Upcoming events.
Nurturing Synodality - Sharing our perspectives with Synod Delegate Sr. Elizabeth Davis
Each month, Concerned Lay Catholics invites you to join in conversation about some aspect of synodality and its implications for our life in the church. A different resource person or panel will get us started each month. Then we will all have an opportunity to share in the spirit of synodality.
Cosmogenesis - with Sr Margo Ritchie Congregational Leader Sisters of St. Joseph in Canada
What is the dialogue between the very real crises that we wake up to each morning and that call for our attention and intention AND the perspective that tells us that as we wake up each morning, we carry within our bodies a 14-billion-year history?
Nurturing Synodality - Nicholas Jesson, Ecumenical Officer for the Archdiocese of Regina ‘Synod on Synodality from an Ecumenical Perspective’
Nicholas Jesson
Nicholas Jesson, a Roman Catholic theologian, has been an ecumenical leader in Saskatchewan for nearly 30 years, now serving as ecumenical officer in Regina and formerly in Saskatoon. He is a former executive director of the Prairie Centre for Ecumenism. He is a member of the Anglican-Roman Catholic Dialogue in Canada, a member of the Commission on Faith & Witness of the Canadian Council of Churches (CCC), and a former member of the Roman Catholic-United Church Dialogue. Nick is Synod Coordinator for the Archdiocese of Regina.
Married to the Rev. Amanda Currie, a Presbyterian minister, Nick has been actively involved with an international network of Interchurch Families and continues to champion the contributions that these families offer to the churches and the work of Christian unity.
Nick is editor of the website "Ecumenism in Canada" and dialogue archivist for both the international Anglican-Roman Catholic dialogue and the Margaret O'Gara Ecumenical Dialogue Collection, a website of the Canadian Council of Churches.
About this Series - Each month, Concerned Lay Catholics invites you to join in conversation about some aspect of synodality and its implications for our life in the church. A different resource person or panel will get us started each month. Then we will all have an opportunity to share in the spirit of synodality.
Future Topics include:
May 5 -TBD
Nurturing Synodality - Catholic Network for Women's Equality: Voices Rising for Reform
Each month, Concerned Lay Catholics invites you to join in conversation about some aspect of synodality and its implications for our life in the church. A different resource person or panel will get us started each month. Then we will all have an opportunity to share in the spirit of synodality.
Future Topics include:
April 7– Nicholas Jesson, Ecumenical Officer for the Archdiocese of Regina-Synod on Synodality from an Ecumenical Perspective
May 5 -TBD
Nurturing Synodality - Fr. Bill Burke ‘Why We Need a Synod in Canada’
Each month, Concerned Lay Catholics invites you to join in conversation about some aspect of synodality and its implications for our life in the church. A different resource person or panel will get us started each month. Then we will all have an opportunity to share in the spirit of synodality.
Future Topics include:
March 3-Mary Ellen Chown on Synodality and the Global Movement for Women’s Equality
April 7– Nicholas Jesson, Ecumenical Officer for the Archdiocese of Regina-Synod on Synodality from an Ecumenical Perspective
May 5 -TBD
Slavery, Catholicism, and Lessons for Today
Is it really true that people “didn’t know slavery was wrong back then”? Did the Catholic Church teach against slaveholding, or for it? In this presentation, Fr. Chris Kellerman, SJ, will explain the basics of the Catholic Church’s historical involvement with slaveholding and the Atlantic slave trade, drawing lessons from this history for the life of the contemporary Church.
Christopher J. Kellerman, SJ, is a Jesuit priest and author of All Oppression Shall Cease: A History of Slavery, Abolitionism, and the Catholic Church. He serves as Secretary of Justice and Ecology for the Jesuit Conference of Canada and the United States.
Support CLC in bringing you more excellent speakers on topics of interest to Canadian Catholics.
Nurturing Synodality- Series
January 7
On the Way to Here - The Personal Spiritual Dimensions of Synodality with Phil and Margaret Small
Each month, Concerned Lay Catholics invites you to join in conversation about some aspect of synodality and its implications for our life in the church. A different resource person or panel will get us started each month. Then we will all have an opportunity to share in the spirit of synodality.
