College of Liberal Arts & Social Sciences > Centers & Institutes > Center for World Catholicism & Intercultural Theology > World Catholicism Week > Past World Catholicism Weeks > 2011: A Global Communion

World Catholicism Week 2011

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World Catholicism Week 2011

View conference videos here.

The theme for this conference was the unity and diversity of Catholic faith throughout the globe. Chicago is a global city, and the students at DePaul University represent over 100 countries. The three events for this week demonstrated that the vitality of the Church is only strengthened by its diversity.

Catholic cultural diversity is the fruit of a spirituality of communion. The spirituality of communion forges a new sense of community in the light of God’s gift to the Church of a Trinitarian communion. This gift is sustained as truly a gift from God in the celebration of the liturgy but also needs to be just as truly present in the Church’s entire mode of being and its public witness. This spirituality “means, finally, to know how to ‘make room’ for our brothers and sisters, bearing ‘each other's burdens’ (Gal 6:2). A spirituality of communion means listening to one another and recognizing the absolute goodness of the other as gift.

The conference was dedicated to the courageous figure of Fr. Augustus Tolton (1854-1897), the first publicly recognized African American priest in the United States. Even though he was a freed slave and an ordained priest, Fr. Tolton still had to flee his original diocese in southern Illinois and move to Chicago on account of racism. 

Being a Thinking Catholic: Global Perspectives on Catholic Studies

Karen Scott, Chair, Catholic Studies, DePaul University
Judith Povilus, Provost, Pontifical Sophia University Institute (Florence, Italy)
Christophe Potworowski, Chair, Catholic Studies, McGill University (Montreal, Canada)

Peacemaking & Catholic Studies

Michael Baxter, Visiting Associate Professional Specialist in Theology, University of Notre Dame

"Before You Were Born, I Knew You:" The Right to Life & the Challenge of Communion

John-Paul Deddens, Founding Director, Students for Life of Illinois

Raised in Jerusalem: Latino Spirituality in the Next Generation

Michael Lee, Assistant Professor, Theology, Fordham University

Ecology & Interreligious Dialogue: Green Monasticism

Donald Mitchell, Professor, Philosophy, Purdue University

Respondents:
Liam Heneghan, Co-director, Institute for Nature & Culture, DePaul University
David Wellman, Co-director, Center for Religious Engagement, DePaul University

Sacred Hospitality

Thomas Maier, Assistant Professor, School of Hospitality Leadership, DePaul University
Rev. Claudio Holzer, C.S., Pastor, Our Lady of Mount Carmel Shrine (Melrose Park, IL)
Marco Tavanti, Associate Professor, School of Public Service, DePaul University

Evolution in the U.S.A. & Creation in the Catholic Theological Tradition

James Halstead, Chair, Religious Studies, DePaul University 
Scott Paeth, Assistant Professor, Religious Studies, DePaul University 

Kerala Catholicism & the Global Communion

Jaisy Joseph, Harvard Divinity School
Abin Kuriakose, School of Commerce, DePaul University; St. Thomas Syro-Malabar Catholic Diocese of Chicago 

Memory, Memoir, & Meaning: Telling Our Sacred Stories 

Farrell O'Gorman, Associate Professor, Catholic Studies, DePaul University
Scott Kelley, Assistant Vice President for Vincentian Scholarship, Mission & Values, DePaul University
Siobhan O'Donoghue, Associate Director for Community Service, DePaul University

Our Lady of the World: Mary in the Global Communion of the Church

Paul O'Hara, Chair, Mathematics, Northeastern Illinois University
Rev. Esequiel Sanchez, Pastor, Mary Queen of Heaven Catholic Church (Cicero, IL)

The Road to Canonization: The Spirituality & Life of Fr. Augustus Tolton

C. Vanessa White, Director, Augustus Tolton Pastoral Ministry Program, Catholic Theological Union 

Spirituality & Trinitarian Theology in the Life & Thought of Chiara Lubich

Maria Voce
President, The Focolare Movement

Respondents:
Thomas Norris, Member, International Theological Commission; Professor Emeritus, St. Patrick's College, Maynooth (Maynooth, Ireland)
David Schindler, Provost/Dean & Gagnon Professor of Fundamental Theology, Pontifical John Paul II Institute for Studies on Marriage & Family, The Catholic University of America

This conference is the fruit of a process extending back to the 2008 founding of the Center for World Catholicism and Intercultural Theology. CWCIT organized conferences in 2008 and 2010 that looked at the global future of Catholicism in new ways. In particular, CWCIT sponsored an international colloquium, “Forms of Catholicity,” in January 2009. We brought together key international Catholic scholars who have helped to forge “the discourse of catholicity” as a theological idiom. The point of departure was an address originally delivered in Manila by Prof. Robert Schreiter, C.PP.S., of Catholic Theological Union.

In his talk, Schreiter argued cogently for a discussion that would address the gap between Concilium and Communio, i.e., between—to cite his words more precisely—the strand in Catholic thought that he linked to Gaudium et Spes and the strand that he labeled “neo-Augustinian.” This gathering included a presentation by Schreiter, a paper by Jorge Scampini, OP, on catholicity and ecumenism, and a paper by Miriam Wyjlens on catholicity and canon law. In this conference, CWCIT gathered scholars who are forging a discourse of catholicity to serve the Church of the 21st century.

