Bridge Spring 2009

Volume 1, Spring 2008Jesuit School of Theology at Berkeley

Bridging Theology and the Cultures of the World

Jesuit School of Theology at Berkeley Volume 4, Number 1, Spring 2009

Bridging Theology and the Cultures of the World

New Jesuit Superior General Visits JSTB

PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE

I am delIghted to report on the very favorable response we have received to the new magazine format of the Bridge. I am grateful for all the students, faculty, staff and alumni who have suggested and contributed articles to the magazine for this edition and the next, and for the great number of alumni who have sent in their alumni updates. Thank you! The Bridge magazine is definitely off to a great start!

In this edition, we feature then-Dean of Students, Jill Marshall’s reflection from the Lay Sending Forth ceremony in May, Francis McAloon, S.J.’s article on the poetry and prayer of Gerard Manley Hopkins, S.J., Michael Smith’s (M.Div. 2009) Profile in Ministry in West Oakland, Martin Schreiber, S.J.’s (M.Div. 2009) article on Jesuit Contact with Chinese Culture, Emmanuel Foro, S.J. (S.T.D. Student) et al.’s report on the Rwanda Genocide Conference, and Frances Hioki’s (Ph.D. candidate) article on Inter-religious Dialogue. We also welcome our new Acting President, Rev. Kevin F. Burke, S.J., and several new faculty, staff and two new board members.

Looking ahead to the next edition, I invite you to submit article ideas, alumni updates and photos to our new editor, Rev. Rob McChesney, S.J., Coordinator of Cross-Cultural Initiatives at the Jesuit School of Theology. Rob has graciously agreed to assume the role of editor since I am moving to Portland, Oregon with my husband who is transferring there. Rob is eager to continue sharing the news and reflections on how the Jesuit School of Theology is preparing leaders for tomorrow’s church. Please send your submissions, including requests to receive the magazine via email, to Rev. Rob McChesney, S.J., Jesuit School of Theology, 1735 LeRoy Ave, Berkeley, CA 94709 or [email protected]. Thank you!

Catherine M. KellyEditor

BridgePRESIDENT’S MESSAGE

Bridging Theology and the Cultures of the WorldJesuit School of Theology at Berkeley

Vol. 4, No. 1, Spring 2009

The Bridge is the semi-annual magazine of the Jesuit School of Theology at Berkeley.

The Jesuit School is a theological school faithful to the intellectual tradition and the apostolic priority of the Society of Jesus: reverent and critical service of the faith that does justice. The Jesuit School achieves its mission through the academic, pastoral and personal formation of Jesuits and other candi dates for ministry, ordained and lay, in the Roman Catholic Church. The Development Department produces the Bridge.

EDITOR: Robert W. McChesney, S.J. COnTRIBuTInG WRITER: Casey Hanley PHOTOGRAPHy: Students & Staff DESIGn AnD LAyOuT: Molly McCoy

BOARD OF TRuSTEESKevin F. Burke, S.J.,

Acting PresidentJohn E. Kerrigan, Jr.,

Chair William J. Barkett Thomas E. Bertelsen, Jr.

Betsy BlissLouis M. CastruccioMarx CazenaveBishop John S. CumminsRev. Virgilio P. ElizondoSr. Maureen Fay, O.P.Thomas H. Feely, S.J.

Jesuit School of Theology 1735 LeRoy Avenue, Berkeley, CA 94709 Tel: 510-549-5000, www.jstb.edu

John D. FeerickLoretta HolsteinMark A. Lewis, S.J. Paul Locatelli, S.J.John P. McGarry, S.J.Walter Modrys, S.J.David Nygren Stanley RaggioD. Paul ReganJohn D. SchubertTony Sholander, S.J.Thomas Smolich, S.J.

ContentsFEATURES

nepal theological Immersion . . . . . . 4

book excerpt: professor Jerome baggett’s Sense of the Faithful . . . . . . . . . . 10

new Jesuit superior general visits Jstb . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .13

Congolese Jesuit student puts obscure bantu language on linguistic map . . . . . . . . . . . . 16

Jstb students recognized by fund for theological education . . . . . . 19

DEPARTMENTS

editor’s note . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2

president’s message . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

profiles in ministry . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8

faculty news . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20

alumni Updates . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22

Cover: Jesuit Superior General Adolfo Nicolás preaching at Eucharist in the Gesù Chapel on February 6, 2009 photograph by don doll, s .J .

EDIT

oR

’SNoTEThough my undergraduaTe career aT holy cross College in Worcester, Massachusetts was not overly distinguished, I was the Sports Editor of the Holy Cross Crusader, the weekly school newspaper. I took the responsibility seriously, and was proud of our award-winning publication.

It was just my luck that this was the infamous fall of 1970. A hepatitis outbreak required the Crusader varsity football team to forfeit the season and spend the semester in medical isolation. No pigskin on Saturday afternoons left a huge vacuum to fill in my weekly column, “Purple Pennings”, but I learned to enjoy the experience of writing, editing and newspaper production.

Fast forward to 2007, I joined the staff at the Jesuit School of Theology as Coordinator of Cross Cultural Initiatives, administering a Lilly grant. When Catherine M. Kelly, my able predecessor as Editor of the Bridge, moved to Oregon with her husband and beautiful baby boy, Michael, I was invited to assume her position.

I look forward to the new challenge, and have tho-roughly enjoyed compiling this edition. We feature articles on the stirring February visit of Jesuit Superior General Adolfo Nicolás, and a captivating account of a Buddhist-Christian interreligious immersion to Nepal last January.

The Bridge also intends to publish occasional academic contributions from our extraordinary faculty. Don’t miss the excerpt from Associate Professor Jerome Baggett’s new book, Sense of the Faithful, published by Oxford University Press. Of course, you will find lots more inside this meaty issue. The President’s Message, for example, offers a peek at a major institutional development.

I’m gratified to be part of a winning team. As I learn more about the Jesuit School of Theology and the gifted people associated with it, I’m certain to have many compelling stories to feature in my new column!

Robert W. McChesney, [email protected]

jESUIT School oF ThEoloGy AT BERKELEy2

PRESIDENT’S MESSAGEDear Friends,

To be the recipient of gifts. An unusual job description, but this tagline sums up my new job well: to receive, name, celebrate, and share gifts given to our school and, through our school, to the wider world — the world of the poor, the world of amazing and complex cultures, the world our Church serves by sharing the “Good News”.

Just outside the President’s Office at the Jesuit School of Theology at Berkeley, in the Loyola Board Room, hangs a stunning painting entitled Madonna and Child with Garlands. A masterpiece of the 17th century genius, Daniel Seghers, S.J. and a gift given to our school, it reminds me today that “everything we have is a gift”. As steward of this gift I get to show others how this unusual painting, like a visual Ignatian contemplation, leads us beyond what we can see to the unseen, unsurpassable divine gift of the Incarnation.

Gifts — like the February visit to JSTB of Fr. Adolfo Nicolás, Superior General of the Society of Jesus. His warmth, depth and pure faith set us on fire. Gifts — like the March faculty-board pilgrimage to El Salvador where we encountered the undying hope of the Church of the martyrs. Gifts — like the “Local Ecclesiologies in Dialogue” conference with theological colleagues from around the world that JSTB will host in May. Gifts — like visionary, generous benefactors whose endowed scholarships have brought us new, remarkable students from Singapore, Cameroon, South Africa, Colombia, Burkina Faso and many other countries. When I pause, I am aware of so many, varied gifts. Perhaps the greatest gift of all is the opportunity to receive all this, to draw attention to it, to appreciate it, to thank God for it and share it with you.

This issue of the Bridge provides a glimpse of just a few of the gifts that have come our way and marked this year as a season of grace. Let me mention two in particular.

First, I am blessed to work not only with a brilliant, generous faculty but an “executive team” that is a chief executive’s dream. And the newest member of our team, Margi English, is truly a gift. She serves as our new Executive Director of Development. Friends of JSTB will come to know her in future editions of the Bridge, through Theology in the City events around the country, and through her heartfelt letters of appeal.

The second gift is too big to wrap in a few sentences. So take this as a peek……Future issues of the Bridge will have much more to say about a major institutional development. JSTB will soon integrate with Santa Clara University. Readers will recall the “President’s Message” written by my predecessor, Joseph Daoust, S.J. in the spring of 2007. He talked about the year-long discernment that brought us into conversation about the possibility of becoming the Jesuit School of Theology of Santa Clara University.

This dream, nourished so carefully by Joe, Paul Locatelli, S.J. (former President of Santa Clara University), Thomas Smolich, S.J. (President of the U.S. Jesuit Conference) and many, many others, is now coming to fruition. What a gift their efforts have been!

