Sharing Cultures — Session 4 of 4
2025-06-25 19:00 - 20:30 (America/New_York) | Online
A series of four monthly Zoom gatherings – 6:00 to 7:30 pm Central Time; 7:00 – 8:30 pm EDT
With real people telling us what’s special about their cultures!
Purpose: to better understand persons of cultures other than my own
Tuesday, March 25 and Wednesday, May 28
Wednesday, April 30 and Wednesday, June 25
TO REGISTER FOR ONE OR MORE, GET A ZOOM LINK, Email: tpmarciani@gmail.com with your name, email address and phone number.
May we have a deeper appreciation of people of all cultures, so we more fully grasp how each person can live to her/his full potential and all of us can live well together. Sponsored by Justice, Peace and Integrity of Creation Commission (JPIC) and Anti-Racism Committee (ARC) of the Sisters of St. Francis of Mary Immaculate, Joliet Franciscans

Pilgrimage Planning Workshops – September 16
2025-09-16 11:00 - 12:00 (America/New_York) | Online
We will gather monthly for Pilgrimage training and toolkit workshops, connecting Catholics across the country as we plan for Pilgrimages of Hope for Creation in our local places and spaces!

March 18: Planning Pilgrimages and Network Building
April 15: Front-line Community Collaboration (90 min)
May 20: Planning a Pilgrimage: Nuts and Bolts
June 24: Catechesis: Responding to the Cry of the Earth, and Cry of the Poor
July 22: Growing Network and Impact: Gathering Pilgrims and Next Steps
August 19: Working with the Media
September 16: Group Sharing
October 21: Celebrating our Pilgrimages and Impact!
November 18: Next Steps: Continuing Along the Way
December 16: An Advent Spiritual Reflection of Pilgrimages of Hope for Creation

Please join these workshops live for engaging conversation, creative breakout rooms, phenomenal tools, and energizing examples! Most are 60 min, April will be 90. If you are unable to make the live time, please still register, and the recordings will be uploaded to the website soon afterwards.

AUSCP Consultation on USCCB Laity Document
2025-09-17 13:00 - 14:30 (America/New_York) | Online
1-2:30 PM EST; 12-1:30 PM CST; 11-12:30 MST; 10-11:30 PST
The objective of this Conversation in the Spirit is to assist the U.S. bishops as they discover how the People of God understand the baptismal identity and co-responsible mission of the laity within Church and society.
Our Speaker
Sr. Marie Kolbe Zamora served as an official for the General Secretariat of the Synod of Bishops in Rome during the Global Synod. She will speak about her experience in Rome, the importance of synodality to the US Church, and the impact of synodality and deep listening on her own life. Originally hailing from Houston, Texas, Sister Marie Kolbe Zamora is a member of the Franciscan Sisters of Christian Charity (Diocese of Green Bay). She holds an S.T.B., S.T.L. in Dogmatic Theology, and S.T.D. from the Pontifical Gregorian University, specializing in Bonaventure and Ecclesiology.
Preparation
Prayerfully reflect on these questions prior to the event. These questions will be discussed in our small group Conversation in the Spirit.

Where do you see the Holy Spirit at work in your relationship/engagement with the Church?
What are your joys, hopes, and visions for the role of the laity within the Church and in society?

The AUSCP Women in the Church Working Group will record input and share it with the USCCB.
Synodal Facilitator Training
Want to receive training on how to facilitate synodal conversations and be one of our facilitators? Training will occur on Tuesday, September 16th at 5:30 PM EST and will take 1 hour. Some online training prior to the live training will be required. Answer yes to facilitation as you register for more information.
Register here: https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/dbZl8MGXQYKW21cDyyrpQw#/registration

Pilgrimage Planning Workshops – October 21
2025-10-21 11:00 - 12:00 (America/New_York) | Online