Nurturing Synodality- Series
December 3
Synodality and Preaching in the Parish - Richard Shields
Each month, Concerned Lay Catholics invites you to join in conversation about some aspect of synodality and its implications for our life in the church. A different resource person or panel will get us started each month. Then we will all have an opportunity to share in the spirit of synodality.
Nurturing Synodality- Series
November 5
Reflections on our time in Rome - with Cathie Pead, Christine Way Skinner and Mark Guevarra
Each month, Concerned Lay Catholics invites you to join in conversation about some aspect of synodality and its implications for our life in the church. A different resource person or panel will get us started each month. Then we will all have an opportunity to share in the spirit of synodality.
Synodality: Ancient Traditions, New Ways of Proceeding with Dr. Catherine Clifford
Please join us for Concerned Lay Catholics Fall Keynote presentation:
Synodality: Ancient Traditions and New Ways of Proceeding with Dr. Catherine Clifford
Saturday September 23rd at 2 p.m. on Zoom
Mark the start of the XVI Ordinary General Assembly of the Synod. Join us to learn the place of synodality in the life of the Church from its earliest days up until Vatican II and beyond. Professor Catherine Clifford of Saint Paul University in Ottawa has been invited to participate in the Synod on Synodality as a voting member. Catherine E Clifford is Professor of Systematic and Historical Theology. Her research interests and publications are focused primarily in the areas of ecclesiology, ecumenism, and the history of the Second Vatican Council, with a particular emphasis on the conversion and renewal of the churches, the development of doctrine, and the unity and diversity of Christian communions within the world Christian movement.
Webinar is free. Your donation over $10 to help us cover costs will receive a charitable tax receipt.
Walking with Survivors
First Friday Fellowship will gather on the First Friday of each month. It is designed to allow survivors and ordinary lay Catholics to listen to one another and to share the ways their faith has changed as a result of the sexual abuse crisis in our Church. Each session will be co-facilitated by a survivor and a CLC member. We will focus on a different theme each month and invite resource people to assist as appropriate for the topic.
Our first meeting on November 4 will provide an opportunity to get to know one another before we start
learn more about Concerned Lay Catholics and our survivor partners
seek participants’ input on the topics to be covered
review the guidelines for participation so you can be sure this experience is right for you
attendance at all sessions is encouraged but not required
“The Church and Truth and Reconciliation - Challenges, Learnings, Opportunities to advance Reconciliation.”
How has the Church responded to the TRC’s final report and Calls to Action and to the Pope’s visit? The panel will reflect on the challenges of reconciliation – the aftereffects of the Doctrine of Discovery and of Canada’s assimilation policies on Indigenous peoples, ongoing obstacles to reconciliation as well as opportunities to advance it. What concrete evidence will demonstrate what healing actually looks like in practice and what is/should be the Church’s role in advancing healing? What lessons can we draw that will guide the Church’s actions on the path to truth and effective reconciliation.
Presenters:
Fr. Daryold Corbiere Winkler serves as Pastor of St. Basil’s Parish and assists in the Kateri Native Ministry in Ottawa. An Ojibway, and second-generation survivor of the Indian Day School and Residential School system, he believes the way forward for the Church, after the rescinding of The Doctrine of Discovery and the Papal apology, is to respond actively to the calls to action of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC).
Peter Bisson, S.J., is a Jesuit priest in the Canadian Jesuit province. Based in Ottawa, he currently serves as the assistant to the Jesuit provincial for justice, ecology and Indigenous relations. He also participates in Kateri Native Ministry in Ottawa. From 2009 – 2015 he represented the Jesuits at meetings of the parties to the Indian Residential School Settlement Agreement and the Truth and Reconciliation Commission.
With contributions from Donna Naughton, Executive Director of the Kateri Ministry in Ottawa.
Walking with Survivors
First Friday Fellowship will gather on the First Friday of each month. It is designed to allow survivors and ordinary lay Catholics to listen to one another and to share the ways their faith has changed as a result of the sexual abuse crisis in our Church. Each session will be co-facilitated by a survivor and a CLC member. We will focus on a different theme each month and invite resource people to assist as appropriate for the topic.
Our first meeting on November 4 will provide an opportunity to get to know one another before we start
learn more about Concerned Lay Catholics and our survivor partners
seek participants’ input on the topics to be covered
review the guidelines for participation so you can be sure this experience is right for you
attendance at all sessions is encouraged but not required
Aging Issues: Listening to Indigenous Voices
Concerned Lay Catholics and Hamilton Aging in Community join forces with Indigenous elders on Saturday April 22 to reflect on Indigenous approaches to aging.