The Jesuit School of Theology of Santa Clara University will of course remain in Berkeley in our present properties. JST will remain an active member of the Graduate Theological Union. The mission remains the same. I am pleased to thank all those who have labored so hard to bring us this far, to share this important news with you, and to invite you to continue on the journey with us.

Rev. Kevin F. Burke, S.J.Acting President

3BRIDGE SPRiNG 2009

THiS PAGE: clockwise from left: (1) Fernando Álvarez-Lara, S.J. in front of the “Wheel of Life” wall painting at the Kopan Monastery on the northern outskirts of Kathmandu (JW); (2) Smiling Buddha in the garden of Kopan Monastery, wearing tra-ditional Buddhist silk blessing “kata” (AP); (3) Khenpo Jampa Donden with students Amy Peterson, Anthony Borrow, S.J. and translator in classroom of the Ka-Nying Shedrup Ling Monastery in Kathmandu (JW); OPPOSiTE PAGE TOP: (4) Street scene in Durbar Square bazaar near Kathmandu’s Old Royal Palace (JW)


Matt Petrich (M.Div. 2010)

not many thIngs spark sUCh InterestIng ConversatIon as when you tell someone you study theology. People always want to know what a layperson will do with such a degree. This is why I was not surprised in the least when a conversation with a man at the Oakland bus stop out-side my house focused on the life of a theology student.

I was standing beside my huge suitcase packed with the essentials for my January trip to Nepal, and during the long wait for the bus he finally asked me where I was going. “Nepal. It’s in South Asia, north of India,” I explained, seeing the baffled look on his face. “Are you trying to be a prophet or something?” the man blurted out. “No…” I laughed nervously.

I was simply heading out on a trip to Nepal to study Tibetan Buddhism and to engage in some inter-religious dialogue. I chuckled at this idea that I could just choose to be the next Samuel or Jeremiah. I was almost embar-rassed by the luxury of the experience, and didn’t want to boast about its importance, whatever that might be. The conversation continued with me trying to explain why in the world I was going to Nepal to study theology. Finally, my bus arrived and I headed off to the airport to meet the group of 9 students, one faculty and one staff member that made up the JSTB Nepal Immersion group. Little did I know at the time, but those words of the unassuming man from the bus stop would stick with me throughout the trip.

The Nepal Immersion trip grew out of an initial interest by both Thomas Cattoi, assistant professor of Christology and Cultures at JSTB, and Rob McChesney

SJ, coordinator of cross-cultural initiatives. Their deter-mination to explore the world of Tibetan Buddhism eventually led to the choice of Nepal as the immersion’s destination. Nepal is a small, mountainous country bordered to the south by India, and to the north, beyond Tibet and the imposing Himalayas, by China. Nepal has been an important buffer country for years between its two giant neighbors. Perhaps the geography explains the survival of Nepal’s Hindu monarchy for over 200 years. It was only in May of 2008 that the Hindu Republic was replaced by a democracy now controlled by the Maoist party.

An extremely poor country, Nepal and its culture still reflect the feudal society that has yet to completely vanish from the countryside. During our time in the country we lived alongside the Nepali people as they suffered long hours of electrical load shedding. Power was turned on just twice a day for four-hour periods in different parts of the city. We lived alongside those in Kathmandu who had to endure an 18-day garbage strike, because the dump remained closed and garbage in the streets. One cannot help but see the broken Christ amidst the children poking through the trash for something to eat, as the country continues to exist on the world’s margins, deeply troubled and largely forgotten.

Amid what appears to casual outsiders like desperate conditions lives a fascinating culture that supports two very vibrant religions. Buddhists and Hindus live side by side, and at times it is hard to tell the religions apart.

5BRIDGE SPRiNG 2009

Nepali people themselves don’t always distinguish between the two. Hindu gods or shrines can serve as sites for “puja” (acts of devotional honor or worship) as well as Buddhist sites. To the untrained observer, the devotional rituals resemble each other.

Living in a Tibetan Buddhist section of the capital called Boudhanath for those three weeks, bells woke us at 5am, and by 6am one of the largest “stupas” (temples) in the world was alive with pilgrims walking clockwise around it. It was always a glorious feeling to join in rotation, keeping the honored stupa on our right, as monks and laypeople alike chanted their mantras while fingering their prayer beads.

The common ritual has the pilgrim walking around the stupa three times. Some pilgrims spin the numerous prayer wheels as prayer flags flap in the breeze. Spinning the prayer wheels has the same effect as saying a prayer hundreds of times, and every time a prayer flag flaps with the wind, the prayer or mantra written on it is blown by the wind to spread compassion to all beings. This was the setting in which we encountered Buddhism, amid the rich rituals of prayer and pilgrimage so important to the Buddhist religion.

We stayed in a Monastery Guest House for most of the immersion experience, but we spent most of our time with representatives of the Center for Buddhist Studies (CBS) operating out of the Ka-Nying Shedrup Ling Monastery. The Monastery houses almost 300 Tibetan Buddhist monks, many of them as young as six or seven years of age.

Through meetings with the head lama, Choki Nyima Rinpoche, a young scholar, Khenpo Jampa Donden, and CBS faculty and staff we were able to piece together a basic understanding of Tibetan Buddhism. Perhaps the most significant moments in our learning came amidst an inability to understand. One morning our group was meeting with the Khenpo. Becoming a Khenpo involves nine long years of study and meditation as well as a grueling comprehensive exam at the end. Sitting in his presence, one could feel wisdom and holiness emanating forth.

After a short talk on Buddhist meditation practices, the conversation turned. The Khenpo began to welcome our questions. Soon the conversation in the classroom was buzzing, as we exchanged Christian and Buddhist understandings of just war, compassion, and meditation. The Khenpo kept any possible tension to a minimum

Sunrise viewed from Asura Cave Retreat Center in Pharping,

Nepal, site of immer-sion group’s Buddhist

retreat (MM)

East greets West, as head lama Choki Nyima Rinpoche of the Ka-Nying Monastery greets one of the frequent western visitors (JW)

Boudhanath stupa is the largest in Nepal, and marks the cen-ter of Tibetan life in Kathmandu (AP)


with his easy personality and thoughtful words. He wanted to know about our idea of heaven, and we were able to ask his thoughts on reincarnation. The Khenpo surprised us all when he wondered if the belief in reincarnation makes the devout Buddhist lazy in this life. Would we allow our religion to be so open to questioning as he was?

Soon we were talking about Buddhist and Christian understandings of God. How alike or unlike God is the “dharmakaya” (ultimate reality or a sort of emptiness of this conventional world)? Students in our group took turns trying to describe our Trinitarian notion of God through a translator, but to no avail. “In Tibetan”, con-cluded the translator, “there is no word for trinity.”

The inter-religious dialogue we experienced throughout our trip spurred more questions than answers. Though many questions remain, nevertheless we grew in our ability to put a face on a previously academic understanding of Tibetan Buddhism. Who can forget the cheery-faced lama, Rinpoche, who greeted each one of us with a head butt and referred to our group of eleven as the “Twelve Apostles”? Who could forget our “twelfth apostle” and remarkable guide,

Greg Sharkey, a New England Province Jesuit who has lived and worked in Nepal for decades and whose local friendships and language skills consistently opened doors for us? Who can forget the Tibetan woman and her child at the Tibetan Refugee Reception Center, who had fled Tibet because of Chinese political hostility towards her husband, who had endured a grueling 18-day walk through the Himalayas and whose hope was to get to Dharamshala, India for an audience with the Dalai Lama? And who can forget the hospitality of so many strangers as we were accepted into homes and offered tea all over the Kathmandu Valley?

The man at the bus stop was right. We are prophets now. We have seen how fruitful the Buddhist and Hindu religions are for so many. We have seen the devotion and love that is poured into their rituals, the compassion and wisdom which is the fruit of their teachings and practice. Rinpoche told us that the world needed a new “understanding, respect, and trust” of world religions in order for true happiness to be found. Those in the Nepal Immersion group were graced with this wisdom, and it is our challenge to incorporate this experience into our classes and ministries at JSTB and thereafter.

Sporting Hindu “tika” mark, Amy

Peterson examines fresh produce in

Pharping market (JW)

Participants in the Nepal immersion: back row from left – Professor Thomas Cattoi, Rob McChesney, S.J., Matthew Motyka, S.J., Matt Petrich; Nico Kim, S.J.; middle row from left – Karen yavorsky, Fernando Álvarez- Lara, S.J., Jeanne Weir, Amy Peterson; kneeling from left – Anthony Borrow, S.J. Brent Anderson.

photographs by matthew motyka, s .J . (mm), amy peterson (ap) and Jeanne Weir (JW) .

