Our popular Summer and Winter Forum Series offer Catholic adults and young adults an opportunity to learn and grow in a comfortable, familiar environment in downtown Waterloo. 

We choose presenters from among pastors, pastoral leaders and academic leaders on both the local and diocesan level.  We ask them to address a variety of interesting and important social, political, moral and theological issues which shape the lives of Catholics in the Church today.

Presenters and participants alike appreciate the relaxed and informal atmosphere which contributes to a stimulating combination of presentation and discussion.  Food and beverages are available before, during and after the presentations.  Forum programs are open to the public.  No pre-registration is required.

Forum programs are normally held at COR, the Waterloo parishes' downtown hospitality center at 220 East 4th Street.  [Click here for map]

Our Summer and Winter Forum programs are made possible in part by a grant from the Archbishop Kucera Center for Catholic Intellectual and Spiritual Life at Loras College.

Audience
This program is appropriate for adults and young adults in all thresholds of faith formation.
> Click here to learn more about the thresholds of faith formation.

Take-Away
Adults and young adults who participate in this opportunity will:
• learn more about important issues which affect our lives as Catholic Christians.
• have an opportunity to dialog with distinguished pastoral leaders, theologians and
   academics.
• appreciate the challenges and opportunities of a changing Church in a changing world.

•   •   •

2019 Summer Schedule

Wednesday, June 26
“Crisis and Recovery in the History of the Church"

For many, the current sexual abuse crisis in the Catholic Church seems to be the low point in the church's long history, but as Dr. Charlotte Wells shows in this presentation it is certainly not the only one.  From the drunken liturgies and sexual irregularities admonished by St. Paul, to the heretic burnings of the Middle Ages, to the financial corruption and flagrant sexual abuses of the Renaissance, and the reactionary alliances of the nineteenth century, the Church has in fact passed through many dark periods in its long history.  Here Dr. Wells examines several of these swings away from Catholicism’s best self and how things came to move again in a positive direction.  Her basic message is: don't give up, we've survived hard times before.
 

Presented by Fr. Jerry Kopacek

In April of 2018, Pope Francis released an Apostolic Exhortation titled Gaudete et Exsultate--On the Call to Holiness in Today's World. In the document the Pope examines the diversity of forms in which holiness is expressed, notes two common "false forms" of holiness, focuses on the example of Jesus, and offers practical advice on how to "rejoice and be glad."  Fr. Kopacek calls this an excellent and challenging reflection on the continuing relevance of and the need for holiness in the life of the Christian.  This presentation will focus on the basics of holiness (what it is and what is isn't), signs of holiness in our time, and challenges we face in pursuing the call to holiness.
> Read five important take-aways from Guadete et Exsultate here.
> Download the text of Gaudete et Exsultate here.

Presented by Dr. Bryan Cross

In his 1998 encyclical Fides et Ratio, Pope St. John Paul II laid out the rightful role of philosophy in relation to faith and sacred theology. Yet in an age of empirical science, philosophy is often eclipsed and neglected. As a result we are less able to recognize and avoid philosophical errors.  This talk will explain some of the more important philosophical errors of our present time.  Please bring questions or even raise objections for an engaging dialogue.

Monday, July 22
“Causes of the Church's Abuse Crisis
and What We Can Do About It"

Presented by Bishop Thomas Zincula

Observers of the sexual abuse crisis in the Catholic Church say there are numerous factors which led to years of abuse and subsequent cover-ups.  A common cause cited in many analyses is the Church's traditional structure of authority and what many have called a culture of clericalism.  In his Letter to the People of God, Pope Francis called clericalism "a peculiar way of understanding the Church's authority," which "supports and helps to perpetuate many of the evils that we are condemning today."  In this presentation Bishop Zinkula will examine the causes for the abuse crisis as he sees them and what the Church is doing and must do to address them.
> Read Bishop Zincula's article in the Catholic Messenger here.
 

Wednesday, August 7
“What You Need to Know to Read and Understand the Gospels"

Presented by Fr. Robert Beck

Most Catholics hear the Gospels read at Sunday Mass each week; many read the scripture for their personal inspiration, private prayer, or small group discussions. Over time, the readings become somewhat familiar and the message may seem fairly obvious.  But do we risk missing the point when we've heard this all before?  Can we imagine the impact which Jesus's actions and words had on the people of his own time?  In this presentation Fr. Beck will discuss what we need to know in order to identify and understand the core message of the Gospels even when it is embedded in far different times and circumstances from our own.

Wednesday, August 14
The State of American Politics:
Question and Answer Forum

To the casual observer (and viewers of cable news programs) it may seem like we have entered dangerous and "uncharted territory" in the state of civil and political affairs in the United States.  The present situation raises many critical questions like: How bad are things today?  Are we facing a constitutional crisis?  Can representative government survive the impact of social media and extreme polarization? When and how will things improve?  What can the average citizen do?  In this discussion, Dr. Cochran will provide a brief overview of the state of American politics today, and then devote most of the session to addressing questions from the audience.