Walking with Survivors
First Friday Fellowship will gather on the First Friday of each month. It is designed to allow survivors and ordinary lay Catholics to listen to one another and to share the ways their faith has changed as a result of the sexual abuse crisis in our Church. Each session will be co-facilitated by a survivor and a CLC member. We will focus on a different theme each month and invite resource people to assist as appropriate for the topic.
Our first meeting on November 4 will provide an opportunity to get to know one another before we start
learn more about Concerned Lay Catholics and our survivor partners
seek participants’ input on the topics to be covered
review the guidelines for participation so you can be sure this experience is right for you
attendance at all sessions is encouraged but not required
Can Women Heal the Fractured Catholic Church?
Can Women Heal the Fractured Catholic Church? with Rosemary Ganley
Walking with Survivors
First Friday Fellowship will gather on the First Friday of each month. It is designed to allow survivors and ordinary lay Catholics to listen to one another and to share the ways their faith has changed as a result of the sexual abuse crisis in our Church. Each session will be co-facilitated by a survivor and a CLC member. We will focus on a different theme each month and invite resource people to assist as appropriate for the topic.
Our first meeting on November 4 will provide an opportunity to get to know one another before we start
learn more about Concerned Lay Catholics and our survivor partners
seek participants’ input on the topics to be covered
review the guidelines for participation so you can be sure this experience is right for you
attendance at all sessions is encouraged but not required
Walking with Survivors
First Friday Fellowship will gather on the First Friday of each month. It is designed to allow survivors and ordinary lay Catholics to listen to one another and to share the ways their faith has changed as a result of the sexual abuse crisis in our Church. Each session will be co-facilitated by a survivor and a CLC member. We will focus on a different theme each month and invite resource people to assist as appropriate for the topic.
Our first meeting on November 4 will provide an opportunity to get to know one another before we start
learn more about Concerned Lay Catholics and our survivor partners
seek participants’ input on the topics to be covered
review the guidelines for participation so you can be sure this experience is right for you
attendance at all sessions is encouraged but not required
Can Concerned Catholics Repair the Church? Dr. Tom Urbaniak
Dr. Tom Urbaniak presents Can Concerned Catholics Repair the Church? Faith, Governance, and Accountability.
Walking with Survivors
First Friday Fellowship will gather on the First Friday of each month. It is designed to allow survivors and ordinary lay Catholics to listen to one another and to share the ways their faith has changed as a result of the sexual abuse crisis in our Church. Each session will be co-facilitated by a survivor and a CLC member. We will focus on a different theme each month and invite resource people to assist as appropriate for the topic.
Our first meeting on November 4 will provide an opportunity to get to know one another before we start
learn more about Concerned Lay Catholics and our survivor partners
seek participants’ input on the topics to be covered
review the guidelines for participation so you can be sure this experience is right for you
attendance at all sessions is encouraged but not required
Walking with Survivors
First Friday Fellowship will gather on the First Friday of each month. It is designed to allow survivors and ordinary lay Catholics to listen to one another and to share the ways their faith has changed as a result of the sexual abuse crisis in our Church. Each session will be co-facilitated by a survivor and a CLC member. We will focus on a different theme each month and invite resource people to assist as appropriate for the topic.
Our first meeting on November 4 will provide an opportunity to get to know one another before we start
learn more about Concerned Lay Catholics and our survivor partners
seek participants’ input on the topics to be covered
review the guidelines for participation so you can be sure this experience is right for you
attendance at all sessions is encouraged but not required
Synodal Stories of Hope from Across Canada
Over the course of the synodal process, we heard Spirit-filled stories that gave us hope.
Today we continue our synodal journey with presentations from 4 dioceses.
Each one is different. Each has something unique and inspiring to share.
Walking with Survivors
First Friday Fellowship will gather on the First Friday of each month. It is designed to allow survivors and ordinary lay Catholics to listen to one another and to share the ways their faith has changed as a result of the sexual abuse crisis in our Church. Each session will be co-facilitated by a survivor and a CLC member. We will focus on a different theme each month and invite resource people to assist as appropriate for the topic.
