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2020 Fall Event Program

Written on . Posted in Fall Event.

FutureChurch’s 2020 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.

View/download the program.

Women Erased: #NunsToo with Tara Tuttle

Written on . Posted in Women Erased, Women In Church Leadership.

The sexual exploitation/abuse of women religious by Catholic priests was first reported by Sr. Maureen O’Donoghue in her 1994 report to the Vatican — a report that remained largely overlooked until 2001. This practice of “erasing” the experience and reality of Catholic women remains today. Professor Tara M. Tuttle probes the manner in which media outlets submerged the experiences and realities of Catholic women, both lay and consecrated, as they sought to affirm their own biases regarding the connection between clergy sexual abuse and homosexuality. That motif, along with inordinate deference for prelate and priest abusers, corrupted the truth and propped up the abuser’s narrative where women’s credibility was questioned and their efforts to access justice were routinely discounted or despised. Thus, women, accused of treachery against the Church for going public, suffered, too often, in silence.

Professor Tara M. Tuttle is the Assistant Dean of Diversity and Inclusion and a Senior Lecturer in the Lewis Honors College. She has a Ph.D. in Humanities with an emphasis in 20th century American culture, a graduate certificate in Women’s and Gender Studies from the University of Louisville, and an MA in Humanities from Indiana State University.

Women Erased: Talking Truth About Sacraments with Susan Ross, Ph.D.

Written on . Posted in Women Erased, Women In Church Leadership.

Women have always been at the heart of the sacraments and the sacramental life of the Catholic Church. In the real world where Catholics participate in the Eucharist and the Eucharistic life of the parish/community, women are the backbone. But their ministry is, too often, erased — unrecognized, and undervalued in that they do not receive the same official sanction as male ministers – yielding both sacramental grace and authority for their ministry. Dr. Susan A. Ross, argues that when it comes to the sacraments, the requirements of Catholic social justice have not applied, a disjuncture that severely limits the transformative power of the Eucharist and our common sacramental life. Yet, she also calls attention to what is changing – mapping the opportunities for transformation and emerging realities that are currently redefining our common sacramental life.

Women Erased: Restoring the Memory of Black Catholic Women with Anita Baird, DHM

Written on . Posted in Women Erased, Women In Church Leadership.

Black Catholic Women have been instrumental in shaping the life and faith of the Church, yet, our collective memory of their work, courage, challenge, generosity, and faith is too often made “invisible” in our Catholic education, Catholic liturgy, and Catholic art. Sr. Anita Baird, a native of Chicago, IL, and a member of the Religious Congregation of the Society of the Daughters of the Heart of Mary shares the stories of some of the Black Catholic Women who challenged the Church, challenged their communities, and brought enormous change to this country as they stood against racism and for a more just Catholic Church and world.

2020 Mary of Magdala Virtual Art Tour with Dr. Christina Axen

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

FutureChurch continues to celebrate the 2020 Feast Day of Saint Mary of Magdala with a virtual art tour, featuring early and medieval art.
Dr. Christine Axen draws on her knowledge of the layers of Medieval spiritual life and symbolism to expand our understanding of the complex imagery used to depict Mary Magdalene during the Medieval period. This tour will increase our understanding of the high status Mary Magdalene attained as a patron of 14th-16th century Penitential communities. It will also open the door to questions for further exploration: What happened? Why was “Mary Magdalene Proclaimer of the Resurrection” shown only in private art? And, How did Mary Magdalene go from distinguished Medieval preacher and revered hermit to Titian’s sixteenth century (and other’s) nudes?”
Dr. Christine Axen, Ph.D. is a medievalist with a specialization in French religious history and female religiosity in the Middle Ages. She received her doctorate from Boston University, and currently teaches at Fordham University in New York. She also gives guided tours of the Met Cloisters, the medieval branch of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and is interested in the depiction of women in medieval art, and the messages that art conveys about social order.

FutureChurch Welcomes Bishop Edward Malesic to Cleveland; Calls on Him to Be Fully Inclusive of Women Beginning With His Installation Mass; Offers prayers for fruitful tenure

Written on . Posted in Press Releases.