7BRIDGE SPRiNG 2009

IN MINISTRyPR

oFI

lES

Melissa Behrle (M. Div. 2009)

eaCh Week dUrIng fall semester I WoUld rIde my bicycle into the heart of west Oakland to facilitate a spiritual group with clients at the St. Vincent de Paul Society of Alameda County. The stark transition from my comfortable home was a reminder of the physical differences between “me” and “them.” I had a home, they needed housing; I had transportation, they had to walk; I had the support of a community, they were often alone. The damp-trash, sweet-smoke smell of urban poverty filled my nostrils. As I hummed the prayer of St. Francis of Assisi I would force myself to observe. “Look each person in the eye, Melissa; say hi, offer a smile.” Sometimes it was easier said than done.

But once the chairs were set in a circle and the coffee and donuts laid out on the table next to the open bible, I once again felt at home. People would slowly trickle into the circle and take a seat. Some were regulars, others were just curious and attracted by the smell of fresh coffee, while still others had accepted our offer to come and participate instead of hanging out on the street corner for another hour. It was time to start.

The structure for our spiritual group was very simple. We would listen to the daily readings for the Liturgy of the Word and discuss how Jesus was talking to us through scripture and present in our lives. People would share their stories. At times the air would be thick with the

Spirit among us. People would encourage, com-fort and listen to each other. Other mornings I felt lucky to make it through the hour unscathed. Strong opinions would clash

over doctrine and interpretation of scripture, difficult personalities would derail the group, or clients with mental illness or under the influence of narcotics or alcohol would disturb the prayer. And yet we always met Jesus and felt his presence among us.

As the weeks passed I came to know and grow in relationship with the men and women who attended the group, and my attitude changed. I realized that initially I was caught up with the idea of having a “successful” group. However, I was mistakenly judging success by how many people showed up, the level of sharing, and how much I thought that people were getting

the message I wanted to convey. True success did not depend on these things at all. Success was getting to share Dorothy’s joy when she was accepted for housing, praying with Paul as he discerned God’s will for his life, and listening to the stories of so many individuals whose faith and love for Jesus has left a deep impression on my own heart.

One morning the group ended with a spontaneous sign of peace. Men and women embraced. “Peace be with you sister, peace be with you brother.” One gentleman came up to me and, shaking my hand, said, “Sister, if I knew church could be more like this I would go more often!” It hit me right then that “church” was exactly what we were doing. We were coming together to read scripture and share a meal.

I think that creating a holy space for transient and homeless people to be church — to share their stories, to grow in their relationship with Jesus Christ through community — is more than just a nice thing to offer. It is a basic need. We are all spiritual beings who need a space to express and live out our faith lives in com-munity. Most of the men and women who came to the group said that they did not attend Sunday services. Though the desire was there, they did not enter the church because they felt unwelcome, or because they moved around so much, or because they feared rejection.

It is then the church’s duty to find ways to reach out to the people. Differences among us may be real, but when the “mainstream” church stops just passing by and judging by appearances, and when everyone can sit down face to face, our common dignity and desire for God is manifest. This simple spiritual group was an effort at creating such a space.

one gentleman came up to me and, shaking my hand, said “sister, if I knew church could be more like this I would go more often!”

creating church with the homeless

Casey h

an

ley


Alumna Describes leadership of a“New Form of consecrated life”Ellen Hess, VDMF (S.T.L. 2003)

after prevIoUs stUdIes In germany, belgIUm and spaIn, I received my Licentiate in Christian Spirituality at JSTB in 2003. I appreciate JSTB’s academic rigorousness and openness to diversity. Without doubt, conversations and reflections at and around the JSTB have accompanied me in my ministry. After 22 years as a member of the Verbum Dei Missionary Fraternity (VDMF), I am currently the General Responsible (Superior) for the female branch.

The VDMF is a religious institute which received its first ecclesiastical approval in 1963, and subsequent pontifical approval in 2000 as a New Form of Conse-crated Life. The Fraternity consists of three branches — religious women, men (brothers and priests) and married couples. All are united under one common constitution

and board of leadership. The diverse modes of conse-cration are a gift to the church, and require imaginative, decentralized and flexible governmental structures. Traditional dichotomies dominating ecclesial discourse, such as lay-consecrated, lay-ordained and male-female, in our institute can be integrated.

The charism of the Fraternity is inspired by Acts of the Apostles Chapter 6, verse 4: “we will dedicate our -selves to prayer and ministry of the Word”. Our dedication is to the Word of God, leading us into a dynamic of contem plative assimilation and active transmission through many ministerial ventures. Retreat work, spirituality programs, theological education seminars, spiritual accom paniment, individual and group work at Parish and Diocesan level, building international networks of community and spiritual growth — the Fraternity has a profile in all these areas.

This work is being carried out creatively according to the initiative of the members within particular settings, cultures and local needs wherever the community finds itself. There is a strong accent on lay formation and empo wer ment of the laity to become active and respon-sible members of the Church in its various dimensions and levels of commitment. Through the inspiration of the charism people are encouraged to participate in, meet

and organize groups of spiritual growth and support on a grassroots level or within a local parish setting, from which they reach out to spread and put into practice the Word of God.

There are a total of 450 members of the female branch, of which 264 have perpetual profession. The rest are juniors or novices. The largest population come from Spain, where our community origi nated. About 100 come from the United States, Europe or Australia, and 100 or so from Latin America. We have a small but growing population of Asians and Central Africans.

The male branch comprises 148, of which 85 have perpetual vows. Sixty of them are priests. There are appro-ximately 100 married couples in vows, most from Spain, Portugal and Mexico. An additional 500 couples belong to the Verbum Dei Family through promises but not vows.

We maintain a theological institute on the outskirts of Madrid, where a large number of our students pursue their philosophical and theological studies. The rest study with faculties in the cities and countries where they are living, for example at JSTB.

Since my election as the General Responsible of the female branch two years ago, I first had to visit most of the 36 countries around the world in which the branch is represented. I am very grateful for having been enriched by the cultural expressions of the charism in places as diverse as Taiwan, Cameroon, Hungary and Honduras, just to name a few. As the members of the community try to incarnate the Gospel in complex settings, it is a very humbling experience to witness the personal cost, both to them and to the people they work with.

I have been privileged to observe and encounter the dynamism of the power of the Word of God, which

there are the decisions which must be made and which are not always very popular, as well as the fatigue involved in living out of a suitcase .

I have been privileged to observe and encounter the dynamism of the power of the Word of god, which is daily transforming people’s lives and environment in surprising and simple ways .

ContInUed on 23…

9BRIDGE SPRiNG 2009

PREFACE TO PROFESSOR BAGGETT’S BOOK

This book, to use a familiar expression, is truly a “con-versation piece.” The idea of writing it first occurred to me as a result of many conversations with people, espe-cially my students and colleagues at the Jesuit School of Theology at Berkeley, regarding present-day American Catholicism. These exchanges made me realize just how little we actually know about the people in the pews, particularly how they, while thoroughly modern, continue to find a great deal of meaning in their two-millennia-old religious tradition.

To be sure, whatever this book might add to our knowledge about such concerns is also the product of much conversation. As I describe more fully toward the end of the first chapter, it is based primarily on extensive interviews with nearly three hundred active members of six Catholic parishes scattered throughout the San Francisco Bay Area. These have afforded me a ground-level view of American Catholicism. Rather than “official” pronouncements from church leaders, the focus of this book is on the decidedly “nonofficial” viewpoints expressed by the rank and file. Relying less on what are often very helpful, broad-based surveys, I plumb

depths of meaning that are accessible only through more prolonged discussion. And, in resistance to simplistic and all-too-ubiquitous punditries about the American laity, my purpose has been to engage laypeople in dialogue in order to take stock of what they actually say for themselves.

This in itself is a worthwhile undertaking. Neverthe-less, I hope that what I have recorded here will stimulate still more conversation. When I reflect on the remarkable candor and seriousness that parishioners brought to these interviews, I cannot help but think they model the very sort of open conversation about faith, doubt, and religious community that is too often lacking in the current discourse on such topics. In the face of the myriad complexities and tensions that mark their religious lives, it is even more blatantly obvious that the pious platitudes, anachronistic verities, and “holier than thou” accusations that frequently speckle this discourse simply do not suffice. The fitting response is surely additional and equally nuanced discussion. In short, I hope this book will indeed become a conversation piece for readers, especially Catholic ones, because I am convinced that the parishioners introduced here have important things to say

Professor Jerome Baggett Publishes Major New “Conversation Piece” Jerome P. Baggett, Associate Professor of Religion and Society and current Acting Academic Dean at the Jesuit School of Theology at Berkeley, has recently published a major new book entitled Sense of the Faithful: How American Catholics Live Their Faith (Oxford University Press, November 2008).

