April 6, 2018 at 1:53 p.m.
KEYNOTER

Lay involvement spotlighted at convening


By KATE BLAIN- | Comments: 0 | Leave a comment

At this year's Parish Convening, Oct. 26 at LaSalle Institute in Troy, keynoter Rev. Anthony Ciorra will explain how laypeople can share their gifts in Church ministry.

The Parish Convening is an annual event that gathers parish leaders from all over the Albany Diocese to attend workshops and pray together.

Father Ciorra, who comes from the Center for Theological and Spiritual Development in Morristown, New Jersey, will speak on "Partners in Ministry: Channels of Hope." (He is replacing a previously-scheduled speaker who had to cancel.) The Evangelist spoke with him about his topic:

Q: How unique is this time in Church history when it comes to changes in leadership?

FATHER CIORRA:

The Church has gone through all kinds of transitions. The watershed moment of Second Vatican Council was talking about the ministry of all the baptized, the universal call to holiness. That was a big deal from the point of view that prior to that point, ministry really belonged to the ordained. It's no longer a hierarchical approach.

Q: Vatican II occurred 40 years ago. Hasn't the Church integrated what was decided there yet?

FATHER CIORRA:

We really have only seen the tip of the iceberg. We haven't fully understood the Council yet. Forty years is not a long time in the history of the Church. [Because of the clergy sexual abuse crisis], people have been jolted to say, `Maybe we ought to look at this in another way. What is the role of the laity?' We're all responsible; we all need to be involved.

Q: What changes lie ahead for Church leadership and the laity?

FATHER CIORRA:

I think we're getting ready to turn the page to the next phase of our development. What we have been saying for the past 40 years will begin to occur. In the diocese I'm in, we're starting to prepare laypeople to take over some of the administrative roles in parishes. Laity will become partners with religious women, with priests, to do the work of Christ. I think it'll happen in the next five to 10 years.

Q: Why should people attend your talk?

FATHER CIORRA:

To find out how they can become a part of the solution, to make the Church all that it can be. Secondly, to get a deeper understanding: When we talk about lay ministry, what is it? And the spirituality: I want to put people in touch with the spirituality and the energy that might excite them to be partners in ministry.

(Rev. Anthony Ciorra is also a retreat director and an associate professor at the College of St. Elizabeth in New Jersey. He is the author of "Everyday Mysticism: Cherishing the Holy" and co-author of "Moral Formation in the Parish: With Your Whole Heart Turn to God.")

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