Fr. Ted Stone, a key figure in the founding of IPS in 1964, passed away on January 4th at the age of 91.
According to long-time IPS professor and Aggiornamento Award recipient Peter Gilmour, Fr. Ted was a Chicago diocesan priest who worked full-time in the Confraternity of Christian Doctrine (CCD) office of the archdiocese when he helped co-found IPS.
Gilmour continues: “(Fr. Ted) worked closely with Michael Gannon to shape (IPS’s) first curriculum and community character. He was one of the major teachers in the summer program in its early years. (Fr. Ted) was well known internationally, having attended many of the “International Study Weeks on Catechetics” held around the world back then. He left the priesthood, married, and after his wife’s death, returned to the priesthood.”
“Stone was an associate pastor at Mary, Seat of Wisdom for 20 years, until his retirement in 2002, but continued to serve the parish in the years that followed, the archdiocese said.”
“According to the Archdiocese of Chicago, Stone requested to leave the priesthood in 1969 in order to marry. He and his wife had two children, but after her death in 1981, he looked to return to the priesthood, the archdiocese said.
In 1996, following the death of Cardinal Joseph Bernardin, archbishop of Chicago, Stone shared with the Chicago Tribune of how he sought Bernardin’s help in resuming his vocation. According to Stone, it took seven years of interceding before the cardinal was able to get church officials in Rome to approve Stone’s reinstatement.
He kept going back and back, trying to get the authorities to allow it,” Stone was quoted as saying.”
Luca Badetti, Community Life Director at L’Arche Chicago, recently honored Fr. Ted with a L’Arche post, writing “Ted lived fatherhood in various ways: both as a priest and as a father of two…He left the active priesthood in 1969, after which he married. He fathered Tim, a beloved core member of our L’Arche community, and Bethanne, a precious friend of our community…”
In recalling the last year of Fr. Ted’s life, Badetti adds, “Even through the health effects of aging, Ted seemed to walk on earth as a “man on a mission” would. A soft-spoken and humble man, his posture, his walk, his glances and his attentiveness seemed to be directed to something – or better, Someone – much larger than himself. Ted seemed to be in this world, yet not of it.”
Fr. Ted with Elbert, Christianne and Jean at a L’Arche event
We – the students, faculty, staff and alumni of IPS – wish to relay our heartfelt gratitude for the life of Fr. Ted Stone and our sincerest condolences to Fr. Ted’s remaining loved ones, including daughter, Bethanne Stone; son, Timothy Stone; and sisters Mary Lippa and Dorothy Moore.
IPS is now home to the Chicago Catholic Scripture School, a program that provides in-depth knowledge of the Bible within a Roman Catholic framework to parish leaders, deacons, catechists, staff members, and anyone wishing to deepen their understanding of scripture. The IPS Chicago Catholic Scripture School (IPS CCSS) falls under the Continuing Education (CE) umbrella within IPS and is overseen by IPS alumnus, Mark Bersano.
With the help of CE administrative assistant Mirta Garcia, Mark also supervises the following CE programs:
Parish Leadership and Management Programs
IPS Continuing Education Courses
Parish Health and Pastoral Care Ministry Certificate
Restorative Justice Ministry Certificate
Certificate in Pastoral Ministry for North England and Wales
English Pronunciation and Parish Enculturation Course
Legacy Leaders Fellowship Program (Check out our recent blog “Loyola-IPS Receives Grant from Henry Luce Foundation for Legacy Leaders Fellows Program”.)
IPS Retreats for Catholic School Teachers
We recently sat down with Mark to learn more about him and his growing contribution to the life of IPS.
Mark Bersano
Let’s begin with CONGRATULATIONS on your recent promotion to Assistant Dean for Continuing Education, Mark! Any thoughts on this recognition?
It’s a great honor and I’m proud and very grateful to have the new title. It affirms the work Mirta and I are doing with Continuing Education and the importance of this work to the community. I’m both grateful and humbled. The title change should open more doors as I negotiate new Continuing Education programs and course offerings.
I understand you’re an IPS alumnus. Can you tell us a little bit about what you were doing prior to enrolling at IPS?
