The Association of U S Catholic Priests had its Spirit-driven founding in August 2011. The 27 “Founding Fathers” gathered in Mundelein Institute for Ongoing Formation on the grounds of St. Mary University for a retreat, the goal of which was uncertain and open-ended at its inception. After three fruitful days, a Free Association, one with no direct ties to other Catholic organizations and entities, was proposed and established. Vision and mission statements were reached by consensus and still guide the AUSCP today. As would be expected, in a group of priests, talents surfaced to take on the follow-up aspects of the Retreat. By-Laws were written, the corporate entity was established, officers were selected, a membership committee became operative and a dream of the first Assembly was born.
Assembly History
The first Assembly of the new Association of U.S. Catholic Priests was held at St. Leo University near Tampa, Florida, in June 2012. The inaugural theme underlies the association throughout the years: “Vatican II Lives!”
The AUSCP will hold its Ninth Annual Assembly at the Maritime Conference Center near Baltimore, June 22-25, 2020, on the critical election year theme: “Our Catholic Faith in the Political World.” More Information here
2024 presenters and key participants
Retreat: Bishop John Stowe, OFM Conv.
Keynote — Father Michael Driscoll: How the Eucharist Schools Us for Action
Keynote — Father Thomas Reese SJ: Eucharist for a Synodal Church: Communion, Mission,
Participation
Keynote — Dr. Kim Harris: You can tell the world! Testimony as a gift we share from our Eucharistic encounter
The Contemplative Process — Sister Kathleen Storms, SSND
The Teilhard Project, Documentary Film on Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, Discussion with producers Frank and Mary Frost
2023 presenters and key participants
The annual assembly of the Association of U.S. Catholic Priests was held June 12 -15 at the University of San Diego in San Diego, California, on the theme, “Unity through Synodality.” Cardinal Robert W. McElroy of the Diocese of San Diego officially welcomed attendees.
Retreat: Sister Nancy Sylvester, IHM, Responding from a Contemplative Heart: Living Synodality in a Polarized World.
Keynote: Dr. Massimo Faggioli, full professor in the Department of Theology and Religious Studies at Villanova University and columnist for Commonweal and La Croix International, on “The ‘Synodal Process’ in the USA and in the Global Church: A Geography of Hope.” The talk analyzed the US synodal process and how it relates to the future of the US Catholic Church.
Keynote: Dr. Brian P. Flanagan, associate professor of theology at Marymount University. Dr. Flanagan replaced originally scheduled keynoter Cardinal Luis Tagle, who was unable to attend the assembly due to his recent appointment by Pope Francis as Special Envoy to the National Eucharistic Congress of the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
Keynote: Dr. Cecilia Gonzalez-Andrieu, professor of theological studies at Loyola Marymount University, on the question: “How do we accompany Latinas/Latinos by facing la realidad of contemporary struggles with them?”
Video: Cardinal Luis Tagle, interviewed by Rev. Stephen Newton CSC prior to the assembly.
Statement approved: The Mutual Support Work Group’s statement, “Being Gay, Ordained, Faithful to the Church and Appreciated by the Church: Are all these possible in today’s Church?” was approved for submission to the assembly on March 23, 2023. On June 14, the AUSCP announced that the organization had given full support to the statement, which calls for US bishops “to offer fraternal, pastoral affirmation of their gay priests and their ministry.”The statement also asks the bishops “to admit all candidates for seminary formation and priesthood according to the same criteria: a mature and balanced personality, capable of establishing sound human and pastoral relationships, a full working knowledge in theology and the living tradition of the Church, a solid spiritual life, and a love for the Church.” The full text of the statement is available at the AUSCP website here.
2022 presenters and key participants
The 11th annual assembly of the Association of US Catholic Priests was held at the Maritime Conference Center in Linthicum, Maryland, on the theme, “Let Us Dream: The Path to a Better Future.”
Retreat: Father Scott Detisch, a priest of the Diocese of Erie and the author of From Hero to Servant to Mystic: Navigating the Deeper Waters of Priestly Spirituality (Liturgical Press, 2019).
Assembly welcome and opening remarks, by AUSCP leadership team member Fr. Greg Barras, who invited attendees to focus on “the will to communion” and to “dream how we will get there.” He quoted Kahlil Gibran: “Trust your dreams. They are the gateway to eternity.”
Keynote: Fr. Dan Horan, OFM, on “Theological Imagination and the Challenges of Pastoral Ministry Today.” He invited listeners “with gospel lenses to look at the signs of the times” and “uncover resources for a path toward a better future.”
