A Lenten reflection from IPS Assistant Professor of Spirituality, Jean-Pierre Fortin:
According to the Gospel of John, when Jesus is brought before Pontius Pilate, he tells the Roman governor: “For this I was born, and for this I came into the world, to testify to the truth. Everyone who belongs to the truth listens to my voice” (John 18:37). Jesus was born, came among us to bear witness to the truth. For us Christians, who profess to be followers of Jesus, a fundamental task and challenge to accomplish and face is to bear witness to Jesus. As it invites us to experience and celebrate the mystery of Christ’s Passion, death and resurrection in particular fashion, the Lenten/Easter season is a most suited time for us to reflect on the quality of the witness we bear of and to Christ.
A formative way to do this is to follow Pontius Pilate’s example, who admits to being profoundly challenged by the person and words of Jesus when he responds to Jesus’ witness with an honest question: “What is truth?” (John 18:38) Pilate opens himself to the possibility that he may be encountering a truth he had never foreseen. This encounter with truth in person may change who he is in profound ways. During this Lenten season, then, we may reflect on the ways Jesus questions our assumptions about our lives, we may think about the questions we have been carrying with us for some time (perhaps even a long time) which we know we should ask to Jesus in person. What are the questions that would liberate us, allowing us to pursue the truth revealed in Jesus in more faithful, complete fashion? We may bring these questions before Jesus in our prayer, with the desire and hope of being transformed so as to be able to bear witness to the truth that he is.
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See below for other Lenten offerings, resources, and events taking place around Loyola University Chicago and the greater Chicagoland area.
The Mission Office invites you to begin and end this Lenten season with an Ignatian examen focused on forgiveness and healing. Each session will begin with an examen followed by shared reflections on the insights or fruits of the examen. The first examen will focus on forgiveness, and as we begin Holy Week, the second examine will focus on healing. For more on this program, go to: https://www.luc.edu/mission/employeeprograms/lentenofferings/.
The Archdiocese of Chicago’s Department of Parish Vitality and Mission is delighted to provide Catholics and non-Catholics with a wide variety of opportunities to take Pope Francis’s words to heart and begin a Lenten mission of deepening relationships with those around them and with Jesus Christ. For specifics, go to this page: https://pvm.archchicago.org/lenten-resources.
Finally, for web-based resources, Campus Ministry has collated the below handout:
Coordinating Board Awards were first given in 1973 and are presented to individuals and groups within the Archdiocese in recognition and appreciation for their outstanding contributions to the life of the Church of Chicago.
In addition to IPS, the following also received a Coordinating Board Award:
Purpose over Pain
Wellness Programs for Priests- Loyola University, Ramute Kemeza, BSN, RN
Relevant Radio – Chicago
Archdiocese of Chicago Office of Radio and Television
IPS is humbled to receive a Coordinating Board Award, especially given the ACP’s mission:
To cooperate with the Archbishop in the Pastoral Care of the Local Church.
To foster dialogue and support among priests and deacons locally, nationally and abroad.
To nourish collaboration of priests and deacons with others serving in ministry.
To promote locally, ecumenism among the Christian Churches, and to cooperate with and promote interfaith dialogue with other faiths.
To seek cooperative action that promotes peace and justice through the entire metropolitan community, particularly noticing and attending to the needs of the poor and the alienated.
To strive for equality of women and men of all races and cultures.
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.
The Legacy Leaders Fellows Program, to be coordinated under the IPS Continuing Education umbrella, will bring together retiring CEOs (Legacy Leaders) from diverse backgrounds in an intense, structured setting that privileges spirituality and common purpose. This program of leadership education and theological reflection will encourage these Legacy Leaders to examine their interior lives and reflect on their experiences, so they may enter this new stage of life in an integrated, purposeful way. They will encounter theologians, faculty members and students from various Jesuit universities including the Institute of Pastoral Studies at Loyola University Chicago, as well as spend time at the John Felice Rome Center in Italy. Faculty from various Jesuit institutions, together with the directors of various apostolic institutions, will help educate these senior leader retirees in the theology and practice of spirituality and leadership in the next phase of their lives. The CEO retirees, in turn, possess talents, skills and experiences they can share with the leaders of apostolic institutions. Stronger relationships of mutual understanding between these two groups will offer tangible benefits to both, and to the larger communities that include them.
