Media Invitation - Canadian Religious Conference 2012 General Assembly

MONTREAL, May 14, 2012 /CNW Telbec/ - Leaders from Canadian congregations of women and men religious and members of their councils will gather in Montreal May 24 to 28, 2012 for the General Assembly of the Canadian Religious Conference (CRC). Close to 300 persons will be attending this meeting, which is held every two years.

The CRC invites media representatives to attend the morning session of the Assembly on May 25 and 26, from 9:00am to 11:30am. You will be able to listen to and meet the two General Assembly keynote speakers, Gilles Routhier and Patricia Wittberg.

Respected Catholic theologian Gilles Routhier is a priest from the Archdiocese of Quebec and a full professor at the Université Laval where he is Vice-Dean of the Faculty of Theology and Religious Studies. His spiritual and theological reflection on the future of the Church in Quebec has generated a great deal of interest and discussion. Currently doing research on Vatican II, Gilles Routhier will speak on The Second Vatican Council: A New Pentecost for the Church. He comments: "The understanding of the proposals put forward by Vatican II requires openness to the Gospel message and to that of human aspirations." He will give his keynote address on Friday, May 25 at 9:15am.

Patricia Wittberg, a Sister of Charity of Cincinnati, Ohio, is currently Professor of Sociology at Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis. The author of four books and numerous articles on Catholic religious orders, she is working on a new manuscript entitled, To Build a Strong Church for Tomorrow: Discerning and Improving the Spiritual Health of Church Communities. Sister Wittberg's keynote address, Recognising the Time That Is Ours: A Call to Generational Dialogue, "will define and describe the successive generational cultures in North America today, and will explore the implications of these cultural differences for both religious life and the Church as a whole." Her keynote address will be given on Saturday, May 26 at 9:15am.

The CRC General Assembly theme - What time is it? Imagine! - has both a question mark and an exclamation mark. The CRC's Executive Director, Yvon Pomerleau, op, explains it in these terms: "This is a way to suggest that our meeting will be a place to raise substantive issues concerning religious life at this moment in our history. But asking this question does not assume a gloomy answer. On the contrary, with an exclamation full of enthusiasm the meeting offers an invitation to creativity, to make something new".

The CRC General Assembly takes place at the Sheraton Montréal Airport Hotel, located at 12505 Côte-de-Liesse, Dorval, QC, near the Pierre Elliot Trudeau Airport. We hope that you will be able to attend this event May 25 and May 26, from 9:00am to 11:30am.

As of May 25, 2012, a daily summary of the proceedings will be posted to the CRC website: www.crc-canada.org. The two keynote addresses will be made available during the Assembly. The complete programme has been posted on our website.

and to indicate your possible attendance, please contact:

Louise Stafford, Communications Director
Tel.: [phone]; Cell: 514-606-0856; Email: [email protected]

Bill Kokesch, Contractual Communications Associate
Tel.: [phone]; Email: [email protected]