Release date:
Thursday, July 23, 2020
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contacts:
Russ Petrus, Co-Director of FutureChurch, 216.228.0869, russ@futurechurch.org
Deborah Rose-Milavec, Co-Director of FutureChurch, 513.673.1401 (mobile), debrose@futurechurch.org

CLEVELAND – On July 16, 2020 the Vatican announced the appointment of Bishop Edward Malesic as Bishop of Cleveland. Currently the Bishop of the Diocese of Greensburg, Pennsylvania, Bishop Malesic be installed as the Twelfth Bishop of Cleveland on September 14, 2020.

“FutureChurch welcomes Bishop Malesic to Cleveland and we pray for him and all Cleveland Catholics as we begin this new relationship,” said Todd Ray, Chair of the FutureChurch Board of Trustees. “We are heartened by indications from Greensburg laity and clergy that Bishop Malesic is a pastoral leader with strong listening skills,” Ray added.

Bishop Malesic succeeds Bishop Nelson Perez who was installed as Archbishop of Philadelphia in February.

“Bishop Perez’s time in Cleveland was a step in the right direction after the difficult leadership of Bishop Richard Lennon. And we are cautiously optimistic that Bishop Malesicwill continue to work with Clevelanders to foster healing, restore trust, and build relationships based on collaboration and mutuality,” said Russ Petrus, co-director of FutureChurch and resident of the Diocese of Cleveland.

“While we are particularly encouraged by reports regarding the listening sessions Bishop Malesic undertook in the wake of the Pennsylvania Grand Jury report, we also hope that he will extend that pastoral practice to the voices of women in this diocese beginning with an installation Mass that fully and equally includes women at the altar with the practice of genuine inclusion continuing throughout the course of his tenure in all aspects of ministry in this diocese,” added Deborah Rose-Milavec, co-director of FutureChurch.

“We hope his gift for listening will translate into meaningful and prophetic action that will respect and fully embrace the critically important ministry that Catholic women in this diocese already provide and help all Cleveland Catholics work together to address the most pressing issues facing the local and global Church today,” Rose-Milavec said. “We must finally address racism in our structures and culture, the exclusion of women, the vilification of LGBTQ Catholics, the need for a married priesthood, and the rapidly declining numbers of both priests and self-identified Catholics.”

FutureChurch looks forward to engaging with Bishop Malesic to find ways of working together to bring about a more just and inclusive diocese, Church, and world.

END

About FutureChurch Headquartered in Cleveland, Ohio, FutureChurch seeks changes that will provide all Roman Catholics the opportunity to participate fully in Church life and leadership. It is a national coalition of parish centered Catholics striving to educate fellow Catholics about the seriousness of the priest shortage, the centrality of the Eucharist (the Mass), and the systemic inequality of women in the Catholic Church. FutureChurch is a nonprofit organization that makes presentations throughout the country, distributes education, advocacy and prayer resources and recruits activists who work on behalf of its mission.

2020 Mary of Magdala Celebration with Preacher Dr. Kim Harris

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

FutureChurch Celebrates the Feast Day of Saint Mary of Magdala on July 22, 2020 with a special online liturgy with preaching from Dr. Kim R. Harris, Ph.D.

Dr. Kim Harris is Assistant Professor of African American Thought and Practice in the Department of Theological Studies at Loyola Marymount University. While pursuing her PhD at Union Seminary in New York City, she composed Welcome Table: A Mass of Spirituals, along with composer M. Roger Holland II. A gifted preacher, story teller, singer, and composer she records and travels the nation, performing concerts, lecturing on the music of African American freedom traditions, and leading music in a variety of liturgical settings. 

Permission to podcast/stream the music in this service obtained from ONE LICENSE, License #S-921009

Carolyn Osiek Presenting

Women Erased: In Search of a Majority with Carolyn Osiek, RSCJ, Th.D.

Written on . Posted in Women Erased, Women In Church Leadership.

Throughout the early (2nd-6th) Christian centuries, the lives of most women were lived in silence, while the few elite ascetic women got at least some attention. What about the rest? Dr. Carolyn Osiek, RSCJ, Catholic Professor of New Testament emerita at Brite Divinity School and past president of the Catholic Biblical Association, explores the lives of these early Christian women we know little about.