Making Sense of 2020: Being Church Today

 FUTURE CHURCH

MAKING SENSE OF 2020: BEING CHURCH TODAY Two Evenings, One Compelling Vision!

Doris Wagner Reisinger A Rising Voice in the Catholic Church and the Recipient of the Christine Schenk Award for Young Catholic Leaders

On February 5, 2019, Pope Francis, for the first time, publicly admitted that Catholic nuns are sexually abused and exploited by Catholic priests.  That admission was due, in part, to the courageous witness of Dr. Doris Wagner Reisinger, one of the speakers at the October 2018 Voices of Faith event,“Overcoming Silence” just a few months before Pope Francis made his confession. On that day, Catholics women, three being survivors of clergy sex abuse, spoke publicly about their experience of abuse by clerics, and the additional abuse they endured at the hands of their religious superiors and churchmen.  Because Dr. Reisinger boldly spoke “truth to power,” Father Hermann Geissler, an Austrian priest at the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith who had abused his sacred authority in the confessional with Reisinger and sexually assaulted her, was forced to resign from his post. He was never convicted for his abuse by the Vatican Apostolic Signatura (the highest judicial authority in the Catholic Church), even though they made their decision without testimony from Reisinger. In a May 15 meeting the Apostolic Signatura “issued the decree of acquittal of the accused" because the tribunal could not prove the crime “with the required moral certainty.” The decision is not a surprise to the many victims of clergy sex abuse in the Catholic Church who have seen the institution protect their clerics over victims -- children, seminarians, vulnerable adults, and, of course, women. Churchmen would, once again, dismiss the testimony of a victim to do damage control. Yet, even obstructionist clerics cannot stop Reisinger from changing the Church. No doubt, her words and witness had a impact on the Vatican evoking new confessions. Born in Germany in 1983, at the age of 19, she joined the Catholic religious community Das Werk, which maintains close ties to the Roman Curia. Reisinger was subjected to abuse from her superiors and rape and sexual assault by priests. In 2011, Reisinger escaped Das Werk, began her theological studies, and completed them in 2014 in Germany. A former nun, Doris Wagner Reisinger, has become a well-known philosopher, theologian, author and activist. Her forth coming book,  "Spiritueller Missbrauch in der katholische Kirche" (Spiritual Abuse in the Catholic Church), details her experience, chronicles the spiritual abuse in religious communities, and provides insights into the structures that keep such horrors in place.  Reisinger's experience and her intellectual acumen are the foundation for her analysis of the dysfunctional structures of the Church and religious life. Of the institution Reisinger notes, "Something is fundamentally flawed," and calls for a new constitution for our church. She has been at the forefront of the #NunsToo movement writing and speaking about the abuse of nuns because "I want no young sister to go through what I have gone through." She writes that Catholic leaders from the Congregation for Religious Life have long been aware of the abuse of nuns because Marie McDonald of the Missionaries of Our Lady of Africa, Benedictine Esther Fangman, and, above all, Maura O'Donohue from the Medical Missionaries of Mary reported on the widespread problem back in the mid-1990s.  Horror stories of forced abortions, pregnant nuns being forced from their religious communities into a life of poverty, and even the death of nuns were all captured in the reports. Yet, Vatican officials kept the reports secret until they were forced into the public sphere by National Catholic Reporter. And when Vatican officials did speak, they minimized the crimes and sins at every turn, a pattern that continues even with the Pope's 2019 admission. Reisinger writes about the abuse of nuns within religious communities, an issue that organizations like the LCWR and UISG have been loathe to air. She also critiques the structures and culture that keep most women in a position of unquestioning obedience to a superior. The spiritual and sexual abuse within religious communities has been another dark side that Reisinger prophetically confronts.  It is clear that Dr. Doris Wagner Reisinger is one of the rising voices for reform in the Catholic Church today. FutureChurch is proud to honor her with the 2020 Christine Schenk Award for Young Catholic Leaders. She will join FutureChurch at our annual Fall Event this Thursday, October 22nd at 7:00pm ET. Please join us as we honor Dr. Reisinger and hear her speak about her work.

EVENT SCHEDULE

October 22nd at 7pm  Public, Prophetic, and Provocative: a New Way of Being Church  Keynote presentation by internationally renowned speaker Cecilia González-Andrieu, Ph.D. Dr.González-Andrieu offers a frank look at how the fissures of our present moment reveal what we must do differently as a church in the world and for the world. She offers a timely and compelling vision for us all! Christine Schenk Award for Young Catholic Leaders recipient Dr. Doris Reisinger Dr. Reisinger made international headlines in 2018 when - in Rome - she courageously and publicly told her story of clergy sex abuse, prompting the resignation of the CDF official who sexually assaulted her. She will offer comments on how prophetic speech is essential for the life and health of the Church. October 27th at 7pm  Racial Justice and the Catholic Church Louis J. Trivison Award and Presentation by Fr. Bryan N. Massingale A leader in theological ethics and preeminent voice for racial justice in the Church, Massingale is a scholar-activist serving faith-based groups by advancing justice in society. His presentation will be based on his 2010 book, Racial Justice and the Catholic Church. Please join us in commemorating 30 years of working together as the People of God -- boldly confronting the challenges before us and confidently embracing each new opportunity to create a more just and inclusive Church.  Be a part of it from the safety of your own home as charismatic activist-scholars help us "make sense of 2020" and look forward toward a brighter, more just, more inclusive future for all. CLICK HEREto read the schedule; speaker biographies; and ticket, sponsorship and advertising information. Purchase your Fall Event ticket! A Special Thanks to Our Sponsors!  $3000 - $5000 Level Anonymous donor: In honor of Mary Ellen and Bill Williams $1000 - $2,999 Level Barbara and Wayne Beimesch Anna and Joseph Houlihan Rita Houlihan Mary and Todd Ray Sister of Charity of Our Lady Mother of Mercy $500 Level Anonymous Fan of Catholic Women Preach Joan and Richard Beach Marylee Raymond Diamond Dominican Sisters of Peace Fordham University Mary Lou Hartman Lucy Rieger Sisters of Charity of Cincinnati $300 Level Benincasa Community CORPUS Bill and Darleen Daly Constance Dubick Tony Gallagher Marie and Mark Graf Penelope Jeffrey Mary Ellen McCarthy Arline Nosse Emmy and Bill Plato – in memory of Lou Trivison Brad and Susan Pritts Members of the Church of the Resurrection Sisters of St. Dominic of Racine Mary Warren Sisters of St. Joseph of the Third Order of St. Francis $150 Level Anonymous Fr. Bob Bonnot John and Judy Campbell Tom Carroll, OFM Frances Dechant Clare and Bill Downing Chuck and Eileen Garven Constance Herron Lou Keim Bob Kloos Eugene And Jo Ann Kramer Janet and Jeffrey Leitch Sue Ellen and Greg Maher Rita and Jim Mize Nursing Sisters of the Poor Joan and Ryan Sattler Sue and Eugene Tozzi Gerard Weigel, MD Contributors Beverly Bierbusse Ellen Brzytwa Mary Catherine Bunting Maureen Cerny Sharon J. Davis Jim and Carol Dayton Georges Enderle Mary Fritsch Most Reverend Thomas Gumbleton Shelley Mack Fr. Thomas J. McCarthy Patrick McKittrick Meg Nelson Fr. James O’Donnell Maureen O’Leary Sisters of St. Joseph of Carondolet Joan and Ryan Sattler Fran Smullen Suellen and Eugene Tozzi Gloria and Eugene Ulterino Joann Vanek Eileen Wallenhorst