Pope Leo XIV’s New Challenge and Moral Leadership on Poverty, Work, and Artificial Intelligence
2025-10-30 18:00 - 19:00 (America/New_York) | Intercultural Center (ICC) Auditorium, 1501 TONDORF ROAD NW
In his new apostolic exhortation Dilexi te (“I have loved you”), Pope Leo powerfully elevates concern for the poor as a central theme of his pontificate. He writes, “The condition of the poor is a cry that, throughout human history, constantly challenges our lives, societies, political and economic systems, and, not least, the Church. On the wounded faces of the poor, we see the suffering of the innocent and, therefore, the suffering of Christ himself.”
Pope Leo’s strong focus on the poor is situated within his acknowledgement of our rapidly changing social and economic context. Just after he was elected, Pope Leo said the Church should offer “her social teaching in response … to developments in the field of artificial intelligence that pose new challenges for the defense of human dignity, justice, and labor.” Concern for the poor combines with new moral questions around the impacts of artificial intelligence, especially on workers, to form the central themes of his early pontificate.
This timely Public Dialogue will respond to Pope Leo’s powerful challenge to the Church to refocus on the poor and his questions regarding the moral and human impacts of artificial intelligence at this time of economic turmoil and transformation.
Four outstanding leaders will

Address the challenges for the Church and our nation of widespread poverty in the U.S. and around the world, and the message of Pope Leo’s apostolic exhortation Dilexi te (“I have loved you”) on the topic of poverty in light of Catholic social teaching.
Examine the ongoing mandate of Rerum novarum and other elements of Catholic social thought: the dignity and rights of workers, just wages, defending those who are poor, and support for families and unions.
Explore how the Church can share the tradition of Catholic social teaching in response to what Pope Leo XIV has called “another industrial revolution… artificial intelligence and new challenges for the defense of human dignity, justice and labor.”
Look ahead to how Pope Leo, the Church, and others can address the moral dimensions and human impacts of poverty, AI, and other economic pressures on workers, poor families, and society.

John Carr, founder of the Initiative on Catholic Social Thought and Public Life, will moderate the dialogue. For more than twenty years, Carr led the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops’ efforts on poverty, work, and economic justice.
Photo credit: Roman Catholic Diocese of Chiclayo
Participants

Cardinal Blase Cupich
Cardinal Blase Cupich is the archbishop of Chicago, Illinois. A close advisor to both Pope Francis and now Pope Leo XIV, Cardinal Cupich has been an advocate for Catholic social teaching on human dignity, the common good, work, labor, and a preferential option for the poor and vulnerable.

Paul Almeida
Paul Almeida is the dean and William R. Berkley Chair at Georgetown University’s McDonough School of Business. During his tenure, Dean Almeida has built the school’s capabilities around fields of the future through new initiatives, including one focused on artificial intelligence, analytics, and the future of work.

Cecilia Flores
Cecilia Flores is the executive director of Catholic Volunteer Network. Prior to this role, she was a community organizer with Sacramento ACT, where she worked to address issues of poverty and injustice in California. Flores also spent several years volunteering in Honduras with the Missioners of Christ.

Liz Shuler
Liz Shuler is the president of AFL-CIO, the first woman elected to this position. A visionary leader and longtime trade unionist, Shuler has been invited to speak at the Vatican on the dignity of work, the rights of workers, and climate change.

Climate Change and Migration: Two Interconnected Crises
2025-11-05 11:00 - 12:00 (America/New_York) | Online
(All who register will receive a link to the recording.)
The immigration crisis and the climate crisis are interconnected. Climate change is one of the driving push factors of global migration as weather related disasters (hurricanes, drought, flooding), and sea level rise make large swaths of land unusable and undermine the lives and dignity of small farmers and farmworkers and impact many national economies. Our immigrant brothers and sisters who are seeking a new life because of climate change impacts need our support.
In this webinar we will explore some of these climate push factors impacting global migration, how Catholic Social Teaching informs our response, and hear from those on the ground of the immigration crisis as to how the Church IS responding.
Panelists:
● Most Reverend Joseph Tyson, Bishop of the Diocese of Yakima, chair of the USCCB’s Pastoral Care for Migrants, Refugees and Travelers, and Catholic Climate Covenant’s Episcopal Moderator
● Chloe Noel, Environmental Research and Policy Advisor, United States Conference of Catholic Bishops
● Jesús de la Torre, Assistant Director for Global Migration, Hope Border Institute For more information, contact paz@catholicclimatecovenant.org.

