Leaders of Canada's Religious Congregations to Gather in Montreal

MONTREAL, May 23, 2012 /CNW Telbec/ - More than 300 leaders of Catholic religious congregations from across Canada are to gather in Montreal May 24-28, 2012, for the General Assembly of the Canadian Religious Conference (CRC). The theme for this General Assembly is What time is it? Imagine!

This theme has both a question mark and an exclamation mark. What time is it? This question suggests that the Assembly will be a place to raise substantive issues concerning religious life at this moment in its 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, Imagine! Gilles Routhier and Patricia Wittberg are the two keynote speakers who will guide the religious leaders in exploring the Assembly theme.

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.

Patricia Wittberg, a Sister of Charity of Cincinnati, Ohio, is currently Professor of Sociology at Indiana University - Purdue University Indianapolis. She is also the author of numerous books and articles on Catholic religious orders. Sister Wittberg's 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.

Beginning May 25, 2012, a daily summary will be posted on the CRC website at: www.crc-canada.org. The speaker presentations will also be made available during the General Assembly.

The Canadian Religious Conference is an association that brings together the leaders of 200 congregations of women and men religious in Canada. The General Assembly 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. The CRC 2012 General Assembly takes place at the Sheraton Montréal Airport Hotel, located at 555 McMillan Avenue, Dorval, QC, near the Pierre Elliot Trudeau Airport.

Louise Stafford, Communications Portfolio Director
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Bill Kokesch, Contractual Communications Associate
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