What Happened at the Synod?
2024-02-07 15:00 - 16:00 (America/New_York) | Online
What Happened at the Synod?
The Call to Dialogue on Co-responsibility and Women’s Participation in Our Church
Wednesday, February 7, 2024 – 3 PM Eastern Time
Why show up? What is in it for me?
The Synodal Synthesis calls us to “find ways to involve the clergy (deacons, priests, bishops) more actively in the synodal process during the course of the next year.” Alongside this, it asks us “to promote a church in which men and women dialogue together.” This February 7th online webinar is a wonderful opportunity to gather with women and priests from the newly formed Women in the Church AUSCP Working Group. Together, let us create space for the Holy Spirit to move as we live in synodality.

AUSCP Zoom Discussion Series on Racism Part 1
2024-02-14 - 2024-02-15 | Online
The program is part of the three-year strategic plan to combat racism provided by the Association of U.S. Catholic Priests Anti-racism Team. All are welcome and you may invite others to join. You need not have attended previous sessions and may switch between these sessions as you wish.
Year 3 Task: Dismantle Structural and Deeply Systemic Racism in our American Society
Two sessions will be offered: Wednesday afternoons and Thursday evenings:
Wednesday, February 14, 21, 28, & March 6 (2:30-4:00 PM ET) or
Thursday, February 15, 22, 29, & March 7 (7:30-9:00 PM ET)
The sessions will be moderated by Rev. John Judie and Susan and Paul Sherman.
Contact Paul (sherman.paul@twc.com) to register.

Retreat for Gay Priests, Brothers and Deacons
2024-02-19 - 2024-02-22 | Siena Retreat Center, 5637 Erie Street, Racine, WI, United States
Note: This event is listed as a resource for our members. The AUSCP does not endorse any program offering.

Retreat Description
The retreat will help participants to see and experience some of the ways that Christ does in fact set us free: as humans, as gay men, and as church representatives.
Retreatants will examine methods to help negotiate our way into living more fully in the post-clerical Church which is coming upon us all. Our roles, talents, and commitments are taking an ever more relational and ever less juridical turn, and our vocations are being understood very differently from anything we imagined when we entered the clergy or religious life.

AUSCP Zoom Discussion Series on Racism Part 2
2024-02-21 - 2024-02-22 | Online

CONSTITUTION ON SACRED LITURGY
2024-02-21 16:00 - 2024-03-13 17:00 (America/New_York) | Online
Constitution on SACRED LITURGY, Sacrosanctum Concilium
Sacred Liturgy was the first Vatican II conciliar constitution developed and adopted by the Council in 1963. It established several adjustments for Restoration of the Liturgy, especially the Eucharist. This 4-part webinar offers an apt preparation … for the Eucharistic Revival the Church in America is holding during a National Eucharistic Congress from July 17-21, 2024. Other developments regarding Liturgy in the Constitution include the Mystery of Eucharist, Sacraments and Sacramentals, the Divine Office used by many, the organization of the Liturgical Year, Sacred Music, Art and Furnishings used in various liturgical places. This Webinar can help many persons to refresh their liturgical practice and spirituality.
Wednesdays, February 21, 28 and March 6, 13, 2024.
4-5pm ET followed with 30-45 minutes of further discussion.
Host: Fr. Bob Bonnot Presenter: Dr. Joe Torma

AUSCP Zoom Discussion Series on Racism Part 3
2024-02-28 - 2024-02-29 | Online

AUSCP Zoom Discussion Series on Racism Part 4
2024-03-06 - 2024-03-07 | Online

What is Asylum?
2024-03-07 15:00 - 16:00 (America/New_York)
Michael Richard, the Legal Director of Immigration Services for the Catholic Diocese of Baton Rouge, will offer a thought provoking webinar which will help one better understand asylum law and the reasons individuals seek protection under asylum. This a current topic as tens of thousands of individuals from around the world are seeking asylum in the United States in order to save their lives. There will be a short period for questions after the presentation. The AUSCP Working Group on Immigration is hosting the webinar.

Discerning Diakonia
2024-04-29 16:00 (America/New_York) | Online
A prophetic diaconate for a co-responsible church. All are invited to a focused synodal encounter with a listening presence from voting synod delegates. This will include a conversation in the Spirit to expand and deepen the discernment. Simultaneous interpretation from English to Spanish will be available.

