Signia by Hilton Orlando Bonnet Creek
Orlando, Florida
August 13 - 16, 2024
Click Here for Recordings, Presentation Texts and Other Resources from the 2024 Assembly
Main Speakers
Bryan N. Massingale is a priest of the Archdiocese of Milwaukee. He received his doctorate in moral theology from the Academia Alphonsianum (Rome). He specializes in social ethics and teaches courses on Catholic Social Thought, African American religious ethics, sexual ethics, and racial justice. His professional passion is advancing a Black approach to Catholic theological ethics. His approach to social ethics focuses upon the impact of religious faith as both an instrument of social injustice and a catalyst for social transformation.
He is a professor of theological and social ethics at Fordham University. There he holds the James and Nancy Buckman Chair in Applied Christian Ethics and is the senior fellow at Fordham’s Center for Ethics Education. Prior to his position at Fordham, he was a professor of theology at Marquette University for 12 years.
Bryan is a leader in the field of theological ethics. He is a former president of the Society of Christian Ethics; a former convener of the Black Catholic Theological Symposium; and a former president of the Catholic Theological Society of America. He has served on the editorial boards of premier Catholic journals of theology, including Theological Studies, the Journal of Moral Theology and the Journal of the Society of Christian Ethics and has authored more than 200 articles, books, and essays.
Maricarmen Bracamontes, OSB was born in Culiacán, Sinaloa, Mexico. She studied medicine before becoming a member of the Benedictines of Mexico City. She studied philosophy at the Pontifical University of Mexico and later studied theological sciences at the Colegio Máximo de Cristo Rey, the theological Institute of the Society of Jesus in Mexico City. She finished her degree at the Universidad Iberoamericana.
In addition to being a teacher, she served the Conference of Religious Institutes in Mexico (CIRM). Because of her training in both medicine and theology, she worked in the area of sexuality, affection and celibacy. In 1992, she was one of a group of sisters who founded a monastery in northern Mexico, Monasterio Pan de Vida in Torreón, Coahuila.
Maricarmen collaborates on the team of theological advisors to the presidency of the Confederation of Latin American Religious (CLAR) and writes articles for various theological reflection journals.
Maureen Geary, OP is the president of LCWR and a member of Dominican Sisters of Grand Rapids, Michigan. She is completing 18 years in congregation leadership – six as vicaress, treasurer, and councilor for finance; six as prioress; and will complete an additional six this year again as a councilor.
Maureen earned a bachelor’s degree from the University of Notre Dame, a master’s degree from Catholic Theological Union in Chicago and a Juris Doctor (JD) degree from the University of Michigan. She served Aquinas College from 1987-1997 in roles as assistant professor of business, controller, and vice president for finance. She has also worked as a certified public accountant and as an attorney, and served in ministries with the Diocese of Grand Rapids Secretariat for Social Justice and the Kent County Coalition to End Homelessness. In addition, she has served on more than a dozen nonprofit boards in the areas of housing, education, health care and social service.
Reflectors/Responders
Nine LCWR members will offer reflections after each of the major addresses around the question: As a religious life leader at this time, what was it in this address that affirmed what I think, challenged me to think and act differently, or raised questions for me – and why?
Responders to Bryan Massingale
Jackulin Jesu, SCN
Betsy Pawlicki, OP
Montiel Rosenthal, SC
Responders to Maricarmen Bracamontes, OSB
Renée Daigle, MSC
Elsa García, CDP
Michelle L’Allier, OSF
Responders to Maureen Geary, OP
Melissa Camardo, SCL
Mary Ellen Tennity, IHM
Maria Sheila Undang, OCarm
Who Do We Need You to Be for the World?
LCWR invited three people who know women religious well to address the question: Who Do We Need You to Be for the World? The following three guests will be responding to that question:
- Sandra Coles-Bell - executive director, National Black Sisters' Conference
- Katie Gordon - co-founder of Nuns & Nones and a staff member at Monasteries of the Heart
-
Kerry Robinson - president and CEO, Catholic Charities USA
LCWR Outstanding Leadership Award Presentation
At the assembly banquet on August 16, LCWR will honor Nancy Schreck, OSF with its 2024 Outstanding Leadership Award. A Sister of St. Francis of Dubuque, Iowa, Nancy served in leadership and formation ministry in her congregation, as well as in the LCWR presidency and as a US delegate to the International Union of Superiors General (UISG). She also served for eight years as a member of the council of the Franciscan Handmaids located in New York.
Her contributions to LCWR over the years -- including keynote presentations at LCWR assemblies, facilitation of the Leading from Within Retreat and New Leader Workshop, articles, and more -- have influenced leaders nationally and globally. She is a sought-after presenter and facilitator for many religious groups throughout the world.
Nancy founded and is currently the program director of Excel Inc., a community service organization located in Okolona, Mississippi.
In Service of the Assembly
Maria Elena Martinez, OSF will serve as the facilitator of this year’s assembly. Maria Elena is a Redwood City Franciscan. As an experienced facilitator, she has a gift for creating intercultural processes that nurture communal discernment. She is presently provincial minister of her province community in California.
Julie Tragon will serve as the coordinator of prayer and liturgy for the assembly. She has worked for the past 23 years as a full-time director of music and liturgy at parishes within the Tampa Bay area and in northeast Ohio where she currently resides. She is now serving as the pastoral associate/director of religious education and youth ministry at Church of the Resurrection in Solon, Ohio. She also serves as liturgist and musician for the Congregation of the Blessed Sacrament – Province of St. Ann. She holds an undergraduate degree in music education and a graduate degree in theology and is a mother of three children.