The Legacy Leaders Fellows Program expects to recruit the first cohort of at least ten students and begin classes as early as fall 2018.
This past summer, The Association of Theological Schools(ATS) awarded the Institute of Pastoral Studies and Dr. Dan Rhodes with an Innovative Projects grant to aid in developing a new approach to Contextual Education (CE) in the model of Theological Action Research Teams (TART).
As part of the research associated with this ATS grant, Professors Therese Lysaught and Dan Rhodes recently traveled to The Centre for Theology & Community (CTC) in East London, UK. While in England, Professors Lysaught and Rhodes met with CTC Director, Rev. Angus Ritchie as well as persons in their lay community, community organizers connected with the Centre, and a priest and lay leader from a Catholic Parish in nearby Manor Park.
“The Centre is doing some amazingly creative work and reinventing what parish and lay ministry look like,” says Professor Rhodes, “and the trip was wonderfully informative for learning how to engage participants in Action Research projects as well as for glimpsing the future of lay ministry.”
CTC’s Rev. Angus Ritchie and IPS’s Dan Rhodes in East London
The CE program continues to research and take preliminary steps toward instituting the TART model, building infrastructure, strengthening community partnerships, and developing programmatic components aiming to launch the first IPS student cohort to engage the TART/CE model in Fall 2018.
The long-term goal is to implement a thoroughly re-imagined approach to CE based on a model of Theological Action Research Teams (TART). This expanded and more thoroughly integrated approach to CE engages students from their first semester forward. It shifts to a 30-week placement accompanied by coaching, learning communities, skill-focused workshops, and practical instruction. Working with community partners, students will engage in discerning community-identified issues and, subsequently, organize community-based, co-creative, and theologically informed initiatives for addressing these issues. Additionally, this approach aims to develop a program of theological education that attracts and retains under-served and underrepresented students, as well as engendering new faculty scholarship across theological/ministerial specialties rooted in community collaboration.
In adopting the TART model, IPS will form equipped leaders to serve the church and society in the twenty-first century and will pioneer a model of theological education based on the process of action research teams.
In light of recent events, IPS Dean Brian Schmisek penned an opinion piece reflecting on the rising sentiments of racism and sexual assault we are seeing in the national discourse.
Add your thoughts to the discussion below.
By Brian Schmisek
60. That number is the percent of white Catholics who voted for President Trump, the candidate who admitted to the behavior of a sexual predator and appealed openly to racism. Even a leader of his own party said his words were the “textbook definition of a racist comment.” Now that the election is over and we are in the first year of the Trump administration, will the USCCB be calling for a ‘fortnight of freedom’ for women, immigrants, and minorities? Or will the focus remain on “religious liberty” and the contraceptive mandate? Those on the right claim the Supreme Court vacancy was the crucial factor in electing Trump. Does this grand prize, Gorsuch on the bench, excuse or at least rationalize the behavior of the chief executive? Though there are many things to critique about a Trump administration, this troubling number, 60, deserves attention from US Catholics for what it says about us.
Since the 1980s many quarters of Catholic leadership, including some US Bishops, reduced the pro-life issue to abortion, saying it was so beyond the pale that any candidate who openly supported a pro-choice position was thereby ineligible for consideration for elected office by Catholics. About ten years ago, some bishops claimed it was the defining moral issue of the last thirty-five years. Many bishops spoke about denying communion to such politicians, and the fervor increased with each election year. Even if this was never the official position of the USCCB, many thought leaders in conservative Catholic circles argued for that position and it took deep root in the hierarchy and among many of the faithful.