In preparation for the book, Professor Baggett conducted 300 intensive interviews with members of six Catholic parishes in the San Francisco Bay area. The goal was to let laypeople speak for themselves about how they live their faith lives in the challenging contemporary context. The book is an act of listening, which reviewer Charles Taylor of Northwestern University described as “essential reading for those who would rather understand than pontificate”.

The Bridge is pleased to publish the Preface to Sense of the Faithful.


about discerning some connection to the sacred within our fast-paced, modern society. As we will see, their religious lives defy easy summation, and thus they truly merit the consideration and forthright deliberation that only further conversation can ensure.

In an effort to facilitate this, I provide in this book, as its title denotes, a “sense of the faithful.” This term has a long history, and, within theo-logical circles, it bears particular meanings, some of which I address in the concluding chapter. Yet here I employ the term more loosely to refer, as suggested earlier, to what Catholics say about themselves, how they understand their faith, and how they draw upon it to find purpose in their daily lives. Wrought of careful listening, this book offers an account of one segment of the Catholic faithful as presented largely in their own voices and on their own terms.

If my sampling of the faithful consists of Bay Area parishioners, what exactly does it mean to acquire a sense of them beyond simply listening? Certainly it is not to record the details of their everyday existence. Famed writer W. H. Auden’s astute observation that a day in the life of a single person could fill an entire novel should make us wary of such an unwieldy enterprise. Rather, for the present purposes, it means to address

certain unsettled topics — those that require Catholics to explicitly reflect upon their tradition and often negotiate with components of it. Even if they do not always engage one another in conversation about them, these topics are nevertheless disparately interpreted, frequently contested and, in any case, very much up for grabs. They are nodal points at which Catholics more intentionally do

the cultural work of thinking through how or to what extent the religious meanings familiar to them might contribute to their greater understanding of the world and their place in it. It is at these points that one can best witness

people’s improvisational use of the symbols and meanings embedded within the Catholic tradition to produce a version of the faith that best resonates with their personal experience.

Getting a sense for this kind of cultural work is not wholly unlike viewing other cultural productions, which is why I employ the meta-phor of observing a painting as a means of organizing the chapters ahead. Thus, in part I, I assist the reader in getting situated, much as an art lover prepares to view an exhibit featuring a favorite painting. I do this in the first chapter by introducing readers to the dramatic changes in American Catholicism that have occurred within the past century and then detailing the rationale and research methods I used. In the second chapter I explain what it means to view people’s religious lives through the lens of cultural analysis. Social scientists who are already accustomed to this approach may want to bypass this explanation, which appears in the first half of the chapter before the thumbnail descriptions of the six parishes. However, most readers are likely to gain considerable insight from being introduced to religious culture construed as: available to individuals to an unprecedented degree; appropriated by them as their needs require; and allocated to them through the distinct parish cultures in which they participate. This may apply especially to those who, perhaps because they are so close to the Catholic faith, find that they particularly appreciate the analytical distance this approach affords them.

Like a museumgoer closely examining a painting of acute interest, in part II, I lean in closer to investigate contemporary American Catholicism and, in doing so, accentuate four areas in which the nuances of parishioners’ cultural work are particularly evident. In chapter three I address the topic of the religious self

When i reflect on the

remarkable candor and

seriousness that parish-

ioners brought to these

interviews, i cannot help but

think they model the very

sort of open conversation

about faith, doubt, and reli-

gious community that is too

often lacking in the current

discourse on such topics.

in resistance to simplistic

and all-too-ubiquitous pun-

ditries about the American

laity, my purpose has been

to engage laypeople in

dialogue in order to take

stock of what they actually

say for themselves.

11BRIDGE SPRiNG 2009

and point to various “conversational shards” indicative of Catholics’ negotiation with their tradition on the basis of what feels authentic to them. In chapter four the focus turns to parishioners’ awareness of the various institutional dilemmas that encumber their church, as well as to the ways in which

these influence their perceptions of themselves as members of the broader institution. Important to note is that, while parishioners tend to be quite critical and self-conscious in their use of Catholic symbols when thinking about themselves as both individuals and members of a hier-archical institution, this is significantly less true with respect to the next two areas. In other words, they are less aware that their conceptions of religious community reflect their social locations and are largely derived from longstanding notions of community carried

within American culture more generally (I treat this topic in chapter five). Nor, as chapter six illustrates, are they typically aware of the ways their parish cultures often delimit the role the church’s social justice teachings might otherwise play in influencing Catholics’ sense of obligation and contributions to civil society.

Finally, I step back a bit in part III. To recapitulate the major themes, here I reflect on an inherent paradox of religious traditions. Characterized by both stasis and flux, traditions conserve cultural meanings for new generations of people who, in reinterpreting these as novel situations require, ultimately alter those very meanings. To comprehend this is to more fully grasp the perennial and dynamic nature of religious faith. It also, I contend, pushes us to acknowledge two additional points. The first is that the analytical categories we frequently utilize in investigating religious traditions must also adapt if we are truly to do justice to

tradition’s paradoxical character.The second point, a theme woven through-

out this book, is that the ending of one iteration of a religious tradition is often tantamount to the beginning of another. Specifically, the common wisdom that today’s American Catholics are less religious than their predecessors is in reality neither common nor particularly wise. This presumption lacks wisdom in that it almost unfailingly highlights one way the faith has been lived in the past, determines this to be normative, and then dismisses what might depart from it as being somehow less religious. But seeing things in this manner actually reveals a blindness to the constitutively changing nature of religious traditions, as well as their variability from one cultural context to the next. Moreover, this perspective may seem commonplace if one is in the habit of privileging the viewpoints of those religious elites and scholarly observers who are overly invested in or enamored with the Catholicism of the past. If, however, one takes the less frequently travelled route of speaking to everyday Catholics who take their tradition seriously and whose lives are thus sacralized by it, one gets an entirely different perspective. Far more common, one discovers, is the reality that these people may be different from their parents or grandparents in how they practice their faith, but they are hardly less religious. They sound different from Catholics a century or even a few decades ago, and they tend to be more insistent about living their faith as they see fit. Yet I see little evidence to support slapdash assumptions concerning the waning of religious sentiments among Catholics.

Of course, this book is less an argument about this particular matter than a conversation about matters of faith in general. It is ultimately up to readers to decide whether an end of one manifestation of American Catholicism is also the beginning of another. Thus, I invite all to lend an ear — and then perhaps even to contribute — to the conversation that follows.

Wrought of careful listening,

this book offers an account

of one segment of the

Catholic faithful as presented

largely in their own voices

and on their own terms.

in short, i hope this book

will indeed become a con-

versation piece for readers,

especially Catholic ones,

because i am convinced

that the parishioners intro-

duced here have important

things to say about discern-

ing some connection to

the sacred within our fast-

paced, modern society.


‘‘ ’’“relIgIon and theology do not begIn In the saCrIsty, bUt In peoples’ lIves . They are at their best where people are struggling with life and death, strug-gling to maintain their humanity in a broken world.” In these and similar words Jesuit Superior General Father Adolfo Nicolás spent the afternoon and evening of February 6 communicating a message of inspiration and encour-agement to the community of the Jesuit School of Theology at Berkeley ( JSTB). In separate meetings with the board of trustees, faculty, students and staff he consistently affirmed the good work being done, lauded the ongoing efforts to develop an effective integration plan with Santa Clara University, and urged all stakeholders to join in the Holy Father’s mandate to the Society of Jesus to be ready to “go to the frontiers” of theology and ministry.

Displaying an impish sense of humor and ready command of English, Fr. Nicolás communicated authenticity, gentleness and wisdom to the various groups with whom he met. His presence and message generated widespread enthusiasm. “I came away with such a strong sense that Fr. Adolfo is the right man at this time for the Society and the church”, commented Grace Hogan, O.P., of the Admissions Office.

A professional theologian himself, the Superior General was right at home in a theology center. “I’ve been working in theology all my adult life, so I’m a bit biased”, he told the faculty. Indeed, a comment heard frequently from various members of the JSTB community subsequent to Fr. General’s visit was: “we feel confirmed in our institutional mission and personal vocations”.

NEW JESUIT SUPERIOR GENERAL:

Go to the Frontiers of Theology and Ministry

Rob McChesney, S.J. Editor

For the Eucharistic celebration, kimono-clad students welcomed Father Nicolás and presented the gifts to the altar. JSTB student and liturgical composer Janét Sullivan Whitaker composed an original setting for “O Christ, the Source of Endless Life”, a hymn for St. Paul Miki and companions.

photographs by don doll, s .J .


