Faculty Participate in Listening Session for the Synod  

On May 21, 2021, Pope Francis announced a synodal process ahead of the 2023 Synod of Bishops aimed at "listening to all of the baptized." The Pope invited the entire Church to reflect on a theme that is decisive for its life and mission: "It is precisely this path of synodality which God expects of the Church of the third millennium."

On Tuesday, April 5, Seton Hall faculty participated in the Pope's call via virtual Listening Session for the Synod, hosted by the Center for Catholic Studies along with the Center for Faculty Development and the Center for Vocation and Servant Leadership.

The session was organized and moderated by Gregory Floyd, Ph.D., Director of the Center for Catholic Studies; Mary Ellen E. Roberts, Director of the DNP and Acute Care Nurse Practitioner Programs, College of Nursing; Genevieve Zipp, Acting Program Director, Ph.D. in Health Sciences, Professor, Department of Interprofessional Health Sciences and Health Administration, and Director, Center for Interprofessional Education in Health Sciences, School of Health and Medical Sciences; and Josephine deVito, Associate Professor, College of Nursing.

Together, the group considered questions exploring the relationship of the university to the Church and shared different experiences of the challenges and opportunities of working and teaching as a Catholic university that touched on areas such as opportunities for service, personal and professional development, mission integration, the role of theology, community on campus, the need for reflection and collaboration with students and faculty, and how Seton Hall might be of service to the local church and community. Current faculty, retired faculty and several external faculty participated in the session.

Father Colin Kay, Vice President for Mission and Ministry, provided the framework and inspiration for the faculty session and is responsible for forwarding the session's notes to be included in the Archdiocese of Newark's Synod on Synodality report provided to Pope Francis. The Listening Session was an opportunity for faculty, the core of Catholic higher education, to be heard by the Synod of Bishops in 2023. 

Regarding the event, Floyd commented, "It is a great encouragement and an indication of Seton Hall's diverse and active Catholic identity that a number of faculty from a number of different disciplines wanted to come together and to participate as a university community in the Synodal process begun by Pope Francis."

About the Center for Catholic Studies
Founded at Seton Hall University in 1997, the Center for Catholic Studies is dedicated to fostering an ongoing dialogue between the Catholic intellectual tradition and all areas of study and contemporary culture. In the spirit of the Catholic Church's legacy of bringing forth things "new and old," the Center's scholarly research, publications, and programming serve to generate new initiatives and facilitate conversation and collaboration among faculty, administrators, students, and the general public. The primary function of the Center for Catholic Studies (CCS) is to foster the Catholic mission of Seton Hall in creative ways. It endeavors to be an incubator for innovative initiatives in promoting Catholic identity across the university. It fulfills this role for diverse demographics within the university in five principal areas: Faculty Development, Interdisciplinary Collaboration, Intellectual Life, Student Engagement, and Ongoing Innovation.

The Center developed the undergraduate program, Catholic Studies Program, which offers a major, minor and certificate and continues to support the Program's students with scholarship aid as well as ongoing co-curricular activities. Focusing on the central role of the faculty, the Center also sponsors regular Faculty Development programs, including lectures, seminars and retreats. In addition, the Center administers two national faculty programs: Collegium: A Colloquy on Faith and Intellectual Life, and The Lilly Fellows Program.

The Center maintains a global focus in international scholarship and is the home of the G.K. Chesterton Institute for Faith & Culture, as well as the Bernard J. Lonergan Institute. The Institutes offer opportunities for study and research, as well as ongoing programs related to faith and culture. In addition, the Micah Institute for Business and Economics concentrates on communicating Catholic Social Teaching and ethics to business education at Seton Hall and the wider business community. The Center also publishes the prestigious Chesterton Review and The Lonergan Review.

Categories: Faith and Service