Now, while the US Catholic hierarchy and their conservative allies were focused on that issue, we have elected a President who denigrated entire classes of people based on race, and admitted to, even bragged about sexual assault. Apparently, as 60% of the white Catholic vote indicates, these were not disqualifying factors. In fact, According to the Pew Research Center, Trump received a greater percentage of the votes of white Catholics than any other candidate, Republican or Democrat, in at least 20 years. Indeed, from another more recent study by Pew, comes this startling line: “And among white Catholics – as with white evangelicals – those who attend religious services at least once or twice a month are more approving of Trump’s job performance than are white Catholics who attend Mass less often (61% vs. 44%).”
This overwhelming support from churchgoers seems to be a clarion call that something is wrong with our priorities. There is a problem with the way we are educating and catechizing our people when a blatant racist empowering alt-right groups, neo-Nazis, and other fringe elements receives 3 out of 5 votes from white Catholics, and stronger approval from Mass attending Catholics than not. Trump’s cultivation of support from these extreme groups was mocked in a spoof commercial of “Racists for Trump” on Saturday Night Live, but after a marked increase in hate crimes and violence from what he has unleashed, the stakes have been raised. We need to take a closer look at our role and ourselves as Catholics in this unique time.
Rather than seek to remove the splinter of the contraceptive mandate from the eye of the Affordable Care Act, the bishops would do better to remove the log from their own and that of their flock. Though it pains me and even shames me to say it, that log is latent, pernicious racism, and the minimization of sexual assault among the white Catholic faithful. That log is excusing behavior we would not accept in our children to achieve a seat on the Supreme Court with the hope of ending the contraceptive mandate.
Immediately I can hear the reply that elections are complicated affairs with a variety of issues at stake; white Catholics are not racists and do not minimize sexual assault. I would like to agree. But the election results and the racial divisions it exposed should cause us to reconsider. Where were the letters from US bishops that seem to have been so plentiful in previous presidential cycles? When a candidate is so openly racist and misogynistic, might he have been disqualified from consideration by followers of Jesus who claim to love their neighbor?
The fact that a majority of white Catholics thought such a vote acceptable means there is much work to do, more leadership needed from our bishops. For example, the USCCB might devote at least as much energy to eradicating racism and the trivialization of sexual assault as they do the contraceptive mandate. There is much in Scripture about hospitality, treatment of the other, the stranger, the alien, the immigrant, the widow, and the orphan. It says nothing about a contraceptive mandate. Some bishops have even been ahead of the curve and already spoken about these issues. For example, one of the few African American bishops, Bishop Braxton, published a Text and Study Guide on the topic. This is part of a solid foundation on which to build.
The election of Trump has seen fathers deported, families torn apart, mothers separated from their children, and policies called ‘inhumane’ and ‘contrary to the values of the country and its legal system,’ by at least one federal judge. Hate crimes are increasing; as is violence against minorities. Closeted racism, never locked away tightly, has emerged with a frightening boldness. The free press is threatened; truth itself is under assault with alternative facts and propaganda “news.” A ‘meanness’ and viciousness drives this administration that tears at the fabric of society, and the meaning of truth itself. It’s as though Trump is echoing the words of Pilate, “What is truth?” The contraceptive mandate and the creation of a permanent committee for religious freedom seems to be among the least of our concerns, akin to chasing windmills in the storm of racism and assault.
Was the election of a bigot and braggadocios predator worth a seat on the Supreme Court? Have we given the modern equivalent of 30 pieces of silver for that one vote? If so, there is nothing we can do now but run into the darkness and weep, hoping against hope that at some future resurrection we as a church will be forgiven by a Risen Christ who will embolden us with the command issued three times: feed my sheep. Then, the church will experience a rebirth with an outpouring of the Holy Spirit as at Pentecost. On that day, our priorities will reflect Jesus, his commands and his mission. We will welcome the stranger, protect the widow and the orphan, and love our neighbor as Christ loves us.
9-21-2017|Comments Off on 60: IPS Dean Schmisek Reflects On A Troubling Number
In light of recent events, IPS Dean Brian Schmisek penned an opinion piece reflecting on the rising sentiments of racism and sexual assault we are seeing in the national discourse.
Add your thoughts to the discussion below.
