ANNUAL BERNARDIN CONFERENCE

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| 2008 | 2007 | 2006 | 2005 | 2004 |

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	12th Annual Bernardin Conference
Understanding the Ecclesial Movements and their Interaction with the Local Church in the U.S. Today
Techny Towers Conference & Retreat Center, Techny, Illinois Friday, February 29 to Sunday, March 2, 2008 Our goals for the conference are: to grow in understanding the ecclesial movements and new communities, to directly and respectfully engage different positions about the relationship between ecclesial movements, new communities, and the local church in the United States, to strengthen relationships within the church community by our worship, dialogue, and social interaction, to elevate through dialogue further development and future directions in the conversation on the ecclesial movements and the Church in the United States. BERNARDIN CONFERENCE DESCRIPTION: Read the description of the Bernardin Conference... [Link] BACKGROUD READING: Historical Article Fernandez, Fidel Gonzalez,"Charisms and Movements in the History of the Church," The Ecclesial Movements in the Pastoral Concern of the Bishops, Vatican City, 2000. Perspectives McFeely, Tom, "Integrating Movements in Local Communities Challenges Church," National Catholic Register, June 8, 2006. http://www.catholic.org/printer_friendly.php?id=20122§ion=Cathcom Deck, Allan Figueroa, "Where the Laity Flourish," America, Vol. 195 No. 4, August 14-21, 2006. http://www.catholic.org/printer_friendly.php?id=20796§ion=Cathcom

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	11th Annual Bernardin Conference
The Migration of Peoples And Immigration Policy March 9-11, 2007, Jacksonville, Florida.

• to directly and respectfully engage different positions about immigration,
• to grow in understanding the complexity of the issues,
• to strengthen relationships within the church community by our worship, dialogue, and social interaction,
• to publish a book that will be useful for student groups in colleges and universities or for adult groups in parishes who wish to understand these issues.

CONFERENCE PROPOSAL:

Read the whole Proposal...

PAPERS:

Catholic Common Ground Conference Spotlights Immigration Policy
by Jeffry Korgen

BACKGROUD READING:

Church Teaching

"Strangers No Longer: Together on the Journey of Hope,"
USCCB, 2003

"A Call to Conversion" and "A Call to Communion" from “Welcoming the Stranger Among Us,"
USCCB, 2000

Statistical Information

"From 200 Million to 300 Million: The Numbers Behind Population Growth"
http://pewhispanic.org/factsheets/factsheet.php?FactsheetID=25

"Growth in the Foreign Born Workforce and Employment of the Native Born"
http://pewhispanic.org/reports/report.php?ReportID=69

"The Labor Force Status of Short-Term Unauthorized Workers" (PDF File)
http://pewhispanic.org/files/factsheets/16.pdf

"Attitudes Toward Immigration: In the Pulpit and the Pew,"
http://pewresearch.org/pubs/20/attitudes-toward-immigration-in-the-pulpit-and-the-pew

"Attitudes Toward Immigration in Black and White"
http://pewresearch.org/pubs/21/attitudes-toward-immigration-in-black-and-white
Pew Hispanic Center. www.pewhispanic.org

Perspectives

Glendon, Mary Ann, "Principled Immigration," First Things, June/July 2006
Copyright (c) 2006 First Things 164 (June/July 2006): 23-26.

Malanga, Steven, "How Unskilled Immigrants Hurt the Economy,"
City Journal, Manhattan Institute.

Skerry, Peter. "Citizenship Begins at Home: A New Approach to the Civic Integration of Immigrants,"
The Responsive Community (Winter 2003/2004), 26-37.

Farris, Anne, "New Immigrants in New Places," Carnegie Report, 3:3 (Fall 2005),
accessed at www.carnegie.org/reporter/11/newimmigrants/index.html

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	10th Annual Bernardin Conference
Reflecting on The Past, Looking to The Future

The Catholic Common Ground Committee decided to use the 10th anniversary conference for evaluation and strategic planning. It was, essentially, a meeting of the whole with a few invited guests.

The Tenth Anniversary Statement is a result of these deliberations.

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	9th Annual Bernardin Conference
Religion, Law & Politics

What is (or should be) the relationship of religion and politics in a pluralistic society?

A. What is the role of law in a pluralistic society in relation to controversial ethical/moral issues?

B. What is the role of the church as an institution in relation to the public sector (prophetic, educative, authoritative)?

C. What are the obligations of individual Catholics as they exercise their duties in the public realm either as voters or as office-holders?

CONFERENCE PROPOSAL:

Read the whole Proposal...

BACKGROUND PAPERS:

CATHOLIC SOCIAL TEACHING;
Exit Poll Data and Common Ground:
The 2004 Presidential Election and the New Political Situation
Dr. James R. Kelly, Fordham University, Bronx, NY

American Catholic Political Traditions
Dr. David J. O'Brien, College of the Holy Cross, Worcester, MA

Religion and the Presidential Vote: Bush's Gains Broad-Based
The Pew Research Center for the People and the Press

Religion & Public Life
A faith-Based Partisan Divine (PDF file)
The Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life

WEBSITE LINKS:

Faithful Citizenship

Pastoral Letter of Bishop Michael J. Sheridan
of Colorado Springs, CO

Catholics in Political Life

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The Annual Cardinal Bernardin Conference was held March 5-7, 2004 at Marymount University, Arlington, VA.

The topic for the conference: “There is a wisdom in the Catholic tradition about sexuality that young people desire and our culture needs, that is obscured by the polarized debates. Can we identify, articulate, and raise up the wisdom that we agree is important for the church to take into the next century on these issues?”

The April 2004 Initiative Report contains the background paper prepared by Barbara Whitehead. We have posted all the background papers which were used for the discussion. The September 2004 newsletter contains reflections of some of the conference participants.

PAPERS:

BOOK:

At the conference in March we used the Chapter 1 of John Grabowski's book "Sex and Virtue" entitled Clashing Symbols, Sex, Conscience, and Authority as one of the background papers for the participants.

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