Before coming to Loyola in 2005, I was the Chief Deputy Recorder and Director of Technology for the Will County Recorder of Deeds Office in Joliet. I was a one-person computer department, overseeing and maintaining six servers, 75 user workstations, and a 20-million record database. I oversaw RFP’s for hardware and software; configured and maintained servers, databases, and networking equipment; trained users; improved process efficiency; and basically administered every piece of equipment in the office. When I came to IPS I often joked that I no longer wanted to deal with anything that had an electrical plug.
Why did you choose IPS? What did you study?
A colleague in the Management Information Systems Department in Will County was doing her MA in Pastoral Studies with IPS. She told me about a new MA in Social Justice degree that IPS was starting. I came in and spoke with Mary Elsbernd (who oversaw the Social Justice MA at that time), and was enrolled in the very first social justice course in the summer of 2005. I was impressed with the Jesuit ideals around social justice and the way IPS offered a transformational education experience. After the first course, I was hooked and ended up working with a major university grant project while I pursued my studies for the MASJ.
What was life like as an IPS student? Any particular memories of classes, characters, etc. that remain with you to this day?
Classes were wonderful—with so many interesting people as both instructors and classmates. Discussions were always rich and courses were challenging and thought provoking. The semester that stands out the most for me was Spring 2008—my final semester. I took Hearts on Fire to learn about Ignatian Spirituality at the same time as a Nonviolence class based in Franciscan teaching. The courses complemented each other and I felt quite steeped in the two traditions. When the Hearts on Fire course ended, no one wanted to leave the classroom. We stayed after the last session for a couple of hours just chatting. I’m still in touch with some of those classmates, nearly 10 years later.
How did you become the Coordinator of Continuing Education (CE) here at IPS?
While I was working on my MASJ degree, I worked for a Lilly Grant called INSPIRE. It was a partnership between LUC and the Archdiocese of Chicago that supported teambuilding on the staffs of Catholic parishes. When I graduated, I went to work for the grant full time. When the grant ended, my current role was created to extend the learning of INSPIRE into the future, and now I am in charge of all Continuing Education programs that IPS provides.
What is your mission as Assistant Dean for Continuing Education?
My mission is to provide engaging non-degree educational opportunities to people in parishes and congregations who wish to supplement their knowledge in service of the Church. This role developed out of the INSPIRE project, which ended in 2013. I have been working at IPS in this capacity since 2014.
How is your IPS degree allowing you to fulfill your goals as Assistant Dean for Continuing Education at IPS?
My social justice degree coupled with my work with INSPIRE provided me with a wonderfully supportive network of people in diocesan and congregational roles. I also got a great understanding of the educational needs of people in parishes. Armed with these tools, I’m able to effectively interface with a wide variety of people, assess needs, and create educational opportunities to address those needs. My office aspires to be flexible in order to address continuing education needs in real time as they surface.
You and Mirta continue to service an increasing number of constituencies. What are the highlights/challenges associated with such growth?
The highlight is certainly that we have the opportunity to do a lot of different things with a very diverse group of people. For example, we’re working on a new restorative justice ministry. New ideas and opportunities are always arising, and we’re able to act on them relatively quickly. The challenge is that with so many projects, it can be difficult for two of us to keep up! We’re creating projects based on innovative ideas at a much faster rate than we can make them reality.
Mark Bersano and Mirta Garcia
Can you share a personal spiritual practice that a fellow IPS community member may find helpful?
At night before bed, I try to assess what’s going on with me—an examen of sorts. I try to move into an “observer” mode. I look at my emotions, knowing that they are not me. I look at my thoughts, knowing that they are not me. I look at my body and any pains or physical sensations—knowing that they are not me. I look at all of the things stimulating my emotions and thoughts, knowing that they are not me. I recall that I am consciousness—the observer of all these things. That’s me. It’s a very emotionally grounding and calming exercise.
Any words of wisdom for IPS students unsure about how their current studies will manifest concretely down the line?
Stay present. Learn. Absorb. Build relationships. You never know how what you learn or who you meet will manifest in your life later. It’s part of the great mystery.
Did you know that in the last three years, several IPS Faculty have published over fifty-plus scholarly works?
