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| Sr. Ilia Delio, OSF |
More than 500 Franciscans converge on Chicago July 3-8 for
the U.S. Secular Franciscan Order's Quinquennial Congress. Held every five
years to bring Secular Franciscans, friars and sisters together as a family
from across the U.S., the Quinquennial this year focuses on gaining insight
into the call by St. Francis of Assisi to live the Gospel in one's everyday
life.
Chicago Archdiocese Auxiliary Bishop George J. Rassas welcomes
the group and presides at the opening liturgy Tuesday evening, July 3, at the
Holiday Inn Chicago North Shore Skokie Hotel.
The keynote speaker is Franciscan Sister Ilia Delio, OSF, author
and senior fellow at Woodstock Theological Center, Georgetown University, where
she concentrates in the area of science and religion.
Sister Ilia will address the
conference theme, "Why Francis? Claim the Gift!", and follow up with
talks on a Franciscan view of God and a Franciscan understanding of the human
person.
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| Patrick Mendes, OFS |
"Perhaps no Franciscan writer today has enjoyed the
kind of appeal Sister Ilia engenders wherever she goes," noted Patrick
Mendes, OFS, of Chicago, Quinquennial co-chair along with Clare McCluggage, MD,
OFS, of Vancouver, WA. "She has appeared in the History Channel's 'Ancient
Aliens' series, and lectures nationally and internationally on theology and
spirituality, with an interest in integrating Franciscan theology into
contemporary questions."
Sister Ilia, a member of the Franciscan Sisters of Washington,
D.C., is currently involved in research projects on technology, evolution, and
ecology. She also is exploring the theology of Pierre Teilhard de Chardin. She
is former chair of spirituality studies at Washington Theological Union. Sister
Ilia holds a doctorate in pharmacology from New Jersey Medical School/Graduate
School of Biomedical Sciences and a doctorate in historical theology from
Fordham University.
She is the author of ten books; among them, "The
Humility of God," "Christ in Evolution," and "Care for
Creation," which won two Catholic Press Book Awards in 2009. Her newest
book, published in 2011, is "The Emergent Christ: Exploring the Meaning of
Catholic in an Evolutionary Universe."
Other speakers include:
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| Br. Bill Short, OFM |
-- Br. Bill Short, OFM, director of the Franciscan Retreat
Center in San Juan Bautista, CA. He will give an overview of the Franciscan
family. He holds a doctorate in sacred theology from Pontifical Gregorian
University in Rome, and has been teaching Christian history and spirituality at
the Franciscan School of Theology at Berkeley since 1983.
He is the author of
numerous books and articles on the Franciscan tradition.
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| Pat Brandwien-Ball, OFS |
-- Patricia Brandwien-Ball, OFS, a retreat and spiritual
director from Maine who has held a number of leadership positions in the
Secular Franciscan Order.
She will discuss the Franciscan Rule and the Order's
presence in the world.
She is a former national councilor for the order and
former national chair of the Justice, Peace and Integrity of Creation
Commission.
-- Edward L. Shirley, OFS, professor of religious and
theological studies at St. Edward's University, where he has taught for 25
years. He will explore tools for a more authentic spiritual life.
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| EdShirley, OFS |
