The Canadian Forum on Theology and Education 2011

The University of Waterloo, Waterloo, Ontario, Canada
Thursday May 26th 2010 to Saturday May 28th 2011

Catholicism at the Crossroads: How the Laity Can Save the Church
with
Christine Schenk csj and Paul Lakeland

Christine Schenk csj, a Sister of St. Joseph from Cleveland, is the Executive Director of FutureChurch, a national coalition of parish centered Catholics working for full participation of all Catholics in the life of the Church. Her opinion pieces have been published by both secular and religious media, and she has been interviewed by the BBC, NPR, the National Catholic Reporter, the National Post, the New York Times, CNN, MSNBC, Fox cable and many others

Dr. Paul Lakeland is the Rev. Aloysius P. Kelley, S.J., Professor of Catholic Studies and Chair of the Center for Catholic Studies at Fairfield University in Fairfield, Connecticut and was the 2005 Fairfield University Teacher of the Year. He is a contributing blogger to The Huffington Post and a contributing writer to Commonweal. Dr. Lakeland, a former Jesuit priest, is married and has one son, Jonathan Parker Lakeland

In religious organizations, the laity comprises all persons who are not in the clergy, for example a nun or brother.

Would Catholics support democratic reform in the Church? There is significant evidence that they would.

A major survey of Catholic laity in six countries conducted by Gallup several years ago revealed significant support for democratic reform within the Church. The survey was carefully studied by Andrew Greeley, a Catholic priest and sociologist at the University of Chicago, and Michael Hout, a sociologist teaching at UCLA, Berkeley.

In response to several questions about what they would look for in a new pope, the results were as follows:

"78% of the respondents supported the idea of a Pope who would choose some of his advisors from ordinary lay people; 69% said they would rather have a Pope who would permit married priests; the same proportion opted for a Pope who was more concerned about the life of ordinary people; 65% hoped for a Pope who would permit the laity and clergy to choose their own bishop; the same proportion supported a Pope who would approve the ordination of women and a similar proportion approved a Pope who would be more open to change. Finally, 58% opted for a Pope who would grant more decision making power to the bishops."

If you would like further information, please contact John Quinn at johnquinn@cfotae.ca or 905-934-9115