Retirement is a new vocational moment; it is an invitation to a wisdom transition to engage proactively the leadership challenges of aging, meaningfully. This program has a trident strategy of attending to the personal journey, examining the past to turn experience into wisdom for legacy planning. The program integrates the Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius as a tool for discerning vocational choices and decision making. The second prong of the trident strategy embraces a twenty-five-person cohort that will accompany each other on this year-long journey and engage in leadership dialogues about their new or evolving roles while becoming an encore learning community for the long term. The last prong of this trident process is engagement with significant mission driven institutions and ministries of the Society of Jesus.
Through the year, these fellows will involve the institutional leaders in real leadership conversations, listening to the challenges of running mission-driven, nonprofit, values-based organizations within the largest global educational network of universities and high schools. Thus one discovers that this is not a residential university program, but a spirited, Jesuit collaborative program on the move.
This Ignatian Fellows’ three continent journey will begin with a four-day residency hosted by the Institute of Pastoral Studies at Loyola in September, 2019, then continue in November, 2019 with a four day residency hosted by the Jesuit School of Theology and Ministry at Santa Clara University. In January, 2020, the cohort will experience a four day social immersion in Lima, Peru, followed by a March, 2020 four day residency hosted by the Boston College School of Theology and Ministry. The cohort will then meet for a four-day residency hosted by the McDonough School of Business at Georgetown University and finally a ten day excursion to Spain and concluding in Rome with a leadership conversation with the Jesuit Global Higher Education leadership team and the sharing of insights and observations from their year together. Between sessions there will be assigned reading and opportunities to dialogue using the Ignatian Colleagues Program and platform. Ultimately, this inaugural group of Ignatian Legacy Fellows will become Founders of the Ignatian Society of Fellows, an alumni community that will continue to convene around leadership conversations to foster the work of the Society of Jesus.
Contacts: John Fontana, Co-Director, 847-703-5836, jfontana@luc.edu or Mariann M. Salisbury, Co-Director, 301-807-5369, Msalisbury1@luc.edu
A video tribute honoring Rev. Jimmie Flewellen was presented at the Founders’ Dinner on Saturday, June 8, 2013.
Rev. Jimmie was the first African-American Catholic chaplain for the United States Justice Department, along with being one of the first deacons in the Archdiocese of Chicago. He remained an active member of the IPS community for years, serving as a member of the IPS Advisory Council.
To view the 2013 video tribute to Rev. Jimmie, click here.
IPS is excited to announce that Adjunct Instructor Bill Huebsch will be teaching a new class in the Fall of 2019 entitled “Introduction to the New Pastoral Theology Emerging in the Era of Pope Francis”.
We recently reached out to Bill to find out more on this new IPS course offering.
Can you provide details of your class? How did it come about? What are your hopes/objectives with this class? This class will trace pastoral theology directly from the life and ministry of Jesus into the early church, and from there we’ll consider how it has come down through the ages to the present time. The core of the class will be to study the principles that guide pastoral theology and ministry, especially the set of questions (or hermeneutic) we bring (1) to our way of scrutinizing the signs of the times and (2) to how we articulate for others and ourselves the call to holiness. We will also examine the conciliar and post-conciliar development of pastoral theology and focus especially on two recent apostolic exhortations of Pope Francis, The Joy of the Gospel and the Joy of Love.
This is a practical, hands-on course which will ground each student’s self-understanding of his or her ministry with a solid and continual theological reflection. It’s a “personal course” inasmuch as students will be expected to connect the theology to their real, concrete situations in life and ministry. And it will also be a lot of fun! I think this kind of study is essential for those who plan to work in parish ministry.
What work are you currently involved in? Over the past five or six years I have been working to present the teaching of the church in plain English so that people can apprehend it and live according to it. Toward this end, I’ve published several booklets that provide recent papal documents in a plain English study guide format. These have included, among others: Evangelii Gaudium (The Joy of the Gospel), Amoris Laetitia (The Joy of Love), Gaudete et Exsultate (Rejoice and Be Glad), and The Art of Accompaniment. (All from: New London, CT: 23rd Publications.) Besides teaching here at IPS, I also maintain a busy international lecture schedule and this winter, am spending ten weeks in Guatemala, learning Spanish and helping the “least among his sisters and brothers” gain a foothold in today’s culture and economy.