Pilgrimage Planning Workshops – November 18
2025-11-18 11:00 - 12:00 (America/New_York) | Online

Pilgrimage Planning Workshops – December 16
2025-12-16 11:00 - 12:00 (America/New_York) | Online

Opening Doors Already Unlocked: Creating Space to Recognize and Support Women’s Voices and Leadership
2026-04-22 12:00 - 13:30 (America/Chicago) | Online
Join the AUSCP Women in the Church Working Group for a 90 minute online gathering of women and priests. Program will include brief testimonies, a guided Lectio Divina, Conversations in the Spirit, and a Q&A.
Grounded in the Synod’s call for “full implementation of opportunities” and AUSCP’s mission of compassionate, collegial accompaniment, this event creates a respectful space for listening, shared witness, and pastoral imagination about women’s leadership in parish life. A newly released Final Report from Study Group 5 (3-10-26), calls for the creation of “new spaces” for women in diocesan governance and decision-making, stating that their inclusion is not a concession but a requirement for the Church’s mission. Our webinar will explore concrete proposals illustrated by personal testimonies and audience participation.
Join us in this timely work to bring into being a Church where leadership is a shared responsibility of the whole People of God.
Testimonies include:
The Impact of Training Lay Preaching Formation on the Laity and our Church Susan McGurgan ( Director, Preach All Ways Initiative)
Creation of Space for Lay Leadership and Impact – Katie Jansen (Parish Life Coordinator; Director of the Work, St. Francis Xavier College Church) and Tim McMahon, SJ. Canonical Pastor for St. Francis Xavier (College) Church
Lectio Divina led by Lisa M. Orchen, M.Div. (Program Director, Proclaim)
Small group Conversations in the Spirit —35 minutes

Where have you already seen women exercising leadership or preaching in ways that are fully permitted by Church law, and what fruit have you noticed from those experiences?
Given the Synod’s call to fully implement what is already allowed in Canon Law, what opportunities for women’s leadership or preaching seem most ready to be expanded in parish life?

President Trump’s Policies and Strategies: Explained and Challenged
2026-05-21 17:30 (America/New_York) | Franciscan Center
Dear Friends and Readers,
For those of you in the Toledo area, I am giving a lecture, sponsored by the Lourdes Lifelong Learning program, in the theater in the Franciscan Center on Thursday, May 21, 2026 at 5:30 p.m. It is entitled: “President Trump’s Policies and Strategies: Explained and Challenged.” It will include his policies on higher education, mass deportation and waging war as well as moral challenges by Pope Leo and the American bishops.
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.
WGTE is no longer able to video my lectures, but I am very grateful that they provided that service for many years.
Fr. Jim Bacik

Against the Current: Father Tom Oddo and the New American Catholic
2026-07-23 19:00 - 20:00 (America/New_York) | Online
Join us for conversation with author Tyler Bieber about his new biography Against the Current: Father Tom Oddo and the New American Catholic (Unencumbered Press, 2025). Maxwell Kuzma will moderate this presentation about Father Tom Oddo (1944-1989), an early leader of DignityUSA and a key figure in the fight for LGBTQ rights. Oddo was also a prominent leader in higher education as president of the University of Portland from 1982 until his tragic death in a car crash in 1989. Bieber draws on intimate interviews, personal archives, and never-before-seen documents to portray the compelling story of this courageous leader and activist whose lived within the confines of tradition, yet embodied hope, resilience and a new vision of Catholicism.

Online Feast of St. Phoebe International Prayer Service
2026-09-03 08:00 - 09:00 (America/New_York) | Online
Celebrate the Feast of Deacon St. Phoebe this September 3, 2026! Join Discerning Deacons and an international group of women collaborators from every continent in prayer for our synodal, diaconal church during the Synod Implementation Phase.
Learn more about this event here.
