Activities of the Woodstock Fellows

In chronological order, most recent first.
See also Woodstock Fellows for biographies.

March - May 2007

[Woodstock Report, June 2007, No. 88]

Rev. Raymond B. Kemp spoke in March at the Shrine of the Most Blessed Sacrament in Washington, D.C., about biblical justice. He traveled to East Rutherford, New Jersey, during the NCAA basketball regional finals to celebrate Sunday Mass for the Georgetown team, alumni, and fans. In April, Kemp preached a Lenten Reconciliation Service at St. Matthew’s Cathedral in Washington, D.C.; spoke on a panel with Kathleen Kennedy Townsend and E.J. Dionne, Jr., on “Failing America’s Faithful,” sponsored by the Georgetown Public Policy Institute; and gave a two-day workshop on “Preaching the Just Word” in the Diocese of Austin, Texas, with John Donahue, S.J. In May, he delivered the Commencement Address at the Washington Theological Union graduation; gave a Preaching the Just Word Workshop at Graymoor in Garrison, New York, with Larry Boadt, CSP, John Carr, and Nancy Sheridan, SASV; and celebrated the fortieth anniversary of his ordination.

Dolores Leckey gave a talk on “Poetry and Prayer in the Life of Jessica Powers” at St. Anthony’s Church in Falls Church, Virginia, in March. Also in March, she spoke at St. Ignatius Church in Baltimore on the topic of her new book, “For the Life of the Church: A Call to Lay Leadership.” In April, Leckey gave a workshop on The Laity and Christian Education for the National Catholic Education Association. She is currently working intensely on a small book in a series on women’s spirituality in a global context.

James L. Nolan helped lead a Day of Reflection in April for the Order of Malta, Federal Association, with the theme “Blessed are the Poor.” Nolan, program coordinator for the Arrupe Program in Business Ethics and the Woodstock Business Conference, convened a discussion seminar in May in further pursuit of the Arrupe Program’s development of an empirically-grounded social ethics for business. In this seminar, business leaders and theologians explored the challenges and benefits of globalization in instances marked by American outsourcing of business creativity, intelligence, and ingenuity. In May and June, Nolan is teaching a course on “Executive Decision Making: Critical Thinking and Moral Judgment” in Georgetown University’s McDonough School of Business Executive Master’s in Leadership program.

Thomas J. Reese, S.J., has become a regular contributor to the Washington Post-Newsweek religion blog, “On Faith.” He spoke on “The Catholic Church and Politics” to the faculty at The Catholic University of America’s Law School in March. Also in March, he made a presentation on Deus Caritas Est to the Board of Director of Catholic Relief Services. He returned to Catholic University in April, this time to the canon law department, to speak to students about church politics. During March and April he appeared on “NBC Nightly News” and was also quoted in the New York Times Sunday Magazine, BBC News, Washington Post, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Dallas Morning News, Austin American-Statesman, Newsweek, Los Angeles Times, Minneapolis Star Tribune, and Baltimore Sun, as well as in stories on Reuters and the Associated Press, which run in many newspapers.

Philip J. Rosato, S.J., finished presenting an eight-week course on the contemporary meaning of the sacraments at Our Lady Queen of Peace parish in Arlington, Virginia. His article on the values inherent in the sacraments appears on page 8 of this issue. In April, Rosato attended the editorial board meeting of Studies in the Spirituality of the Jesuits in Cornwall, New York.

December 2006 - February 2007

[Woodstock Report, March 2007, No. 87]

John C. Haughey, S.J., gave a consultation in December to Guantanamo officials at the Pentagon on developing a pastoral relationship with detainees. In January, he conducted workshops for faculty on three campuses, Georgetown University, Boston College, and Loyola University. (For more on these workshops, see article.) He participated in two meetings of the Rumi Forum for Interfaith Dialogue at Georgetown University in January and February. In February, he received the second annual Monika K. Hellwig Award for outstanding contributions to Catholic intellectual life from the Association of Catholic Colleges and Universities (see story) and conducted a five-day retreat for priests of the Archdiocese of Washington.

Raymond B. Kemp led a parish retreat at Our Lady of Fatima in Spokane, Washington, in December. In January, he offered a prayer for the leaders of the city of Washington, D.C., during a prayer service for Mayor Adrian Fenty’s inauguration; presented the opening residency of the Executive Masters in Leadership Program of Georgetown’s McDonough School of Business; and traveled to Cheyenne, Wyoming, to give a Preaching the Just Word convocation. In February, he moderated a twopart Woodstock Forum, entitled “Young Adult Catholics: Believing, Belonging, and Serving.” The first session gathered college students and recent alumni to share their experiences of faith; during the second session, sociologists and campus ministers shared their research and experiences with young adults.

Dolores Leckey rejoiced in the publication of her book, The Laity and Christian Education, part of the Paulist Press series “Rediscovering Vatican II” (see excerpt). In January, she lectured on the topic “What makes a war just? What makes peace possible?” at a student convocation at Bridgewater College, a Church of the Brethren school in Bridgewater, Virginia. She appeared as a guest panelist on Interfaith Voices, a public radio show examining current issues from diverse perspectives, on the topic of just war theory and the current escalation in Iraq. In February, she served as the moderator of an all-day symposium, sponsored by the Arlington Diocese Peace and Justice Commission, also on the questions of just war and peacebuilding. She is currently working on a book in a series about the spirituality of modern women.

James Nolan gave several radio interviews, including American Catholic Radio, Ave Maria Radio, and Spirit Catholic Radio, focusing on his book, Doing the Right Thing at Work, which draws on his experiences with the Woodstock Business Conference. The book has been reviewed for Catholic News Service by Bill Droel and this review appeared in many diocesan papers, including the Tidings of Los Angeles and the Arlington Herald of Arlington, Virginia. Other mentions of the book have appeared in the January newsletter of the National Center for the Laity, the Archdiocese of Chicago’s Resources for Young Adults under the topic “Peace, Justice and Catholic Social Teaching,” and a library review by St. Charles Borromeo Seminary in Philadelphia. Nolan led a Day of Reflection on “Doing the Right Thing at Work” at the Dominican Retreat House in February.

Thomas J. Reese, S.J., gave a presentation on the Vatican to the Georgetown University Board of Trustees in anticipation of their spring meeting in Rome. In January, he attended the California Province Provincial Congregation, to which he was elected. The congregation elected two delegates who will go to Rome next January to elect a new superior general for the Society of Jesus. Also in January, he visited Santa Clara University where he is a trustee and member of the student life committee. At Georgetown’s Holy Trinity parish, he gave a talk on “Standing, Kneeling, Kissing: Symbolic Gestures in the Liturgy.” In February, he participated in a conference on the politics of the Vatican at Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles, where he spoke on reforming the Vatican. Also in February, he spoke at St. Joseph’s University in Philadelphia on “Catholics in Public Life.”

Philip J. Rosato, S.J., published an article, “Spirit-Christology as Access to Trinitarian Theology,” in God’s Life in Trinity, edited by Miroslav Volf and Michael Welker (Fortress Press). His book review of Kimlyn J. Bender’s Karl Barth’s Christological Ecclesiology appeared in Theological Studies. He attended the winter editorial meeting of the editorial board of Studies in the Spirituality of the Jesuits in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, in January. He gave a series of eight talks, held during the months of January and February, at Our Lady Queen of Peace parish in Arlington, Virginia, on the theme “The Sacraments of Christ and of the Church in Theological Reflection since Vatican II.”

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