Our first meeting on November 4 will provide an opportunity to get to know one another before we start
learn more about Concerned Lay Catholics and our survivor partners
seek participants’ input on the topics to be covered
review the guidelines for participation so you can be sure this experience is right for you
attendance at all sessions is encouraged but not required
Where do we go from here? Official Launch of CLC Synodal Report with Panel Discussion
CLC is honoured to present a panel of respected leaders from the clergy, consecrated life, and laity who will respond to CLC’s synodal report and share their experiences of synodality from their vantage points within the church.
Speaker Bios
Anne Louise Mahoney
After deciding that what she wanted to do at university was read a lot of novels, Anne Louise Mahoney got a BA in English Literature from St. Michael’s College at the University of Toronto. She began her editing career working on non-fiction books for children. She later moved to Ottawa, where she worked at the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops as an editing and writing specialist for 8 years, then made the leap to trade publishing as managing editor at Novalis. She worked for Novalis full-time for 10 years; since the company was sold to Bayard in 2008, she has stayed on in that role part-time. She also runs a freelance editing business and is a former president of the Editors Association of Canada. Anne Louise grew up in the post–Vatican II Church and has a keen interest in helping lay women (and men) find their place there. That eventually led to the idea for the book Looking to the Laity, which brings together lay and ordained voices on a range of activities and subjects that invite lay participation. She still lives in Ottawa and she still loves to read novels and other books!
Archbishop Paul-André Durocher is the archbishop of Gatineau, Québec, Canada.
Born in Windsor, Ontario in 1954, he grew up in Timmins, Ontario before attending the University of Western Ontario where he completed the Bachelor of Musical Arts, specializing in vocal performance. He then attended St. Paul’s University in Ottawa, completing the Bachelor of Theology in 1981 and the Master of Arts in Theology in 1985. He simultaneously completed the Bachelor of Education degree at the University of Ottawa.
Ordained to the priesthood for the diocese of Timmins on July 2, 1982, he taught high school and served in various parishes. He eventually was named Episcopal vicar for pastoral and sacramental affairs and director of the chancery. He completed the civil Licentiate in Canon law with the University of Strasbourg, France, in 1992. During a sabbatical year in 1995–1996, he attended the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome and completed his ecclesiastical Licentiate in theology.
The following year, he was named auxiliary bishop of Sault-Ste-Marie, Ontario. Ordained to the episcopacy on March 14, 1997, he was entrusted with the pastoral leadership of the French sector of the diocese and of the native parishes in the Manitoulin-North Shore area.
In 2002, he was named diocesan bishop of Alexandria-Cornwall, Ontario, where he remained for nine years. During that time, he served on the Education Commission of the Assembly of Catholic Bishops of Ontario and was elected to the Executive Committee of the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops.
On November 30, 2011, he was installed as the archbishop of Gatineau, Québec.
He served as president of the CCCB from 2013 to 2015. He continues to serve the CCCB as a delegate to the national Jewish-Catholic dialogue and as a member of the standing committee for responsible ministry.
As a member of the Assembly of Catholic Bishops of Québec, he serves on the Executive Committee as well as on the Council for communities and ministries.
He has been a member of the Pontifical Council for Culture since 2014.
In 2017, Novalis published his three-volume set of introductions to the 150 psalms entitled The Psalms for Our Lives. In 2018, he completed a series of liturgical songs entitled Messe gatinoise. In 2019, he launched a new book under the title Called by Name, Sent in His Name. Talks on an Outward-bound Church.
Catherine E Clifford
Catherine E Clifford is Professor of Systematic and Historical Theology. Her research interests and publications are focused primarily in the areas of ecclesiology, ecumenism, and the history of the Second Vatican Council, with a particular emphasis on the conversion and renewal of the churches, the development of doctrine, and the unity and diversity of Christian communions within the world Christian movement. These questions are of great significance given the changing role of the church in contemporary society. Catherine is a dynamic teacher who enjoys engaging with students from diverse horizons. Her courses explore the changing role and methodologies of theology as theologians seek to reflect on contemporary issues in service of church and society.
Sr Jeannette Filthaut
Sr Jeannette Filthaut S.P. has a lifetime of experience in a variety of roles within her community and the broader Church. This positions her well to comment generally on the synodal project and specifically on the synodal report of Concerned Lay Catholics in Canada.
