Earlier this week we hosted a panel discussion to consider the papacy of Pope Leo XIV. When the FutureTeam team began planning this event, we felt strongly that the voices on the panel should be those of women. In a conclave full of exclusively male voices, hearing from female theologians and ministers felt to us like an important balance and a holy call. And what a panel of rockstar women we had!

From the fierce and feminist perspective of theologian Brianne Jacobs, Ph.D., to the radical witness of DignityUSA Executive Director Marianne Duddy-Burke, to the enthusiastic Augustinian take from Christian Service Director and Villanova alumna Theresa Gardner, and finally to the wise and steady voice of Synod Delegate Dr. Cynthia Bailey Manns, the panel was well-rounded and incredibly informative. After hearing from each panelist for ten minutes or so, my colleague Olivia shifted the conversation into a rousing Q&A from the audience. What a night!

I cannot be more grateful to our panelists for their wisdom and their witnesses. The work we do as women in and around the Catholic Church is vital to its lifeblood, and I couldn’t be more proud to share space with such strong, confident, and wise women. Habemus Papam! And our good work continues.

Over the past year, FutureChurch has been celebrating the work of communities that have been emboldened by the Spirit to live the Gospel in new and creative ways. From intentional living communities, to independent worship spaces, to organizations that are re-envisioning what it means to serve, these trailblazing communities serve as witness that the creative power of the Spirit never ceases.

Meanwhile, in March the Church began a three-year implementation phase for the Synod on Synodality. This implementation phase creates space and a timeline for local churches to begin the process of integrating the Synod’s conclusions and proposals in their own contexts. The implementation phase also creates opportunities to assess the reception of that integration before another global assembly at the Vatican in late 2028.

As the global Church begins implementing the Synod’s conclusions and proposals, many communities- including those highlighted in our Pentecost Project- have already been journeying together in the spirit of synodality in a variety of beautiful ways. These communities offer a valuable witness to the entire People of God about what is possible when communities discern the call of the Spirit together.

Over a series of several panel discussions FutureChurch will create space for these communities to share their synodal principles and practices with us, that we might all benefit from their prophetic styles of liturgy, leadership, discernment and decision making, community building, and living the Gospel in the world.

The first program in the series- Prophetic Styles of Liturgy- will take place on May 27^th at 7:00pm. The program will feature a panel discussion that will highlight the liturgical celebrations of four different communities:

• The Community of St. Hildegard – a community who celebrates hybrid liturgies and is intentional about nurturing and honoring full and active virtual participation
• Washington Home Inclusive Monthly Mass (WHIMM) – a community of friends and neighbors who host inclusive Masses, led by a Roman Catholic Woman Priest, and fellowship in their homes once a month
• Community of St. Peter – a community that formed and incorporated after their beloved parish was closed.
• The Living Beatitudes Community – a community that combined a Dignity chapter with Catholics whose parishes were being closed or merged, whose liturgies are presided by a wide variety of people, lay and ordained.

Join FutureChurch as we kick off our Pride Month series with a presentation from Ish Ruiz, Ph.D. on the connections between synodality and queer theology.

Dr. Ish Ruiz is an assistant professor of Latinx and Queer Decolonial Theology at Pacific School of Religion and holds a PhD in Theology and Ethics from the Graduate Theological Union. He is also the coordinator of the Latinx Roundtable of the Center for LGBTQ+ and Gender Studies in Religion housed at PSR.

A native from Puerto Rico and a queer Catholic theologian, Ish’s research interests explore the intersection between Catholic moral theology, queer theology, Latinx theology, ecclesiology, sexual ethics, liberation, human rights, and Catholic education. He is the author of LGBTQ+ Educators in Catholic Schools: Embracing Synodality, Inclusivity, and Justice (Rowman & Littlefield, fall 2024) and a co-editor of Cornerstones: Sacred Stories of LGBTQ+ Employees in Catholic Institutions (New Ways Ministry, fall 2024). He has published several academic and public theology articles in the field of Catholic theological ethics and has ministered in Catholic schools and parishes on matters of LGBTQ+ and Latinx inclusion throughout the nation.

Prior to his appointment at the Pacific School of Religion, Ish was a post-doctoral fellow at Candler School of Theology at Emory University and an adjunct professor at the University of Dayton. He also worked at the secondary school level for 11 years, chaired the Marianist LGBTQ+ Initiative team, served as a union activist to protect the rights of LGBTQ+ Church employees, and presented in various pastoral conferences throughout the US. Through his teaching, research, and service, Ish hopes to see a world where Catholicism (and, more broadly, Christianity) embrace the diversity of gifts people of all ethno-racial backgrounds and sexual identities bring to society and the Church.

Join FutureChurch we hear from Sr. Marian Durkin who will discuss her decades of experience ministering to and with the LGBTQ+ community.

Since leaving her role on the leadership Council of Sisters of Charity of Saint Augustine, Sr. Marian Durkin has been involved in a number of volunteer activities. She participates monthly in a prayer group at Edna House, a house for women in recovery based in Ignatian Spirituality. She co-facilitates an annual retreat for the LGBTQ+ community, which celebrated its 25th anniversary in 2024.

In the area of social justice, she initiated a JPIC (Justice, Peace and the Integration of Creation) group consisting of sisters from 6 different communities and a lay woman. The group has been meeting for more than 15 years and is engaged in prayer, education, and action around a variety of social justice issues. She also serves in the Social Action Ministry of her parish, The Cathedral of St. John, Cleveland.

She remains active in her opposition of the death penalty and in her support of the trans community. A volunteer on a number of boards she is grateful to have been able to serve on the board of Lakewood Catholic Academy for 20 years.

With the fire of Pentecost and emboldened by the Holy Spirit, we at FutureChurch are engaging in a new project to recognize and celebrate communities that are embodying the mission of Pentecost. Over the next several months, we will continue highlighting communities that have been emboldened to live the Gospel in new and creative ways. Today we introduce you to the Community of St. Peter.

"The Community of St. Peter is the only independent and inclusive Eucharistic community in the Catholic tradition in the city of Cleveland. With roughly 250 total members and about 100 at each Sunday Liturgy, the Community works to strike a balance between faithfulness to the Catholic tradition and freedom to blossom from that tradition in new and creative ways."...

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