Congratulations to Michael Canaris, Jean-Pierre Fortin, Peter Jones, Therese Lysaught, Daniel Rhodes, Heidi Russell, William Schmidt, Brian Schmisek, and Deborah Watson for continuing to uphold IPS’s tradition of dynamic scholarship as an integral component to the formation of diverse and dynamic leaders for creative, compassionate, and courageous service to church and society.
These published works are broken down as follows:
Books: 10
Articles in Peer-Reviewed Journals: 18
Chapters in Books: 9
Encyclopedia articles and other academic publications: 3
Pastoral Resources: 7
Book Reviews: 7
For a full list of these published works, read on below.
Books (10)
Rhodes, Daniel. Can I Get a Witness? The Forgotten Tradition of Radical Christianity in America, edited by Charles Marsh, Shea Tuttle, and Daniel Rhodes. Grand Rapids, MI: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 2018. (In press)
Canaris, Michael M. Living Christian Joy Daily: Everyone’s Call – Essays from Rome. Co-edited with Donna Orsuto, STD. Foreword by Gianfranco Cardinal Ravasi. Libreria Editrice Vaticana, 2017.
Rhodes, Daniel, and Tim Condor. Organizing Church: Grassroots Practices for Changing Your Congregation, Your Community, and Our World (Chalice Press, 2017).
Russell, Heidi. The Source of All Love: Catholicity and the Trinity. Maryknoll, NY: Orbis Books, 2017.
Schmisek, Brian. The Rome of Peter and Paul: A Pilgrim’s Guide to New Testament Sites in the Eternal City. Pickwick Publications, 2017.
Canaris, Michael M. Francis A. Sullivan, S.J., and Ecclesiological Hermeneutics: An Exercise in Faithful Creativity. Leiden: Brill, 2016.
Fortin, Jean-Pierre. Grace in Auschwitz: A Holocaust Christology. Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 2016.
Schmisek, Brian. Ancient faith for the modern world: a brief guide to the Apostles Creed. Chicago, IL: ACTA Publications, 2016.
Schmisek, Brian. A Greek reader for Chase and Phillips selections from antiquity. Eugene, OR: Wipf & Stock, 2016.
Russell, Heidi. Quantum Shift: Theological and Pastoral Implications of Contemporary Developments in Science. Collegeville, Minnesota: Liturgical Press, 2015.
Articles in Peer-Reviewed Journals (18)
Canaris, Michael M. “The Church as Migrant: A New Model of the Church for a ‘Cross-ing’ People,” The Ecumenist (in press).
Fortin, Jean-Pierre. “Prayerful Spirituality as Experiential Theology: Teresa of Avila’s Mystical Transposition of Augustine’s Confessions.” Studies in Spirituality (in press).
Fortin, Jean-Pierre. “Christ Risen, Wonder Arising: A Christian Theology of Miracles.” Toronto Journal of Theology 33, supplement 1 (2017): 25-38.
Fortin, Jean-Pierre. “Divine Kenosis: Building the Human Community Out of Mercy.” The Ecumenist: A Journal of Theology, Culture and Society 54, no. 2 (2017): 8-17.
Fortin, Jean-Pierre. “Symbolism in Weakness: Jesus Christ for the Postmodern Age.” Heythrop Journal 58, no. 1 (2017): 64-77.
Lysaught, M. Therese. “Four Perspectives – Beyond the Abortion Wars: A Way Forward for a New Generation. By Charles C. Camosy.” Horizons 44, no. 1 (2017): 160-64. doi:10.1017/hor.2017.5.
Fortin, Jean-Pierre. “Confession as Spiritual Communion: Dietrich Bonhoeffer’s Theology of Forgiveness and Reconciliation.” Touchstone 34, no. 3 (2016): 14-24.
Fortin, Jean-Pierre. “Spirituality as Lived Interpretation: A Transformative Encounter between Two Traditions.” Religious Studies and Theology 35, no. 1 (2016): 37-51.
Lysaught, M. Therese. “Geographies and Accompaniment: Toward an Ecclesial Re-ordering of the Art of Dying.” Studies in Christian Ethics 29, no. 3 (2016): 286-293. doi:10.1177/0953946816642977.
