Go and Repair My House, Which is Falling Into Ruin
Thoughts on the 2023 Los Angeles Religious Education Congress
Early on in his process of conversion, St. Francis of Assisi stopped to pray in the chapel of San Damiano outside of Assisi. While praying, Francis heard a voice calling, “Go, Francis, and repair my house, which as you see is falling into ruin.” Since the chapel was in a state of disrepair, he believed that God was asking him to restore it, and so he attempted to raise money by selling some cloth taken from the shop of his father, a cloth merchant. It was only gradually that it would become clear that the “house” Francis was to repair was the entire Church, troubled by the worldliness of many clergy, a growing gap between rich and poor in newly-emerging towns, and an increasing yearning to hear the Gospel.
The keynotes and workshops at this year’s Los Angeles Religious Education Congress (RECongress), the largest gathering of religious educators and parish ministers in the world, reflect the sense that the Catholic Church in the United States, if not in a state of ruin, is certainly in need of rebuilding. With the return of live gatherings after the worst of the COVID-19 pandemic, increasing disaffiliation from the Church, the growing number of “spiritual but not religious” and “nones” among younger generations, and the continuing scandal of clerical sex abuse and coverup, the Church’s ministers and educators face a daunting task. As Auxiliary Bishop Joseph Espaillat from the Archdiocese of New York, one of the keynote speakers, noted, “We’re going to talk about where we are, the lay of the land. Pretty simple, we know things are bad. Amen? Alright, they’re not that good.” The conference speakers, however, refused to be “prophets of doom” (to use Pope St. John XXIII’s term), but rather took a “back to basics” approach guided by hope for the future.
As for myself, even though I underwent some intense spiritual growth over the past three years (see my first post), I still feel half-asleep when it comes to re-establishing the routine of attending Mass on Sundays. Most of the parishes I have attended seem half-asleep, too. This year’s RECongress was a bit of a re-awakening, however, meeting fully in person for the first time since 2020 (last year’s conference included both virtual and in-person sessions) and exhibiting evident energy. At least one workshop, led by Steven Botsford, focused on rebuilding parish programs in the aftermath of the pandemic, something I wish had been an even greater focus of the conference.
There was a great deal of attention to what you could call “self-care” for ministers. For example, Robert Wicks’s opening keynote focused on mentoring yourself as you mentor others. Similarly, the Protestant minister Rev. Terry Hershey focused on keeping yourself “spiritually hydrated” in his own keynote. There was a healthy focus on silence and contemplation as an important part of self-care. Sr. Maria Thị Bích Quyên Lý, RNDM led two workshops on contemplation and the pursuit of true happiness, and Hna. Hilda Mateo, MGSpS focused on mindfulness and openness to God’s grace in one of the Spanish-language keynotes.
The “back to basics” approach of the congress was also reflected in the variety of workshops focused on the person of Jesus, the kerygma or proclamation of the first witnesses of Christ, and discipleship. For example, English and Spanish-language workshops encouraged educators to form “missionary disciples,” a term used by Pope Francis in his 2013 apostolic exhortation Evangelii Gaudium and originating at the Fifth Episcopal Conference of Latin America and the Caribbean at Aparecida, Brazil in 2007. Fr. Santiago Guijarro Oporto of Spain offered a Spanish-language workshop making the case that the “New Evangelization” of the present ought to be modeled on the “first evangelization,” the witness of Jesus’ first disciples. I think effectively communicating the Gospel narrative and the wonder experienced by Jesus’ disciples is crucial for reaching out to young people who may identify as “nones” or “spiritual but not religious,” and it is encouraging that this was such a central theme at RECongress.
The Eucharist was another central theme at the conference, no doubt linked to the ongoing National Eucharistic Revival sponsored by the United States Conference of Bishops that began onthe Feast of Corpus Christi, June 19, 2022, and will culminate with a National Eucharistic Congress in July, 2024. The Eucharistic Revival was launched by the bishops in response to a declining understanding of the doctrine of the Real Presence among the Catholic faithful and to encourage devotion to the Eucharist and a return to Mass in the aftermath of COVID-19. The workshops at RECongress took a variety of approaches to promoting the Eucharist, a variety we will likely see, as well, as the Eucharistic Revival develops. Some workshops focused on catechesis regarding the Real Presence, while others, like Fr. Agustino Torres, CFM’s Spanish-language keynote, emphasized greater reverence for the Eucharist. My own sense is that there is sometimes an overly-exclusive emphasis on the Eucharist as a sacred object of adoration and reverence, without sufficient focus on the Eucharist as a transformative encounter with the person Jesus Christ and as our own participation in the mission of Jesus to the world. I appreciated Robert Wicks’s citation of a line from the theologian and peritus (expert) at the Second Vatican Council Godrey Diekmann: “What difference does it make if the bread and wine turn into the Body and Blood of Christ and we don't?” I find the more comprehensive approach of “becoming Eucharistic people” developed by Timothy O’Malley (and also promoted by Katherine Angulo Valenzuela in her Spanish-language keynote), which includes liturigcal reverence, holistic formation, and missionary discipleship in the home and community, more encouraging.
