World Catholicism Week 2025
:: Please Note ::
- For the most up-to-date information, including the full speaker lineup and final schedule, please visit the conference website.
- This is a hybrid event, hosted both in person and via livestream.
:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
In his recent Spes Non Confundit ("Hope does not disappoint," Romans 5:5), Pope Francis declares hope the central message of the 2025 Jubilee year. In this conference, we will look for signs of hope amid mounting global challenges that drive many to anxiety, cynicism, and despair. Coming from a variety of disciplines, our speakers will discuss the following topics:
- Theologies, spiritualities, and practices of hope, from large-scale projects to everyday exemplars
- Structural barriers to hope
- How hope differs from optimism
- The interplay between hope and patience
- How those on the margins manage to practice hope even in the most hopeless of circumstances
:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
:: Conference Speakers ::
- KEYNOTE: Dylan Corbett (Hope Border Institute—El Paso, TX, USA)
- David Buckley (University of Louisville—Louisville, KY, USA)
- Min-Ah Cho (Georgetown University—Washington, DC, USA)
- Debra Dean Murphy (West Virginia Wesleyan College—Buckhannon, WV, USA)
- Yara González-Justiniano (Vanderbilt Divinity School—Nashville, TN, USA)
- Emmanuel Katongole (University of Notre Dame—Notre Dame, IN, USA | Bethany Land Institute—Bombo, Uganda)
- Léonard Katchekpele (Diocese of Speyer—Speyer, Germany | Catholic University of West Africa—Lomé, Togo)
- César Kuzma (Pontifical Catholic University of Paraná—Curitiba, Brazil)
- Mwila Mulumbi (Catholic Agency for Overseas Development—London)
- Vien V. Nguyen, SCJ (U.S. Province, Priests of the Sacred Heart—Hales Corners, WI, USA)
- Elizabeth O'Donnell Gandolfo (Wake Forest University School of Divinity—Winston-Salem, NC, USA)
- Atalia Omer (University of Notre Dame’s Keough School of Global Affairs—Notre Dame, IN, USA)
- Antonio D. Sison, CPPS (Catholic Theological Union—Chicago, IL, USA)
:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
:: About the Cover Photo ::
Breathe (2018) by Billie Bond (www.BillieBondArt.com) ~ Ms. Bond's sculpture was inspired by the ancient Japanese art of kintsugi. This technique for repairing broken pottery with gold offers a rich metaphor for hope in a fractured world.
:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
:: About the World Catholicism Week Conference ::
Organized by DePaul University's Center for World Catholicism and Intercultural Theology (CWCIT), World Catholicism Week is an annual event, now in its 16th year, that gathers scholars from around the world to explore a single topic.