Lysaught, M. Therese. Issue editor, Journal of Medicine and Philosophy 41, no. 6 (December 2016). Special issue on The Anticipatory Corpse, by Jeffrey P. Bishop.
Lysaught, M. Therese. “From The Anticipatory Corpse to the Participatory Body.” Journal of Medicine and Philosophy 41, no. 6 (December 2016).
Rhodes, Daniel. “Time Emptied And Time Renewed – The Dominion Of Capital And A Theo-Politics Of Contretemps.” Journal of Religious Theory (December 12, 2016).
Fortin, Jean-Pierre. “Spiritual Empowerment for Love: Dietrich Bonhoeffer’s Ethics of Resistance.” The Bonhoeffer Legacy: Australasian Journal of Bonhoeffer Studies 3, no. 2 (2015): 19-40.
Fortin, Jean-Pierre. “Critical Theology, Committed Philosophy: Discovering Anew the Faith-Reason Dynamics with Origen of Alexandria and Augustine of Hippo.” Philosophy and Theology 27, no. 1 (2015): 25-54.
Lysaught, M. Therese. “Clinically Integrated Networks: A Cooperation Analysis,” Health Care Ethics: USA 23, no. 4 (Fall 2015): 6-10.
Lysaught, M. Therese. “Roman Catholic Teaching on International Debt: Toward a New Methodology for Catholic Social Ethics and Moral Theology,” Journal of Moral Theology. 4, no. 2 (June 2015): 1-17.
Schmidt, William. “Integral Theory: A Broadened Epistemology,” American International Journal of Humanities and Social Science 3, no. 1 (2017).
Schmisek, Brian. “The “Spiritual Body” as Oxymoron in 1 Corinthians 15:44.” Biblical Theology Bulletin: Journal of Bible and Culture 45, no. 4 (November 16, 2015): 230-38. doi:10.1177/0146107915608597.
Chapters in Books (9)
Canaris, Michael M. “Immigration and Ecclesial Receptivity: Congar and Rahner as Resources for An Ecumenical and Philoxenical Ecclesiology of Reception,” in The Meaning of My Neighbor’s Faith: Interreligious Reflections on Immigration. Edited by Alexander Hwang and Laura Alexander. Lanham, MD: Lexington Books, (in press).
Lysaught, M. Therese. “A Midwife of Grace: Sr. Mary Stella Simpson,” in Can I Get a Witness: The Forgotten Tradition of Radical Christianity in America, edited by Charles Marsh, Shea Tuttle, and Daniel Rhodes. Grand Rapids, MI: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 2018. (In press).
Rhodes, Daniel. “A Sickness Unto Life: Cesar Chavez and the Quest for Farmworker Justice.” In Can I Get a Witness? The Forgotten Tradition of Radical Christianity in America, edited by Charles Marsh, Shea Tuttle, and Daniel Rhodes. Grand Rapids, MI: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 2018. (In press).
Lysaught, M. Therese. “Catholicism in the Neonatal Context: Belief, Practice, Challenge, Hope.” In Religion and the Newborn, edited by Ron Green and George Little. Oxford University Press (in press).
Canaris, Michael M. “Alma Mater, Mater Exulum: Jesuit Education and Immigration. A Moral Framework and its Historical Roots.” In Undocumented and in College: Students and Institutions in a Climate of National Hostility, edited by Terry-Ann Jones and Laura Nichols. New York: Fordham University Press, 2017.
Lysaught, M. Therese. “Incarnating Caritas.” In Incarnate Grace: Perspectives on the Ministry of Catholic HealthCare, edited by Charles Bouchard. 11-26. (Catholic Health Association, 2017).
Canaris, Michael M. “A Rahnerian Reading of Sensus Fidei in the Life of the Church,” in Learning from All the Faithful: A Contemporary Theology of the Sensus Fidei, edited by Bradford E. Hinze and Peter C. Phan, 196-212. Eugene, OR: Pickwick Publications, 2016.
Lysaught, M. Therese. “Ritual – A Framework for Ritual at the Deathbed.” In Dying in the Twenty-First Century, edited by Lydia Dugdale. 67-86. MIT Press, 2015.
