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Quik-Click Guide
Current Forum Schedule
Principles of the Forum
Goals of the Forum
Format of the Forum
Guidelines of the Forum
“The
Church's mission requires in the first place that we foster
within the Church herself mutual esteem, reverence and harmony,
through the full recognition of lawful diversity....
“Thus all those who compose the one People of God, both pastors
and the general
faithful, can engage in dialogue with ever-abounding
fruitfulness.
For the bonds which unite the faithful are mightier than
nything dividing them....
“Hence, let there be unity in what is necessary,
freedom in what is
unsettled,
and charity in any case.”
--
Second Vatican
Council, Pastoral Constitution on the Church in the Modern
World, #92.
Welcome to the
Catholic Forum
_______________________________________________________
Current Catholic Forum Schedule
There is no Catholic Forum
scheduled at the present time.
Watch
your parish bulletin or this website for
announcement of future Forum dates and topics.
_______________________________________________________
The Catholic Forum was created by Waterloo Diocore in 1993. It
arose out of a sense that one of the things we needed in the
Catholic community was to be able to discuss important moral and
social issues in a constructive and positive atmosphere that
engaged the wide variety of legitimate diversity in opinions,
experiences and convictions among Catholics. We wanted
this to be an environment which would be more than people just
arguing about issues on which they disagreed, or merely
reinforcing their own biases on issues where they agreed.
Principles of the Forum
The format and spirit of the Forum are based on the following
convictions:
•
Dialogue in the Church is healthy, even necessary. Only through
dialogue can
we bridge the differences that divide us within the
Catholic community,
differences which divide us from other
Christian traditions, and differences which
separate our
tradition, as it has developed over time, from the experience
and
needs of people in today's world.
•
Our personal experience, insights and opinions are important.
It is through
them that most individual Catholics come to
understand and appreciate the
truths taught by Jesus and the
Church.
•
Our personal experiences are limited. Even the experience of
particular
groups, based on ideology, regions, cultures, or time
periods in history, are
limited. No one person or group can
adequately grasp the fullness of God’s
truth based solely on
their limited personal experiences.
•
As individuals, we must inform and judge our personal or group
experiences by
the corporate experience of the broader
Catholic/Christian community,
contained in Scripture and in the
tradition, doctrine and lived-faith of the
Catholic community.
•
For Roman Catholics, our corporate experience and convictions
are formally
defined by the teaching authority (the
magisterium) of the Church -- the
individual bishops, the
college of bishops, and the Bishop of Rome.
Goals of the Forum
1.
To understand and appreciate better our own experiences,
insights and
opinions, and the experiences, insights and
opinions of other Catholics.2. To
understand and appreciate better the Catholic
Christian tradition as expressed
and taught in Scripture,
official Church teaching, and Catholic tradition.
3.
To understand more clearly the extent to which our own
experiences, insights
and opinions reflect or conflict with the
broader Catholic tradition.
4.
To understand more clearly the fundamental, underlying values,
truths and
principles which we share as Catholic Christians, inspite of apparent
differences or conflicts.
Format for the Forum
1. Welcome and introduction.
2. Opening observations, comments, concerns and questions from
the floor.
3. Observations and comments by special guests.
Short Break
4. Continuing discussion -- additional concerns, comments,
questions and
observations from the community and special
guests.
5. Concluding discussion and summary.
Guidelines for the Forum
In
order to insure a thoughtful and respectful discussion, we ask
each participant to follow these guidelines:
•
Listen respectfully to other participants.
•
Show respect for the experiences, insights, and opinions of
other individuals,
even if they are different from our own, and
even if you believe that they are
“wrong”.
• Present our own experiences, insights, opinions without
attacking others’
experiences or opinions.
Posted 12.15.07
•
Last Update 02.20.08 |