How long have you been affiliated with IPS? In what capacity? I have been on the adjunct faculty here at IPS for several years. Last year I taught the course on The Story and Promise of Vatican II. I’ve also been deeply involved in the expansion of IPS’s presence in the North of England where a new pastoral ministry certificate is now being offered. I also teach in that program for IPS.
What draws you to IPS? I see IPS as a training center for the leaders of the church. It offers students excellent academics set amid the Ignatian genius for discernment and prayer. It’s a practical school, one that knows the culture in which its graduates will work. The leadership of IPS is solid and well-planned, looking to the future without fear and responding to the changing ministry needs we see before us. I like that.
Can you share a personal spiritual practice that continues to restore and re-energize your mind, body, heart and spirit? My daily prayer has led me to be something of a busy, urban contemplative. I find a surprising amount of quiet, reflective prayer in my daily life. And even when a day here or there doesn’t allow for it, I soon find myself turning my heart once again to speak with and listen to the Lord, whose voice echoes in my depths, as the CCC says in article 1776.
IPS students can begin to enroll via LOCUSfor Fall 2019 classes starting on April 11th.
By Michael Canaris, PhD (Assistant Professor at Loyola IPS, mcanaris@luc.edu). This piece was originally published in the Catholic Star Herald.
Lent has traditionally been an annual opportunity to recalibrate one’s relationship with his or her neighbor and the gifts of creation, in addition to with God. In preparation to celebrate the Paschal Mystery more fully, the church has historically provided prayerful and ascetical tools and “space” to rid ourselves of disordered attachments, so as to re-commit ourselves to the Risen Lord more emphatically. It has been clear for almost the entire history of the Christian faith that if believers do not consciously emulate the death of the Son of God in a very tangible sense in their own spiritual journeys, then the exultation of the empty tomb will ring exceedingly hollow in the subsequent Easter season.
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This
year, I have decided to focus my own Lenten disciplines on attuning myself more
intentionally to Pope Francis’s call to integral ecology. Distancing ourselves
from an addictive culture of disposability should not be a partisan issue,
whether in the church or in wider society. Catholic Social Teaching has
consistently made clear, at least since Pope Leo XIII’s groundbreaking document
Rerum Novarum, that orienting our
discipleship of Jesus around principles like the common good, solidarity, and
the universal destination of created things demands that we interrogate our
attitudes and lifestyles through the lens of the Gospel. This includes
“practical” as well as “spiritual” matters.
Being
stewards of creation mandates that Christians and all people of good will
refuse to treat things as trash, and other people as things. Such a
reductionism is antithetical to a holistic approach to “our common home,” this
earth across which the entire human race shares our origins, experiences and
telos (“goal”) in the divine plenitude, as Nostra
Aetate points out.
Residents
of the United States in particular are guilty of viewing the world as a spigot
of limitless resources, and of generating immense quantities of refuse to
sustain our relatively comfortable lifestyles. Questioning our (im)prudent use
of the wonderful realities that technology and American ingenuity have brought
forth in our era ought not to be a controversial initiative, if we claim to
care about our children “to the seventh generation.” Limiting one’s extemporaneous
use of items that cannot be recycled, his or her carbon footprint, and our
collective egotistic practices that ignore their impact on wide swaths of the
global population are legitimate Lenten theological aspirations. My own
complicity in such patterns is acute and disgraceful, and so I feel called to
examine such realities in my personal and professional life in the coming
weeks.
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Human
beings, social creatures who exist in networks of love, responsibility, and
blame, cannot experience the divine other than through our interactions in the
natural world. Our liturgical prayers emphasize that a matrix exists — between
God’s abounding generosity and the work of human hands, in which we collaborate
with the divine to live out a sacramental reality, whereby the natural is the
conduit through which we access the transcendent.
Put
crudely, if there is no clean oxygen, pure water or soils protected from
ultraviolet rays, there is no Blessed Sacrament, whether understood
eucharistically or anthropologically, as the human being is the ultimate
mysterious (saramentum is the Latin
version of the Greek mysterion)
recipient of God’s most gracious gift of Self.
