Catholic Theological
Society of America

Book release: How to Remake the World Neighborhood by Neighborhood
by Mack McCarter, Founder of Community Renewal International
with CTSA Member Tim Muldoon, professor at Boston College

Maryknoll, New York: A quiet revolution of intentional, connected caring prepares for the national stage with the November 2022 release of a groundbreaking book which will help heal our societies. Boston College Philosophy professor and long-time CTSA member Tim Muldoon has teamed up with G.S. “Mack” McCarter, the Opus Prize laureate and founder of Community Renewal International (CRI), to produce How to Remake the World Neighborhood by Neighborhood , a book that offers a tested road map for renewing communities.

How to Remake the World Neighborhood by Neighborhood is the solution to the social breakdown felt across the country and around the world today. It narrates the story and philosophy of CRI , an organization founded in Shreveport, Louisiana. In the places where it has taken root, people build new friendships and begin to restore the bonds that sustain communities so that they thrive. Crime rates plummet. People come out of their homes and grow connections with their neighbors. They become active, caring participants in their societies.

The late Millard Fuller, co-founder of Habitat for Humanity, once described CRI as “the premier community renewal building model in the nation,” and his wife and co-founder Linda Fuller writes, “Mack McCarter shares the courageous steps he took to fuse love and caring into relationships, using the best elements of society to improve neighborhoods, cities and our futures.”

The book tells the story of how McCarter returned to his home town of Shreveport after many years as a pastor in Texas. He found a city that was racially divided and suffering from violence. With a small group of like-minded people, he intentionally and proactively began engaging with people in the city's most violent and dangerous neighborhood. Over time, studying the history of the rise and fall of civilizations and applying that research to the practical question of community renewal, he developed a replicable system. Today, Black and white, Republican and Democrat, men and women—all who have become part of the “We Care Team,” now over 50,000 strong, have remade entire neighborhoods and repaired the fabric of society.

This book tells exactly how others can join in this effort to remake our society, and why, for the sake of our shared future, they must. 

G. S. “Mack” McCarter is the Founder and Coordinator of Community Renewal International (CRI). Over the span of 25 years of work, there are now more than 50,000 “We Care” team members in all 50 states and 41 nations. Mack has been honored on behalf of CRI as a finalist for the prestigious $1M Opus Prize, with the laureate to be named on November 3, 2022. He has also been honored as the National Citizen of the Year from the National Conference on Citizenship, Social Entrepreneur of the Year from The Manhattan Institute, Louisiana Public Citizen of the Year from the National Association of Social Workers, Distinguished Alumnus of the Year from Texas Christian University, Distinguished Minister of the Year from Brite Divinity School, and Doctor of Letters (Honorary) by Nyack College/Alliance Theological Seminary. Mack also received the 2019-2020 Lumen Christi Award from Catholic Extension.  Mack holds a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Religion from Texas Christian University, and a Master of Divinity Degree from Brite Divinity School.

Tim Muldoon is a professor, scholar, and author or co-author of ten books, and editor of two others. He has been honored by the Catholic Press Association on multiple occasions, and was the 2017 recipient of the “Hearts on Fire” Spiritual Writing Award from the Loyola Institute for Spirituality in Orange, California. Tim holds Bachelor of Arts degrees in Philosophy and Theology from Boston College; a Master of Theological Studies degree from Emory University; and a Doctor of Philosophy degree in Catholic Systematic Theology from Duquesne University. He teaches in the Perspectives on Western Culture program at Boston College.

Greetings Colleagues,

I hope you are well.

All the video edits and summaries from the Catholic Nonviolence Initiative 2022 fall webinar series (including Lisa Sowle Cahill, KC Choi, and young adult voices) are complete and ready for use in class or for student extra credit essays, etc.

• All five videos are divided into speaker chapters, and the presentations run from between 15 to 29 minutes.
• Speaker presentations are immediately followed by a slide that has three discussion/essay questions.
• The 5 topics include: Why 'Nonviolence?' (includes 2 young adult speakers); Returning to and Exploring the Power of Nonviolence, Christian Foundations of Nonviolence (includes Lisa Sowle Cahill and KC Choi), Embracing Nonviolence: A New Moral Framework (includes Ukraine case and a speaker from Kenya), and Embracing Nonviolence: Transforming the Church.