Vatican II Decree on Christian Education -- Gravissimum Educationis
2024-05-15 16:00 (America/New_York) | Online
This decree presents convictions of the Vatican II Council, listing 12 specific topics dealing with certain fundamental principles of Christian education. The topics include: The Meaning of the Universal Right to an Education, Christian Education, Parents as the primary and principal Educators, Various Aids, the Importance of Schools, the Duties and Rights of Parents, Moral and Religious Education, Catholic and Different Types of Schools, Catholic Colleges and Universities, Faculties of Sacred Sciences, and Coordination in Scholastic Matters. It is a short, but informative document. “These principles will have to be developed at greater length by a special post-conciliar commission and applied by episcopal conferences to varying local situations.” It was approved by Vatican II on October 28, 1965.
Are we doing better or worse since Vatican II? What do we need to strengthen going forward?
Register HERE.
Hosted by Fr. Bob Bonnot and presented by Dr. Joe Torma

The Question of Ourselves: A Convocation for Richard P. McBrien
2024-05-20 18:00 (America/New_York) | Online
The first theological questions we ask ourselves are, “Who am I?” and “Who are we?” Every other theological question comes back to these. We cannot understand God, or Jesus Christ, or the Church, or anything else unless we come to terms with the question of ourselves. – Fr. Richard P. McBrien
https://www.todaysamericancatholic.org/event/the-question-of-ourselves/

Vatican II Declaration on Religious Freedom -- Dignitatis Humanae
2024-05-22 16:00 (America/New_York) | Online
This Declaration deals with the right of the person and of communities to social and civil freedom in matters religious. “A sense of the dignity of the human person has been impressing itself more and more deeply on the consciousness of contemporary man/people, and the demand is increasingly made that men/people should act on their own judgment, enjoying and making use of a responsible freedom, not driven by coercion, but motivated by a sense of duty.” This document has no titled segments but 15 numbered segments. It concludes: “it is necessary that religious freedom be everywhere provided with an effective constitutional guarantee and that respect be shown for the high duty and right of man freely to lead his religious life in society.”
The conclusion calls us to keep this declaration steadily in our lives. It was approved by the Vatican II Council on December 7, 1965. Have we grown in our religious freedom since 1965?
Register HERE.
Hosted by Fr. Bob Bonnot and presented by Dr. Joe Torma

Israel - Gaza conflict: Christian Moral Perspectives
2024-05-23 17:30 - 18:30 (America/New_York) | Lourdes University, 6832 Convent Blvd, Sylvania, Ohio, 43560
Dear Friends and Readers:
For those of you in the Toledo area, I am giving my fourth and final lecture of this academic year on Thursday, May 23, 2024 at 5:30 p.m. in the Conference Room (not the theater) of the Franciscan Center on the campus of Lourdes University, entitled “Israel – Gaza conflict: Christian Moral Perspectives.” Given the complex, developing situation in Gaza, the lecture will concentrate on two general approaches: pacificism represented by Pope Francis and the just war tradition applied by Catholic Moral theologians.
No reservations are necessary. General admission is $10 (cash or check only) payable at the door. Students, nuns, priests and persons with financial limitations are welcome to attend for free.
If all goes well this lecture will eventually be available on my website: frjimbacik.org.
I hope this will provide another opportunity to stay in touch.
Fr. Jim Bacik

2024 AUSCP Assembly
2024-06-24 10:00 - 2024-06-27 12:00 (America/Chicago) | Hyatt Regency 401 W High St. Lexington, KY 40507 United States
The 2024 AUSCP Assembly will begin with a retreat (optional) at 10 AM on Monday, June 24, and end at Noon on Thursday, June 27.

The Pathway to Ecological Citizenship and Spirituality Week Two
2024-07-05 08:00 - 17:00 (America/New_York)
Catholic Climate Covenant and the Association of U. S. Catholic Priests invite you to a free, virtual 2-part workshop series on how to launch the Vatican’s LAUDATO SI’ ACTION PLATFORM in your diocese, parish, school, ministry, or organization.