Watson, D. Sculpting narratives: Experiencing positive narratives in therapy. In The therapist’s notebook for children and adolescents: Homework, handouts, and activities for use in psychotherapy (2nd ed., pp.), Sori, C. F., Hecker, L. L., & Bachenberg, M. E. (Eds.). New York: Routledge, 2016.
Encyclopedia Articles and Other Academic Publications (3)
Rhodes, Daniel. “Brownson, Orestes Augustus”; “Christian Community Development Association”; “Garvey, Marcus”; “Morehouse, Henry Lymon”; “Open Doors”; “Stringfellow, Frank William”; “Word Gospel Mission”. Encyclopedia of Christianity in the United States. Edited by George Thomas Kurian and Mark A. Lamport. Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield, 2016.
Watson, D. Genograms. In J. Carlson & S. Dermer (Eds.) The SAGE Encyclopedia of Marriage, Family, and Couples Counseling. 733-737. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage, 2016.
Rhodes, Daniel. “The Contradiction of Hope in an Estranged World: David Harvey’s Seventeen Contradictions and the End of Capitalism,” in Syndicate Theology (April 6, 2015).
Pastoral Resources (7)
Schmidt, William. Editor, Journal of Spirituality in Mental Health. Philadelphia, PA: Taylor & Francis.
Schmisek, Brian, Diana Macalintal, and Jay Cormier. Living Liturgy for Extraordinary Ministers of Holy Communion: Year B (2018). Collegeville, MN: Liturgical Press, 2017.
Schmisek, Brian, Diana Macalintal, and Jay Cormier. Living Liturgy for Music Ministers: Year B (2018). Collegeville, MN: Liturgical Press, 2017.
Schmisek, Brian, Diana Macalintal, and Jay Cormier. Living Liturgy: Spirituality, Celebration, and Catechesis for Sundays and Solemnities: Year B (2018). Collegeville, MN: Liturgical Press, 2017.
Schmisek, Brian, Diana Macalintal, and Jay Cormier. Living Liturgy Sunday Missal 2018. Liturgical Press. 2017.
Schmisek, Brian. Fundamentos del Nuevo Testamento: Jesús y sus discípulos. Paulist Press. 2017. (Translated from English Edition: Catholic Bible Study Program: New Testament Foundations Student Workbook Paulist Press. 2008).
Schmisek, Brian. El Programa de la Escuela Bíblica Católica: Fundamentos Del Antiguo Testamento: De Génesis a 2 Reyes. Paulist Press. 2016. (Translated from English edition: Old Testament Foundations Student Workbook. Paulist Press).
Book Reviews (7)
Jones, Peter L. “Review of Theology in the Flesh: How Embodiment and Culture Shape the Way We Think about Truth, Morality, and God,”International Journal of Public Theology [in press].
Canaris, Michael M. “Review of Will Pope Francis Pull It Off? by Rocco D’Ambrosio.” The Way, Oxford, October 2017.
Lysaught, M. Therese. “Review of Joseph Selling, Reframing Catholic Theological Ethics.” Studies in Christian Ethics 30, no. 4 (2017): 509-513. doi:10.1177/0953946817720910j. https://doi.org/10.1177/0953946817720910j.
Jones, Peter L. “Review of Bulls, Bears, and Golden Calves: Applying Christian Ethics in Economics, by John E. Stapleford.” International Journal of Public Theology 10, no. 1 (2016), 125-127. doi:10.1163/15697320-12341431.
Lysaught, M. Therese. “Review of Beyond the Abortion Wars: A Way Forward for a New Generation, by Charles Camosy,” Health Progress 97, no. 3 (May–June 2016): 67–68.
Lysaught, M. Therese. “Book Review: Michael Banner, the Ethics of Everyday Life: Moral Theology, Social Anthropology, and the Imagination of the Human.” Studies in Christian Ethics 29, no. 3 (2016): 339-342. doi:10.1177/0953946816642960. https://doi.org/10.1177/0953946816642960.
Jones, Peter L. “Review of Ethics that Matters: African, Caribbean, and African-American Sources,” International Journal of Public Theology 9, no.1 (2015): 113-114.
