sanctuary where they can experience their spirituality on a personal level through reflection and prayer.

 

The Tabernacle

The Chapel is located on the first floor of the Central Section and is visible as soon as one walks into the main entrance of the building. The chapel is the largest of all Catholic Secondary Schools in the LDCSB, owing to the history of the school as a Junior Seminary in front of the main entrance and is available daily as a welcoming, peaceful, and quiet area for reflection.

Our School RMC is connected to the London South Catholic Family of Parishes that includes three parishes: St Francis St Martin, St Justin and St Leopold Mandic.

St. Francis-St. Martin's Parish- Bilingual Parish- English & Spanish:   46 Cathcart Street | London, Ontario N6C 3L7    Phone: (519)433-8175  
      
St. Justin's Parish:  

855 Jalna Blvd, London, ON N6E 2S2    Phone: (519) 685-2795 
                        
St. Leopold Mandic's Parish – Croatian Parish   

2889 Westminster Dr, London, ON N6N 1L7    Phone: (519) 681-8472

Also, we count with an Emergency Priest contact:
Emergency Priest contact: (226)234-8020

 

 

Reference:

What is a Chaplain? Source: The Dictionary of Pastoral Care and Counseling: Rodney J. Hunter, Ed.

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