Week Two: September 18th, 3:30-5PM Pacific
Welcome: Fr. Emmet Farrell
Opening Prayer: Sr. Kathleen Warren, OSF,
Director of the Office of Women Religious for the Diocese of San Diego
“A Scientific Perspective of Our Climate Crisis”
by Dr. Phillip Sakimoto, University of Notre Dame Dept of Physics & Astronomy, Director, Minor in Sustainability Program
“A Primer on the Vatican’s Laudato Si’ Action Platform and Planning”
by Dr. Christina Slentz, Director Creation Care, Diocese of San Diego
REGISTER at https://bit.ly/CCC_AUSCP_EcologicalPathway
For more information contact Fr. Emmet Farrell at emmet.farrell619@gmail.com.
“CHRISTIANS realize that their responsibility within creation, and their duty towards nature and the Creator, are an essential part of their faith.” (L.S. 64)

St. Phoebe Day: Clergy Info Session
2024-07-17 16:00 - 17:00 (America/New_York)
Clergy are invited to an informational session to learn about celebrating St. Phoebe Day in your parish or community this September
Learn about the goals and objectives of St. Phoebe Day, hear from other members of the clergy who welcomed celebrations in their communities last year, and get your questions answered.

8-Day Ignatian Directed Retreat
2024-07-27 - 2024-08-03 | Bon Secours Retreat and Conference Center, 1525 Marriottsville Road, Marriottsville, MD, 21104, United States
Our Ignatian Directed Retreat will be privileged time for you to deepen your relationship with God. You will be assigned a trained spiritual director with whom you will meet briefly each day to discern the movements of God in your life as revealed through your prayer.
The “direction” of directed retreats is that of discovering and exploring your own journey in faith and life and what path better helps you go in the direction you seek and Jesus invites. Embedded in the tradition of the Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius of Loyola, your retreat is made with a retreat director-a person who supports, listens, and has made the journey before. For those who are able, daily walks with Ignatian teachings will also be available. Aside from these daily conversations and the time you set aside for your own personal prayer, your time is unstructured. Daily Mass will also be available.
This is a silent retreat. Check-in begins at 4pm, a welcome session will be held at 5pm and the retreat will begin after dinner. Guided by Paul Gallagher, Fr. Patrick Bergquist, Nancy Bickel and Dee Papania. Upon registration, please indicate your preference for spiritual director under the ‘special needs’ section of the form.

A conversation in the Spirit on the 2024 US Presidential Election
2024-09-07 12:00 (America/New_York) | Online
A Unique National Conversation on Faith and the Common Good
How is your faith informing your view of the coming election?
How can we talk to each other about the most consequential election in our lifetimes?
Join with other Catholics and people of faith from around the United States in a 1-hour small group facilitated conversation where all can speak and all are heard
Listen to others and offer your insights, concerns and hopes for the future of our country in a safe and sacred space for encounter.

The Pathway to Ecological Citizenship and Spirituality: Week One
2024-09-11 18:30 - 20:00 (America/New_York) | Online
Catholic Climate Covenant and the Association of U. S. Catholic Priests invite you to a free, virtual 2-part workshop series on how to launch the Vatican’s LAUDATO SI’ ACTION PLATFORM in your diocese, parish, school, ministry, or organization.

In the last decade, Pope Francis has led the Catholic Church to take unprecedented steps toward solving our current climate crisis. Join us to explore the overall goal of Laudato Si’, “to discover what each of us can do about caring for our common home.” (Laudato Si’ 19).
“CHRISTIANS realize that their responsibility within creation, and their duty towards nature and the Creator, are an essential part of their faith.” (L.S. 64)
Week One: September 11th, 3:30-5PM Pacific
Welcome: Fr. Emmet Farrell, Founder Creation Care, Diocese of San Diego
Opening Prayer: Sr. Kathleen Warren, OSF, Director of the Office of Women Religious for the Diocese of San Diego
“The Spirituality of Laudato Si and the Challenge to Respond” by Dr. Erin Lothes, Columbia University’s Earth Institute Visiting Scholar and Senior Manager of the Laudato Si’ Movement Animators Program

REGISTER at https://bit.ly/CCC_AUSCP_EcologicalPathway
For more information contact Fr. Emmet Farrell at emmet.farrell619@gmail.com.

Women and Priests - Conversations in the Spirit
2024-09-18 13:00 - 14:00 (America/New_York) | Online
Interactive webinar series hosted by AUSCP Women in the Church Working Group
Should she stay or should she go now? How could the church walk more closely with young women?
Join us September 18th, 2024 at 1 PM EST for an interactive webinar dedicated to St. Phoebe and hosted by the Women in the Church Working Group for AUSCP. Women, bring your clergy! Clergy, bring women from your parish. Julia Oseka is the keynote speaker. Julia is a Polish native and young adult synod delegate and was chosen as one of ten non-bishop voting members from the United States and Canada who will be at the upcoming Synod on Synodality in October. Your input matters!
Registration link:
https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZYkcOygrTwvH9EbK-ViVi6iaKGmuWjegY-j
Call for Facilitators:
We need volunteers to be Synodal Facilitators. Indicate your interest when you register. Synodal facilitators will need to go through online training and will be a part of a pre-call briefing on September 16, 2024 from 7-7:45 PM

The Pathway to Ecological Citizenship and Spirituality Week Two
2024-09-18 18:30 - 20:00 (America/New_York) | Online
Catholic Climate Covenant and the Association of U. S. Catholic Priests invite you to a free, virtual 2-part workshop series on how to launch the Vatican’s LAUDATO SI’ ACTION PLATFORM in your diocese, parish, school, ministry, or organization.

