What difference does being a Catholic Christian make in a world of powerful institutions and processes that shape identities, loyalties and allegiances?

Has Catholicism’s embrace of nationalism and other powerful forms of political/cultural identity limited, inhibited or thwarted the call of the Gospel to form communities of discipleship across human borders and divisions? How can the Church respect and celebrate the diversity of its members – many nations, cultures and communities – while maintaining a coherent witness to the Kingdom of God that is not undermined by more parochial ideologies or priorities?

This project explores theological, political and pastoral issues related to the Catholic encounter with processes and institutions that form politically salient loyalties and identities in the modern and postmodern world. As people worldwide inescapably find themselves part of multiple and overlapping communities of identity and belonging (e.g., racial, political, cultural, sexual, ideological), it is far from obvious how these can and should stand in relative importance to the unity in Christ effected in baptism and sustained by the Eucharist.

All of the sessions in this part of the conference will explore the relationship around the world between church in state, on the personal, political, pastoral, and theological levels. How do we, in our individual lives & our institutional lives, live out our Catholic identity in the context of our political/cultural identity?

Sunday, April 14

Opening Plenary

Bishop Paride Taban, Bishop Emeritus, Catholic Diocese of Torit (Torit, Sudan); Founder, Holy Trinity Peace Village Kuron (Kuron, Sudan)

Stanley Hauerwas, Gilbert T. Rowe Professor of Theological Ethics, Duke Divinity School
Moderator: Peter Casarella (CWCIT Director, DePaul University)

Monday, April 15

Thinking Theologically About Identities, Allegiances & Being a Christian
Dorian Llywelyn, SJ, Associate Professor, Theology; Director, Catholic Studies, Loyola Marymount University
Emmanuel Katongole, Associate Professor, Theology & Peace Studies, Kroc Institute for International Peace Studies, University of Notre Dame

Religious Liberty & Political Tensions: A View from the Vatican
John L. Allen, Jr., Senior Correspondent, National Catholic Reporter; Senior Vatican Analyst, CNN

Tuesday, April 16

Catholicity & Incarnated Identities: European Cases & Theological Reflections
Daniel Izuzquiza, SJ, Director, Centro Pueblos Unidos (Madrid, Spain)
Martin Menke, Professor, History & Government, Rivier University
Slavica Jakelic, Associate Fellow, Institute for Advanced Studies in Culture, University of Virginia

Catholicity & Incarnated Identities: African Cases & Theological Reflections
Eunice Karanja Kamaara, Professor of Religious Studies, Moi University (Eldoret, Kenya); International Affiliate Professor, Indiana University-Purdue University
Agbonkhianmeghe E. Orobator, SJ, Provincial, Jesuit Province of East Africa (Nairobi, Kenya)

Catholicity & Incarnated Identities: Latin American Cases & Theological Reflections
Matthew J. Butler, Associate Professor of Modern Mexican History, University of Texas at Austin
Maria Clara Bingemer, Associate Professor, Theology; Vice Dean, Center of Theology & Human Sciences, Pontifical Catholic University of Rio de Janeiro (Brazil)

Catholicity & Incarnated Identities: North American Cases & Theological Reflections
William T. Cavanaugh, Professor of Catholic Studies & Senior Research Professor, CWCIT, DePaul University
Braden Anderson, Author of Chosen Nation: Scripture, Theopolitics & the Project of National Identity

Wednesday, April 17

Catholicity & Incarnated Identities: Asian Cases & Theological Reflections
K. M. Rukshan Fernando, Human Rights Activist & Chair, Rights Now (Colombo, Sri Lanka)
José Mario Francisco, SJ, President, Loyola School of Theology, Ateneo de Manila University (Manila, Philippines)

Political Theology, Political Practice & Questions of Allegiance
A. Alexander Stummvoll, Instructor, Catholic Studies & Research Fellow, CWCIT, DePaul University
Paul D. Murray, Professor, Systematic Theology & Director, Centre for Catholic Studies, Durham University (Durham, England)

Identities, Allegiances & Nationalism in Eastern Catholic & Orthodox Christian Contexts
Peter Galadza, Kule Family Professor of Liturgy, Sheptytsky Institute of Eastern Christian Studies; Faculty of Theology, Saint Paul University (Ottawa, Ontario, Canada)
Pantelis Kalaitzidis, Director, Volos Academy for Theological Studies (Volos, Greece); Professor, Systematic Theology, Hellenic Open University (Patras, Greece)
Victor Roudometof, Associate Professor, Social & Political Sciences, University of Cyprus (Nicosia, Cyprus)

As Pope Benedict XVI noted in his Message for the 46th World Communications Day, in today’s complex, diverse world of Web 2.0 stimulation & data, many people find themselves “confronted with the ultimate questions of human existence:

Who am I? .... What ought I to do? ....”

To truly understand and answer these questions, silence in the form of reflection, meditation, prayer, etc., is key. Through this silence, we find that God speaks to us, and in turn, Pope Benedict says, “we discover in silence the possibility of speaking with God and about God.” We also experience “the compelling obligation ‘to communicate that which we have seen and heard’.... (1 Jn 1:3).”

In quiet contemplation, we are immersed in “the light of Christ, his message of life and his saving gift of the fullness of love.” And we are invited to share these same gifts with our neighbors.