”

Reflecting on recent conversations in Rome with various Vatican officials, Fr. Nicolás remarked that church leadership has expressed appreciation for the service of theologians in the United States. For example, they note that the context for interreligious dialogue is more favorable here than in most other parts of the world. “You have a unique capacity for dialogue in the

United States”, he noted. The Superior General also mentioned that U.S. paradigms for ecumenism and immigration foster an intellectual creativity which is making significant contributions to international ecclesial and social discourse. “People with less ima-gination are more prone to violence.”

Speaking from wide international experience, the Superior General urged JSTB to appreciate the positive components of its own context. The U.S. heritage of religious freedom, ethnic diversity and political comity has fostered a constructive imaginative horizon as a foundational component for dialogue. Theology and ecclesial ministry manifest a high level of vitality and creativity. American Catholics, for example, can easily imagine and initiate dialogue with members of other religious traditions.

In this regard Fr. Nicolás, a veteran of many years of service in Japan, including a term as Provincial of the Japanese Jesuit Province, highlighted the urgency of Buddhist-Christian dialogue. “The biggest theological challenge to Christianity at this time”, he told the assembled faculty, “comes from Buddhism.” Obviously, dialogue with Islam is also impe-rative. But because of the ample theological truth within Buddhism, and a spiritual practice that is very compelling to Westerners, Fr. Nicolás urged the JSTB community to take special note of this Eastern tradition.

“When you live on the interreligious frontier”, he obser-ved, “you must learn other languages.”

Interestingly, during JSTB intersession last January, Assistant Professor of Christology and Cultures Thomas Cattoi led a group of nine Master of Divinity students to Nepal for a three-week theological immersion focused on Buddhist-Christian dialogue. When asked about the Superior General’s emphasis on dialogue with Buddhism, Cattoi was enthusiastic. “Fr. Nicolás mentioned his con-viction that Buddhist-Christian understanding will be the new frontier of interreligious dialogue, because Buddhism dramatically challenges Christianity’s claims about God. Having just returned from Kathmandu with our immersion group, I found the General’s words quite encouraging.”

Fr. Nicolás also raised the question of China. Regarding the need to imaginatively explore this ecclesial frontier, he noted that the number of universities in mainland China with centers or departments of “Religious Studies” has doubled in the past 10 years. “The Communist Party of China sees the benefit of the ‘scientific study of religion’, if not theology itself ”, he remarked.

The U.S. Ignatian family has been among the leaders in promoting this particular conversation, and JSTB itself has been of active service to the universal church in this challenging endeavor. Faculty member Thomas Buckley, S.J., Professor of Modern Christian History, represents JSTB with the Malatesta Program, an initiative of the California Province of the Jesuits in collaboration with JSTB, the University of San Francisco, Santa Clara Uni-versity, and Loyola-Marymount University. (Edward Malatesta, S.J. was a biblical scholar and later the founding director of the Ricci Institute for Chinese-Western Cul-tural History at the University of San Francisco.) This academic exchange program provides teaching and research opportunities for U.S. and Chinese faculty and graduate students in the area of theology and allied disciplines.

During spring semester, Fr. Buckley has arranged for the presence of two leading Chinese scholars to be in resi -dence for four months at JSTB. Professor Wang Xinsheng, a scholar from the Religious Studies Department of Fudan University in Shanghai, is completing a book on Karl

I’ve been working in theology all my adult life, so I’m a bit biased. — Fr. Nicolás

“

Fr. Nicolás with Thomas Smolich, S.J. (left), President of the U.S. Jesuit Conference in Washington, D.C. and Vice Chancellor of the Jesuit School of Theology at Berkeley, and Kevin Burke, S.J. (right), Acting President of JSTB.

Fr. Nicolás with Michael Engh, S.J. (left), President of Santa Clara Uni-versity, and Kevin Burke, S.J. (right).


Rahner’s theology. Professor Peng Xiaoyu, Vice-Chair of the History Department at Peking University in Beijing, is completing a book on American Catholicism and begin-ning another on the history of the papacy.

In other initiatives which reflect North America’s “unique capacity for dialogue”, JSTB Assistant Professor of Systematic Theology George Greiner, S.J. will lecture in May at Sun Yat Sen University in Hangzhou. Last March, Acting Academic Dean and Associate Professor

of Religion and Society Jerome Baggett traveled to Shanghai. Under the auspices of the Malatesta Program he and three other faculty members from California’s Jesuit universities consulted with the Religious Studies department at Fudan University on the development of their academic program. Additionally, says Fr. Buckley, they hope to establish with their Chinese colleagues future faculty exchanges and joint research projects.

Perhaps the highlight of the day was the celebration of the Eucharist at which Fr. Nicolas presided. On the litur-

gical calendar February 6 is the feast of St. Paul Miki and his 25 companions, martyred in Japan in 1597. Miki was a native-born Japanese Jesuit brother. To this day the small Japanese Catholic community reveres the 26 martyrs.

For the special occasion, kimono-clad students wel-comed Fr. Nicolás and presented the gifts to the altar. JSTB student and liturgical composer Janét Sullivan Whitaker composed an original setting for “O Christ, the Source of Endless Life”, a hymn for St. Paul Miki and companions with text by her friend J. Michael Thompson.

The Gospel preached within Japan/ Converted both adult and child, And flourished there by your rich grace/ Despite oppression fierce and wild.

Many in the congregation remarked on the Superior General’s transparency during his homily. Shaped by his years in the East, he seemed to embody the wisdom, humor and compassion his words expressed. Fr. Nicolás told the story of a Japanese man who, after spending time in Ignatian retreat with former Superior General Pedro Arrupe (another former Jesuit Provincial of Japan) even-tually embraced Catholicism. “The man claimed he had no idea what Fr. Arrupe was talking about, but he was completely taken by Arrupe’s goodness and kind heart.”

Third-year Master of Divinity student Erin Bishop later remarked that she “found Fr. Nicolás to be very down to earth. He used humor to put people at ease….My favorite part of his visit was when he set aside his prepared homily and preached instead from how the Spirit had moved him during his time at JSTB. It was obvious that he is a very prayerful man and an excellent model for leadership in the church.”

Many Jesuits found themselves elated and confirmed in their vocations to the Society of Jesus, both by the homily and through Fr. Nicolás’ subsequent conversation with the Jesuit Community. Matthew Pyrc, S.J. a first- year Master of Divinity student from the Oregon Province, commented: “I was reminded of the first Jesuits I met and how I was attracted to their character, how I wanted to get to know more about them and how they got to be the persons they were. That is how I felt about Fr. Nicolás. He made me reflect on the attractiveness of my vocation, and about how I am going to live this vision of the Kingdom of God in our Jesuit way.”

It has been two months now since Adolfo Nicolás visited JSTB. But many still recall fondly an unusually graced day in Berkeley. The sense of inspiration and encouragement generated among stakeholders, together with sound institutional strategic planning and support from church leadership, is a strong foundation upon which to move forward with confidence towards new frontiers.

My favorite part of his visit was when he set aside his prepared homily and preached instead from how the Spirit had moved him during his time at JSTB. It was obvious that he is a very prayerful man and an excellent model for leadership in the church.— Third-year Master of Divinity student Erin Bishop

“

”

Fr. Nicolás speaking with Jesuit Community of JSTB, with Anthony Sholander, S.J., Community Rector, seated in background


INTRo

on oCtober 6, 2008 the san franCIsCo ChronICle pUblIshed a feature story on JSTB student Fr. Simon nsielanga Tukumu, a Jesuit Congolese student enrolled in the STL program. The article highlighted the fact that Simon speaks a Bantu language unknown to linguists, so obscure that it cannot be found in the Ethnologue, a compendium of almost 7,000 languages around the world. He is wor-king with a linguistics professor and his students at the university of California at Berkeley to document his language for the first time. With the permission of the Chronicle and author Patricia yollin, The Bridge is pleased to reprint the article.

Simon is a member of the Central Africa Province, and was born in the Democratic Republic of Congo in the fishing village of Bundu in Bandundu Province. Located in the southwestern part of the large country, Bundu lies just east of Kinshasa. In a recent interview, he explained that he is one of perhaps 4000 people who speak nzadi, a rough French equivalent for what the indigenous people of his village call “Indze”.

After some years in the Minor Seminary of the local Diocese, Simon learned of the Society of Jesus. Following a discernment retreat, he entered the novitiate in Cyangugu, Rwanda in 1991. During his formation journey he completed a Master’s degree in the Political History of Africa at the university of Ouagadougou in Burkina Faso. (The original Chronicle article mistakenly says that Simon hopes someday to pursue this degree.)