In the last decade, Pope Francis has led the Catholic Church to take unprecedented steps toward solving our current climate crisis. Join us to explore the overall goal of Laudato Si’, “to discover what each of us can do about caring for our common home.” (Laudato Si’ 19).
Week Two: September 18th, 3:30-5PM Pacific
Welcome: Fr. Emmet Farrell, Founder Creation Care, Diocese of San Diego
Opening Prayer: Fr. Stephen P. Newton, CSC, Executive Director, AUSCP
“A Scientific Perspective of Our Climate Crisis”
by Dr. Philip Sakimoto, University of Notre Dame Dept. of Physics & Astronomy, Director, Minor in Sustainability
“A Primer on the Vatican’s Laudato Si’ Action Platform and Planning”
by Dr. Christina Slentz, Director Creation Care, Diocese of San Diego

REGISTER at https://bit.ly/CCC_AUSCP_EcologicalPathway
For more information contact Fr. Emmet Farrell at emmet.farrell619@gmail.com.
“CHRISTIANS realize that their responsibility within creation, and their duty towards nature and the Creator, are an essential part of their faith.” (L.S. 64)

The October 2024 Synod in Rome: An Overview and Arguments for Ordaining Married Men
2024-09-26 17:30 - 18:30 (America/New_York) | Lourdes University, 6832 Convent Blvd, Sylvania, Ohio, 43560
SYLVANIA, Ohio – Lourdes University will host Father Jim Bacik as he offers his latest lecture, “The October 2024 Synod in Rome: An Overview and Arguments for Ordaining Married Men.” The lecture will take place Thursday, September 26, 2024, at 5:30 p.m. at the Franciscan Center of Lourdes University, 6832 Convent Blvd., Sylvania, Ohio.
The lecture will provide an overview of the agenda and process of the 2024 Synod in Rome and will offer historical, theological, moral and pragmatic arguments for opening up the ordained priesthood to married men of proven good character – an analysis that questions the wisdom of maintaining the practice of obligatory priestly celibacy in the western church.
No reservations are necessary. General admission is $10, cash or check is accepted at the door. Students, men and women religious, and persons with financial limitations are welcome to attend for free. For more information, contact lifelong@lourdes.edu or call 419-824-3707.
Livestream the Lecture

Father Jim Bacik
Father Jim Bacik is a widely-regarded theologian, writer, lecturer and pastor who served as campus minister and adjunct professor of humanities at The University of Toledo for more than 30 years. Ordained in 1962 as a priest for the Diocese of Toledo, he served at St. Mary’s Sandusky, St. Thomas More Bowling Green and Corpus Christi University Parish in Toledo.
As pastor of Corpus Christi, he led several important initiatives including establishing a Chair of Catholic Studies at The University of Toledo; building a new church and parish facility; organizing the nationally acclaimed Christian Leadership Program; and promoting an extensive Christian Service Program for students and permanent community members. His books include Apologetics and the Eclipse of Mystery; Contemporary Theologians; Catholic Spirituality: Its History and Challenge; and A Light Unto My Path: Crafting Effective Homilies (co-authored by Dr. Kevin Anderson). He has lectured throughout the United States as well as in Australia, China, Japan, Latin America, and Russia.
In November 2014, Lourdes University established the Father James J. Bacik Archives as well as an endowed chair in theology in his name. Father Bacik holds a doctorate in theology from the University of Oxford in England and previously taught at Mount St. Mary’s Seminary, and taught summer programs at both Notre Dame University and Fordham University.

