A CONVERSATION THAT MATTERS

“To be brave enough to start a conversation that matters” (Margaret Wheatley)

COME, enter the conversation on:

WRESTLING with BELIEF in the CHURCH TODAY

WHEN: Sunday, March 11, 2012

1:00pm-3:30pm

WHERE: Chestnut Hill College, East Parlor of St. Joseph's Hall

GUEST AT OUR CONVERSATION TABLE: Bishop Geoffrey Robinson, Retired Bishop of Sydney, Australia will share his personal journey of wrestling with belief in the church today out of his experience of “confronting power and sex abuse” within the Church of Australia. Bishop Robinson confesses that “iin this confusing church and world, I have done my most important growing.” Deep within, he discovered “love’s urgent longings” (St. John of the Cross) for “something deeper”, more enduring, more “capable of inspiring immense good.”

AUTHOR: Confronting Power and Sex in the Catholic Church, Reclaiming the Spirit of Jesus (20087), Love’s Urgent Longings, Wrestling with Belief in Today’s Church (2011).

ABOUT BISHOP ROBINSON: Bishop Geoffrey Robinson, who has degrees in philosophy, theology, and church law, was auxiliary bishop in the Archdiocese of Sydney from 1984 until his retirement at 67 in 2004. In 1994, he was elected by the Australian Bishops to the National Committee for Professional Standards, coordinating the response of the Catholic Church in Australia to revelations of sexual abuse, and from 1997 until 2003 he was co-chair of this committee.

FROM THE FOREWORD OF ROBINSON’S FIRST BOOK: “We have models of humble church leaders. Catholics love them the way they love Pope John XXIII, Oscar Romero and Don Helder Camera, to mention but a few. They love them because they model the very authority and power of Christ. They love them because they are honest, courageous, inspiring and humble. They love them because they are real. We find in this book another such church leader who has the humility to insist on “his right to be wrong”, who listens to the cry of the people, and who calls for reform of church structures and systems that fail to serve the pastoral needs and mission of the church” (Donald Cozzens, John Carroll University).

This program is being hosted by Chestnut Hill College and supported by VOTFGP. Copies of Bishop Robinson's book, Love's Urgent Longings, will presumably be available by February 24. Word later on how to obtain one. The price should be about $14.

For more information: Cathy Nerney,SSJ, Ph.D, nerneyc@chc.edu,
(215) 248-7099