After theology studies at Hekima College in nairobi, he was ordained in Kinshasa in 2008. now, he is concentrating on social ethics at JSTB, with a particular interest in civic and faithful citizenship within a democratic political culture. Simon was an avid follower of the recent national election process in the united States, integrating what he learned into his professional research.

A genial man with a bright smile, Simon hopes to finish his STL in May 2009, and is in dialogue with his Jesuit Provincial about what comes next. An apostolic option which interests him is doctoral studies in Political History. In the meantime, he will continue consulting with Cal-Berkeley towards a goal of producing the first-ever written lexicon of nzadi. Together with his fellow-villagers in Congo, he continues gathering the wisdom of nzadi, as passed on in oral proverbs. One of his favorites, he says, is that “in order to be successful in life, you should choose one goal and follow it”. Obviously, the folk tradition is serving Simon well.

Congolese Jesuit Student Puts Obscure Bantu Language on Linguistic Map

Jesuit Fr. Simon Nsielanga Tukumu, who recently was informed that his language, Nzadi, had been added to updated, seminal Guthrie classification system of Bantu languages


Nzadi is one of the most obscure tongues in the world. That’s exactly why a UC Berkeley class has embraced it. “There’s nothing like the joy of discovering a language from scratch,” said Cal linguistics Professor Larry Hyman.

The 10 students in his course, Introduction to Field Methods, are focusing on Nzadi this semester — the first such effort in any college or university to examine this remote member of the Bantu linguistic family.

“It’s a chance to study a language that nobody has stu-died before,” said graduate student researcher Thera Crane. “That opportunity does not come around very often.”

Nzadi is spoken by thousands of people in fishing villages along the Kasai River in Congo, a country with about 220 languages.

The students in Hyman’s class have two goals.They want to figure out how to analyze an unfamiliar language and they plan to document Nzadi — a tongue so unknown that it cannot be found in the Ethnologue, a compen dium of almost 7,000 languages across the globe.

The first objective is crucial for researchers doing field work. As Crane put it: “How would you learn a language if you knew nothing about it?”

Hyman also would like to produce a grammar by the end of the semester that could be published. Each student would be responsible for a chapter.

The methodology course is offered from time to time, but has never before featured such an esoteric tongue — the result of sheer serendipity. Hyman decided on Nzadi

when he heard that a native speaker was living in Berkeley.That speaker, Simon Nsielanga Tukumu, grew up in

the Congolese village of Bundu in a family of fishermen. He was ordained there in July as a Jesuit priest, and is now working toward a master’s degree in ethics at the Graduate Theological Union, a few blocks from the university. He is also a linguistic consultant in Hyman’s class.

“I’m a little bit surprised to speak Nzadi in Berkeley,” said Nsielanga, who is 38. “For me, it’s a way of bringing awareness to Americans that there is this language spo-ken in the Congo but not known by many people.”

Christina Agoff, 21, who is taking the course, said, “Most people don’t understand how unusual it is to have

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UC Linguistics Students Get Lesson of a Lifetime

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a speaker of such an obscure language. And most of my classes have been theoretical. I wanted to get some practical work. It’s so much different than our other classes. It makes it like the real world.”

In the class, which meets three mornings a week, Nsielanga and Hyman teach students how to grasp the essence of a language that exists in written form only in an unpublished 768-item word list that a Belgian scholar submitted to UC Berkeley’s Comparative Bantu Online Dictionary, co-founded by Hyman n 1994.

“We’re trying to discover how the grammar works, how to figure out what the sounds are, how you put words together to form sentences,” Hyman said.

One Wednesday morning, the students — all lin-guistics majors — asked Nsielanga for Nzadi equivalent of various words, such as house, eyebrow, place, firewood, jaw and skin. For Nsielanga, who hopes to someday get a master’s in political history and perhaps teach, the class is instructive.

“This is a starting point for writing a history of the Nzadi people,” he said. “And this class gives me strength to know how to teach.”

For Hyman, 61, it’s a way to explore his endless fascination with languages, especially the 500 or so Bantu tongues, and unravel the mysteries of one still untouched by any sort of scrutiny. “I love puzzles, although I don’t do puzzles,” he said. “But I have a puzzle mentality.”

Hyman, who spent two years in Cameroon, specia-lized in tones, which are crucial in a language such as Nzadi. “Tones are what keep me up at night,” he said. “I’m a failed tenor, I think.”

Although there have been cuts in many of Cal’s language programs, Hyman said colleagues and students do not resent the arrival of Nzadi on campus. For one thing, it’s definitely not Conversational Nzadi. For another, the approach being studied is applicable to grasping any language anywhere.

“It’s a great opportunity to put our linguistic training to good use,” said John Keesling, 21. “We’re documen-ting Nzadi for future linguistic analysis.”

When he taught the methodology course before, Hyman used such languages as Chibemba from Zambia,

Ikalanga from Botswana and Adhola from Uganda. “We have something much more special this time,” Hyman said. “We’ll be putting Nzadi on the map and it will be valuable.”

He added that Nsielanga has asked people in his village to gather proverbs, which could tie the class further to this distant part of the world. “It’s a part of Africa not very well known at all — like it’s out of the ‘African Queen’ or something,” Hyman said.

He said interest in African languages in general is exploding on the Cal campus. “Given that we are working on a shoestring budget, we’ve done incredibly well in offering any African languages,” said Martha Saavedra, associate director of the Center for African Studies at Cal. She said UC Berkeley is currently teaching Kiswahili, Zulu, Wolof and Chichewa. Last year, Afrikaans, Malagasy, Setswana and Xhosa were taught as well.

As for the Nzadi course, Hyman said he’d love to simply staple students’ term papers together at the end of the semester and have a publishable product. “We have high hopes,” he said. “I say that with some apprehension because we’ve had high hopes before and it hasn’t worked out.”

A SAMPlING oF NzADI WoRDS

iba = man Ote = tree

Okar = woman iman = stone

Wa = village Ntsur = animal

ikie = egg Mbva = dog

Dzi = eye Out = night

Mpful = bird Etwa = bag

Nda = hunger Ebam = kidney

Man = ground Mbvwa = path

“Nzadi is one of the most obscure tongues in the

world. That’s exactly why a UC Berkeley class

has embraced it. ‘There’s nothing like the joy of

discovering a language from scratch’.”

— Larry Hyman, University of California-Berkeley Professor of Linguistics

The first objective is crucial for researchers doing

field work. As graduate student Thera Crane put

it: ‘How would you learn a language if you knew

nothing about it’?”


Casey Hanley, M.A. 2009

the JesUIt sChool of theology at berkeley Is pleased to announce two 2008 recipients of the Fund for Theo-logical Education (FTE) Ministry Fellowship, Melissa Granillo, V.D.M.F., and Susan Haarman. Both are in their second year of the Master of Divinity program. Additio-nally, the Jesuit School is proud to note that Hung Pham, a first year Master of Divinity student, is the recipient of the FTE Volunteer Exploring Vocation (VEV) grant.

The Ministry Fellowship is given to first-year Master of Divinity students who demonstrate exemplary minis-te rial abilities. The Fellowship includes a stipend of $10,000 designated for educational and living expenses, as well as to design a ministry project. The VEV grant provides $2,500 for educational and living expenses. FTE provides students with the opportunity to attend a week-long Conference on Excellence in Ministry during the summer. The Jesuit School’s Fellows attended this conference last June at Emory University in Atlanta. The conference proved to be invaluable to all three of the students. Susan and Hung enjoyed meeting others from many different faiths and backgrounds in such a rejuvenating environment. Melissa was elated to observe so many seminarians from different faiths and remarked, “I got to see young people on fire and wanting to change the world, who were from many denominations.”

The FTE Fellowships partner with various faith-based volunteer programs, which is how Susan and Hung became involved. Both students participated

in Jesuit Volunteer Corps. Susan worked in Houston at an AIDS hospice while Hung was based in Oakland at St. Vincent de Paul. Familiarity with Ignatian education and ministry prompted both Hung and Susan to attend the Jesuit School. According to Susan, “I was familiar with the Jesuits, and I knew I could count on the caliber of education and their engagement with the real world.” Melissa is a Verbum Dei sister who came to the Jesuit School to deepen her faith and “provide a name and vocabulary to my experience of God.” Melissa’s ministry experience includes working with teenage girls and young adults to help facilitate retreats and faith sharing groups.