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The coming season of reflective and consequential purification provides an excellent opportunity to examine how we can better take responsibility and agency in devoting ourselves to that vivifying encounter with that world which God and unfathomable amounts of time have provided us, and which we all too frequently disregard and degrade for immediate gratification.
Originally from Collingswood, Michael M. Canaris teaches at Loyola University, Chicago.
On April 4th, IPS hosted Racism and The Church: A Community Conversation on ‘Open Wide Our Hearts’ at Regents Hall in Lewis Towers.
April 4, 2019 at Regents Hall
The IPS community gathered to explore further issues of race in our context and to foster a communal reflection and discussion. Panelists discussed the pastoral letter on racism (“Open Wide Our Hearts“) issued by the US Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) in November 2018.
Scheduled speaker Donna Grimes (Assistant Director of African American Affairs, Secretariat of Cultural Diversity in the Church, USCCB) was unable to attend but has graciously recorded a video of her thoughts on the ‘Open Wide Our Hearts’ pastoral letter.
To view Ms. Grimes’s video, please click on this link.
Donna Grimes has also provided the following summary of her thoughts on the November 2018 pastoral letter:
I can’t resist comparing the anticipation in the Catholic community surrounding this Pastoral Letter with the Muller Report. There are countless parallels – rising concerns, an urgent demand for explanations, cries for justice.
The emergency became evident for the bishops with violence in Charlottesville in August 2017. But, around the country, concerns have long been brewing in the Black community…the recorded beating of Rodney King, the killing of Amadou Diallo, the murder of Trayvon Martin, Michael Brown, Eric Garner, and so many more Black men. And, not to be forgotten, Black women – Sandra Bland, Rekia Boyd. And the children – Tamir Rice and many victims of drive-by shootings…Too many precious lives stolen. Few perpetrators are convicted and sentenced. Cases dropped. Not guilty verdicts. Few grieving families are comforted. Mainstream America’s response including that of the bishops has been anemic rather than outrage and policy. From the bishops we heard: Stay peaceful, pray, don’t turn your anger toward the police and All Lives Matter.
Why haven’t our church leaders probed and responded to the underlying issues? I believe it’s because with the exception of abortion, they are mainstream America. Without taking anything away from individual bishops – particularly in areas with headline cases who reacted with public statements of compassion and community level action – what I’m saying is that their silence has been maddening! And, there’s no excuse for apparent lack of awareness or understanding of institutional racism. Fr. Bryan Massingale’s book, Racial Justice and the Catholic Church and Michelle Alexander’s The New Jim Crow have been available for a decade.
The key contribution of this Pastoral Letter has been a platform — to open the door to dialog and action; to begin or resume the work of dismantling racism; to engage in difficult conversations together and within our own circles about racism in the neighborhood and in the Church. What we can do is not change the channel. We should address racism together at times, but it’s vital to work on racism within our own groups. In-group conversations will differ for White people and People of Color. For instance, White people could focus on white identity, what it means to be White in America and in the world and learning real American history. People of Color could examine how they internalize racialized messages and concentrate on empowerment strategies. The Pastoral Letter encourages self-reflection for everyone without implying that everyone should reflect in the same way.
I appreciate various critiques I’ve read about the Pastoral Letter Against Racism. Whatever shortcomings are exposed in the text of Open Wide Our Hearts, I have to give credit where it’s due. For instance, despite advice to center on the abuse crisis exclusively at their November 2018 meeting, they decided to keep the letter on their agenda. Then the bishops approved it with a nearly unanimous vote (2 no, 1 abstention). Bottom line (P.4): What they said was, “What is needed, and what we are calling for, is a genuine conversion of heart, a conversion that will compel change, and the reform of our institutions and society.”
Conversion of heart that compels change and reforms our institutions and society is a heavy lift. But, we can do all things through Christ who strengthens us!
The bishops are correct about what is needed but can we honestly expect them to know how to make it happen? As Dr. Shawnee Daniels-Sykes (Mt. Mary University) pointed out in a recent post about the Pastoral Letter, it’s only been 50 years since racial segregation was “outlawed.” But, this is a young country and we have a much longer history of subjugating Black people, other people of color and poor white people.
