Session Descriptions

Thursday, October 30, 2008

Thursday sessions will be held from 10:45am - 12:45pm.

Contemporary Liberation Theologies
This session will address how themes of liberation and commitments to the preferential option for the poor have been critiqued, embraced and developed in other contexts on the American hemisphere and around the globe.

LaReine-Marie Mosely, S.N.D., Loyola University, Chicago, IL
“Global Theologies of Liberation: Catholic Womanist Perspectives”

Gemma Cruz, DePaul University, Chicago, IL
“The Struggle Against ‘Ruptures’: Liberation Theology in the 21st Century”

Bible and the Grassroots: Empowering Women
The Biblical message of liberation has become an important source for the integral development of women in Church and society, and this session will explore the connections between Biblical theology and the empowerment of women across the Americas.

Barbara Reid, O.P., Catholic Theological Union, Chicago, IL
Maricarmen Bracamontes, OSB, Centro de Desarrollo Integral de la Mujer, Mexico Joint Presentation: “Women and the Bible: Relationships that Transform Death- dealing Situations into Life-giving Encounters”

Globalization and Economic Justice
The globalization of markets and of social capital confronts us on a daily basis. This session will consider how the question of economic globalization needs to be addressed as an integral part of a social theology of the Americas.

Robert Schreiter, C.P.P.S., Catholic Theological Union, Chicago, IL
“Economic Justice in the Face of Globalization: North American Perspectives”

Miguel Pickard, CIEPAC, Chiapas, Mexico
"Resistance and Alternatives to Corporativism: the Search for Economic Justice in Mesoamerica"

Religion, Politics and Social Transformation
The relationship between religion and society differs considerably between different countries in the Americas. Two noted experts on Catholic social teaching reflect upon the distinct challenges faced by those advocating social change on the American hemisphere.

Paulo Fernando Carneiro de Andrade, Pontificia Universidade Católica do Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
“The Political Participation of Christians: A Brazilian Liberation Theology Perspective”

Patrick McCormick, Gonzaga University, Spokane, WA
“Prophet or Hostage? The Religious Voice in American Politics”

Theology of the Global Church after Medellín
In the forty years that have passed since the meeting in Medellín, the Catholic Church has experienced tremendous growth in the global South. This session will focus on the theology of the Church that came out of Medellín and a Latin American theology of liberation as well as the question of how the global Church interacts today with powerful forces of economic globalization.

Michael Budde, DePaul University, Chicago, IL
“After 40 Years: Solidarity, Communion, Globalization”

James Nickoloff, College of the Holy Cross, Worcester, MA
"Medellín and the Holiness of the Church"

Migration and Immigration: A Glocal Matter
Patterns of migration and immigration on the American hemisphere cannot be separated from global migration. This session will shed light on how the global and the local come into play in the lives of migrants and in the life of the Church.

Michel Andraos, Catholic Theological Union, Chicago, IL
“Immigration and Identity in a Global World and Church”

Milagros Peña, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL
"A Question of Justice-Responding to a Call: Catholic Sisters in Latin@ (Im)migrant Communities"


Friday, October 31, 2008

Friday sessions will be held from 8:30am - 10:30am.

Biblical Foundations of Liberation
Many of the claims of Catholic social teaching and liberation theologies rest on the prophetic summons to act justly. This session will explore the biblical roots of social liberation and offer a constructive critique of some ways in which the Bible has been invoked.

Jean-Pierre Ruiz, St. John’s University, New York, NY
"The Bible and Liberation: Between the Preferential Option for the Poor and the Hermeneutical Privilege of the Poor"

Mary Ann Beavis, St. Thomas More, University of Saskatchewan, Canada
“Two-Thirds World Women of the Bible”

Pope Benedict XVI and Liberation Theology
As Cardinal Ratzinger the current pontiff became well known for opposing certain currents of liberationist thought; however, his papal encyclicals and his intervention at Aparecida address social themes in ways quite compatible with the main currents of Medellín and other CELAM documents. Two prominent theologians reflect upon this development.

Daniel Finn, St. John’s University, Collegeville, MN
“Benedict XVI on Liberation Theology: The Meaning of Liberation and the Character of Theology”

Roberto Goizueta, Boston College, Boston, MA
"Liberation Theology from the Instructions to Aparecida"

Spirituality and Liberation in History and Theology
The cry for liberation in the Gospel has taken many different forms throughout the centuries. This session will consider the historical development and spiritual dimensions of the themes of pronouncing good news to the poor and fostering peace and social reconciliation.

Gilberto Cavazos-González, O.F.M., Catholic Theological Union, Chicago, IL
“The Seven Pillars of Liberation Spirituality”

Karen Scott, DePaul University, Chicago, IL
"Themes in Medieval Spirituality: Poverty, Struggle, and Hope"

Caribbean Diasporas
The question of race comes into play in a unique way in the Caribbean and among members of the Caribbean diaspora on the American hemisphere. In this session two prominent scholars of Caribbean Catholicism will speak to this issue.

Gerald Boodoo, Duquesne University, Pittsburgh, PA
“The Caribbean: Diaspora or Plurality by Fiat? Perspectives on Caribbean Reality”

Michelle Gonzalez Maldonado, University of Miami, Miami, FL
“Afro-Catholicism in the Americas”

Liberating Creation: Justice and Environmental Theologies
The message of liberation embraces the stewardship of creation and the protection of the environment. This session will examine how environmental justice has become a new paradigm for theologies of liberation.

Carolina Pardo Jaramillo, O.S.F., Universidad San Alfonso, Bogotá, Colombia
“Destruction of Creation, Re-Creation from Destruction: Minorities in Resistance, A Colombian Reflection”

Dawn Nothwehr, O.S.F., Catholic Theological Union, Chicago, IL
“Born of the Poor: Franciscan Theology of the Environment and the Journey from Medellín to Aparecida”

Interculturality and Popular Catholicism
The dialogue of cultures is an urgent theme in the Catholic Church and world. This session will examine the different ways in which theologians have reflected upon the challenge of developing an intercultural theology with attention to insights from the study of popular Catholicism.

José DeMesa, De La Salle University, Manila, Philippines
“Feeling as Solidarity in Filipino Popular Catholicism”

Orlando Espín, University of San Diego, CA
"Popular Catholicism: An Intercultural Dialogical Model?"