How to do this—encounter these gifts ourselves and share them with others—amidst all of today’s online chatter is the question this session will explore. To frame the question another way, "what would Jesus do on Facebook?"

Schedule
Panel Discussion followed by Q&A

Jana Bennett, Author of Aquinas on the Web? Doing Theology in an Internet Age; Associate Professor, Theological Ethics, University of Dayton
Brent Laytham, Author of iPod, YouTube, Wii Play: Theological Engagements with Entertainment; Dean, Ecumenical Institute of Theology, St. Mary's Seminary & University

3rd Annual Rev. Peter V. Byrne, CM, Lecture

Intended for all of DePaul’s faculty and students, the 3rd Annual Byrne Lecture is also open to the general public. It is the closing session of World Catholicism Week and commemorates the founding vision of DePaul's first president. Controversial and visionary, Byrne forged ahead in 1907 with the bold desire to build a Catholic university and liberal arts curriculum for all the urban immigrants of the city of Chicago and in which there would be no religious test for admission to the college or to the faculty.

Schedule
"I Was in Prison & You Visited Me:" Spirituality & Social Justice

Speaker:
Sr. Helen Prejean, CSJ
Author of Dead Man Walking: An Eyewitness Account of the Death Penalty in the United States

Respondents:
Michael Baxter, Visiting Associate Professor, Catholic Studies, DePaul University
David Kelly, C.PP.S., Executive Director, Precious Blood Ministry of Reconciliation

John L. Allen, Jr.
Senior Correspondent, National Catholic Reporter
Senior Vatican Analyst, CNN

Braden P. Anderson
Founder & Owner, TheoLogos Partners
Author of Chosen Nation: Scripture, Theopolitics, and the Project of National Identity

Michael Baxter
Visiting Associate Professor, Catholic Studies
DePaul University

Jana Bennett
Associate Professor, Theological Ethics
University of Dayton

Maria Clara Lucchetti Bingemer
Associate Professor, Theology
Vice Dean, Center of Theology & Human Sciences
Pontifícia Universidade Católica do Rio de Janeiro (Brazil)

Michael Budde
Senior Research Professor, Center for World Catholicism & Intercultural Theology
Chair & Professor, Catholic Studies
Professor, Political Science
DePaul University

Matthew J. Butler
Associate Professor, Modern Mexican History
University of Texas at Austin

Peter Casarella
Professor, Catholic Studies
Director, Center for World Catholicism & Intercultural Theology
DePaul University

William Cavanaugh
Professor, Catholic Studies
Senior Research Professor, Center for World Catholicism & Intercultural Theology
DePaul University

K. M. Rukshan (Ruki) Fernando
Human Rights Activist
Chair, Rights Now (Colombo, Sri Lanka)

José Mario C. Francisco, SJ
President, Loyola School of Theology
Ateneo de Manila University (Manila, Philippines)

Peter Galadza
Kule Family Professor of Liturgy, Sheptytsky Institute of Eastern Christian Studies, Faculty of Theology
Saint Paul University (Ottawa, Ontario, Canada)

Stanley Hauerwas
Gilbert T. Rowe Professor of Theological Ethics
Duke Divinity School

Daniel Izuzquiza, SJ
Director, Centro Pueblos Unidos (Madrid, Spain)
Professor, Theology, Comillas Pontifical University (Madrid, Spain)

Slavica Jakelić
Associate Fellow, Institute for Advanced Studies in Culture
University of Virginia

Pantelis Kalaitzidis
Director, Volos Academy for Theological Studies (Volos, Greece)
Professor, Systematic Theology, Hellenic Open University (Patras, Greece)

Eunice Karanja Kamaara
Professor, Religious Studies, Moi University (Eldoret, Kenya)
International Affiliate Professor, Indiana University-Purdue University

Emmanuel Katongole
Associate Professor, Theology & Peace Studies
Kroc Institute for International Peace Studies
University of Notre Dame

David Kelly, C.PP.S.
Executive Director
Precious Blood Ministry of Reconciliation

Brent Laytham
Dean, Ecumenical Institute of Theology
St. Mary's Seminary & University

Dorian Llywelyn, SJ
Associate Professor, Theology
Director, Catholic Studies
Loyola Marymount University

Martin Menke
Professor, History & Government
Rivier University

Paul D. Murray
Professor, Systematic Theology
Director, Centre for Catholic Studies
Durham University (Durham, England)

Agbonkhianmeghe E. Orobator, SJ
Provincial Superior
Jesuit Province of East Africa (Nairobi, Kenya)

Sr. Helen Prejean, CSJ
Author of Dead Man Walking: An Eyewitness Account of the Death Penalty in the United States

Victor Roudometof
Associate Professor, Social & Political Sciences
University of Cyprus (Nicosia, Cyprus)

A. Alexander Stummvoll
Visiting Assistant Professor, Catholic Studies
Research Fellow, Center for World Catholicism & Intercultural Theology
DePaul University

Bishop Paride Taban
Bishop Emeritus, Catholic Diocese of Torit (Torit, Sudan)
Founder, Holy Trinity Peace Village Kuron (Kuron, Sudan)
Recipient, 2013 U.N. Peace Award (Sergio Vieira de Mello Prize)