PLEASE NOTE
Some of this year's Forum presentations will be live in-person at COR*.
Others will be live-streamed online.
Check the status of individual programs carefully below.
[*Masks are required for those who are not vaccinated.]
 

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 level 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.

Many observers fear that our democratic system is in serious danger from new laws limiting voter access, vote recounts, mobilization of right-wing groups, and persistent claims that the 2020 election was stollen.  In this presentation, Dr. Cochran will discussd how and why our democratic system of government, while it is not facing imminent collapse, is under more stress than it has experienced since the 19th century.  This should concern all Americans, including Catholics, since strong democratic institutions, broad-based rights to political participation, and the rule of law are all core components of modern Catholic social teaching.
Learn More:
> Read "American Democracy Is in Crisis" here.
> Read "The Crisis of American Democracy" here.
> Read a statement of concern by U.S. political scientists here.

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Thursday, July 8. 7:00-8:30pm
Via Live Streaming. Join this program at:
meet.google.com/mwn-zszw-wps
“The War That Never Was--Science vs. Faith"

One of the prevailing myths of modern intellectual and cultural history is that there has been a long-running war between science and religion, particularly over evolution. Dr. Kemp believes that what is mistaken as a war between science and religion is actually a pair of wars between other belligerents—evolutionists and anti-evolutionists on the one hand, atheists and Christians on the other.  In neither of those wars can one align science with one side and religion or theology with the other. In this presentation, Dr. Kemp will explain how the myth originated and why it continues to resonate in American society.
Learn More:
> Read a review of Dr. Kemp's book, The War That Never Was, here.
> Read how religion separates American attitudes on science here.

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Presented by Archbishop Michael Jackels

The recent Covid pandemic had a profound impact on the daily lives of American Catholics.  Restrictions designed to control the spread of the virus closed churches, prevented religious gatherings, and left many individuals and families physically isolated from the parish community.  The question now is: was the impact of the pandemic only temporary, or will it have a lasting effect on the local church?  In this presentation Archbishop Jackels will examine the challenges and the opportunities which the Church confronts as it begins to emerge from the trauma of the pandemic. Should we expect long-lasting disruption or new and unexpected blessings in the post-pandemic church?
Learn More:
> Read Archbishop Jackel's weekly homilies over the course of the pandemic here.
> Read more about the post-pandemic Church here.

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Presented by Stacia McDermott

Even before the pandemic, young adults faced big questions about community, identity, and the meaning of life in the post-modern world. Now recent research shows that the pandemic had a significant impact on young adults and on their faith lives: about half said their faith remained pretty much the same over the course of the pandemic, but over a quarter said they were doubting or had lost their faith, and 90% said they had heard nothing helpful from faith leaders during the pandemic period.  In this presentation Ms. McDermott will discuss how the pandemic affected young adults and the challenges which the Church faces in meeting their spiritual needs in the post-pandemic world.
Learn More:
> Read "Generation X Didn't Lose Their Faith" here.

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Presented by Amanda Osheim

The average Catholic may not have heard much about the principle of synodality, but it has been a focal point of Pope Francis' papacy from the very beginning.  Cardinal Joseph Tobin wrote recently that synodality is Pope Francis' long-term goal; he called it “a process that will challenge us and will require changes in what we are as Church” -- “a focus on the journey of the Body of Christ through history, a journey that fosters ongoing conversion and, ultimately, calls us to mercy.”   In this presentation Dr. Osheim will discuss the meaning and origin of synodality and some of the implications it has for how we understand the church and how we live our lives as Catholic Christians.
Learn More:
> Read Dr. Osheim's article from Theological Studies here.
> Read Cardinal Tobin’s article here.
> Read the International Theological Commission’s report, “Synodality in the Life and Mission of the Church” here.

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2021 Summer Forum Presenters

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.

Archbishop Michael O. Jackels  was born in Rapid City, South Dakota.  As children of a military family he and his five siblings grew up on various military bases around the world.  Archbishop Jackels attended the University of Nebraska and St. Pius X Seminary in Kentucky.  He earned an MA degree in theology from Mt. St. Mary's Seminary in Emmitsburg, Maryland, and was ordained to the priesthood for the diocese of Lincoln, Nebraska, in 1981.  He earned a Doctorate in Sacred Theology from the Pontifical University of St. Thomas in Rome in 1989 and served as Diocesan Director of Religious Education, Co-vicar for Religious, and chaplain for the School Sisters of Christ the King in Lincoln.  He served on the staff of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith in Rome from 1997 to 2005.  He was appointed the tenth Bishop of Wichita, Kansas in 2005.  He was installed as the thirteenth bishop and tenth archbishop of Dubuque in 2013.

Dr. Kenneth Kemp  is professor emeritus in the philosophy department at the University of St. Thomas in St. Paul.  He was born and raised in Tipton and his father’s family comes from Waterloo.  He studied philosophy including the history and philosophy of science at the University of Notre Dame, from which he received a Ph.D. in 1984. In 1989, he joined the philosophy department at the University of St. Thomas, where he taught for thirty years. He retired from teaching in 2019, but is still actively engaged in academic research.  His research has focused on the historical and philosophical relations between science and religion with special attention to the theory of evolution.  He published The War That Never Was--Evolution & Christian Theology (Cascade Books) in 2020 and is now finishing a second book on the history of Catholic Evolutionism.

Stacia McDermott  is Director of Spiritual Life, Peace and Justice at Loras College in Dubuque.  Stacia grew up in the suburbs of Chicago before attending Loras College, where she earned her undergraduate degree in social work. After graduation she served in the Holy Cross Associates in Colorado Springs, where she worked at an interfaith organization that helped meet people’s basic needs and lived a year living at Hope House Catholic Worker in Dubuque. Stacia spent five years as Youth Formation Coordinator at St. Anthony Parish in Dubuque and writing curriculum for various faith-based websites including the Center for Ministry Development and Vibrant Faith.  She returned to Loras in 2012 to direct the Fr. Ray Herman Peace and Justice Center and started the Loras College Peace Institute in 2017. She serves on the board of Children of Abraham, an interfaith group in Dubuque.  She and her husband are the parents of three children.

Amanda Osheim  is Associate Professor of Practical Theology and Endowed Professor of the Breitbach Catholic Thinkers and Leaders Program at Loras College in Dubuque. She received her Ph.D. in theology from Boston College with special expertise in ecclesiology, the study of faith shared and expressed in community.  Her book, A Ministry of Discernment--The Bishop and the Sense of the Faithful, examined spiritual practices and diocesan structures for discerning the Holy Spirit at work among the people of the local church.  Dr. Osheim’s research interests focus on how church practices, structures, and teachings develop over time, the dynamic between communion and mission in the church, and the role of laity.  In 2020, she received the Mike and Linda Budde Teaching Award for her work in such courses as "The Four Marks", "The Displaced Person", "Community of Hope", "Communication for Communion", and "Foundations for Ministry". 

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Important Information About the Summer Forum

Evaluations
Please evaluate any session which you attend.  The online evaluation for each session is here.
Summer Forum Archives
Past programs in the Summer Forum Series are available here.
 

[Last Update: 06.14.21]