April 12

Opening Plenary Session

Robert Schreiter, C.PP.S., Vatican Council II Professor of Theology, Catholic Theological Union
Emmanuel Katongole, Co-director, Center for Reconciliation, Duke University

Catholicity & the Mission of the Holy Spirit in the Light of the Global Expansion of Pentecostalism & the Charismatic Renewal 

Jeffrey Gros, FSC, Distinguished Professor of Ecumenical & Historical Theology, Memphis Theological Seminary 
Ralph Del Colle, Associate Professor, Theology, Marquette University

Charles Taylor and the Hermeneutics of Intercultural Dialogue

William Barbieri, Associate Professor, School of Theology & Religious Studies, The Catholic University of America
Carolyn Chau, Toronto School of Theology, Regis College (Toronto, Canada)
Pablo Lazo Briones, Professor & Researcher, Philosophy, Universidad Iberoamericana (Mexico City, Mexico)

Unity & Diversity in the Heritage of Catholic Social Teaching: A Celebration of the 120th Anniversary of Rerum Novarum

Zachary Calo, Assistant Professor of Law, Valparaiso University
Thomas O'Brien, Associate Professor, Religious Studies, DePaul University

Civil Religions, National Myths, and the Catholicity of the Church: Toward a Comparative Exploration

Martin Menke, Professor, History & Government, Rivier College
Slavica Jakelic, Fellow, Institute for Advanced Studies in Culture, University of Virginia

New Paradigms for Global Ecclesiology 

Linh Hoang, Assistant Professor, Religious Studies, Siena College
Teresia Hinga, Associate Professor, Religious Studies, Santa Clara University

Second Plenary Session

Walter Euler, Professor, Fundamental Theology & Ecumenical Theology, Faculty of Theology, University of Trier (Trier, Germany)
Peter Casarella, Director, Center for World Catholicism & Intercultural Theology, DePaul University

April 13

Third Plenary Session

Michael Budde, Senior Research Fellow, Center for World Catholicism & Intercultural Theology, DePaul University
Margarita Mooney, Assistant Professor, Sociology, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

The Unity & Diversity of the Church in the New Testament 

Margaret Mitchell, Professor, New Testament & Early Christian Literature, & Dean, Divinity School, University of Chicago
Barbara Reid, OP, Professor, New Testament, & Vice President/Academic Dean, Catholic Theological Union

Catholicity in the Fathers of the Church

Rev. Dr. J. Kiran Sebastian, H. George Anderson Professor of Mission & Cultures, Lutheran Theological Seminary at Philadelphia
Chad Pecknold, Assistant Professor, Historical & Systematic Theology, The Catholic University of America
Michael Hollerich, Professor, Theology, University of St. Thomas

The Mutual Exchange of Gifts: Clergy Formation & the Challenge of Intercultural Dialogue

Keynote Speaker & Moderator:
Msgr. Wayne Prist, Director of Priest Development, Archdiocese of Chicago 

Panelists:
Daniel Borlik, CM, DePaul University Board of Trustees 
Louis Cameli, STD, Archdiocese of Chicago, Archbishop’s Delegate for Formation & Mission
Joseph R. Ferrari, Professor, Psychology, DePaul University 
Daniel Gast, Director, Project INSPIRE
Kevin Gillespie, SJ, Associate Provost, Loyola University of Chicago 
Manuel Ginete, CM, preparing to serve in Sudan 
Lennoxie Lusabe, CM, served in Kenya, currently graduate student in Canada
Patrick McDevitt, CM, Assistant Professor, School of Education, DePaul University
Gary A. Mueller, CM, served in Kenya, currently graduate student in Rome

Book Presentation: A World for All? Global Civil Society in Political Theory & Trinitarian Theology

Rev. Dr. J. Kiran Sebastian, H. George Anderson Professor of Mission & Cultures, Lutheran Theological Seminary at Philadelphia
Peter Casarella, Director, Center for World Catholicism & Intercultural Theology, DePaul University 
Paul Louis Metzger, Director, Institute for the Theology of Culture, Multnomah Biblical Seminary
Robert Schreiter, C.PP.S., Vatican Council II Professor of Theology, Catholic Theological Union 
William Storrar, Director, Center for Theological Inquiry 

Fourth Plenary Session

Anselm Min, Dean & Maguire Distinguished Professor of Religion, School of Religion, Claremont Graduate University

Closing Plenary

John Allen, Senior Correspondent, National Catholic Reporter; Senior Vatican Analyst, CNN

Last year, journalist John Allen gave a presentation on Pope Benedict XVI's environmental theology in order to stimulate a conversation by DePaul faculty on the religious dimensions of environmental sustainability. Graham Ward's presentation follows in this tradition and is being named the First Annual Peter V. Byrne, CM, Lecture. The controversial and visionary first president of DePaul University, 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

First Annual Fr. Peter V. Byrne, CM, Lecture

Graham Ward
Samuel Fergusson Professor of Philosophical Theology & Ethics University of Manchester (Manchester, England)

DePaul Faculty Panel Discussion
Margarita Mooney, Assistant Professor, Sociology, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill 
Sarah Bond, Adjunct Professor, Catholic Studies & History of Art, DePaul University
Larry Bennett, Professor, Political Science, DePaul University
Charles Suchar, Dean, College of Liberal Arts & Sciences, DePaul University