By Brian Schmisek
60. That number is the percent of white Catholics who voted for President Trump, the candidate who admitted to the behavior of a sexual predator and appealed openly to racism. Even a leader of his own party said his words were the “textbook definition of a racist comment.” Now that the election is over and we are in the first year of the Trump administration, will the USCCB be calling for a ‘fortnight of freedom’ for women, immigrants, and minorities? Or will the focus remain on “religious liberty” and the contraceptive mandate? Those on the right claim the Supreme Court vacancy was the crucial factor in electing Trump. Does this grand prize, Gorsuch on the bench, excuse or at least rationalize the behavior of the chief executive? Though there are many things to critique about a Trump administration, this troubling number, 60, deserves attention from US Catholics for what it says about us.
Since the 1980s many quarters of Catholic leadership, including some US Bishops, reduced the pro-life issue to abortion, saying it was so beyond the pale that any candidate who openly supported a pro-choice position was thereby ineligible for consideration for elected office by Catholics. About ten years ago, some bishops claimed it was the defining moral issue of the last thirty-five years. Many bishops spoke about denying communion to such politicians, and the fervor increased with each election year. Even if this was never the official position of the USCCB, many thought leaders in conservative Catholic circles argued for that position and it took deep root in the hierarchy and among many of the faithful.
Now, while the US Catholic hierarchy and their conservative allies were focused on that issue, we have elected a President who denigrated entire classes of people based on race, and admitted to, even bragged about sexual assault. Apparently, as 60% of the white Catholic vote indicates, these were not disqualifying factors. In fact, According to the Pew Research Center, Trump received a greater percentage of the votes of white Catholics than any other candidate, Republican or Democrat, in at least 20 years. Indeed, from another more recent study by Pew, comes this startling line: “And among white Catholics – as with white evangelicals – those who attend religious services at least once or twice a month are more approving of Trump’s job performance than are white Catholics who attend Mass less often (61% vs. 44%).”
This overwhelming support from churchgoers seems to be a clarion call that something is wrong with our priorities. There is a problem with the way we are educating and catechizing our people when a blatant racist empowering alt-right groups, neo-Nazis, and other fringe elements receives 3 out of 5 votes from white Catholics, and stronger approval from Mass attending Catholics than not. Trump’s cultivation of support from these extreme groups was mocked in a spoof commercial of “Racists for Trump” on Saturday Night Live, but after a marked increase in hate crimes and violence from what he has unleashed, the stakes have been raised. We need to take a closer look at our role and ourselves as Catholics in this unique time.
Rather than seek to remove the splinter of the contraceptive mandate from the eye of the Affordable Care Act, the bishops would do better to remove the log from their own and that of their flock. Though it pains me and even shames me to say it, that log is latent, pernicious racism, and the minimization of sexual assault among the white Catholic faithful. That log is excusing behavior we would not accept in our children to achieve a seat on the Supreme Court with the hope of ending the contraceptive mandate.
Immediately I can hear the reply that elections are complicated affairs with a variety of issues at stake; white Catholics are not racists and do not minimize sexual assault. I would like to agree. But the election results and the racial divisions it exposed should cause us to reconsider. Where were the letters from US bishops that seem to have been so plentiful in previous presidential cycles? When a candidate is so openly racist and misogynistic, might he have been disqualified from consideration by followers of Jesus who claim to love their neighbor?
The fact that a majority of white Catholics thought such a vote acceptable means there is much work to do, more leadership needed from our bishops. For example, the USCCB might devote at least as much energy to eradicating racism and the trivialization of sexual assault as they do the contraceptive mandate. There is much in Scripture about hospitality, treatment of the other, the stranger, the alien, the immigrant, the widow, and the orphan. It says nothing about a contraceptive mandate. Some bishops have even been ahead of the curve and already spoken about these issues. For example, one of the few African American bishops, Bishop Braxton, published a Text and Study Guide on the topic. This is part of a solid foundation on which to build.
