AUSCP 2023 Assembly

Luis Antonio Gokim Tagle (Ta-glay) is a Filipino prelate of the Catholic Church who stepped down in November 2022 from his Vatican position as the Pro-Prefect for the Section of Evangelization of Dicastery for Evangelization.

Born: June 21, 1957 (age 65 years), Manila, Philippines

Education: St. Andrew’s School, University of Santo Tomas, Ateneo de Manila University, The Catholic University of America

He was the 32nd Archbishop of Manila from 2011 to 2019. Tagle is now the Cardinal-Bishop of San Felice da Cantalice a Centocelle (pro hac vice).

He is President of the Catholic Biblical Federation, Grand Chancellor of the Pontifical Urbaniana University. As a member of various departments and dicasteries in the Roman Curia. Tagle, who generally prefers to be called by his nickname “Chito,” rather than by his clerical title, has been involved in many social issues in the Philippines, with emphasis on helping the poor while defending the Catholic Church’s opposition to abortion, contraception, and what he has called “practical atheism.” Dubbed as the “Asian Francis,” he is often seen as a representative of the Catholic Church’s progressive wing. Tagle has criticized the Catholic Church for using “harsh words” to describe LGBT as well as divorced and remarried Catholics, whom he believes should be allowed to receive Holy Communion on a case-by-case basis.

Cardinal Tagle is fluent in speaking his native Tagalog language, as well as English and Italian. He is also proficient in reading Spanish, French and Latin. Tagle was ordained in the Diocese of Imus on February 27,1982. He has served as parish priest and rector at various parishes and taught theology at San Carlos Seminary and Divine Word Seminary in Tagaytay.

In 2001 Tagle was consecrated Bishop of Imus on December 12 th after previously serving as parish priest of the Cathedral parish of Imus. During his 10 years in Imus, he made a point of living simply, owned no car, and invited the destitute to join him for a meal.

He was installed as Archbishop of Manila on December 12, 2011, the feast day of Our Lady of Guadalupe and the tenth anniversary of his episcopal consecration. At the 2008 International Eucharistic Congress in Quebec, Canada, he delivered a talk on the importance of the Eucharist that, by one report, moved the audience to tears.  He contrasted Christian worship with false forms of adoration: “It is sad that those who worship idols sacrifice other people while preserving themselves and their interests. How many factory workers are being denied the right wages for the god of profit? How many women are being sacrificed to the god of domination? How many children are being sacrificed to the god of lust? How many trees, rivers, hills are being sacrificed to the god of “progress?” How many poor people are being sacrificed to the god of greed? How many defenseless people are being sacrificed to the god of national security?” Pope Benedict XVI elevated Archbishop Tagle to the College of Cardinals on October 24, 2012. Tagle was the seventh Filipino to be made a cardinal of the Catholic Church. ]  When he became a cardinal he was the second youngest one.

Cardinal Luis Antonio Gokim Tagle, known affectionately as “Chito” is described as “a consistent advocate for the poor and vulnerable throughout his influential career in the Catholic Church,” and “both unpretentious and dynamic, whether commuting by bicycle or inspiring massive crowds with his exhortations.” (Kellogg Institute)

Cardinal Tagle was born in 1957 and ordained a priest in 1982. He earned his doctorate in Sacred Theology from the Catholic University of America in 1991. He was named Bishop of Imus, the Philippines, in 2001; archbishop of Manila in 2011, Cardinal in 2012.

Cardinal Tagle stepped down from his Vatican position as Pro-Prefect for Evangelization in November 2022, at the request of Pope Francis. A statement from the dicastery said there was no evidence of financial mismanagement of sexual impropriety, but there was a deficiency in management and procedures. (Religion News Service)

Cardinal Tagle spoke at the 2015 Annual Cardinal Dearden Lecture at Catholic University of America, on evangelization in Asia in light of Gaudium et Spes, the Pastoral Constitution on the Church in the Modern World.

In 2016, Catholic News Service interviewed Cardinal Tagle at World Youth Day in Krakow, Poland. (Catholic News Service Blog)

Massimo Faggioli is Professor of Theology and Religious studies, Villanova University, and also a columnist for La Croix International. He gave a keynote address to the AUSCP Assembly, 2016, in Chicago, on the topic, “Pope Francis and the Unfolding of Vatican II in Today’s Church.”

