Visions of Hope: Emerging Theologians Envision the Future of the Church

by m

This conference taking place at Boston College in March 2012 looks promising:

Over a decade into the 21st century, the human community faces an increasingly complex social and historical context. While the phenomenon of globalization and its effects have engendered hope in bringing people and cultures together in many profound ways, new inequalities, conflicts, and sorrows are dividing people and communities worldwide. Technology, culture, and communities are changing and developing at a pace never before seen in human history.

Such complexities and changes have deeply impacted the Catholic Church and other faith communities around the world both positively and negatively. In the midst of these external dynamics, the Catholic Church has also faced a number of internal challenges and divisions in the five decades since the Second Vatican Council. Despite the many positive and uplifting moments, theological insights, and movements that have taken emerged in the church since the Second Vatican Council opened fifty years ago, the ecclesial community faces a number of unresolved issues, including:

  • the continued fallout of the clergy sexual abuse crisis;

  • conflicting understandings on the relationship between the church and the world;

  • divisive questions of sexual ethics and the role of women in the church;

  • debates about the reform of the liturgy; and

  • questions of how best to address the growing shortage of priests in Europe and North America.

    • In light of these complex issues and realties, what will the future of the Church look like? Emerging theologians and young church leaders (broadly, those under 40) are in a unique position to offer hopeful visions which might help the Catholic community address internal and external questions. The fiftieth anniversary of the Second Vatican Council offers an important moment to take stock of the present ecclesial situation and to look ahead with hope to the future.

    In an effort to empower and listen to the voices of some emerging theologians and leaders, theology graduate students at Boston College (BC), together with the International Catholic Movement for Intellectual and Cultural Affairs (ICMICA-Pax Romana) and other partners at BC plan to organize an international colloquium in March, 2012 on the theme of Visions of Hope: Emerging Theologians Envision the Future of the Church. The three-day gathering will be guided by, five subthemes:

  • The Future of Catholic Ethics

  • The Future of Dialogue

  • The Future of Liturgy

  • The Future of Ministry

  • The Future of Ecclesiology

    • View the call for papers here.