The election of Trump has seen fathers deported, families torn apart, mothers separated from their children, and policies called ‘inhumane’ and ‘contrary to the values of the country and its legal system,’ by at least one federal judge. Hate crimes are increasing; as is violence against minorities. Closeted racism, never locked away tightly, has emerged with a frightening boldness. The free press is threatened; truth itself is under assault with alternative facts and propaganda “news.” A ‘meanness’ and viciousness drives this administration that tears at the fabric of society, and the meaning of truth itself. It’s as though Trump is echoing the words of Pilate, “What is truth?” The contraceptive mandate and the creation of a permanent committee for religious freedom seems to be among the least of our concerns, akin to chasing windmills in the storm of racism and assault.
Was the election of a bigot and braggadocios predator worth a seat on the Supreme Court? Have we given the modern equivalent of 30 pieces of silver for that one vote? If so, there is nothing we can do now but run into the darkness and weep, hoping against hope that at some future resurrection we as a church will be forgiven by a Risen Christ who will embolden us with the command issued three times: feed my sheep. Then, the church will experience a rebirth with an outpouring of the Holy Spirit as at Pentecost. On that day, our priorities will reflect Jesus, his commands and his mission. We will welcome the stranger, protect the widow and the orphan, and love our neighbor as Christ loves us.
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This past July, the Association of Theological Schools awarded IPS a grant to “develop and implement an innovative and nationally-recognized integrated formation program for students and faculty that includes intercultural competency”. Carol Taliaferro has just joined IPS as Coordinator of Formation to spearhead this strategic mandate.
We recently sat down with Carol to talk to her about her journey to IPS.
What brought you to IPS last spring? What course did you teach? Last spring a position became available for an Instructor for Spiritual Practicum II. One of the faculty members advised me of the vacancy and asked if I would be interested. I said yes, submitted my Curriculum Vitae, had an interview with the Dean, and to my surprise was offered the job as an Adjunct Instructor. As a Spiritual Director, I was very enthusiastic yet a bit anxious about teaching the course as this was my first teaching experience with IPS.
Have you always been involved in the education field? No, I have not always been involved in the education field. In fact, although I have done some informal teaching, IPS was my first professional teaching assignment.
How did that first teaching assignment unfold?As with most new endeavors there are things that you do well and some things that may require some improvement. I really enjoyed my first teaching assignment. I could not have asked for a better class. I only hope that their lives were enriched as much as teaching them enriched mine. I must say that I am truly grateful for the experience. I found that amazing things happen when you allow yourself to be stretched beyond your preconceived capabilities and self-imposed limitations.
What does the term “formation” mean for you? To me the term formation means human, spiritual, intellectual and pastoral preparation for those who are planning to enter ministry.
What drew you to the Coordinator of Formation opportunity here at IPS? What drew me to the Coordinator of Formation opportunity at IPS was being able to help the students to find opportunities that will meet their personal developmental needs as they prepare to take on their ministerial and/or pastoral responsibilities.
What are you most excited for as the Coordinator of Formation? As the Coordinator of Formation I am most excited about getting to interact with the students, faculty and staff. I look forward to working with them and becoming familiar with their needs and doing all I can to assure that they are met. I am excited about piloting a new position in IPS and look forward to meeting and mastering the challenges this entails.
How will the presence of an in-house Coordinator of Formation concretely impact the lives of IPS students, faculty and staff? The presence of an in-house Coordinator of Formation will impact the IPS students, faculty and staff because they will have a direct source to refer to or one contact point when searching for personal formation opportunities. As Coordinator of Formation I will be collaborating with other departments, especially, Campus Ministry and the Division of Student Development and will advise the student, faculty and staff of what is available using social media and/or other forms of notification. I will also be available for personal consultations as requested.
Can you share something about your prayer life practice that a fellow IPS community member may be able to rest in? When I was first contemplating going into ministry, I was talking with a close friend and I told him that I didn’t really think I was ready for ministry, that I didn’t think I was smart enough, because all of the great theologians seemed to be brilliant. So much so, that I didn’t understand anything they were trying to convey. His response to me was “God does not call the qualified, God qualifies the called.” My friend has since passed on, but whenever I am confronted with a new challenge I remember his words. I then stop, take a deep breath, quietly reflect for a moment and trust that God has provided me with all that I need.
How can a member of the IPS family connect with you? The IPS family can contact me at ctaliaferro1@luc.edu.
