Our coming Global Ecclesial Synod Council meeting will be Saturday, April 1. Thanks for the referral from Fr. Joe Healey, our guest speaker this month will be Dr. Philomena Mwaura: Prof. Philomena Njeri Mwaura (ku.ac.ke). Among her numerous credentials, she served on both the Frascati drafting committee for the Document for the Continental Synod and participated in the African Continental Synod.
Thanks for the referral from Rafael Luciani, our next guest speaker for April will be Dr. Birgit Weiler: https://www.americamagazine.org/faith/2019/10/11/women-religious-should-have-vote-synod-theologian-saysr. She is a German Medical Missionary Sister living in Peru, who is a theological advisor on issues of environmental justice, helping to generate criteria to guide the position and action of the Church in socio-economic conflicts. She will be tentatively speaking with us on Saturday, April 22. She will confirm this shortly. Please put both dates on your calendars.
Because the U.S. just went through a time zone change, we will be back to having just one gathering for the entire GESC membership. The times are convenient for most of the world. The only exceptions are New Zealand at midnight on Sunday and those in the Pacific time zone at 4:00 AM once again. ☹
Sorry about that but one gathering seems far better than two when we can do this.
Here are the corresponding times for this gathering:
San Francisco (USA – California) Saturday, April 1, 2023 at 4:00:00 am PDT UTC-7 hours
Chicago (Illinois)/Mexico City (Mexico) Saturday, April 1, 2023 at 6:00:00 am CDT UTC-5 hours
New York (New York)/Louisville (KY) Saturday, April 1, 2023 at 7:00:00 am EDT UTC-4 hours
San Paolo (Brazil)/New Brunswick (Canada) Saturday, April 1, 2023 at 8:00:00 am BRT UTC-3 hrs
Tokyo (Japan)/Seoul (Korea) Saturday, April 1, 2023 at 8:00:00 pm JST UTC+9 hours
Sydney (Australia – New South Wales) Saturday, April 1, 2023 at 10:00:00 pm AEDT UTC+11 hrs
Auckland (New Zealand) Sunday, April 2, 2023 at 12:00:00 midnight NZDT UTC+13 hours
Mumbai (India) Saturday, April 1, 2023 at 4:30:00 pm IST UTC+5:30 hours
London (UK)/Dublin (Ireland) Saturday, April 1, 2023 at 12:00:00 noon BST UTC+1 hour
Paris (France)/ Rome (Italy)/ Saturday, April 1, 2023 at 1:00:00 pm CEST UTC+2 hours
Madrid (Spain)/Frankfurt (Germany)
Nairobi (Kenya) Saturday, April 1, 2023 at 2:00:00 pm EAT UTC+3 hours
Manila (Philippines) Saturday, April 1, 2023 at 7:00:00 pm PHST UTC+8 hours
Karachi (Pakistan) Saturday, April 1, 2023 at 4:00:00 pm PKT UTC+5 hours
Adelaide (South Australia) Saturday, April 1, 2023 at 9:30:00 pm
INVITATION to join SpiritUnbounded.org as a Companion on the Road and/or to submit individual Stories for the website
Companion on the Road
Root and Branch ‘soft’ launched SpiritUnbounded on the 30th January. Any group wishing to be a Companion simply needs to complete the online Companion submission form.
It will go on a page looking like this with the heading COMPANIONS ON THE ROAD. It will not go on the About Us page as it currently does but will have its own page – we are evolving all the time. On the About Us page we will have the growing Implementation Team.
Our Stories
We are also seeking Stories from individuals to go on the page headed Our Stories – soon also to be used on social media to generate discussion and support for others experiencing the complexity of being Catholics today.
Here is the story form for individuals wishing to upload their story and photo. Should people choose to remain anonymous we will use the Spirit Unbounded logo instead of a headshot.
Join Today’s American Catholic for an inter-generational panel discussion on Small Christian Communities
Join on Tuesday, March 21 at 6pm ET for an inter-generational panel discussion on small Christian communities. Panel participants will include Fr. Joe Healey, a CCRI member and Maryknoll priest with decades of experience working with small Christian communities; Kevin Ahern, an author, editor, and professor of religious studies at Manhattan College; and Paulina Halley, a recent graduate of Yale University and Small Christian Community participant. Panelists will discuss God’s Quad: Small Faith Communities on Campus and Beyond (Orbis Books, 2018), edited by Kevin Ahern and Christopher Derige Malano and featuring a contribution from Fr. Joe Healey. To register, click here. For additional information, please email editor@todaysamericancatholic.org.
Your donations are most appreciated
YOUR GIFT – IN ANY AMOUNT – IS PRICELESS
When you make a donation to support our cause, you join with others who are investing in restoring our Church to what Jesus intended. If you are part of the movement to stop contributing to your local parish and/or diocese, you may want to take advantage of the end-of-year tax deductions by contributing to CCRI in its stead. The dollars we receive are used to run our programs and to reach a broad spectrum of the People of God. We are focused on reaching out to the Faithful, reform activists, young adults as well as those who feel abandoned by the Church, to mention just a few. Your personal contributions in offering your suggestions and your donations are most appreciated.
Let’s all do our part to be a synodal Church and stay abreast of what is happening with each stage of the Synod. We cannot wait to be invited. Becoming a synodal Church will only happen if we stay involved in the process.
On behalf of the CCRI Strategy Team,
Rene Reid
CCRI director