July 2003 - December 2003
[Woodstock Report, December 2003, No. 76]
Leon Hooper, S.J., (as new library Director) has been learning
the technical and financial aspects of the Woodstock Library, but, more
interestingly, has begun exploring the extensive 16th through 19th century
materials of Woodstock's Special Collections - with an eye toward cataloging
and making those resources available for international scholars and research.
In mid-November he gave a talk to the Benedictines of St. Mary's Abbey
on John Courtney Murray's notion of human dignity, in part based on a
critical reading of Murray's 1967 "The Dangers of the Vows."
He also received a $6,000 grant from Loyola Foundation to develop a searchable
web site of Murray's written works.
Father Raymond Kemp directed two Preaching the Just Word (PJW)
retreats, the first for deacons and their wives from the Diocese of Stockton
in California, and the second was the second ecumenical PJW retreat held
in conjunction with the College of Preachers at the National Cathedral
in Washington, D.C. Ray also lectured to Our Lady Queen of Peace and to
St. Ann's Parishes, both in Arlington, Virginia, to the religious educators
of the Diocese of Orlando, to the International Catholic Stewardship Council
Convention in Chicago, to the Diocese of Brooklyn Stewardship Day at Douglaston,
and to the National Pastoral Life Center's Parish Convention in New York
City. Father Kemp drew a portion of his PJW team together with the director
of the Center, Father Gap Lo Biondo, S.J., to begin the planning for the
future of the project. Sister Nancy Sheridan of the Center for Religious
Development, Sister Barbara Reid of the Catholic Theological Union, Father
Larry Boadt, C.S.P., the President of Paulist Press, and Father John Donahue,
S.J., now of St. Mary's Seminary, Baltimore, participated. Mr. John Carr
of the U.S. Bishops' Conference and Father Leo Murray, S.J., soon to be
at Holy Trinity, D.C., along with Father Ken Davis, OFM Conv., are continuing
consultants. Father Kemp is teaching his "Church and the Poor"
course to 40 students at Georgetown University this semester.
Dolores R. Leckey gave two lectures on the topic of "Catholic
Women at the Threshold": one at Fairfield University and one at the
Thomas More Catholic Center at Yale University. She also delivered a lecture
in honor of the 150th anniversary of the Diocese of Brooklyn:
"The Surprising Story of Ministry." The one-day forum on "Catholic
Traditions of War and Peace" (a collaborative project with the Jesuit
Conference), which she has been working on for nine months, took place
on November 6th, and she will be coordinating the development
of educational materials based on that event.
April - June 2003
[Woodstock Report, June 2003, No. 74]
Ted Arroyo, S.J., has been following up on the publication
of the Woodstock book, The Ethics of Lobbying: Organized Interests,
Political Power, and the Common Good (Georgetown University Press,
2002), by making presenta-tions on this topic to the Washington Interreligious
Staff Council, the United States Chamber of Commerce, the Louisiana Council
of Churches, and, in Mexico City, to the Centro Lindavista's inter-party
workshop "Ética, Concertación y Construcción de la Paz," introducing
candidates for the Mexican congress to the "Woodstock Methodology"
used in our Ethics in Public Policy program.
Walter J. Burghardt, S.J., was recuperating from successful surgery
and unable to attend the Preaching the Justice Word gatherings with Father
Kemp. Nevertheless, he is wrapping up work on a comprehensive book about
justice that will be published by Orbis Books. The book will have five
sections: Justice Analyzed, Justice Applied, Justice Sacramentalized,
Justice Globalized, and Justice Communicated.
John Farina was named to the steering committee for
the Georgetown University Catholic Studies Program, which he has been
participating in over the last year. The program will be a co-sponsor,
along with Woodstock, of the December 5 conference and concert at Gaston
Hall on "Music and Mysticism in Early Renaissance Spain." Dr.
Farina organized the April 24 Woodstock afternoon of conversation by Tom
Massaro, S.J., on "Welfare Reform Today: Catholic Perspectives,"
as part of the Catholicism and Civic Renewal Program. He wrote an op-ed
article about American Catholicism and civic renewal for Our Sunday
Visitor which was scheduled for publication in May. He participated
in a conference in May on "Health Care Reform," sponsored by
the Center for Clinical Bioethics at Georgetown University. He also was
a participant in the Pew Forum conference on "Religious Liberty and
Public Education," hosted by the First Amendment Center.
