Curran Center to Hold Conference on Church Leadership

The Francis and Ann Curran Center for American Catholic Studies at Fordham University will bring together scholars and clergy, including three bishops from dioceses throughout the country, to take part in a conference on “Leadership in the U.S. Catholic Church” on Saturday, June 9.

The daylong conference will feature a plenary address by R. Scott Appleby, Ph.D., professor of history and director of the Joan B. Kroc Institute for International Peace Studies at University of Notre Dame, on new directions in U.S. Catholic Church leadership. There are also six panel sessions scheduled that will address issues ranging from women’s leadership to new movements in the Church.

R. Scott Appleby, Ph.D. Photo courtesy of the University of Notre Dame

In addition to the panel sessions, Bishop Blase J. Cupich, S.T.D., of the diocese of Rapid City, S.D.; Bishop Gerald F. Kicanas, Ph.D., of the diocese of Tucson, Ariz.; and Bishop Ricardo Ramírez, C.S.B., of the diocese of Las Cruces, N.M., will take part in a discussion about the “perceived and real crisis in the U.S. Catholic Church,” moderated by Mark Massa, S.J., Karl Rahner Distinguished Professor of Theology and co-director of the Curran Center.

The Curran Center, established in 2001, organizes national conferences on issues of Catholic belief and culture in the United States, holds public lectures at both the Rose Hill and Lincoln Center campuses, and offers an undergraduate interdisciplinary certificate program to students interested in post-baccalaureate fellowships. The conference, which is sponsored by the John and Constance Curran Charitable Foundation, will be held on the Rose Hill campus.