Inspired by Saint Francis of Assisi, Pope Francis’ Fratelli Tutti calls for a way of life marked by the “flavor of the Gospel.” The pope’s latest encyclical focuses on contemporary social and economic problems while urging an ideal world of more human fraternity and solidarity. Franciscan Action Network is excited to bring to you a series of discussions that will unpack the Holy Father’s directives to help heal divisions and guide us towards better unity.
“God is universal love, and as long as we are part of that love and share in it, we are called to universal fraternity, which is openness to all.” (Ch.3) The Holy Father implores us to strive for a world “without walls, without borders, without people rejected, without strangers.” In order to achieve this world, he says, each of us needs an open heart. (Ch. 4)
As a way to enrich our understanding and reflection on the encyclical, Franciscan Action Network will host four discussions on Fratelli Tutti in conjunction with specific topics. Each will begin at 7pm ET (4pm PT) and be moderated by our own Executive Director, Stephen Schneck. Click here to learn how to sponsor these events.
There is a separate registration link for each discussion. Please click the individual registration links below to attend. Once you register you will be emailed a unique link to join the events.
Kim Daniels and Heidi Schlumpf will discuss the challenges we face in our families and communities and the Pope’s call for a new way of living in social life.
Date: May 5, 2021
Time: 7pm ET (4pm PT)
Register: https://tinyurl.com/364ffjjy
Kim Daniels is the co-director of Georgetown University’s Initiative on Catholic Social Thought and Public Life. She was appointed by Pope Francis as a Member of the Vatican Dicastery for Communication in 2016, and has advised the US bishops and major Catholic institutions on a broad range of issues where Church teachings intersect with public life, including immigration, human life and dignity, religious liberty, and care for creation.
Heidi Schlumpf is the executive editor of the National Catholic Reporter, after serving as the publication’s national correspondent for three years. She has three decades of experience covering religion, spirituality, social justice and women’s issues, having previously served as managing editor of U.S. Catholic magazine and as a reporter at Chicago’s archdiocesan newspaper and secular newspapers in California and Wisconsin. Her work has been published by CNN Opinion, Sojourners and Huffington Post. A graduate of the University of Notre Dame, she earned a master’s of theological studies from Garrett Evangelical Theological Seminary at Northwestern University. She is an author and editor of several titles and is based in Chicago, where she lives with her husband, Edmund, and their two children.
Olga Segura and Ralph McCloud will help us consider the divisions caused by racism and how to overcome them.
Date: May 19, 2021
Time: 7pm ET (4pm PT)
Register: https://tinyurl.com/mby4p69s
Olga Marina Segura is the opinion and culture editor at the National Catholic Reporter and the author of Birth of A Movement: Black Lives Matter and the Catholic Church. Previously, she was an associate editor at America Media, where she wrote and solicited articles on race and culture. Her writing has appeared in The Guardian, Shondaland, Sojourners, Refinery29, and The Revealer.
Prior to working at America Media, Olga was an intern at the Permanent Mission of the Dominican Republic to the United Nations. She graduated from Fordham University with a Bachelor of Arts in English and a Bachelor of Arts in Italian Language and Literature. She speaks Italian and Spanish fluently and was born in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic.
Ralph McCloud is the Director of the Catholic Campaign for Human Development (CCHD), an anti-poverty program of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. CCHD is the domestic anti-poverty program of the U.S. Catholic Bishops. He is a recipient of the Texas Courage Award from the Texas Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty, the History Maker Award from the Archdiocese of Atlanta, Catholic Charities USA’s Keep the Dream Alive Award, and the Bishop John Joseph Keane Medallion from the Catholic University of America. He currently serves on the board of the Catholic Mobilizing Network and Ralph is a member of St. Teresa of Avila Parish in Washington DC.
Anthony Annett and Meghan Clark will go into our modern economics and how they divide and they will discuss the alternative economics offered in Fratelli Tutti and how we can come together.
Date: May 26, 2021
Time: 7pm ET (4pm PT)
Register: https://tinyurl.com/tf5nwzuc
Anthony (Tony) Annett is a Gabelli Fellow at Fordham University and a Senior Advisor at the Sustainable Development Solutions Network. He has a Ph.D. in economics from Columbia University, and spent two decades at the International Monetary Fund, including as speechwriter for two Managing Directors. He is also a member of the College of Fellows of the Dominican School of Philosophy in Theology in Berkeley and is a Knight Commander of the Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem.
Meghan J. Clark is an associate professor of moral theology at St. John’s University (NY). She is author of The Vision of Catholic Social Thought: the Virtue of Solidarity and the Praxis of Human Rights (Fortress Press, 2014). In 2015, she was a Fulbright Scholar at Hekima Institute for Peace Studies and International Relations at Hekima University College, Nairobi, Kenya. Active in public theology, she is a columnist for US Catholic magazine. She received her PhD in Theological Ethics from Boston College (2009).
Amy Uelmann and David Cloutier will discuss the brokenness and polarization of our political system and how we can overcome divisions to achieve unity.
Date: June 16, 2021
Time: 7pm ET (4pm PT)
Register: https://tinyurl.com/238pjwbj
Amy Uelmen is a Lecturer in Religion & Professional Life and Special Advisor to the Dean at Georgetown Law and a Senior Research Fellow at Georgetown’s Berkley Center for Religion, Peace and World Affairs. She has authored numerous law review articles and two books about political dialogue, both with New City Press: Five Steps to a Positive Vision of Politics and Five Steps to Healing Polarization in the Classroom (with Michael Kessler). She holds a BA, JD and SJD research doctorate from Georgetown University, and a MA in Theology from Fordham University. She is a longtime member of the Focolare Movement and wrote this Whither Dialogue After the Capitol Riot? in response to the January 6th attack on the Capitol.
David Cloutier (B.A., Carleton; Ph.D. Duke) is associate professor of moral theology at The Catholic University of America in Washington, DC, teaching primarily Catholic social ethics. He is the author of a number of books, including The Vice of Luxury: Economic Excess in a Consumer Age (Georgetown University Press) Walking God’s Earth: The Environment and Catholic Theology, and Reading Praying Living Pope Francis’ Laudato Si’ (both from Liturgical Press). His writing has appeared in Commonweal, America, and US Catholic, among others. He is currently working on “work” in Catholic social thought, and the broader topic of how social structures affect individual moral agency.
Once you register for a specific discussion, you will receive an email with a unique link to join. Do not loose this link! Note: Each event has a separate link to register. To join all four, you must register for each individually.
Each event will follow the same format with moderated discussion followed by Q&A. Attendees will be encouraged to submit questions for the panelists during the discussions.
Here are some resources you may want to access to enrich our discussions:
Fratelli Tutti
We look forward to vibrant conversations! Peace and all good.
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2 Responses
jj
I have read much of Fratelli Tutti and find it wonderful. No doubt Pope Francis was placed where he is by God for such a time as this.