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March 28, 2003
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Sr. Christine Schenk csj 216-228-0869
Fr. Louis J. Trivison 440-232-5700 ext 512
Program on Canon Law, Diocesan Tribunals and Lay Decision Making in the Roman Catholic Church to Be Held April 12
On Saturday April 12, FutureChurch will sponsor a morning workshop on Canon Law, Diocesan Tribunals and Lay Decision Making in the Roman Catholic Church. The program will be held at St. Malachi School Hall at West 25th and Detroit. It will begin at 9:30 am and end at 12:00 noon. A free will offering will be taken.
The keynote will be given by the internationally known canon lawyer Fr. James A. Coriden of the Washington Theological Union. A responder panel will include Fr. Robert Sanson, a canon lawyer and pastor of St. Joseph¹s Church in Strongsville; Ellen Abraham, a children¹s counsellor; and Lou Keim, a Catholic lay advocate.
"We hope Catholics will come away with a better understanding of their rights and responsibilities as Catholics as well as canonical and lay decision making structures in the Cleveland diocese,"said FutureChurch Director Sr. Christine Schenk. "Sometimes average Catholics don¹t know that they have rights in the Church. In the Cleveland diocese there are many structures which do involve lay people, though we still have a long way to go."
"We think this workshop is especially important as the diocese begins to implement the new policies related to clergy sexual misconduct,"said FutureChurch co-founder Fr. Louis J. Trivison. "Due process is important but so is the safety of our children."
James A. Coriden is a priest of the Diocese of Gary, Indiana, who is presently Professor of Church Law and Dean Emeritus at the Washington Theological Union. He received a doctorate in Canon Law from the Gregorian University and a J.D. from the Columbus School of Law at The Catholic University of America. His recent works include The Parish in Catholic Tradition: History, Theology and Canon Law (1997), Canon Law as Ministry: Freedom and Good Order for the Church (2000), and contributions to the New Commentary on the Code of Canon Law (2000).
FutureChurch, headquartered in Cleveland, Ohio, is a national coalition of 5,000 parish-based Catholics striving to educate fellow Catholics about the seriousness of the priest shortage, the centrality of the Eucharist (the Mass), lay participation in Church decision making and the systemic inequality of women in the Church. Founded in 1990, FutureChurch incorporated in 1994 after 28 parishes in the Cleveland diocese supported a resolution asking U.S. Bishops to open ordination to all the baptized rather than lose the Mass as the center of Catholic worship.
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