After completing her degree, Susan may embark upon a career as a campus minister, or perhaps attend law school. Melissa wishes to return to ministry after she finishes her Master of Divinity, and remains open to wherever God may lead her. Hung is unsure of his plans after graduation, but is focused on thoroughly enjoying his experience at the Jesuit School.

Three jSTB Students Recognized by Fund for Theological Education

The JSTB community warmly welcomes

Margi English as the new Executive Director of

Development. As an alumna of Bellarmine Prep in

Tacoma, Washington, she is no stranger to Jesuit

education. Margi looks forward to serving JSTB’s

mission through her development efforts. you may

contact her at 510 549-5041.

WEl

co

ME

Clockwise: Granillo, Haarman, and Pham

Casey h

an

ley

Casey h

an

ley


Jerome BaggeTT, Ph.d. celebrated the publication of his new book Sense of the Faithful: How American Catholics Live Their Faith (Oxford University Press, 2009), which was recently reviewed in America maga-zine. Within the past few months, he also delivered three lectures:

“Keeping ‘Our Best Kept Secret’ a Secret? — The Political Hushing Effect within American Parishes” at the Society for the Scientific Study of Religion Annual Conference in Louisville, KY; “Religious Reflexivity and Its Limitations” to the Political Science Department at UC Berkeley; and another at Stanford University entitled, “Dilemmas of Faithful Citizenship: Official Teachings and the Lived Religion of American Catholics.” Additionally, he spoke for the Theology in the City lecture series, “Catholic Parishes, Politics, and Civic Participation” in Phoenix. He is spending this academic year serving as the Jesuit School’s Acting Academic Dean.

Thomas Buckley, s.J. was an invited participant at the annual Beijing Forum in China last November. His talk, “An American Ricci: John Courtney Murray and Religious Freedom,” was published in advance in both English and Chinese for all those attending the conference. On February 26 he gave a Theology in the City lecture on “Catholicism in China: Yesterday and Today,” at the Herbst Theater in San Francisco. This year Fr. Buckley has been over-seeing the Malatesta Program, an exchange program for faculty from select Chinese universities and the three California Jesuit universities, as well as the Jesuit School of Theology at Berkeley. As part of this program, two Chinese scholars have been in residence at the Jesuit School during the Spring. Wang Xinsheng, Professor of Religious Studies at Fudan Uni- versity in Shanghai is writing a book on Karl Rahner’s theology; and Peng

Xiaoyu, Professor and Vice Chairman of the History Department at Peking University in Beijing, is writing a history of American Catholicism

Thomas caTToi, Ph.d. read a paper on Catholic-Orthodox dialogue at the Holy Cross Pappas Conference in October 2008, and a paper on the comparative theology of sacred images at the meeting of the Society for Buddhist Christian Studies in Chicago in November. He will now serve as vice-chair for the AAR Mysticism Studies group. His book Divine Contingency: Theologies of Divine Embodiment in Maximos the Confessor and Tsong kha pa has been published. In January, Prof. Cattoi led a theological immersion to Nepal, focusing on Buddhist-Christian dia-logue. While there he was invited to lecture on “Divine embodiment in the Patristic era and in the Tibetan tradition” at the Center for Buddhist Studies of the University of Kathmandu.

greg chisholm, s.J. & Thomas scirghi, s.J. traveled with two second-year Jesuit scholastics, ( John Mark and James Ackerman), to Nairobi, Kenya in January. They conducted a program of liturgical instruction at Hekima College, a Jesuit School of Theology, which consisted of three courses: Preaching, Presiding at the Church’s Rites, and Confessional Counseling. The program was a great success, and they have been invited to repeat the program next year. While in Nairobi Tom reported in a message to JSTB faculty and staff that “being here is one of my proudest moments from my time at JSTB — to see so many of our former students at work here: as teachers and administrators, pas-tors and formatores.”

mary ann donovan, s.c. par-ticipated in a Buddhist-Catholic dialogue last January which this

year took the form of a joint retreat. In February, she gave two retreat conferences for faculty and staff of Archbishop Mitty High School.

donald gelPi, s.J. spent the Fall semester of 2008 teaching in the Jesuit First Studies program at Loyola University of Chicago. His one-volume Christology book, Encountering Jesus Christ, is in pro-duction with Marquette University Press. His manuscript on Church (“As We Are One”) will be the principal text in his advanced JSTB seminar this Spring.

John endres, s.J. taught a mini-course in January on Psalms to Jesuit novices from the California and Oregon Provinces. For the feast of the Conversion of St. Paul, he preached at St. James Cathedral in Seattle. His various publications include an article on “Rebekah’s Prayer” ( Jubilees 25:11–23) in a Festschrift for Professor Ida Frohlich, and an article for America magazine’s November issue, “In His Shoes: A Pilgrim’s Guide to Some Pauline Sites.” Lastly, he was assisted by Michael Smith, a third-year Master of Divinity student, and Paul Kircher in giving an Advent presentation on Psalms at Christ the Light Cathedral in Oakland.

eduardo Fernandez, s.J. gave a workshop in February on the subject of diversity to the national gather-ing of the Association of Graduate Programs in Ministry, which was held in Tucson, Arizona. His book published in 2000, La Cosecha: Harvesting Contemporary United States Hispanic Theology (1972–1998), will be released in Spanish by the publisher Buena Prensa in Mexico City. The final editing work was done by Neela Kale ( JSTB M.Div. ‘08). He led the Mexican immersion trip for the first year Master of Divinity students in January with RoseMary

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Moore, the Dean of Students, and Joseph Carver, S.J.,(M.Div. 2009).Father Fernandez journeyed to Hawaii with Father Chisholm in March to give a Theology in the City Lecture, along with present-ing a workshop on intercultural ministry for the clergy of the Honolulu Diocese.

Bruce lescher, Ph.d & clare ronzani, m.a. facilitated a work-shop for the Institute for Christian Spirituality and Spiritual Direction of the Diocese of Stockton on January 7, 2009. This was an educational day for people training to be spiritual directors. They also presented a work shop on the enneagram at Santa Clara University on January 24. This workshop was sponsored by the Igna-tian Center for Jesuit Education.

Francis X. mcaloon, s.J. partici-pated in the Inter-religious Dialogue Theological Immersion trip to South India in January, with Jim Redington, S.J., and nine students. The trip focused upon Hinduism, Jainism, Islam, and Buddhism. Also in January, his second book of the academic year was released, 40-Day Journey with Gerard Manley Hopkins (Augsburg, 2009), a guided poetic-prayer guide arranged around themes of spiritual consolation, desolation, and transfor-mation. His article entitled “Reading

for Transformation through the Poetry of Gerard Manley Hopkins” appeared in the fall 2008 issue of Spiritus, the Journal of the Society for the Study of Christian Spirituality.

mia mochizuki, Ph.d. was awarded a Making Connections Initiative grant (Lilly Foundation) by JSTB in support of research at Sophia Uni versity, Tokyo, Japan, while researching The Nether-landish Print Abroad: Art, Religion and Economics in the Early Modern World. She gave a lecture at Sophia Univer-sity’s Institute of Comparative Culture on November 20th entitled, “The Curious Lives of Objects: The Nether-landish Map Comes to Japan.” She served as a respondent for Professor Jaime Lara at the conference Christian Texts for Aztecs: Art and Liturgy in Colonial Mexico for the Academy of American Franciscan History in Octo-ber. Her book, The Netherlandish Image after Iconoclasm, 1566–1672. Material Religion in the Dutch Golden Age, was published by Ashgate and won the 2007 College Art Asso-ciation Publication Award. An article,

“Idolatry and Western-inspired Painting in Japan,” appeared in the book Idols in the Age of Art. Objects, Devotions and the Early Modern World. Professor Mochizuki also reviewed Julie Berger Hochstrasser’s

“Still Life and Dutch Trade” for Renaissance Quarterly

Bill o’neill, s.J. presented multiple papers at various conferences in the Spring, Summer, and Fall of 2008. The first, entitled The Violent Bear It Away: Just War and U.S. Military Policy in the Eyes of Catholic Teaching, he gave on April 17–19 at a Con-ference on Faithful Citizenship at Creighton University. The second paper, “Souvenir du Mal et Recon-ciliation Sociale,” was offered at the conference “Genocide in Rwanda and the Reconstruction of Knowledge” at the Interdisciplinary Genocide Studies Center in Kigali, Rwanda

from July 23–25. On August 15–18, along with Lisa Fullam, PhD, he presented a paper on Cross-cultural Interpretations of Reconciliation, at a conference on “Doing Moral Theology in East Asian Contexts”. The Conference was hosted by the Loyola School of Theology in Manila. Finally, on October 22nd, he offered the keynote address at the Justice Education Forum for Seattle Uni-ver sity titled, A Little Common Sense: Catholic Social Teaching on Immigration.

sandra schneiders, i.h.m. gave the annual “Jesus the Christ in the 21st Century Lectures” at Myers Park Baptist Church in Charlotte, NC in October. She participated in the American Academy of Religion and Society for the Study of Christian Spirituality national convention in Chicago, and delivered the Bellarmine Lecture at St. Louis University, enti-tled: Before It’s Too Late — Violence, Reconciliation, and the Church. In November, Professor Schneiders led a workshop entitled “Encountering Jesus in the Fourth Gospel” at the Jesuit Center in Wernersville, PA. Her latest publication is, “Touching the Risen Jesus: Mary Magdalene and Thomas the Twin in John 20,” which appears in the book The Resurrection of Jesus in the Gospel of John.

