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Mary of Magdala Education Resource

Written on July 12, 2023. Posted in Mary of Magdala, Women In Church Leadership.

Mary of Magdala is perhaps the most maligned and misunderstood figure in early Christianity. Since the fourth century, she has been portrayed as a prostitute and public sinner who, after encountering Jesus, repented and spent the rest of her life in private prayer and penitence. Yet, nowhere in scripture is Mary of Magdala identified as a public sinner or a prostitute. Instead, scripture shows her as the primary witness to the most central events of Christian faith, named in exactly the same way (Maria e Magdalena) in each of four gospels written for diverse communities throughout the Mediterranean world.

Thankfully, contemporary scholarship has rightfully restored our understanding of Mary of Magdala as an important early Christian leader. Now she becomes the same inspiring role model for twenty-first century disciples that she was for first century Christians.

Learn more about Mary Magdalene with our educational resource.

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2023 Mary of Magdala Celebration on Synodality

Written on June 21, 2023. Posted in Downloads, Mary of Magdala, Synod on Synodality, Women In Church Leadership.

Thank you for your interest in celebrating the Feast of St. Mary Magdalene with us. Celebrating and lifting up Mary’s true role as Apostle of the Apostles is one of the most important things we can do for our Church and world.

For 2023, we have chosen to highlight synodality. We are grateful to Kelly Meraw, who developed and compiled this year’s prayer service. Kelly is Director of Liturgy, Music, and Pastoral Care for St. John – St. Paul Collaborative in Wellesley, Massachusetts. She is also the primary facilitator for her Collaborative’s Committee for Synodality.

Jesus himself practiced synodality and sought to teach it to his disciples – both women and men – through example: teaching through parables; seeking out those on the periphery, whose voices had been ignored or silenced; placing each person he encountered on his path at the center of his ministry.

Perhaps the greatest ‘miss’ in the history of Synodality was that of the courageous witness of Mary Magdalene, who was commissioned by Jesus to “go and tell” the good news. And we live with the wound of that ‘miss’ in our Church to this day. Through this prayer service, as we recover her witness and honor the impact it continues to make, we gather our prayers together for all women who continue to be ignored, discredited, and disbelieved.

The voices of Catholics around the world calling for greater equality for women in the Church in “Enlarge the Space of Our Tent” will guide us through our prayer service as we highlight women’s synodal encounters with Jesus, then, and the synodal encounters in the heartfelt sharing of the People of God, now.

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Martha Jane Chisley Tolton

Written on June 21, 2023. Posted in Women Witnesses for Racial Justice.

While the life of pioneering priest Father Augustus Tolton is rightly being elevated such that he is on track for sainthood, his brave, stalwart mother, Martha Jane Chisley has received little recognition. A courageous and tenacious woman, she saved her son and her other two children from a life of slavery and fought her whole life to create the opportunities Augustus needed to pursue his vocation as the first recognized African American priest. She did it for him. She did it for the people in her community.

To learn more, download our resource packet. Women Witnesses for Racial Justice resource packets include:

Biography/Essay
Questions for reflection and conversation
Original art by Chloe Becker
Prayer Service
Suggestions for taking action in your community

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Artist: Chloe Becker. Comissioned by FutureChurch.

A Post-Benedict, Post Pell with Paul Collins

Written on March 16, 2023. Posted in Justice In the Church.

Historian, writer, and commentator Paul Collins joins FutureChurch to share his insights on the legacies of Pope Benedict XVI and Cardinal George Pell and what the future holds in a post-Benedict and post-Pell Church.

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Biography: Born in Melbourne and now living in Canberra, Paul Collins is an historian, broadcaster, and writer. For many years he has worked in varying capacities in TV and radio and has written regularly for most of Australia’s leading newspapers and magazines, as well as for print media in the UK, the United States, Germany, and Austria. He has a Master’s degree in theology (Th.M.) from Harvard University, and a Doctorate in Philosophy (Ph.D) in history from the Australian National University (ANU), and is a Fellow of Trinity College of Music, London. He is the author of fourteen books and in March 2001 he resigned from the active priestly ministry of the Catholic Church after thirty-three years service due to a doctrinal dispute with the Vatican’s Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith over his book “Papal Power (1997).” While he is well known as a commentator on Catholicism and the papacy, he also has a strong interest in environmental and population issues. Nowadays he works as a freelance writer, speaker and broadcaster on environmental issues, social ethics, theology, history and media.

Letter to North American Writing Team

Written on February 9, 2023. Posted in Justice In the Church, Synod on Synodality.