Reverend Raymond B. Kemp led two Preaching the Just Word convocations
for priests and deacons of Savannah, Georgia, and Monterey, California,
and a full retreat/ workshop for the Archdiocese of Atlanta. Father Kemp
lectured at Our Lady of Mercy parish in Potomac, Maryland, on Biblical
justice, and completed teaching his undergraduate course in theology.
Dolores R. Leckey gave a keynote address in early April at the
College of Saint Elizabeth in New Jersey to a conference of parish staff
people from several dioceses. Her topic was "Life and Ministry in
an Age of Anxiety." Also in early April she led a day of reflection
at the Franciscan Spiritual Life Center in Alston, Pennsylvania. The theme
for the day was about authentic leadership and conversion. In May she
delivered a lecture at Our Lady Queen of Peace parish in Arlington, Virginia,
on "Feminism in the Catholic Tradition" and also spoke to the
RCIA group in that parish about the role of Mary in the Catholic Church.
She coordinated the May Woodstock Forum on "Restoring Trust in Church
Leadership" and continues to work on Woodstock's collaborative project
with the Jesuit Conference, a November 2003 one-day conference on Catholic
teaching regarding war and peace.
James D. Redington, S.J., lectured on "Interfaith Dialogue
and the Two Great Commandments" on March 16 for the Lenten Adult
Education Series at Westminster Presbyterian Church in Charlottesville,
Virginia. And, together with his partners in Woodstock's Interreligious
Dialogue on Education, he helped coordinate a Woodstock Library afternoon
of conversation entitled "Can the Religions Help to Educate for Intelligence,
Friendship, Peace?" on March 27. And on April 4-5, he was the chief
presenter for the Christian side - speaking on "The Passion, Death
and Resurrection of Christ according to Luke" at the sixth annual
Vaisnava-Christian Dialogue at Rockwood Manor in Potomac, Maryland. Fr.
Redington teamed up with Interreligious Dialogue on Education co-director
Dr. Michael Timpane, to attend the May 21-22 colloquy on "Teaching
Religion in Public Schools: Where Do We Go From Here?", co-sponsored
by the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life and the Freedom Forum's First
Amendment Center, in Arlington. And teaming up again, with Woodstock International
Visiting Fellow Dr. Fabrice Blée, he attended the Interreligious Dialogue
Conference sponsored by the group Voies de l'Orient, at Chant d'Oiseaux
Friary in Brussels, Belgium from May 29 to June 1.
Congratulations to Woodstock International Visiting Fellow Dr. Fabrice
Blée, on the publication of his article, "Double appartenance
religieuse et dialogue interreligieux monastique," in the current
issue (Vol X, No 1) of Mission, the Journal of Mission Studies
from St. Paul University in Ottawa, Canada.
We congratulate also short-term International Visiting Fellow Father
Vincent Sekhar, S.J., who joined us to research and write the first
chapter of his book, Religions and Life, which gathers texts
and prayers from various religions for the education of young people -
his students and others - in India.
January - March 2003
[Woodstock Report, March 2003, No. 73]
Dr. Fabrice Blée is an international visiting fellow
at Woodstock for the 2002-2003 academic year, conducting research in the
area of monastic interreligious dialogue. He is a native of France, and
has a Ph.D. in theology from the University of Montreal (with a dissertation
on the topic of "Monastic Interreligious Dialogue: The North American
Experience, History and Analysis"). Dr. Blee has taught at Sherbrooke
University, the University of Montreal, the Pontifico Ateneo S. Anselmo
(Rome), Concordia University, and Saint-Paul University. He also conducted
post-doctoral research at the Vidyajyoti Theological Faculty with Michael
Amaladoss, S.J. Much of Dr. Blée's research is inspired by his own personal
question of "How is it possible to be a Christian while being spiritually
involved in another religious tradition?" His appreciation for Catholic
spirituality has been enriched by time that he spent working with Jesuits
in India and Egypt; and he also possesses a wonderful insight into Buddhist
spirituality, having lived for a time at a Buddhist monastery in Japan.
Dr. Blée's research project at Woodstock seeks to propose a coherent understanding
of the "spirituality of dialogue." After considering the spirituality
of dialogue that is already emerging from within the monastic inter-religious
movement, Dr. Blée will then develop a critique and analysis of it, incorporating
the thought of Jesuit researchers in this field. He will then seek to
"identify a model of spirituality of dialogue which is relevant in
our pluralistic world."
