Synodality Series Session 6 | The Synod of 2023: Process and Prospects
Nathalie BecquartSynod of Bishops
Bishop Oscar CantúDiocese of Las Cruces, New Mexico
Peter J. CasarellaDuke Divinity School
Free and open to the public. This online symposium series is being organized by the American Cusanus Society, Nova Forum and the Lumen Christi Institute. Additional Cosponsors include Commonweal, Harvard Catholic Forum, America Media, the St. Anselm Institute for Catholic Thought and the Collegium Institute.
About the Series | In light of Pope Francis’ call for global Catholic communities to enter into a two-year process on synodality, this six-part series will examine both the history of synods and the current dialogue around the future of synodality in the Church. This series is an opportunity to learn more about the topic in advance of the October 2023 Rome summit, “For a Synodal Church.” Pope Francis is inviting the entire Church to reflect on “this path of synodality which God expects of the Church of the third millennium,” an important part of the Church’s own process to achieving participation and living out mission.
For more information about the entire series, including other upcoming sessions, visit our series webpage.
About Session 6 | A dialogue with Bishop Oscar Cantú (San Jose, CA) and Sr. Nathalie Becquart, XMCJ (General Secretariat of the Synod of Bishops), moderated by Peter Casarella (Duke Divinity School).
Nathalie Becquart, XMCJ is Undersecretary to the General Secretariat of the Synod of Bishops. She was appointed to that position by Pope Francis in 2021. Previously, she consulted for the synod on the Pan-Amazonian region, served as spiritual director for the Ignatian Youth Network in France, as well as president of the Ignatian association “Life at Sea, entry into prayer,” director of campus ministry in Créteil (University of East Paris), and director of the National Service for the Evangelization of Youth and for Vocations (SNEJV) at the French Bishops conference. She is the author of several books, including: 100 Prayers to Weather the Storm, The Evangelization of Young People, a Challenge, Religious, Why? and The Spirit Renews Everything. She studied theology and philosophy at the Centre Sevres in Paris and sociology at the School for Advanced Studies in the Social Sciences. She holds degrees in business management, philosophy, sociology and theology.
Bishop Oscar Cantú is the bishop of the Diocese of San Jose, CA. He has served on several committees of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB), such as the Committee on Catholic Education, the Doctrine Committee, the Sub-Committee on Hispanic Affairs, and the Committee on International Justice and Peace. He chaired the Committee on International Justice and Peace from 2015 to 2017. He holds Master’s of Divinity and Theological Studies from the University of St. Thomas in Houston as well as a Licentiate of Sacred Theology from the Pontifical Gregorian University.
Peter J. Casarella is Professor of Theology at Duke Divinity School. He received his PhD in Religious Studies at Yale University. Casarella previously served as professor of Systematic Theology at the University of Notre Dame and as director of the Latin American North American Church Concerns (LANACC) project in the Kellogg Institute for International Studies. Casarella has served as president of The American Cusanus Society, The Academy of Catholic Hispanic Theologians in the U.S. (ACHTUS), and the Academy of Catholic Theologians (ACT). He is currently serving a second five-year term on the International Roman Catholic-Baptist World Alliance Ecumenical Dialogue and served also on the Roman Catholic-World Communion of Reformed Churches Dialogue. He has authored or edited several books, including: Cuerpo de Cristo: The Hispanic Presence in the U.S. Catholic Church (1998), A World for All? Global Civil Society in Political Theory and Trinitarian Theology (2011), and most recently, Word as Bread: Language and Theology in Nicholas of Cusa (2017)