Your one-stop web page is https://cniseries.info. Here you will find brief lecture and presentation summaries, a link to the video and a downloadable study guide.

With Hope,
Eli McCarthy
Georgetown University

The CTSA prays for Alicia Marill who died on January 23.  

Eternal rest grant unto Alicia, O Lord,
and let perpetual light shine upon her. 
May her soul and the souls of all the faithful departed,
through the mercy of God, rest in peace. Amen.

Sr. Gloria L. Schaab, SSJ's letter to Alicia Marill's colleagues, students, and alumni at Barry University follows: 

It is with great sadness that I inform you of the death last evening (1/23/2023) of Alicia Marill, DMin. Dr. Marill faithfully served the Department of Theology and Philosophy for more than twenty years, most notably as Doctor of Ministry Director from 1999 until her retirement. In addition to her vast contributions to the Department and to Barry University, Dr. Marill was tirelessly active in the Archdiocese of Miami and the community of Miami.  Among many other significant and extensive contributions, Dr. Marill was the  founder and president of Amor en Accion, supporting projects  of education, nutrition, health, evangelization and reforestation in Haiti. She served as a board member of the Academy of Catholic Hispanic Theologians of the United   States and was elected a representative of the United States Catholic Church to the first Congreso Americano Misionero held in Parana, Argentina.

Please remember Alicia’s family and friends in this time of deep mourning.

Sincerely
Sister Gloria L. Schaab, SSJ
Chair, Department of Theology and Philosophy

Sharing a piece I wrote for America Magazine on the "Doing Theology from the Existential Peripheries" global theology project of the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development. The North American working group included other CTSA members: Stan Chu Ilo (Coordinator), Jennifer Owens-Jofre, Bradford Hinze, Darren Dias, OP (as well as Jaime Waters, Bill Cavanaugh, and Tom Landry). There will be a session on the project at the upcoming Convention as well, all are welcome.

https://www.americamagazine.org/faith/2023/01/19/pope-francis-existential-peripheries-clark-244250 

The Msgr. John Mary Fraser Centre for Practical Theology at Regis-St. Michael's Faculty of Theology in the University of Toronto will be having its 5th Annual Scarboro Missions Lecture on Thursday February 9, 2023 (7:30-9 PM).

This year's presenter is Prof. Cyril Orji (University of Dayton), and his lecture is entitled: "Microaggressions and Racial Subtleties in the Story of Joseph and Potiphar's Wife (Gen. 39; Sarah 12): Resonances and Applications in a Contemporary Racial Climate."

This is a hybrid event; please indicate whether you will join the event "in-person" or "online" on the registration form. For more information and to register, please visit our website: https://frasercentre.ca/event/registration-open-5th-annual-scarboro-missions-lecture-2023/

We hope to see you all then!

all for Essays (Vol. 18, 2023): “In the Wake of ‘We Remember’: Jews, Christians, and the Holocaust Today”

The 1998 publication We Remember: A Reflection on the Shoah by the Catholic Commission for Religious Relations with the Jews was a starting point for many discussions on Jewish-Christian relations. As a result, what has happened in Jewish-Christian dialogue over the last 25 years? What trajectories did We Remember set in motion? 

The editorial board of Studies in Christian-Jewish Relations invites essay submissions for a special section in its 2023 volume commemorating the 25th anniversary of We Remember. The editors welcome theological, historical, and personal perspectives on this document and its consequences for Jewish-Christian relations. Depending on the content, the essays may not be subject to peer review but will be published upon acceptance by the SCJR editorial team. Length: 500-3000 words. Deadline: June 1, 2023.

See https://ejournals.bc.edu/index.php/scjr/index

Fr Joseph Mueller, SJ has passed away peacefully at the Sacred Heart
Jesuit Center after a brief struggle with illness at the age of 63. He
is survived by his father, sisters, brothers, and many nephews and
nieces.

For more than 20 years, he taught theology at Marquette University and
served as associate dean for academic affairs and later the rector of
its Jesuit Community.