•   •   •

About Our Presenters

Fr. Robert Beck is Emeritus Professor of Religious Studies at Loras College in Dubuque. A native of Waterloo, Fr. Beck attended Loras College and Mt. St. Bernard Seminary in Dubuque, the Ecole Biblique de Jerusalem and the Catholic University of America. He was ordained to the priesthood in 1966 and served on the faculty of Aquinas Institute in Dubuque from 1973 to 1981. He is the author of several books and various pieces of music, including "Beck's Our Father" and a musical based on the Gospel of Mark. He writes a popular weekly column, "Sunday's Word", published by the Archdiocesan newspaper, "The Witness".  Fr. Beck served for many years on the Archdiocesan Worship Commission and has been active in the Catholic Worker Movement in Dubuque. He has served as Chaplain at Mt. St. Francis Convent in Dubuque since 1998.

Dr. David Cochran is professor of political science and director of the Archbishop Kucera Center for Catholic Intellectual and Spiritual Life at Loras College in Dubuque.  He grew up in Texas and earned his MA and PhD degrees from the University of Maryland.  He has taught at Loras since 1996, and offers a range of courses primarily in the areas of political thought and American politics.  His primary research interests are in religion and politics, multiculturalism and democracy, and the morality of war, topics on which he frequently publishes, lectures and leads workshops.  He is co-author with his father, Clarke Cochran, of Catholics, Politics and Public Policy (Orbis, 2003) and author of The Catholic Vote--A Guide for the Perplexed (Orbis, 2008) and Catholic Realism and the Abolition of War (Orbis, 2014).  David and his wife Christine have two sons and live in Dubuque.

Dr. Bryan R. Cross is an Associate Professor of Philosophy at Mount Mercy University. He completed his bachelor’s degree in cellular and molecular biology at the University of Michigan. He subsequently received an M.Div. from Covenant Theological Seminary, and a Ph.D. in philosophy from Saint Louis University. He has previously taught at Saint Louis University, Lindenwood University, and Kenrick-Glennon Seminary, and has published on St. Thomas Aquinas and Alasdair MacIntyre. He co-founded and contributes to the website CalledToCommunion.com. His academic research centers around the role of tradition in philosophical practice and its implications for the role of philosophy in Catholic higher education. He and his wife and two daughters were received into full communion with the Catholic Church on October 8, 2006

Fr. Jerry Kopacek is pastor of Holy Rosary Cluster in North-Central Iowa.  He has a BA in political science and history from Iowa State University and a law degree from the University of Iowa College of Law.  He practiced law in Des Moines for four years after graduating from law school.  He earned his Masters of Divinity degree from St. Mary Seminary in Baltimore and was ordained to the priesthood in 1988. Fr. Kopacek has served on the faculty at Beckman High School, Dyersville and Newman High School, Mason City, and served in parishes in Dyersville, Mason City, Marion, Forest City, Lake Mills, Buffalo Center, and Marshalltown.  He served as pastor of St. Edward Parish, Waterloo from 1999 to 2004 and again from 2006 to 0000. He served as spiritual director of St. Pius X Seminary in Dubuque from 0000 to 2018.

Dr. Charlotte Wells  retired this spring as Associate Professor of History at the University of Northern Iowa.  She is a native of Austin, Minnesota.  She received her doctorate in Early Modern European history (the Renaissance and Reformation) from Indiana University in 1990 and has published a variety of scholarly works on the political ideology of the Renaissance and Reformation.  She is currently interested in the role of Catholic-Protestant conflict in the beginnings of European settlement in North America.  She joined the University of Northern Iowa History Department in 1993.  She worships at St. Stephen the Witness Catholic Student Center in Cedar Falls, where she teaches Church history in the RCIA.

Most Rev. Thomas Zincula is bishop of Davenport.  Bishop Zincula was born in Mt. Vernon, Iowa, and graduated from Cornell College with BA degrees in mathematics and economics.  He earned a juris doctor degree from the University of Iowa in 1983 and a MA in theology from the Catholic University of America in 1990.  He was ordained to the priesthood on May 26, 1990, by Archbishop Daniel Kucera at St. Raphael Cathedral in Dubuque.  He earned a licentiate of canon law in 1998 from St. Paul University in Ottawa, Canada.  He served as associate pastor or pastor of various parishes in the Archdiocese of Dubuque while also serving on the Metropolitan Tribunal.  He was appointed Judicial Vicar for the Archdiocese in 2000 and Episcopal Vicar for the Cedar Rapids Region in 2012.  He served as rector of St. Pius X Seminary in Dubuque from 2014 to 2017.  He was ordained a bishop and installed as the ninth bishop of Davenport on June 22, 201