Keynote: Mary J. Novak, Executive Director of NETWORK Lobby for Catholic Social Justice, on “Decenter and Transcend: A Priesthood for the Healing of Our Church and World.” Novak focused on how priests can contribute to the work of peace-building, which she described as “the church’s vocation” and something it “must do.”
Keynote: Cardinal Peter Turkson, on “Renewing the Spirit of Vatican II Is Essential to Our Path to the Future.” Cardinal Turkson is Chancellor of the Vatican Pontifical Academy of Sciences and the Pontifical Academy of Social Sciences.
2021 presenters and key participants
The AUSCP 2021 Assembly, held on June 21-24 in Minneapolis, on the theme, “Where do we go from here?
Retreat: Father Michael Joncas, on “Living in Apocalyptic Times. Father Jan Michael Joncas, perhaps best known for his composition, On Eagle’s Wings, is an internationally recognized liturgical composer, author, speaker, and professor.
Keynote: Bishop William Wack, CSC, on “Pastoral Directions for our US Church Going Forward.”
Keynote: Michael Sean Winters, historian and National Catholic Reporter columnist, on The Politico-Theological Merger that is Shaping the US Catholic Church.”
Keynote: Dr. Shannen Dee Williams, Villanova Catholic History Professor, on “Why Black Catholic History Matters.”
Contemplative Engagement Guide: Sister Margie Klein SSND.
Assembly Mass: Presider Archbishop John C. Wester of Santa Fe.
Assembly Mass, Bishop Richard Pates, Welcomer and Concelebrant. Pates is a native of Minneapolis–St. Paul, retired Bishop of Des Moines.
2020 presenters and key participants
Keynote Address: Sister Carol Keehan, DC, w CEO of the Catholic Health Association of the United States
Keynote Address: Archbishop John C. Wester of Santa Fe (AUSCP episcopal moderator)
Keynote Address: John Carr, social justice advocate and former head of the U.S. bishops’ domestic and international policy programs
Retreat Day Leader: Sister Carol Zinn, SSJ, Executive Director of the Leadership Conference of Women Religious, and a keynote speaker at the 2016 AUSCP Assembly
The 2020 assembly lineup continues the annual presentations of timely topics and issues. Following is a brief overview of Assembly themes, speakers and St. Pope John XXIII Awards
2019: St. Louis: God’s Priestly People: The Baptized and the Ordained
Keynoters: Dr. Richard Gaillardetz, Sister Norma Pimentel, MJ, and Chicago Cardinal Blase Cupich
Retreat Day Leader: Sebastian Gomes, Salt and Light
Contemplative Process Leader: Sister Suzanne Giblin, CSJ
St. Pope John XXIII Awards: Sister Norma Pimentel, Father Richard Creason
2018: Albuquerque: The Church in a Post-Modern World: Spirituality and Ministry in a Secular Age
Keynoters: Sister Katarina Schuth, OSF, Bishop Bob McElroy of San Diego, and Father Richard Rohr, OFM, who also led a Retreat Day
St. John XXIII Awards: Richard Rohr, OSF; Father Jay Davidson, a “Founding Father” LINK
2017: Atlanta: Peacemaking in our Fractured Society
Assembly events included a visit to the Martin Luther King Center
Keynoters: Father Bryan Massingale, Fordham, , JustFaith Founder Jack Jezreel, and Archbishop Wilton Gregory of Atlanta
Retreat Day Leader: Bishop Gregory J. Hartmayer, OFM Conv., of Savannah
St. John XXIII Awards: Father Bryan Massengale, Father Richard Rento, Diocese of Patterson
2016: Chicago: Proclaiming the Gospel of Joy in a Year of Mercy
Assembly events included Congratulations on the Fiftieth Anniversary of the Chicago Association of Catholic Priests
Assembly Mass: Cardinal Blase Cupich of Chicago
Keynoters: Sister Carol Zinn, SSJ, on Laudato Si’, Caring for our Common Home, Dr. Massimo Faggioli, Pope Francis and the Unfolding of Vatican II in Today’s Church, and Father Peter Phan, Migration of Theology and Theology of Migration
Retreat Day Leader: Father Lou Cameli, Archdiocese of Chicago
St. John XXIII Awards: Father Doug Dussan of New Orleans, and Bishop Thomas Gumbleton, retired Auxiliary Bishop of Detroit
2015: St. Louis
Keynoters: Jesuit Father Greg Boyle, founder of Homeboy Industries, Sister Simone Campbell, Father Thomas Rosica