The good news is that the ball is in our court now. We could press our own bishops to say more (and do more) to manifest their conviction that Racism is a Life Issue. Ask, what’s the plan for the diocese for dismantling racism? How will dismantling racism be addressed in seminaries? Catholic schools? Parishes? How will this imperative play out in hiring and contracting practices? In the distribution of resources? Ask your pastor to preach on racism, to create space for courageous conversations in the parish. The Pastoral Letter calls on all elements of the Church to take action: individuals, families, institutions and organizations.
Catholic colleges, universities – even pastoral institutes – have tremendous opportunities to study, reflect and act; and most importantly, to form anti-racist actors who are our future lawyers, doctors, educators, policy-makers, parents, clergy, business owners, etc. This means acknowledging the unspoken American value of White Supremacy, a cultural value that is right up there with Freedom and Democracy, recognizing White Privilege, facing White Fragility about race and overcoming these impediments to racial justice.
USCCB staff are finding their way toward implementing the Pastoral Letter Against Racism and assisting Catholic entities to do the same. Offices are being reminded of the bishops’ stated commitment to engage in efforts to resist racism – to reconsider their approaches, resource materials and methods of advancing the Church’s mission via evangelization and catechesis, youth ministry, priestly formation, and liturgy for example. In some cases, it’s as fundamental as pointing out that there are other people in the room and one size does not fit all.
One action that I’m especially excited about is working with Catholic schools to address how the history of Native Americans and African Americans is presented in the curriculum. Another is the listening sessions that the Ad Hoc Committee and staff are arranging in dioceses around the country. A Study Guide is in development. The USCCB website provides numerous resources e.g., K-12 lesson plan suggestions, brief backgrounders and parish aids, with more coming.
I’m encouraged by more bright lights, e.g., the creativity of Youth artist-activists like the spoken word collaborative, Split This Rock, by which a diverse group of teens use poetry and art to explore social justice issues. And, there are the emerging young community organizers who tackle the intersectionality of race with other justice issues.
Speaking of organizers, this reminds me that the Catholic Campaign for Human Development (CCHD) has been going strong for 50 years. Read stories of hope as CCHD funds racial & economic justice empowerment projects.
I’d like to close with this inspiring message sent by a friend:
A door is much smaller than the house
A lock is much smaller, compared to the door
A key is the smallest of all,
but a key can open the entire house
Thus a small, thoughtful solution can solve major problems.
Let’s get started!
Thank you to all the speakers and those who attended for their presence and commitment to ensuring our faith community remains dynamic and inclusive.
On November 16, 1989, members of the Salvadoran military brutally murdered six Jesuit priests and two of their friends at the University of Central America in El Salvador. They were targeted because they spoke out against government crime and corruption and were vigorous advocates for the poor. To honor the eight Salvadoran martyrs, Loyola built a memorial on campus in 2010. The structure includes the “Wounded Angel” statue and a wall curving along the sidewalk on the west side of Madonna della Strada Chapel, displaying the names of each of the victims.
November is Ignatian Heritage Month and Loyola University Chicago celebrates its Jesuit heritage with a range of events, including the presentation of the Martyrs Award. The award is presented annually to a faith-based individual or organization that embodies the values of the Salvadoran martyrs, being champions of social justice and serving marginalized communities.
The 2018 Martyrs Award was presented on Nov. 15, 2018 to Sr. Ann Credidio, BVM (the religious order of the Sisters of Charity of the Blessed Virgin Mary, the very same community of Loyola’s own Sister Jean!).
Sr. Ann is from Brooklyn, NY and attended Mundelein College (a women’s university founded by the BVMs in 1929 and integrated in Loyola University Chicago in 1991). She took a few courses at IPS to complete her degree; a connection we treasure. In the late 1980s she was teaching preschool in Guayaquil, Ecuador when she began to develop relationships with people suffering from Hansen’s disease and living in terrible conditions at a nearby run-down hospital. She eventually focused all her energy there and founded Damien House. She took over the Hansen’s wing of the infectious disease center, raised funds, and over time built it into a safe place where those suffering with Hansen’s disease can receive the care that they need and the love that all God’s creatures deserve: Damien House. That wing of the hospital is now deeded to the Damien House Foundation and flourishes under the care of Sr. Annie.
