Perhaps you are like me…I grew up in a faith passed to me by my parents. I was educated in that faith and received the sacraments of that faith. I started to raise my children in that faith until very real issues for me personally prevented me from blindly practicing my faith within the walls of the Roman Catholic Church – the institution – issues impacting women, youth, and the LGBTQ+ community.
I had the chance to connect with a friend from high school, Maureen O’Connell, a Professor of Christian Ethics at La Salle University, and what she shared with me, particularly related to women in the Catholic Church, made me pause and think deeper about leaving versus staying. Pope Francis has spoken about the importance of storytelling as the weaving of a fabric with unbreakable threads that links the past and present, everything and everyone. I thought of our Night Out With Meaning Community and how if I am pausing to reflect on my decisions perhaps you will too when you hear Maureen’s story.
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Maureen has asked important questions – Can the Roman Catholic Church – one of the oldest institutions in human history, riddled with crises and yet still a global source of charity and justice – change its position on women? Will we see Catholic women become preachers, ordained ministers, and decision-makers in our lifetime? Maureen will share good news coming out of the global Synod where urgent conversations about “women in the life and mission of the Church”–conversations that include women for the first time in the Church’s history-are yielding encouraging results. We’ll hear about her work with Discerning Deacons, an international project to renew the ministry of the deacon and to include women in it, and the changes already unfolding-around the world and right here in Philadelphia-when we attempt to change institutions by having candid conversations about women’s public roles in them.
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Date | Time: March 21, 2024 | 6:30pm
Place: Philadelphia Cricket Club, St. Martins Clubhouse, Blue Room
(415 West Willow Grove Avenue Philadelphia, PA 19118)
Storyteller: Maureen O’Connell
Topic: The Catholic Church is Having a Moment about Women – What’s at Stake and What’s it Going to Take?