Leavening Humankind: Lumen Gentium, Part 1
2024-10-02 16:00 - 17:00 (America/New_York) | Online
Hosted by Fr. Bob Bonnot and presented by Dr. Joe Torma

Lumen Gentium is the first of two Dogmatic Constitutions that were promulgated by Vatican II on December 4, 1963, both now listed among the 16 documents adopted by the Catholic Church’s second Vatican Council from 1963-1965. This document merits 4 presentation sessions with discussion among us. Lumen Gentium presented the church as a mystery, as a communion of baptized believers, as the people of God, as the body of Christ and as a pilgrim moving toward fulfillment in heaven but marked on earth with

… “a sanctity that is real, although imperfect.”
Our Webinar sessions run roughly 60 minutes until formal closure, followed by 15-30 minutes continuing discussion by those interested in engaging in more conversation. There will also be a final wrap-up session as we complete our study and discussion of all 16 Vatican II Documents: four Constitutions, nine Decrees, and three Constitutions. This series will be timely and enriching as we move toward the final three Synodal sessions of Pope Francis in 2024, the Church’s pathway to 2025.

Register HERE.

This is a four-part series with sessions on October 2, 9, 16, and 23. The series will conclude with a November 6 Summary Review.

Leavening Humankind: Lumen Gentium, Part 2
2024-10-09 16:00 - 17:00 (America/New_York) | Online

Mass of Lamentation for all victims in Palestine and Israel
2024-10-09 20:00 - 21:00 (America/New_York)
Join Pax Christi USA and the AUSCP for an online Mass of Lamentation for all the victims of the violence in Gaza and Israel since October 7, 2023. Join the online celebration of the Mass on Wednesday, October 9, at 8 p.m. ET, 5 p.m. PT.

Leavening Humankind: Lumen Gentium, Part 3
2024-10-16 16:00 - 17:00 (America/New_York) | Online

Immigration and the Election
2024-10-17 14:00 - 15:00 (America/New_York) | Online
With the election around the bend, we are offering some additional information on immigration issues. The Immigration Working Group is offering a webinar by Ruben Garcia who has been administering the Annunciation House in El Paso, Texas, for about 50 years. This center provides housing, food, and hospitality for people who have recently crossed the border at this very busy entry point. Ruben is well known for his service to the immigrants/refugees. He hears many personal stories and knows firsthand the present situation at the border. This webinar is a trustworthy fact check for us all. The Annunciation House has been the target recently by those who are against almost any type of immigration. The House almost had to shut down. It will be prerecorded, but there will be a brief time for comments and questions after the video.
Join us on Zoom on Thursday, October 17th, 1-2 pm Central time/2-3 Eastern time.
Register HERE.

Leavening Humankind: Lumen Gentium, Part 4
2024-10-23 16:00 - 17:00 (America/New_York) | Online

The 2024 Election: Overcoming the Threats to Democracy Posed by Authoritarianism and Christian Nationalism
2024-10-31 17:30 - 18:30 (America/New_York) | Lourdes University, 6832 Convent Blvd, Sylvania, Ohio, 43560
For those of you in the Toledo area, I am giving my second lecture of this academic year on Thursday, October 31, 2024 at 5:30 p.m. in the theater of the Franciscan Center on the campus of Lourdes University, entitled: “The 2024 Election: Overcoming the Threats to Democracy Posed by Authoritarianism and Christian Nationalism.” The lecture will examine the history, dynamics and current strengths of these two threats and will suggest ways to counter them.
No reservations are necessary. General admission is $10 (cash or check only) payable at the door. Students, nuns, priests and persons with financial limitations are welcome to attend for free.
If all goes well this lecture will eventually be available on my website: frjimbacik.org.

Leavening Humankind: Lumen Gentium, Series Summary Review
2024-11-06 16:00 - 17:00 (America/New_York) | Online
Hosted by Fr. Bob Bonnot and presented by Dr. Joe Torma

Lumen Gentium is the first of two Dogmatic Constitutions that were promulgated by Vatican II on December 4, 1963, both now listed among the 16 documents adopted by the Catholic Church’s second Vatican Council from 1963-1965. This document merits 4 presentation sessions with discussion among us. Lumen Gentium presented the church as a mystery, as a communion of baptized believers, as the people of God, as the body of Christ and as a pilgrim moving toward fulfillment in heaven but marked on earth with

… “a sanctity that is real, although imperfect.”
Our Webinar sessions run roughly 60 minutes until formal closure, followed by 15-30 minutes continuing discussion by those interested in engaging in more conversation. There will also be a final wrap-up session as we complete our study and discussion of all 16 Vatican II Documents: four Constitutions, nine Decrees, and three Constitutions. This series will be timely and enriching as we move toward the final three Synodal sessions of Pope Francis in 2024, the Church’s pathway to 2025.

Register HERE.

This is the final Summary Review of a four-part series.
