Dominicans in Madison
Hi again!
Last week I spent 3-1/2 days at Edgewood College in Madison, Wisconsin. No I wasn’t there going to school, and no, I wasn’t there to recruit students because it is currently SUMMER VACATION. I was there because about 100 professors, staff members, and administrators were gathered from 17 different institutions of higher education operated by various groups of Dominican friars and sisters. They gather like that very 2 years to interact, to give presentations on topics of interest, and to pray together.
The theme for this year’s Colloquium was “Educating Toward a Just and Compassionate World.” The opening plenary session was given by Sr. Toni Harris, OP, who works in Rome as a Dominican International Co-Promotor for Peace and Justice. It was very interesting and informative. For example, did you know that there are about 6,000 Dominican Friars, 3,500 contemplative Dominican Nuns, and 23,500 apostolic Dominican Sisters throughout the world? But it doesn’t stop there . . . about 144,000 lay people belong to Dominican associations, doing ministry as lay people and carrying on the Dominican charism.
Besides me, two of our professors represented Aquinas Institute of Theology at this colloquium: Sr. Mary Margaret Pazdan, OP, preached at the closing ritual on Sunday afternoon. She was a fulltime faculty member way back when I studied for my masters degree here at Aquinas. Now she is an adjunct professor. Her specialty is the Christian Scriptures.
Also, Fr. Scott Steinkerchner, OP, gave a workshop entitled ”Forging a Lasting Peace.” Fr. Scott teaches systematic theology which is the study of doctrine. His great area of personal interest is interreligious studies and dialogue. Click on his name or his picture to get to his web site. It is fascinating.