In 2020, he was named the dean of the Jesuit School of Theology of
Santa Clara University in Berkeley, California. At Santa Clara, Father
Mueller recruited noteworthy theologians whose scholarship will have a
profound impact on the future of the Church and obtained significant
grants to enhance Latinx theology and ministry.

A Detroit native who entered the Society of Jesus in 1982 and was
ordained to the priesthood in 1993, Father Mueller received his
bachelor’s degree from Marquette in 1981 and earned his doctorate in
sacred theology from Centre Sèvres, Paris, in 2005.

A Mass of Christian Burial will be held on Friday, Feb. 3, at 10 a.m.
at Gesu Parish in Detroit, Michigan.

More information about Fr Mueller can be found in this announcement
from Santa Clara University's president
https://www.scu.edu/president/messages/from-the-president/emails/mueller-rip/

and the GTU's president:
https://www.gtu.edu/news/remembering-joseph-mueller-sj-0

Announcement written by
CTSA member Anh Tran, Jesuit School of Theology, Santa Clara University

Congratulations to CTSA member Thomas (Tom) Malewitz on the publication of his newly co-edited volume that has been recently released: Hollywood or History? An Inquiry-Based Strategy for Using Film to Teach World Religions (Information Age, 2023).

It is the fifth volume in the Hollywood or History? Series which contains supplemental assignments using films and film clips to help engage junior-high and secondary students with curriculum topics in Social Studies and World Religions. The volume includes 19 chapters with assignments based on common core, state, and USCCB standards for curriculum topics surrounding Christianity, Judaism, Islam, First Nations, Hinduism, Buddhism, and African Tribal rituals.  

The CTSA prays for Marinus Iwuchukwu who died yesterday, Tuesday, January 17th.  

Dr. Kristine L. Blair, Dean, McAnulty College  and Graduate School of Liberal Arts, Duquesne University, wrote, "It is with profound sadness that I share the news of the death of Dr. Marinus Iwuchukwu, Associate Professor of Theology, who had taught in the Theology Department since 2008. A former Chair of the Department, Professor Iwuchukwu was an internationally recognized expert on interreligious dialogue and inclusive religious pluralism.”

Marinus' contributions to the CTSA include:

Presenter, Professor Elochukwu Uzukwu, C.S.Sp.: Review of His Scholarship and Contributions to African Theology in the Last Twenty Years,2019 CTSA Convention.

Chairperson, Local Arrangements Committee, 2019 CTSA Convention.

Presenter, Latino/a Theology - Consultation (Joint Session with Black Theology Consultation), 2022 CTSA Convention, where Marinus raised the question, "What have Christian churches and their leaders of our age done to ensure that the most outstanding structural, psychological, economic, and institutional recrudesce of slavery are effectively ended, as well as restituted, restored, repaired?"

Convener, Catholicity and Mission Topic Session,2016 CTSA Convention.

Presenter, Spirituality and the Scandal of the Mundane Selected Session: Spirituality and the Scandal of the Mundane: Race, Racism and Religious Identity (2016 CTSA Convention).

Eternal rest grant unto Marinus, O Lord,
and let perpetual light shine upon him. 
May his soul and the souls of all the faithful departed,
through the mercy of God, rest in peace. Amen.

The family of Marinus has structured a GoFundMe page to assist with funeral expenses and unexpected financial responsibilities.  Here is the link to access the GoFundMe page: https://gofund.me/d84c94ba

Dear CTSA Colleagues,

I'm reaching out in my capacity as the current President of the International Thomas Merton Society to ask a favor.  

The ITMS is working hard to get the word out about the Daggy Scholarship Program, which covers registration fees for emerging scholars at the 2023 General Meeting at St. Mary's College in South Bend, June 22-25. If you know of any MA, MTS, MDiv or PhD students - certainly undergraduates as well - that have interest in Merton or the conference theme (Wisdom/Sophia and the Divine Feminine), please share the links below, one of which includes a poster announcement with QR Code that can be posted anywhere visible to students. Inquiries can also be directed to my email below. 

Thanks so much for your help!

Christopher Pramuk / Regis University / cpramuk@regis.edu

http://merton.org/ITMS/scholarships.aspx

http://merton.org/2023/default.aspx

https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1xCEpeGeeGbNKUy1PkqyXYlh62LefiPkR