The final theme I noted at the congress, inclusion, flows naturally from the previous two: the inclusion of the outcast was central to Jesus’ ministry, and this inclusion should be reflected at the Eucharistic table. The liturgical celebrations at the conference did indeed reflect the cultural diversity of the Church in the United States, and, as already noted, workshops were offered in English, Spanish, and Vietnamese. Fr. Tony Ricard of the Archdiocese of New Orleans also challenged the attendees to consider those times the Church “misses the moment” and fails to see the value of different people in the Church. A number of workshops focused on how ministers and educators can promote inclusion in the Church. For example, Ana Barraza offered English and Spanish-language workshops on including young people with disabilities in the life of the Church. A major theme was promoting the leadership of women in the Church, including workshops by the theologian Phyllis Zagano and Carolyn Woo, the former CEO and President of Catholic Relief Services.
Although the speakers were largely unified on these issues, there was significant divergence on the question of how the Church can welcome LGBTQ persons. Julia Cano Valero offered a Spanish-language workshop challenging “gender ideology” (“ideología de género”), a catch-all term for the acceptance of different sexual orientations and gender identities. Fr. Ricard, in his keynote, suggested a traditional “love the sinner, hate the sin” approach—“Even if I don’t like what you do, I don’t like how you live, I don’t like who you choose to love, I’m still going to love you because God loves you”—without much to suggest how he would improve on the Church’s current practice. Yunuen Trujillo, a coordinator with the Catholic Ministry with Lesbian and Gay Persons of the Archdiocese of Los Angeles and an immigration attorney, offered workshops in English and Spanish on listening to the experiences of LGBTQ Catholics and building ministries that fully welcome and embrace them and their identities. The fact that such divergent views were expressed at a mainstream church gathering sponsored by a major archdiocese is a sign that ministry to LGBTQ persons will continue to divide the Church for the foreseeable future.
Although the Catholic Church in the United States is not quite yet in ruins, Bishop Espaillat is certainly right that “things are bad.” The theme for this year’s RECongress was “embrace grace,” and a number of speakers emphasized that rebuilding the Church will depend on God’s grace. This theme was most literally reflected in a workshop by Benjamin Akers, titled, “The Church Doesn’t Need You,” but Bishop Espaillat likewise insisted that we should put our trust in the Holy Spirit, and Fr. José-Román Flecha Andrés proposed Mary, “full of grace,” as the model for how the Church should respond to its present challenges. The most powerful moment for me came in the Spanish-language keynote by Katherine Angulo Valenzuela, where she explained how, in Luke 5, Jesus astounds Peter, the professional fisherman, with an unbelievably large catch of fish, in contrast to Peter’s earlier, fruitless efforts. Jesus then tells Peter, “From now on you will be catching men” (Lk. 5:10), promising him that he will be similarly fruitful in his ministry if he puts his trust in Jesus. The situation of the Church today may seem bleak, but our God is a God of surprises.
Even so, God works through people. When St. Francis went to Rome to seek approval for his way of life from Pope Innocent III, the night before, Innocent had a dream of a poor man in rags holding up the Basilica of St. John Lateran, which was on the verge of tumbling down. The next day, Pope Innocent recognized Francis as the man from his dream and gave his approval to the Franciscans. Today our Church is less likely to be held up by one man, however, but rather by the countless ministers and educators working tirelessly in our parishes, like those participating in the RECongress.
If you attended the RECongress and want to share your impressions of the conference, please share them in the comments below. Although I did not personally attend, I watched all the livestreams of the keynotes and carefully read through all the workshop notes. Let me know if I got something wrong or if you picked up on different themes at the conference!
Thank you for your comments on this, Matt. Although I've never had the opportunity to attend the LA conference, I have certainly heard a great deal about it from others. Reading through your notes today, though, I am not surprised by the emphases you picked up. I am presently teaching a course on the history of Christianity, and in times of difficulty in the church over the past millennia on what do they fall back - the Eucharist, of course! Real Presence! Transubstantiation! And yes, I totally agree with the Godrey Diekmann quote: “What difference does it make if the bread and wine turn into the Body and Blood of Christ and we don't?” If only we were - as a truly ecumenical and inclusive church - really more interested in “becoming Eucharistic people!" What a difference that would make, in so many ways.