On the day of the award presentation, four IPS students joined Sr. Annie for lunch and a conversation about her work. Not originally planned as a part of her stay in Chicago, she asked specifically to meet students so that she might learn about the work that they are doing and also to discuss challenges, share joys and frustrations, and foster new personal connections. IPS students, Toni Daniels, Julie Lipford, Lee Colombino, and I shared in this meal and conversation with Sr Annie, finding inspiration in her experience, joy, and wisdom.
I provided the introduction for Sr. Annie at the Martyrs Award Presentation, which took place at the Mundelein Center on the Lake Shore Campus at 4pm. I lived in Ecuador for 13 months as a volunteer at Damien House and have come to know Sr. Annie very well. I am happy to share with you the text of my introduction.
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“Hello everyone- My name is Emily Kane and I am a graduate student pursuing my master’s in social justice through the Institute of Pastoral Studies. I am also the graduate assistant for retreats in Campus Ministry right here on the Lake Shore Campus.
I’m here speaking to you today because in July of 2014, a brand new graduate from Loyola University Maryland, I traveled to Guayaquil, Ecuador to begin my year of service with a program called Rostro de Cristo, having absolutely no idea what to expect. One of our first tasks as newly arrived volunteers was to visit potential work sites, and one of our first stops was to Damien House, a long-standing partner of Rostro de Cristo volunteers.
If you don’t know already, Damien House is a care facility for people suffering from Hansen’s disease (formerly known as leprosy). While feeling a bit jarred at first when I encountered people who had lost fingers, limbs, or the cartilage in their ears and nose from the disease, I couldn’t help but be completely overwhelmed by the contagious love and joy exuding from all the patients I met. We were introduced to Sister Ann Credidio, BVM, a wild and crazy nun from New York who spoke Spanish with a Brooklyn accent (which I didn’t know was possible until I met her), and I was hooked- I knew I had to spend my year of service at Damien.
At that point, Annie as we affectionately call Sr Ann, had been in Ecuador for over 20 years. She first went down to Ecuador to be a teacher, but she began spending time at the infectious disease hospital, in the ward for patients with Hansen’s. At that time, the ward was in serious disrepair. The roof leaked, food was awful, rats bit patients on their toes during the middle of the night- it was a disaster. Annie realized that her presence was needed there, and she switched her ministry to be full-time at the hospital. Eventually, Damien House became its own entity, and Annie has been with them ever since.
While it may not have seemed like much at the time, Sister Annie and the patients of Damien House taught me the true meaning of a ministry of presence. They helped me understand the power of just sitting and being with someone- just offering your presence to them, sharing a cup of coffee with them, and asking about how they are doing. As a cradle Catholic, I spent my entire life hearing readings on Sundays about Jesus and “the lepers.” My time at Damien House gave this an entirely new meaning for me. Now “the lepers” were not this abstract concept- they were people I had come to know and love. They had names and feelings and flaws and stories that were just as real to me as my own. I carry them with me in everything I do: Esther, Blanca, Sonia, Manuel, Leon, Alceides….these are just a few of the people who will benefit from this gift Loyola is giving Damien House today.
All of this I have shared with you is possible because of the unbelievable force that is Sister Annie. Her determination and her tenacity to fight for the patients of Damien is unparalleled. She is the ultimate witness to selfless love. I feel honored to have been just a tiny part of Damien’s history, and I am honored to be standing up here welcoming Sister Annie to Loyola today.”
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Emily Kane is pursuing the MA Social Justice. You can reach her at ekane5@luc.edu.
The Institute of Pastoral Studies is proud to announce that IPS faculty members: Heidi Russell, Associate Professor, Michael Canaris, Assistant Professor, and Brian Schmisek, Dean and Professor, were recently awarded with the following publishing awards:
Heidi Russell received second place in the category of “Faith and Science” from the Catholic Press Association’s Book Awards for her book “The Source of All Love.”