Mia Mochizuki holds copy of her award-win-ning publication at book fair of 2009 College Art Association conference in Los Angeles

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Jim Bonomo (I.S.W. 1988) com-pleted his ninth year of work at the Virginia Commonwealth University Medical Center. He continues to work as a pediatric hematology/oncology chaplain.

Paul Boyle (New Directions, 2005) writes, “New Directions has been the greatest influence in my life.” Now married with two children, Paul is the Director of Holistic Trauma Healing in Nairobi. He conducts workshops all over East Africa as well as throughout the US for numerous churches and organizations.

donald conry (M.Div. 2001) recently purchased his first house in Toledo, OH. “This is my 13th year working in Catholic High School ministry. During the coming summer, I will be spending 30 days in Honduras as part of two service trips sponsored by St. Francis de Sales High School. I will be accom-panied by 40 high school seniors.”

carol FiTzsimmons (I.S.W. 1988) continues to lead retreats and offer spiritual direction. Last July she directed a retreat at Marie Joseph Spiritual Center which was given by the Presentation of Mary congregation.

Tom Flores (M.A. 1998) is cur rently the Visiting Assistant Professor of Peacebuilding and Conflict Transformation Practices at the Candler School of Theology of Emory University in Atlanta. Tom received his Ph.D in 2006 and was the first Post-Doctoral fellow in Religion, Conflict and Peacebuilding at Emory. Recently, former president Jimmy Carter was a guest speaker in his class.

lauren guerra (M.A. 2007) reports that she is back in California after doing her Master’s Degree in Spanish. She is teaching Religion and Ethics at Mercy High school in San Francisco.

Jacqueline heinrich (New Directions 2005) is officially retired and ministering with her Religious Community in the diocese of Verdun in France. She and her Community work as prison chaplains, educa-tors, and assistants in formation for deacons and lay ministers, and fostering lay and clergy relationships within the parish.

John lee, c.P. (I.S.W. 1993) recently left his ministry in the Appalachian Mountains of North Central West Virginia to become the Retreat Director of Bishop Molloy Retreat

House in Jamaica, NY in the borough of Queens. His mandate is to increase the number of retreatants, develop new programs for a broader base of persons, find new ways to reach out to the highly multi-ethnic com-munity of the area, and improve the retreat house’s financial situation. John considers performing this task during the year he turns sixty-five a privilege.

rev . patrICk mCgrath, s .J . (M.DIV. 1993) has been chosen to be the eighth president of Loyola Academy in Wilmette, IL., north of Chicago. The appointment is effective July 1, 2009. In the notice of appointment, Loyola Board Chairman James P. Hickey wrote: “At the core of what makes Loyola Academy distinct from other outstanding high schools in the area is its Jesuit identity. Pat’s energy, enthusiasm, and spirituality are sure to continue to sharpen that distinction.”

J. PeTer niXon (M.A. 1998) con-tinues to be involved in prison min-istry and writing for the Catholic press. His 1997 U.S. Catholic essay on adult catechesis entitled, “Is This the Best We Can Do?” received a Catholic Press Association award in 1998. His feature on how parishes

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Splease send yoUr neWs (e.g., new ministry, publication, promotion, celebration of marriage or significant anniversary of ordination, vows or entering religious life, birth of child, retirement, travels, etc.) for publication in the Bridge to Rev. Rob McChesney, S.J., Jesuit School of Theology, 1735 LeRoy Ave, Berkeley, CA 94709 or [email protected]. Thank you!

Alumnus Tom Flores with former president Jimmy Carter, a guest speaker in his class at Candler School of Theology of Emory University in Atlanta.

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can navigate the difficult waters of political involvement — ”Let’s Get Political” — ran in the October 1998 issue of the magazine. He regularly blogs for Commonweal magazine, and was recently pro-moted to the position of Director of Metrics and Analytics for the Office of Labor Management Partnership at Kaiser Permanente.

Janelle Peregoy (M.Div. 2008) occupies the new position of Area Director for the Jesuit Volunteer Corps in Santa Clara.

irene quesnoT (M.A. 2008) accepted a new position as Minister of Liturgy at St. Mary’s parish in San Antonio.

BarBara schlaTTer, c.P.P.s. (New Directions 2005–2006) is a teacher and Development Director for Alternatives With Education in St. Louis. They have a new website for which she wrote the stories of some of the participants: www.awe-stl.org. In addition, Barbara wrote an article for Engaging Aging, a newsletter published four times a year by Lutheran Senior Services and targeted toward pastors and older adult ministers, which appeared on the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops’ website.

BroTher michael segvich, c.F.c. (I.S.W. 1995–96) moved to New York City last summer to take the position of Principal at Rice High School in Harlem, which has a student enrollment of 300 and maintains forty faculty and staff.

mary souThard, c.s.J. (I.S.W. 1981) and John Surette, SJ (I.S.W. 1981) have for the past twenty years been involved in nurturing planetary and cosmological consciousness. Mary recently returned from Aus-tralia where she gave a retreat titled

“The Wild and the Sacred.”As an

artist she also found time to dia-logue with aboriginal artists in the Outback. John is back from the Philippines where he offered work-shops and retreats on the “Powers of the Universe” and “Images of God sug gested by our Evolutionary Universe.”

chrisTine WaTkins (M.T.S. 1998) is working as a post-abortion counseling and education director at First Resort in Oakland. Eight years ago, while on pilgrimage, she received a call to write a book of

conversion stories. Ave Maria Press has accepted it for publication in Spring 2010.

mary WhiTed, c.P.P.s. (M.A. 2001) is serving as the General Superior of her congregation, the Sisters of the Most Precious Blood, in O’Fallon, Missouri. She is also in her third year of serving as the president of the Leadership Conference of Women Religious (LCWR), which represents women religious across the United States.

is daily transforming people’s lives and environment in surprising and simple ways. I have seen insurmountable social barriers broken down as a result of embracing the Gospel of Love. I have seen broken lives reconstructed within a community setting of sincerity and profound acceptance. I have seen the healing power of the Word of God bringing peace and reconciliation to individuals, families and entire communities. All of this I have seen happen through the lives of ordinary individuals who are simply being open to God’s grace. The joy and authenticity of all these persons struggling to make a difference in almost imperceptible ways leaves a strong impact.

However, being a General Respon sible includes dealing with, carrying and participating in all the major problems and difficulties which arise in the life of individuals and communities. Oftentimes there is no simple solution. There are the decisions which must be made and which are not always very popular, as well as the fatigue involved in living out of a suitcase. Meetings and bureau cracy also swallow a big part of my time, even though one wishes to respond in more directly pastoral and creative ways.

Despite the shadow side of leadership I cannot deny that everything forms part of an ongoing story of the incarnation of Christ’s Peace, Mercy and Love through experiences of cross and resurrection. The experience of being called to serve through leadership is some-thing you gradually grow into through experiencing weakness, rebelliousness and limitation as well as abundant grace and strength.

Such experiences have shown me that theological formation is an indispensable resource which our members must constantly draw upon in our diverse ministries. Therefore, I recognize the need for serious theological studies and training. This is a gift I and many from the VDMF community have gratefully received from the JSTB through their scholarships. May the JSTB continue its essential work for the church, and may God bless all of our joint efforts to perceive and reveal God’s presence in our world.

relIgIoUs leadershIp of a “neW form of ConseCrated lIfe” … ContInUed from 9


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2008 Diaconate Ordination

Top Row, left to right: Joseph Riordan, S.J., Bishop Allen Vigneron, Tony Sholander, S.J.; Bottom row, left to right: Nico Kim, S.J., Joseph Carver, S.J., Dat Tran, S.J., Fernando Álvarez-Lara, S.J., Martin Schrieber, S.J., John Braverman, S.J.

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Bridge Spring 2009

Documents

Transcript of Bridge Spring 2009