The Icon of Saint Vincent

This is a commentary on an icon of Vincent de Paul that was commissioned by the Vincentian residence of DePaul University. It celebrates the mystery of the incarnation. It shows that Jesus is to be found in the poor and that the poor give us as much as we give them. A Eucharistic theme is also present

Reflections on Service to the Poor

James Cormack reflects on the Vincentian charism from his own experience. Vincentian service is a call from God’s love to return that love. It requires seeing Christ crucified in persons who are poor. It takes faith but also deepens faith. As Cormack sees them, the main qualities of the charism are compassion, courage, weakness, a commitment to smallness, and a change of heart. Weakness is necessary because we must recognize that we, too, need help and that the strength to serve comes from God. A commitment to smallness entails being satisfied with doing ordinary things; if we desire personal fulfillment too much, we risk ignoring the poor’s needs. A change of heart means not only loving but also being open to having love and service reciprocated. The charism requires people who can work without seeing the goals of their service fulfilled and who are consumed by the desire to serve

Very Reverend William M. Slattery, C.M.

A brief biographical sketch of former superior general William Slattery is combined with letters from two of his successors in office, Richard McCullen and James Richardson. The letters are testimonials to Slattery’s “unconscious holiness,” as well as to his many other virtues. McCullen cites Slattery’s enrichment and preservation of the Vincentian heritage. Richardson writes of how Slattery exemplified what Vincent de Paul desired of confreres in the Common Rules

The Vincentian Mission, 1625–1660

Vincent de Paul pioneered missions exclusively for the rural poor. France had badly trained and often vocationless clergy, and people were ill educated about their faith, especially in the country. The missions were free and conducted when the people were not working. Missioners would meet with local clergy in advance to address each parish’s specific needs. Missions consisted of sermons, two catechisms, confession, First and general Communion, and the resolution of personal disputes. Provisions were also made for the ongoing care of the parish’s poorest, usually with the establishment of Confraternities of Charity. Details on all aspects of the missions are given in the article

Address to the General Assembly of the Daughters of Charity 8 December 1979

When the general assembly of the Daughters of Charity met in 1979, it did so to update itself within the context of the Second Vatican Council. The question was how to do this while remaining faithful to the gospel and the vision of Louise de Marillac and Vincent de Paul. In his address, Superior General James Richardson summarizes the assembly’s business. He identifies some of the conflicts among the Daughters. He uses the founders’ words, exhorting them to resolve the conflicts and make changes while ensuring that they are doing God’s will. Prayer is an important part of this process, and Richardson offers one at the end of his speech

Consistent reductions of IIB*/M* theory and de Sitter supergravity

We construct consistent non-linear Kaluza Klein reduction ansatze for a subset of fields arising from the reduction of IIB* and M* theory on dS_5 x H^5 and dS_4 x AdS_7, respectively. These reductions yield four and five-dimensional de Sitter supergravities, albeit with wrong sign kinetic terms. We also demonstrate that the ansatze may be used to lift multi-centered de Sitter black hole solutions to ten and eleven dimensions. The lifted dS_5 black holes correspond to rotating E4-branes of IIB* theory.Comment: 27 pages, late

Do Macroalgal Environments Leave a Geological Signature? Modern Test Case from Kaikoura, New Zealand

Brown, red and green macroalgae in modern temperate marine environments are ecosystem‐forming primary producers on rocky substrates, yet they have a poor preservation potential and few fossil examples are known from the rock record. Macroalgal forests, as carbonate producers, are largely unrecognised within the coolwater carbonate realm even though they host a wide variety of calcareous organisms with good preservational potential. Some species of molluscs, sea urchins and crustaceans only live within the understorey of macroalgal forests. These, and other, calcareous flora and fauna are the key to identification of macroalgae environments in the rock record. Modern macroalgae forests at Kaikoura, New Zealand, exhibit a clear zonation of calcareous components controlled by substrate topography, wave exposure, water depth and light penetration. The prominent live calcareous components include encrusting and foliose coralline red algae, molluscs, bryozoans, echinoderms, calcareous worms, ascidians and crustaceans, as well as sponges and other soft bodied invertebrates. The sediments accumulated beneath and adjacent to the algae at Kaikoura are bioclastic, terrigenous sands and gravels; with bioclasts of coralline algal fragments and rhodoliths, barnacles, molluscs, spirorbids and bryozoans. Although the shallow, wave exposed settings that promote growth of macroalgal forests are limited in areal extent, their contribution via skeletal carbonate may be considerable. In the rock record, terrigenous sands and gravels rich in coralline, barnacle, mollusc, and bryozoan fragments, that occur in association with hard‐substrate unconformities in a cool‐water realm, must be considered as representatives of past macroalgal environments

Geomorphological control on boulder transport and coastal erosion before, during and after an extreme extra-tropical cyclone