The Source of All Love is a “fresh approach to an age-old doctrine, brings together theology and science to reveal an active, conscious, omnipresent power of Love that never began, never will end, and guides the universe and everything in it. The key to spiritual evolution is awareness and participation.”
Heidi Russell was also announced a co-winner of the first place award for “Best Regular Column: Spiritual Life” by the Catholic Press Association’s Press Awards 2018 for her article “Love Revealed in Brokenness.”
Michael Canaris received third place in the same category for his article “Science & Catholicism” in the publication Catholic Star Herald.
Speaking on receiving his award, Canaris said “I have written a weekly column for the Catholic Star Herald newspaper for almost a decade now, which included stops in Boston, New York, Connecticut, Durham (UK), Rome, and Chicago. It is honestly among one of my favorite professional activities each week. I think needing to prepare a regular column affects the way one views the world, as he or she is always then looking for an interesting angle to describe what could be a very mundane experience. The practice also undoubtedly makes one a better writer; to come to better appreciate words as tools designed for particular jobs and to distill sometimes deep or arcane theological realities into more digestible bites. I am thankful for the mutually informing roles my ecclesiological study and journalistic tendencies play upon one another, and I’m humbled to have some modicum of recognition for these efforts in serving the People of God as efficiently as my limited capabilities allow me.”
The Living Liturgy: Spirituality, Celebration, and Catechesis for Sundays and Solemnities Year B is a comprehensive guide for the preparation of Sunday liturgy– integrating daily living, prayer, and study into one simple resource for connecting liturgy and leadership.
Congratulations IPS Faculty!
7-02-2018|Comments Off on Three IPS Faculty Members Recipients of Publishing Awards
A Warm Welcome to New IPS Students from SEC Chair, Hannah Thompson
During last week’s New Student Orientation, Student Engagement Committee (SEC) chair Hannah Thompson welcomed all new IPS students with warmth and energy, delivering the below:
“You are about to embark on an amazing journey! You should be so excited. I am a part-time social justice student. I commute from Elmhurst every week. For undergraduate, I got my degree in communications. When I graduated from Elmhurst College, I interned at different nonprofits, did some advocacy work with the Federal Communications Commission and the Dystonia Medical Research Foundation for five years then came back to school.”
“In this department, I have had Dr. Mike Canaris and Dr. Peter Jones as professors. They were tremendous. Everyone here wants you to succeed. I feel like they know you will do the work. As a student who takes twice the time it takes you to do a paper, I can attest that the workload is reasonable. This is graduate school. Feel welcome to communicate with professors but you cannot afford to not put in the effort. As long as they know you’re trying, they will help you. For example, in Mike’s class, I was doing well on the assignments, but I wanted to throw the textbook out the window. I expressed that to him, and he said, “I know you don’t have a background in theology. It’s okay.” We worked through it. Every single professor wants you to succeed. They truly do.”
Photo Source: Chicago Parent Magazine
“Ok, now I get to talk about the fun stuff! I am the Student Engagement Committee (SEC) chair. Last year, I was sitting where you are. I decided to go to the first meeting. It’s really fun. Now, I’m in a leadership position. With my disability, I could have easily been the online student that no one really knew. That identify did not sit with me very well. Getting involved really and truly is rewarding. For one, I can walk into a classroom and have an idea of who that professor is and vice versa. Your experience is so much richer if you get involved. We also need members to make the Student Engagement Committee work. The majority graduated last spring so I hope you at least come to the first meeting scheduled for September 5th at 3 o’clock. We won’t have it the first week because that would be crazy but the second week on Sep 5th at 3pm, please come. Getting involved only leads to good things.
“To sum up, everyone in the room is now your cheerleader. We need to be present. Get to know people. These professors have touched my life. This is a very devoted group of faculty that will challenge you while respecting your beliefs. As for me, I’m the woman using a wheelchair, who uses a communication device to speak, usually in pink. I’m real easy to recognize. I want to get to know you. I hope to see you around and chat.”
May the entire IPS family have a blessed academic 2018-2019 year and continue its mission to facilitate the integrated ministerial development of diverse and dynamic leaders for creative, compassionate, and courageous service to church and society.
This webpage offers IPS students opportunities for growth in personal faith, emotional maturity, moral integrity and public witness. It also provides opportunities to interact with and reflect on their experiences with fellow students.
