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World Catholicism Week 2017

Header for World Catholicism Week 2017 (April 28-30)

View conference videos here.

Gathered in My Name: Ecumenism in the World Church

Held April 28-30, 2017, this ninth annual World Catholicism Week commemorated the 500-year anniversary of the Reformation. Speakers from places as diverse as India, Nigeria, Brazil, Chile, and Sri Lanka gathered to address the lingering repercussions of the Reformation in the global South—Asia, Africa, and Latin America—as well as the efforts there to bridge ecclesial divides.

Keynote Speakers

Paul D. Murray
Editor, Receptive Ecumenism and the Call to Catholic Learning
Member, Anglican-Roman Catholic International Commission (ARCIC III)

Sr. Teresa Okure, SHCJ
Member and sole representative of Catholic Africa, Anglican-Roman Catholic International Commission (ARCIC III)

Rev. Felix Wilfred
President, Concilium: International Journal of Theology
Chief editor, International Journal of Asian Christianity
 

Roundtable Speakers

Patrick Alumuku (Catholic Television of Nigeria, Archdiocese of Abuja—Abuja, Nigeria)

Paul Avis (Chaplain to Queen Elizabeth II—Exeter, UK)

Elias Bongmba (Rice University—Houston)

Lusmarina Campos (Past President, Council of Christian Churches of Rio de Janeiro—Brazil)

Mark Chapman (Ripon College, Cuddeson—UK)

Michael Cooper-White (Lutheran Theological Seminary—Gettysburg, PA)

Mary N. Getui (Catholic University of East Africa—Nairobi)

Vincent C. Ifeme (Diocese of San Benedetto del Tronto-Ripatransone-Montalto—Italy)

Stan Chu Ilo (Center for World Catholicism & Intercultural Theology, DePaul University—Chicago)

Grace Ji-Sun Kim (Earlham School of Religion—Richmond, IN)

Juan Sepúlveda (Evangelical Service for Ecumenical Development—Concepción, Chile)

Vimal Tirimanna, CSsR (Anglican-Roman Catholic International Commission—Ampitiya, Sri Lanka)

Justin K. H. Tse (Northwestern University—Evanston, IL)

Friday, April 28

KEYNOTE PRESENTATION—"I Am With You Always" (Matthew 28:20): Jesus' Perspective on Ecumenism and the World Church

Teresa Okure, SHCJ
Member & sole representative of Catholic Africa, Anglican-Roman Catholic International Commission (ARCIC III)
Professor of Scripture (New Testament) & Gender Hermeneutics, Catholic Institute of West Africa
(Port Harcourt, Nigeria)

(Moderator: Rev. Joseph DeFrancisco—Professor of Theology and Pastoral Studies, St. Ambrose University)

Saturday, April 29

ROUNDTABLE—Theological Perspectives on Christian Solidarity

  • Lusmarina Campos Garcia — The Solitude of Solidarity: A Narrative from Brazil
  • Mary N. Getui — What Motivates Grassroots Cooperation among Christians in Kenya?
  • Stan Chu Ilo — From Miraculous Waters in Eastern Nigeria to the Earth Keepers of Zimbabwe: Ecumenical Stories of Healing, Health & Ecology in A

(Moderator: Rev. Diane Dardón—Chaplain, Protestant Christian Ministries, DePaul University)

ROUNDTABLE—Religious Competition

  • Elias Bongmba — From Comity to Competition in Cameroon & Kenya
  • Justin K. H. Tse — Keeping the Family Together: The Geopolitics of Family Values Advocacy among Post-Handover Hong Kong Catholics & Protestants
  • Philip Wingeier-Rayo — Pentecostalism & Base Christian Communities in Mexico: Similarities, Differences & Juxtapositions

(Moderator: Rev. Joseph DeF rancisco—Professor of Theology and Pastoral Studies, St. Ambrose University)

ROUNDTABLE—Grassroots Cooperation

  • Patrick Alumuku — The Christian Association of Nigeria (C.A.N.): Ecumenical Unity in the Face of Persecution
  • Grace Ji-Sun Kim — Making Peace with the Earth
  • Juan Sepúlveda — Ecumenical Cooperation in Contexts of Crisis: The Case of Chile under Military Dictatorship (1973-1990)

(Moderator: Rev. Diane Dardón—Chaplain, Protestant Christian Ministries, DePaul University)

KEYNOTE PRESENTATION—Formal Ecumenism, Receptive Ecumenism, and the Diverse Local Churches of the Global Catholic Communion

Paul D. Murray
Member, Anglican-Roman Catholic International Commission (ARCIC III)
Director, Centre for Catholic Studies, Durham University
(Durham, UK)

(Moderator: Michael Canaris—Assistant Professor, Institute of Pastorial Studies, Loyola University Chicago)

Sunday, April 30

ROUNDTABLE —Ecumenism of Martyrdom

  • Mark Chapman—Anglicans, the Ecumenism of Blood & Postcolonial Problems
  • Michael Cooper-White—Bishops Saving "Singers": Tales of Torture & Courageous Christian Witness in Pinochet's Chile



(Moderator: William Cavanaugh—CWCIT Director and Professor of Catholic Studies, DePaul University)

ROUNDTABLE—Official Ecumenical Dialogues

  • Paul Avis—The Elusiveness of Consensus and the Road to Deeper Communion
  • Vincent C. Ifeme—Ecumenism & Immigration: The "New Christians" in Italy
  • Vimal Tirimanna, CSsR—Past Divisions & Present Ecumenical Dialogues: Are These Elements of God's Plan (Providence)?

(Moderator: Ellen K. Wondra—Research Professor Emerita of Theology & Ethics, Bexley Seabury Seminary)

KEYNOTE PRESENTATION—The Future of Ecumenism through the Lens of Postcolonial Theories

Felix Wilfred
President, Concilium: International Journal of Theology
Emeritus Professor of Philosophy & Religious Thought, State University of Madras
(Chennai, India)

(Moderator: Bernhard Spielberg—FRIAS Junior Fellow in Catholic Theology, Freiburg Institute for Advanced Studies, University of Freiburg—Germany)