The title of his 2023 presentation is The “Synodal Process” in the USA and in the Global Church: A Geography of Hope

Faggioli says, “The talk will address the similarities and differences between the USA and other synodal processes in the global Catholic Church (Australia, Germany, Ireland, etc.) and will analyze what has been specific of the US synodal process and what it says about the present and future of the Catholic Church in the USA.”

Biography

Dr. Massimo Faggioli is full professor in the Department of Theology and Religious Studies at Villanova University (Philadelphia). His books and articles have been published in more than ten languages. He is columnist for the magazines Commonweal and La Croix International. His most recent publications include the books: A Council for the Global Church. Receiving Vatican II in History (Fortress, 2015); The Rising Laity. Ecclesial Movements since Vatican II (Paulist, 2016); Catholicism and Citizenship: Political Cultures of the Church in the Twenty-First Century (Liturgical, 2017); The Liminal Papacy of Pope Francis. Moving Toward Global Catholicity (Orbis, 2020); Joe Biden and Catholicism in the United States (Bayard, 2021). He has co-edited with Catherine Clifford The Oxford Handbook of Vatican II (Oxford UP, 2022), and is under contract with Oxford University Press for the book God’s Bureaucrats. A History of the Roman Curia.

Keynote Address: Bridge people or neglected and peripheral? Latinas/Latinos Catholics in the U.S.

Caught between cycles of attentiveness from official Church structures that then slip back into invisibility and marginality, how do we accompany Latinas/Latinos by facing la realidad of contemporary struggles with them? Cecilia González-Andrieu invits us into a process of discerning how to best accompany and bring to the center communities that are divers, complex and seeking a faith to call home.

Cecilia González-Andrieu is professor of Theology at Loyola Marymount University, where she also works on multiple initiatives to serve the Latinx community, especially undocumented students and worker’s rights. A graduate of LMU and the Graduate Theological Union Berkeley, where she was named Alumna of the Year, she is a contributing writer for America Magazine and publishes and speaks widely as a public theologian. Committed to a faith that does justice, she is also a member of the board of directors of the Ignatian Solidarity Network and an advisor to the Discerning Deacons Project.

A respected international lecturer on issues of political theology, theological aesthetics, and Latino theology she is the author of the book Bridge to Wonder: Art as a Gospel of Beauty, co-editor of Teaching Global Theologies: Power and Praxis, and a contributor to many other publications, including Go Into the Streets: The Welcoming Church of Pope Francis.

Español

Cecilia González-Andrieu es profesora de teología en Loyola Marymount University, donde también trabaja en proyectos con jóvenes indocumentados y trabajadores. Recibió el doctorado de Graduate Theological Union en Berkeley, donde ha sido nombrada Exalumna Distinguida del Año, es ensayista para la revista América, y escribe y presenta su trabajo de teología en muchos otros foros públicos. Comprometida con una fe que hace justicia, también es miembro de la junta directiva de la Red de Solidaridad Ignaciana y asesora del Proyecto Discerning Deacons – Discerniendo la restauración de las mujeres al ministerio diaconal.

Una respetada conferencista internacional en temas de teología política, estética teológica y teología latina, es autora del libro Bridge to Wonder: Art as a Gospel of Beauty, coeditora de Teaching Global Theologies: Power and Praxis, y colaboradora de muchas otras publicaciones, incluyendo Go Into the Streets: The Welcoming Church of Pope Francis.

Sr. Nancy Sylvester is the Founder and President of the Institute for Communal Contemplation and Dialogue.

Biography

Nancy Sylvester is founder and President of the Institute for Communal Contemplation and Dialogue (ICCD) which began in 2002. Nancy is committed to the transforming power of communal contemplation in one’s life and the life of the community. She believes it invites the shifts in consciousness so necessary to embrace our evolutionary journey and engage the critical issues facing us in ways that foster dialogue, relationships, compassion and justice.

Nancy is a past President of the Leadership Conference of Women Religious and past vice-president of her religious congregation the Sisters, Servants of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, Monroe, MI. Nancy served on the staff of NETWORK, a national Catholic social justice lobby, for fifteen years, first as researcher, then lobbyist and ten years as National Coordinator. Prior to coming to NETWORK, Nancy taught secondary education in and around Detroit, Michigan.

Nancy guides many of ICCD’s programs including Enter the Chaos: Engage the Differences to Make a Difference. She also designs and facilitates processes related to these programs for various organizations and congregations nationally and internationally. Nancy is a known speaker and writer. She is currently writing a series of reflections on contemplation for the Global Sisters Report. Many of her writings can be found on the Institute’s website: iccdinstitute.org.