9-06-2017|Comments Off on Meet New IPS Coordinator of Formation, Carol Taliaferro
This past July, the Association of Theological Schools awarded IPS a grant to “develop and implement an innovative and nationally-recognized integrated formation program for students and faculty that includes intercultural competency”. Carol Taliaferro has just joined IPS as Coordinator of Formation to spearhead this strategic mandate.
We recently sat down with Carol to talk to her about her journey to IPS.
What brought you to IPS last spring? What course did you teach? Last spring a position became available for an Instructor for Spiritual Practicum II. One of the faculty members advised me of the vacancy and asked if I would be interested. I said yes, submitted my Curriculum Vitae, had an interview with the Dean, and to my surprise was offered the job as an Adjunct Instructor. As a Spiritual Director, I was very enthusiastic yet a bit anxious about teaching the course as this was my first teaching experience with IPS.
Have you always been involved in the education field? No, I have not always been involved in the education field. In fact, although I have done some informal teaching, IPS was my first professional teaching assignment.
How did that first teaching assignment unfold?As with most new endeavors there are things that you do well and some things that may require some improvement. I really enjoyed my first teaching assignment. I could not have asked for a better class. I only hope that their lives were enriched as much as teaching them enriched mine. I must say that I am truly grateful for the experience. I found that amazing things happen when you allow yourself to be stretched beyond your preconceived capabilities and self-imposed limitations.
What does the term “formation” mean for you? To me the term formation means human, spiritual, intellectual and pastoral preparation for those who are planning to enter ministry.
What drew you to the Coordinator of Formation opportunity here at IPS? What drew me to the Coordinator of Formation opportunity at IPS was being able to help the students to find opportunities that will meet their personal developmental needs as they prepare to take on their ministerial and/or pastoral responsibilities.
What are you most excited for as the Coordinator of Formation? As the Coordinator of Formation I am most excited about getting to interact with the students, faculty and staff. I look forward to working with them and becoming familiar with their needs and doing all I can to assure that they are met. I am excited about piloting a new position in IPS and look forward to meeting and mastering the challenges this entails.
How will the presence of an in-house Coordinator of Formation concretely impact the lives of IPS students, faculty and staff? The presence of an in-house Coordinator of Formation will impact the IPS students, faculty and staff because they will have a direct source to refer to or one contact point when searching for personal formation opportunities. As Coordinator of Formation I will be collaborating with other departments, especially, Campus Ministry and the Division of Student Development and will advise the student, faculty and staff of what is available using social media and/or other forms of notification. I will also be available for personal consultations as requested.
Can you share something about your prayer life practice that a fellow IPS community member may be able to rest in? When I was first contemplating going into ministry, I was talking with a close friend and I told him that I didn’t really think I was ready for ministry, that I didn’t think I was smart enough, because all of the great theologians seemed to be brilliant. So much so, that I didn’t understand anything they were trying to convey. His response to me was “God does not call the qualified, God qualifies the called.” My friend has since passed on, but whenever I am confronted with a new challenge I remember his words. I then stop, take a deep breath, quietly reflect for a moment and trust that God has provided me with all that I need.
How can a member of the IPS family connect with you? The IPS family can contact me at ctaliaferro1@luc.edu.
|Comments Off on Meet New IPS Coordinator of Formation, Carol Taliaferro
A formative way to do this is to follow Pontius Pilate’s example, who admits to being profoundly challenged by the person and words of Jesus when he responds to Jesus’ witness with an honest question: “What is truth?” (John 18:38) Pilate opens himself to the possibility that he may be encountering a truth he had never foreseen. This encounter with truth in person may change who he is in profound ways. During this Lenten season, then, we may reflect on the ways Jesus questions our assumptions about our lives, we may think about the questions we have been carrying with us for some time (perhaps even a long time) which we know we should ask to Jesus in person. What are the questions that would liberate us, allowing us to pursue the truth revealed in Jesus in more faithful, complete fashion? We may bring these questions before Jesus in our prayer, with the desire and hope of being transformed so as to be able to bear witness to the truth that he is.