Fathers Walter J. Burhardt, S.J., and Raymond B.
Kemp directed three Preaching the Just Word events: a January retreat/workshop
for the bishop and priests of the Diocese of Beaumont in Texas, their
first ecumenical retreat at the College of Preachers on the grounds of
the National Cathedral in Washington held in February, and a weekend retreat
for 150 deacons and their wives in the Diocese of Orlando at the beginning
of March. Father Kemp is teaching Struggle and Transcendence
to 40 juniors and seniors at Georgetown and participated in the university's
week-long celebration of Dr. Martin Luther King's birthday. He offered
the benediction at the inauguration of Kathleen Sebelius as Governor of
Kansas (her son, Ned, is a Georgetown senior and former student of Fr.
Kemp). Ray spoke to the pre-workshop of the National Organization for
Continuing Education of Roman Catholic Clergy (NOCERCC) in Houston on
the current crisis in the Church. He gave a Lenten Mission at St. Catherine
of Siena Parish in Cedar Grove, New Jersey, and addressed the annual retreat
of the Sodality of St. Francis DeSales Parish at the Washington Retreat
House. Finally, he keynoted the Diocese of Trenton's justice convocation
on "The Attitude of the Beatitudes."
John Farina was a panelist at the Woodstock Forum on
Religion and Civic Renewal, held at Georgetown University, January 30.
He delivered the Isaac Hecker Memorial Lecture on January 31 at St. Paul's
College at The Catholic University of America. His lecture was entitled
"Isaac Hecker: Twenty-first Century Catholic?" He gave a book
signing for his most recent work, Great Spiritual Masters, at the
Catholic Information Center in Washington, DC. He was the featured guest
on the Ron Lengwin Radio Show, KDKA Pittsburgh. He participated in the
Forum on Law and Religion at the Columbus School of Law at The Catholic
University of America, where he offered a commentary in a discussion of
the relevance of the thought of Michel Foucault for international efforts
in enforcing the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
Dolores R. Leckey has been involved in planning several projects.
First, she's been coordinating "brown-bag lunches" for Woodstock.
These occur monthly and feature a speaker addressing a topic of current
interest. Leon Hooper, S.J., was featured in January; Ladislas Orsy, S.J.,
in February, and Vincent Miller of Georgetown University's theology department
in March. Second, she is coordinating the May Woodstock Forum on the topic
of "Restoring Trust in Church Leadership." (See page 12.) Third,
she is also involved, on behalf of the Woodstock Center, in planning a
symposium with the Jesuit Conference on the topic of church teaching regarding
the range of legitimate positions on "The Just War." In addition,
Dolores gave a number of lectures/presentations. She prepared a keynote
for the National Organization for Continuing Education of Roman Catholic
Clergy meeting on "The Examined Life and Authentic Leadership";
presented a keynote for a convocation at St. Elizabeth's Parish in Bergen
County, New Jersey, on "Essentials for the Spiritual Journey."
She also gave a workshop at the convocation on leadership through the
lens of the Woodstock method. During Lent she delivered a series of lectures
for New Light, a theological education organization. The lectures are
based on her book in progress and the series is called "25 Years:
Church Leaders Who Made a Difference." The Woodstock book on church
leadership, Spiritual Exercises for Church Leaders, is scheduled
for publication by Paulist Press in May of this year, and it is now being
advertised by Paulist Press and by Woodstock (see page 11). Finally, Dolores
was selected by the Arlington County Commission on the Status of Women
to receive a "Person of Vision Award" at a ceremony and dinner
on March 19th.
James D. Redington, S.J.,
assisted by Woodstock international visiting fellow Dr. Fabrice Blee,
lectured on "World Religions and Interreligious Dialogue" on
December 4 at St. Alphonsus Parish, Woodstock, Maryland. And on February
1, he was part of a panel on "The New Anti-Conversion Law in India"
for the cable TV show, "Passion for Truth." At the Jesuit School
of Theology in Berkeley, California, he lectured on "Interreligious
Dialogue Issues Today" on February 14, and, on February 23, at Holy
Cross Parish, Rockville, on "How Meditation Based on Hinduism, Buddhism,
Islam, etc., Can Enhance our Inner Lives." Fr. Redington is also
teaching a spring semester course, "The Path of Love in Hinduism,"
in Georgetown University's theology department.
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