Extreme wave events in coastal zones are principal drivers of geomorphic change. Evidence of boulder entrainment and erosional impact during storms is increasing. However, there is currently poor time coupling between pre- and post-storm measurements of coastal boulder deposits. Importantly there are no data reporting shore platform erosion, boulder entrainment and/or boulder transport during storm events – rock coast dynamics during storm events are currently unexplored. Here, we use high-resolution (daily) field data to measure and characterise coastal boulder transport before, during and after the extreme Northeast Atlantic extra-tropical cyclone Johanna in March 2008. Forty-eight limestone fine-medium boulders (n = 46) and coarse cobbles (n = 2) were tracked daily over a 0.1 km2 intertidal area during this multi-day storm. Boulders were repeatedly entrained, transported and deposited, and in some cases broken down (n = 1) or quarried (n = 3), during the most intense days of the storm. Eighty-one percent (n = 39) of boulders were located at both the start and end of the storm. Of these, 92% were entrained where entrainment patterns were closely aligned to wave parameters. These data firmly demonstrate rock coasts are dynamic and vulnerable under storm conditions. No statistically significant relationship was found between boulder size (mass) and net transport distance. Graphical analyses suggest that boulder size limits the maximum longshore transport distance but that for the majority of boulders lying under this threshold, other factors influence transport distance. Paired analysis of 20 similar sized and shaped boulders in different morphogenic zones demonstrates that geomorphological control affects entrainment and transport distance – where net transport distances were up to 39 times less where geomorphological control was greatest. These results have important implications for understanding and for accurately measuring and modelling boulde

Identifying low risk climate change adaptation in catchment management while avoiding unintended consequences

Inherent in every adaptation measure are risks, costs and benefits. A challenge for decision-makers is how to choose adaptations that reduce risks from climate change impacts and provide overwhelmingly beneficial outcomes. This project focused on three catchments in the Murray-Darling Basin to test a method for more integrative climate change adaptation that increased resilience and avoided maladaptation. Water management under the highly variable Murray-Darling Basin climate has lessons and broad implications for climate policies, especially as some of the proposed climate change adaptation measures for ecosystems and water resources are overly narrow or maladaptive, and have a high risk of institutional failure. We brought together a range of experts and Catchment Management Authority (CMA) representatives from the Goulburn-Broken, Lachlan and NSW Murray catchments to synthesise and integrate the risks, costs and benefits of climate change adaptation measures and assess the extent to which they may represent maladaptation or contribute to adaptation and resilience. Specific methods included a literature review; a three-day technical workshop with representatives from the three CMAs as well as technical experts from academic institutions and government departments; three stakeholder workshops with the CMAs; and semi-structured interviews with 20 key stakeholder representatives in each case study. Limitations of this approach, mainly due to timing and financial constraints, included small sample sizes for the interviews, a CMA-only focus, reliance on expert opinion and limited opportunity to further test the results. By working with the CMAs, we: • showed how systemic climate change adaptation planning can better consider risks, costs and benefits to inform choice of measures • produced research data on climate change adaptation options in specific catchments in southern Australia • identified current stakeholder understanding of the complex issue of climate change adaptation at a catchment level • confirmed the usefulness of an ‘ecosystem-based approach’ for climate change adaptation • developed a ‘CCA Catchment Assessment Framework’ as a tool for regional management bodies in southern Australia to assess climate change adaptation. The key lessons that emerged from this research are presented below. First, there are many activities underway that, if extended and linked, would comprise a substantial ecosystem-based approach to adaptation. It is notable that many of these activities had not previously been considered in an adaptation context. Second, the research confirmed the need to look at a suite of complementary actions that spread risk rather than investing in one or two perceived best actions. Third, the adoption of an ecosystem-based approach is constrained by institutional complexity and socioeconomic considerations that should be included in assessments of climate change adaptation. Finally, adaptive management provides a basis for the implementation of an ecosystem-based approach to climate change adaptationInherent in every adaptation measure are risks, costs and benefits. A challenge for decision-makers is how to choose adaptations that reduce risks from climate change impacts and provide overwhelmingly beneficial outcomes. This project focused on three catchments in the Murray-Darling Basin to test a method for more integrative climate change adaptation that increased resilience and avoided maladaptation. Water management under the highly variable Murray-Darling Basin climate has lessons and broad implications for climate policies, especially as some of the proposed climate change adaptation measures for ecosystems and water resources are overly narrow or maladaptive, and have a high risk of institutional failure. We brought together a range of experts and Catchment Management Authority (CMA) representatives from the Goulburn-Broken, Lachlan and NSW Murray catchments to synthesise and integrate the risks, costs and benefits of climate change adaptation measures and assess the extent to which they may represent maladaptation or contribute to adaptation and resilience. Specific methods included a literature review; a three-day technical workshop with representatives from the three CMAs as well as technical experts from academic institutions and government departments; three stakeholder workshops with the CMAs; and semi-structured interviews with 20 key stakeholder representatives in each case study. Limitations of this approach, mainly due to timing and financial constraints, included small sample sizes for the interviews, a CMA-only focus, reliance on expert opinion and limited opportunity to further test the results. By working with the CMAs, we: • showed how systemic climate change adaptation planning can better consider risks, costs and benefits to inform choice of measures • produced research data on climate change adaptation options in specific catchments in southern Australia • identified current stakeholder understanding of the complex issue of climate change adaptation at a catchment level • confirmed the usefulness of an ‘ecosystem-based approach’ for climate change adaptation • developed a ‘CCA Catchment Assessment Framework’ as a tool for regional management bodies in southern Australia to assess climate change adaptation. The key lessons that emerged from this research are presented below. First, there are many activities underway that, if extended and linked, would comprise a substantial ecosystem-based approach to adaptation. It is notable that many of these activities had not previously been considered in an adaptation context. Second, the research confirmed the need to look at a suite of complementary actions that spread risk rather than investing in one or two perceived best actions. Third, the adoption of an ecosystem-based approach is constrained by institutional complexity and socioeconomic considerations that should be included in assessments of climate change adaptation. Finally, adaptive management provides a basis for the implementation of an ecosystem-based approach to climate change adaptatio