Sr Jeannette served on the Sisters of Providence of St. Vincent de Paul Congregational Leadership Team for 9 years. She was also the Inservice Resource person for the National Office of Religious Education for the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops (CCCB) re Catechetical ministry across Canada. She is a retired school teacher and religion consultant with Catholic school boards in Kingston and Brantford Ontario, as well as Camrose Alberta. She has worked as a parish pastoral associate participating in diverse parish activies such as Parish Council, RCIA, Sacramental preparation, Liturgical and Youth portfolios, Music Ministry with both Junior and Senior Choirs, Justice committees and Catholic Womens’ League.
Sister Jeannette also has extensive expererience in retreat work, spiritual direction, and board governance having served on health care boards, Western Catholic Reporter, Chairperson for Star of the North Retreat Centre, and Chairperson for Consecrated Women Religious in Archdiocese of Edmonton. She recently retired from teaching English as a Second Language to Immigrant Women @ Changing Together Centre for Immigrant Women in Edmonton AB. She has facilitated Congregational General and Provincial Chapters in Canada and U.S.A., Community Assemblies, Retreats and Workshops.
She is currently Visiting Spiritual Director and Retreat Director with Providence Spirituality Centre in Kingston ON, conducting Process Facilitation work, a CRC (Catholic Religious Congregations) Representative on KAIROS Steering Committee, and an Active Laudato Si Animator. In her spare time she likes to play golf, listen to music, bake, do Tai Chi and walk in God’s wonderful creation.
A New Expression of Church: Synodality, Co-responsibility, Structure Dr. Tony Hanna
Drawing on his extensive knowledge of church affairs and lay ecclesial movements, Dr. Hanna of the Diocese of Armagh, Ireland will explore with us the structural implications of true co-responsibility in a synodal church. Dr Tony Hanna is a co-founder of a new ecclesial movement - The Family of God - which is recognised as a Private Association of the Faithful and he has worked full-time in the Church for the last forty years. He served in the Archdiocese of Armagh as Director of the Pastoral Plan and has worked extensively with Parish Councils, lay formation, Priests’ Conferences and Religious congregations across Ireland. He has written numerous articles on church issues and is the author of a number of books including With Respect - Authority in the Church (Columba Press), New Ecclesial Movements (Alba Press) and Dear James Anthony - Why I Want You to be Catholic (Veritas.) He is married to Jacinta and has four adult daughters and seven grandchildren.
Spring Keynote by The Hon. Graydon Nicholas, C.M., O.N.B., LL.D.
A distinguished and highly respected Wolastoqey Elder, lawyer, judge, social worker, and activist, Graydon Nicholas CM ONB served as the appointed 30th Lieutenant Governor of New Brunswick (2009-2014). He is the first Indigenous person to hold the office, the first to be appointed as a provincial court judge (in 1991), and the first in Atlantic Canada to obtain a law degree. Graydon is also a devout Catholic, a member of the Our Lady of Guadalupe Circle and a founder of the Indigenous Catholic Research Fellowship.
As we mark one year since the revelations of unmarked graves on the grounds of the former Kamloops Indian Residential School, Graydon will share his reflections as an Indigenous Catholic.
Hearing Early Voices in the Wilderness - Advocating for Indigenous Rights
Following the Wrong Road - the alliance of colonization & evangelization
A Disastrous Pathway - government & church partnership in residential schools
Inculturation - the Christian faith and Indigenous spirituality aligned
Evangelization Reimagined - a source of Indigenous authenticity, resurgence & reconciliation
There is no registration fee for this webinar however we ask that you consider the following donation options:
Please support the work of reconciliation by making a donation here. We will pass these funds on to Graydon who will direct the funds raised from this event to struggling Indigenous communities in his home province.
CLC wants to continue to bring you excellent programming FREE OF CHARGE. If you are able, please support this important work by making a contribution to help cover our costs. Any amount is appreciated.
Prior to registering for this webinar we ask that you consider donating via the options above.
Register here
Please note that this webinar will not be recorded
Note: Concerned Lay Catholics in Canada is a registered Not-for Profit Corporation. We are committed to financial transparency. A report of funds raised through our webinars, sponsorship and other sources, as well as expenses, will be provided at our fiscal year-end (Summer 2022)