Approximately 150 Catholics from the United States and Canada came together for two gatherings hosted by FutureChurch in January 2023 to pray and reflect on the Continental Stage Document.

These responses were offered after two evenings of prayer, listening to Scripture, a review of the Continental Stage Document, small group discussions, and written reflections. The participants were guided by the three questions posed in Part IV of the Continental Stage Document:

After having read and prayed with the DCS, which intuitions resonate most strongly with the lived experiences and realities of the Church in your continent? Which experiences are new or illuminating to you?
After having read and prayed with the DCS, what substantial tension or divergences emerge as particularly important in your continent’s perspective? What are the questions or issues that should be addressed and considered in the next steps of the process?
After having read and prayed with the DCS, looking at what emerges from the previous two questions, what are the priorities, recurring themes and calls to action that can be shared with other local Churches around the world and discussing during the First Session of the Synodal Assembly in October 2023?

Letter to Continental Synthesis Writing Team with Addendum

Synod Continental Discernment Session

Written on January 31, 2023. Posted in Justice In the Church, Synod on Synodality.

Participants came together in prayer, to listen, dialogue, and discern if the Continental Phase Document authentically reflects our concerns, hopes, and priorities for the future of the Church.

Read the letter we submitted to the North American Synthesis Writing team based on your input.

Session One: Toward a Missionary Synodal Church

FutureChurch hosts the first of two sessions dedicated to discerning the contents of the Synod Continental Phase Document, Enlarge the Space of your Tent. After song, scripture, and prayer, FutureChurch co-director, Deborah Rose offers a summary of the context of the document and the contents of section three, “Towards a missionary synodal church.”

Additional Resources:

Continental Phase Document Read More. (It would be very helpful to read Section III as completely as possible)
Highlights and notes from Section I, II, and III of the Continental Phase Document (Deb Rose’s slides) Read more
Summary of FutureChurch Synods Sessions – What Our Participants Said. Read more
In Our Own Words Full Synod Report Read more
Prayers used for this session Read more
FutureChurch Questionnaire (now closed)

Session Two:

FutureChurch hosts the second of two sessions dedicated to discerning the contents of the Synod Continental Phase Document, Enlarge the Space of your Tent. After song, scripture, and prayer, FutureChurch co-director, Deborah Rose offers a summary of the responses provided last week’s participants and invites participants to discern the three questions asked of the Synthesis drafting team:

Which intuitions resonate most strongly with the lived experiences and realities of the Church in your continent? Which experiences are new or illuminating to you?
What substantial tensions or divergences emerge as particularly important in your continent’s perspective? Consequently, what are the questions or issues that should be addressed and considered in the net steps of the process?
Looking at what emerges from the previous two questions, what are the priorities, recurring themes and calls to action that can be shared with other local Churches around the world and discussed during the First Session of the Synodal Assembly in October 2023?

“Sing a New Church” by Delores Dufner, OSB, © 1991, The Sisters of St. Benedict. Published by OCP. All rights reserved. Music: J. Wyeth’s Repository of Sacred Music, Part II, 1813. Music displayed and streamed with permission under OneLicense #A-737115.

Additional Resources:

Continental Phase Document Read More.
Overview of participant responses to week one (Deb’s slides) Read more
FutureChurch Questionnaire (Now Closed)
Opening Scripture and Prayer Read More.

Respect Women: A Catholic Plan for Justice with Emily Reimer-Barry, Ph.D.

Written on January 19, 2023. Posted in Respect Women Series, Women In Church Leadership.

Emily Reimer-Barry, Ph.D. presents FutureChurch’s first Respect Women Lecture. In her presentation, Dr. Barry addresses obstacles to women’s full participation in the leadership and decision-making of the Church and the justice consequences of such exclusion. She also presents an action plan for structural change and the full inclusion of women.

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Dr. Emily Reimer-Barry is an associate professor and the chair of the Department of Theology and Religious Studies at the University of San Diego. She teaches courses in Catholic theological ethics, including sexual ethics, feminist ethics, war and peace, and ethical responses to HIV and AIDS. Reimer-Barry’s research explores the intersection of sexuality and social justice. She is a graduate of the University of Notre Dame (B.A. 2000), Weston Jesuit School of Theology (M.T.S., 2002), and Loyola University Chicago (Ph.D., 2008).

2022 Fall Event Program

Written on November 1, 2022. Posted in Fall Event.

FutureChurch’s 2022 Fall Event Program includes biographies of our guests, a listing of our event sponsors, advertisements from friends of FutureChurch, and reports and updates on our programming.

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