When asked about the importance of formation for IPS students, Coordinator of Formation Carol Taliaferro says, “formation is a lifelong process that addresses our personal relationship with God and helps us to discern with others our mission as disciples of Christ.”
The webpage will be updated to include information on small reflection groups, retreats, service opportunities, spiritual directors, pastoral counselors, special events, worship sites, etc.
Click on the below for upcoming LUC events relevant for Spiritual Formation:
For more information, go to the formation webpage. Consult with Carol Taliaferro at ctaliaferro1@luc.edu to see if funding may be available to cover full or partial costs of activities and services.
IPS Dean Schmisek noted, “Many attendees engaged in a meaningful way with the panelists, who offered insightful analysis and thought-provoking comments. One of the participants said it felt as though the panelists were offering ‘ministry’ to those in the audience.”
The evening was a culmination of a joint effort from IPS, Dr. Murphy and the Hank Center, and Jocelyn Cheng from Alumni Relations. Rebecca Weller was also on hand as a resource and advocate.
Welcome to Loyola University Chicago’s Water Tower Campus. My name is Dr. Brian Schmisek, Dean of the Institute of Pastoral Studies here. On behalf of our Institute and Dr. Michael Murphy, Director of the Hank Center for the Catholic Intellectual Heritage, tonight’s co-sponsor of the event with us, I thank you for being here.
Welcome to Loyola University Chicago’s Water Tower Campus. My name is Dr. Brian Schmisek, Dean of the Institute of Pastoral Studies here. On behalf of our Institute and Dr. Michael Murphy, Director of the Hank Center for the Catholic Intellectual Heritage, tonight’s co-sponsor of the event with us, I thank you for being here.
We have assembled a distinguished panel to discuss the topic “Integrity and Accountability in the Catholic Church.” With more and more revelations forthcoming in the news, we consider it part of our mission and duty as a Jesuit Catholic University to provide this forum in an academic setting.
Let me say at the outset that we will be discussing some sensitive topics. With statistics telling us that one in three women and one in six men will have experienced some form of contact sexual violence in their lifetime, it is likely that there are some here tonight who have had this happen to them. This is a tragedy and our sympathies go out to you.
We also have with us tonight Rebecca Weller, an advocate who can provide support and resources for anyone that feels upset or triggered by the subject matter. Rebecca also has literature and other handouts available.
I should also mention that this event is being live-cast and recorded. If you have a comment or question for our panel, but are not comfortable being on camera you can wait until after we conclude at 8:30 to come up and ask your question or make your comment.
So with that, let me introduce our panel. Each will speak for about 10-15 minutes from their own perspective. After each has spoken, I’ll moderate the discussion, and Dr. Murphy will have a roving microphone. We will conclude at 8:30.
Justice Anne Burke has served on the Illinois Supreme Court since 2006. Before that, she served as a Justice on the Illinois Court of Appeals since 1995. She is a founder of the Special Olympics in 1968. She also was one of the first members appointed to the National Review Board for the Protection of Children and Young People and served on that board from 2002 – 2004.
Dr. Rick Gaillardetz is The Joseph Professor of Catholic Systematic Theology and Chair of the Department of Theology at Boston College. He served as president of the Catholic Theological Society of America in 2013-14, the largest professional association of Catholic theologians in the world with over 1400 members. He is a noted expert on ecclesiology and his books include a revised and expanded edition of By What Authority? Foundations for Understanding Authority in the Church, published by Liturgical Press this year.
Dr. Jennifer Haselberger holds a Ph.D. from the University of London in England, and a licentiate in canon law from the Catholic University of Leuven, Belgium. She served as the Chancellor for Canonical Affairs in the Archdiocese of Saint Paul until April of 2013, when she resigned in protest of the Archdiocese’s handling of sexual misconduct by clergy. That same year she was selected as the Person of the Year, by the National Catholic Reporter. The following year she received the Michael J. Ehrlichmann Public Service Award from the Minnesota Association of Justice and the Trivison Award for demonstrating visionary leadership in the Catholic Church.
We are so pleased to have these distinguished panelists here to share their thoughts.
